In the world of football the beauty of the game often lies in the moments of brilliance and ingenuity which amaze, entertain and moments which make you fall in love with the game. See Benzema's goal last night for instance? It is these instances which make you stand up, applaud and which make you smile. The moments you share and reminisce with your friends and family.
Great moments. From great players. The majority of who we regard as ‘creative’.
So if we value the importance of creativity, if the best players in the game are those who creative, then surely we want to develop creative players, right?
I believe the game has more creativity now that in it has done ever before. I believe we are seeing more skilful players, more dribblers, more ingenuity. It is fantastic! And hopefully a mark of where the game is heading.
However, when I consider a coaching culture in youth development, do we live in a world which stifles creativity and which limits the development of creative players? A world which seeks to replicate a senior game which often in itself limits elements of creativity over the functional and safe? A mentality which unfortunately trickles down to youth development. As I will argue, we create the conditions and environment for creativity to thrive or die.
We love to see creativity
When we consider a ‘creative’ footballer it is these ideas which come into our mind; the ability to beat players with great skill in 1v1 situations, the ability to dribble the ball at speed, the vision of a pass which “no-one could see”, the scoring of a goal which seemed 'impossible' or even just a subtle flick or touch which shows their awareness, vision and confidence.
Across the history of the game football has seen many genius’; Maradona, Cruyff, Best, Gascoigne, Zidane, Riquelme, Hagi, Baggio, Veron, Pirlo, Laudrup, Iniesta, Ronaldinho, Messi and De Bruyne, to name a few. We marvel at the talent of these players, players who appear to possess such “natural” football skill and talent. We wonder how they became so great and, importantly, we ask how we can produce more of these players.
This creative genius is seen as a special talent unique, original, almost…'natural'. Meaning he hasn’t been ruined, limited or restricted. He hasn’t had creativity ‘coached’ out of him!
Well, delightfully for English football, we are starting to see an emergence of a new breed of creative talents coming through our system. Phil Foden is a fantastic talent, possessing skill, intelligence and vision. Marcus Rashford possesses such dynamism and skill. Players like James Maddison and Jack Grealish have emerged as some of the best playmakers in the league. Alexander-Arnold is proving to be one of the most creative players in the game. And then we have Jadon Sancho, who is proving to be the best young talent in world football, with comparisons to a young Neymar being spoken of. Not to mention the most sought after 16 year old in the world being Birmingham’s Jude Bellingham.
Developing your game
Too often you hear these comments in reference to a talented player; “He’s a natural”, “It’s just so easy for him”, “He’s blessed”…well this is simply not the case. People talk of nature/nurture, and while genetics plays a part it is without doubt the nurture of a young talent which makes the most crucial difference.
What we are seeing when you see a 'special' player is hours and hours of working on their game, honing their skills and talent. The talk of the 10,000 hour rule may be ridiculed by many as simplistic and simply not true but there is certainly merit in the idea of clocking up hours upon hours of work to improve. It makes sense surely? Put time into a specific area and you will more often than not improve.
Now, the question is do we live in a culture which nurtures & develops skilful & intelligent players? While many will say they do, there is a sense many players are not being educated highly enough on the game and that they aren't being challenged or stretched to high enough levels to help their development progress. This leads to periods of stagnation, or even regression for players.
It seems that England has a problem when it comes to ‘adult’ football that a sense of ‘growing up’ and being ‘rational’ and ‘functional’ when it comes to playing football. This rational thinking seemingly negates the need for skill and expression, looking at skill as a problem and hindrance, with the commonly heard phrase "keep it simple". The truth is that the safety first approach which categorises England has limited the development of many ‘artists’.
Possessing technical excellence is imperative to a game that requires an exquisite touch in tight areas and with limited time. With excellent decision making and a high technical level a player can deal with many situations with poise and composure. Technical skill development therefore is fundamental to developing players for the future game.
The fundamental element is what the coach does with the players.
Many argue that players are over-coached and need freedom to play and express themselves. I agree entirely. Our players suffer from over-coaching at a young age. However...when we talk about developing creativity some will ask “Do young footballers need to be taught to the game” The answer is yes!
This sense of players playing and developing without coaching, without advice, without having their talent nurtured is just not the case. Whether it is a coach, a parent, a brother or an older player, young players are taught and educated all the time. Nothing is natural in terms of skills, it is about development. As John Cartwright says, and I agree wholeheartedly with him, “Footballers need to be taught the game properly. I do not believe that players are born footballers.”
The key word here is properly, this is the issue we have. Our players are not being developed, on the whole, with the proper coaching enabling the development of exceptional talent. They are not being developed to be creative, to take risks, to play with a sense of freedom. This is what a coach needs to nurture, not limit. And this for me goes all the way through a players career!
Cultural issues holding back talent
The major problem holding English football back has been the ‘win at all costs’ mentality. This mindset, and environment, created by coaches and parents has limited the performances and development of players in their quest to win. Our youth game has become filled with a cowardly attitude where defeat means failure. Unfortunately this approach favours ‘functional’ play over expansive and creative football…and has ultimately led to a culture of ‘mediocrity’.
The obsession with winning has stopped education, learning and creating skilful and creative players. The problem is many of our young footballers are being placed in the hands of coaches who are not skill ‘developers’ but skill ‘destroyers’.
For all the well-meaning coaches who proclaim their wishes to play good football and promote the use of skill…as soon as these coaches get in the ‘heat of the battle’ they forget that they are developers of talent and instead focus solely on the result.
So what should actually be happening at this level? Well for me players should be developed who possess skill, self-confidence and creativity. What is needed are coaches who actually put player development at the forefront of their coaching and who think long term about their players and their objectives.
The path to 10,000 hours is rarely because of the individual alone, and as Anders Ericsson argues - never ‘fortunate’ or ‘natural’. The development of expertise comes about in part due to strong support, from an early age, from a parent or coach and has clear implications for the future development of the child. Therefore having positive guidance and coaching at a young age is essential.
A coach should enhance a young players talent. Take Lionel Messi; from a young age and upwards he was given the freedom to nurture his skills…which other players are often denied. He was given the freedom to express his skills, especially his ability to run with the ball and beat the opposition. This was promoted all the way through his development…it was never limited! And now look at the player we see today.
We seem to believe that we are behind other nations, that our players aren’t as good as other countries. Now this isn’t necessarily the case, however what I would say is that our players seem to lack the tactical nous and intelligence which true creativity and genius requires. This is down to the coaching young players receive. You see it would be unfair to blame the players, it is not their fault! Young footballers are simply the products of the environments they have developed in.
And because of the style of coaching and the landscape afforded to many young players, practice conditions develop a certain type of player. Basically for too long our culture and practice environments neglected the ability to master short passing, play killer passes with the weight and precision required, to have genuine 1v1 excellence and to retain the ball under pressure effectively.
So what is a 1v1 player? What is a 1v1 skill? For me it is a player who can retain the ball under pressure, protect the ball from a defender, create space to find a pass, shot or to dribble and to beat a player with a skill, a feint to move a defender and create space to exploit. It is a player who has the knowledge of space and time, perception awareness and the skill levels to know which skill to use to create and exploit space and the confidence and composure to have the ball and not panic or rush under pressure. To be composed under pressure and to make good decisions.
How we do create these type of players? We need to put players in these situations and educate players about the decisions they can make and the skills needed to retain, protect and create when they have the ball.
A skill revolution!
“Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up.”
Pablo Picasso
Why have many of our 'creative' genius' struggled to impose themselves within teams? Well, while other cultures seem to embrace the creative genius, revolve the team around them and hold them in the highest regard, we seem to look at these players as liabilities, or luxuries. It is a real shame.
My biggest fear these past few decades has been that our culture appears to have distrusted skill and creativity and we have suffered because of it. It seems that we have not been able to fully appreciate or nurture creative talent, yet this feels like it’s changing.
So it is pleasing that we are seeing the emergence of a new culture, new environments and beliefs. I believe this corresponds with the quality of the FA’s youth modules, helping to educate youth coaches on what their role and environment is all about. How to nurture young talent.
I believe the quality of Academies and the investment in coaching has helped produce better environments and yes I believe the influx in younger coaches, perhaps who haven’t played professional football, or at least though that believe and value skill and creativity, are creating better environments to help players flourish.
I believe that the football of Arsenal under Wenger, the quality of Cristiano Ronaldo and his impact on English football, the love of Barcelona and their style, players like Ronaldinho, Iniesta, Xavi and Messi, these have all have helped to inspire and motivate coaches and players to develop these type of players.
A skill revolution has hit our shores, pushing away the burden of distrust and dislike of skill. A positive approach to skill and creativity, over the flicks and tricks mentality when people see a player like Neymar. We are starting, as a culture, to appreciate and love skill!
With social media, people like F2 freestylers, and the ability to see highlights of great players, has allowed more opportunity to view and share skills, meaning that more players are having the chance to develop their skills.
And finally, I believe the return of street football has helped nurture the skilful players, helped their touch, skills, 1v1 effectiveness and harden them in tough environments. Players are now being developed in cages, playing SSG’s, challenging themselves away from the eyes and control of adults.
A new generation emerging - one born on the streets?
It’s clear there’s a new generation of players emerging, and in the case of Sancho we are seeing this most notably out of London. A new generation of players in England are emerging from inner city, multi-cultural areas across the country. And London is the hotbed of the talent right now. Rory Smith’s wrote an excellent article in the New York Times titled “Premier League Proving Grounds”, where he looks at how London is nurturing this new generation of talented footballers he says;
“About 14 percent of the English-born players in the Premier League last year hailed from the 10-square-mile stretch that composes south London. Most of them grew up in these housing complexes, with their first exposure to soccer coming not on lush green fields but on the ball court — an AstroTurf field enclosed by a wire mesh fence — that is at the center of many of them. These modest, worn spaces are often the only sports ground available to the thousands of children, often black or another minority, who live in the surrounding tower blocks.”
It’s this street football culture which for many appears to have been lost in the past two decades. The culture which many argue has cost us the development of players today. But not for these young lads. They are proving how important this environment is for the development of players. These environments provide lots of practice and opportunity to play, and to find out those who can deal with the demands not just of football but of the social challenges which come with it. Deal with the pressures of this environment, emerge out of it positively, and that nice world of state of the art Academies can be a breeze.
As Smith says; “The cages provide the perfect breeding ground for young professionals. Games take place most nights, and for much of the day on weekends, either in chaotic pickup matches or impromptu winner-stays-on tournaments. The cages with the loftiest reputations — Tabard Gardens, the Damilola Taylor Center — draw players and teams from across south London, competing not just for personal pleasure but also for local pride.
Watched by dozens of onlookers, the games are raucously competitive and a chance to enhance social status. Speed and strength are paramount, but the emphasis is on individual brilliance, imagination, technical mastery. It is a macho, unforgiving environment, where losing collectively or individually — being nutmegged, for example — carries a social stigma.”
We need more free to play cages across the country. Because right now the cost of hiring pitches at places like Powerleague and Goals are ridiculous!
Look at the French national team. You see an ethically diverse group of players, players whose heritage comes predominantly from African countries. Not too uncommon from the France side who won the World Cup in 1998. Ethnic minorities who have have their communities in these large European cities are prefect breeding grounds for talented young players. Not to generalise too much but these families don’t often have the money to afford the things which can be a distraction to young kids. Where middle class kids have their computers and technology, or are being ferried to after school activities every night, these kids just play football outside with their friends and community.
A fantastic documentary on Netflix called Concrete Football looks at what is happening in the Paris suburbs within communities of lads playing on their estates in their cages. The intensity of the games, the love of skill and creativity, and how players are emerging from the streets. It's not all nice and lovely, it's hard, demanding and competitive. For those who emerge from these environments, they are toughened and skilful to excel in the world of football.
When you listen to players who emerge from South America, or those who come out of France, particularly these Paris suburbs, or the new wave of Moroccan players who are 2nd generation in countries like France, Belgium and Holland, you are seeing that the development of young players occurs best on the streets. When young Brasilians are honing their skills in the cages, and playing futsal, they are developing the skills needed to deal with the game, physically, mentally and socially.
These lads play all the time, almost unwittingly honing their skills. And often they are doing it without the gaze and command of an adult or a coach. They are learning how to protect themselves, how to stick up for theirselves, how to lead, manage and develop character. Developing leadership and character. Are Academies too nice and safe?
One has to ask if the Academy system as a whole is doing a good enough job at developing these type of player? It is no surprise that academies are now starting to change their scouting away from the grass pitches to the cages. And that the coaching methodologies are seeking to replicate this element of self-play. However it’s not easy to replicate. Attempting to give players ‘free play’ in a structured time and space setting is an issue. There’s a falseness in the Academy system when it comes to ‘letting players play freely’. But it’s important to find a way.
A changing culture
We are seeing and are now starting to appreciate that perhaps our strict coaching methods, our restrictive ideas and style has not been conducive to producing players who can deal with the modern and future game. We adore the skilful players who come from Brasil yet have too often restricted our own players in their expression and creativity. This is now changing.
Our culture, one which is more diverse and multi-cultural, is seeing a new generation of footballers emerge from it’s streets and cages. Players with more edge to their game with the skills and creativity needed to succeed.
And street soccer’ developed key social skills too, with no coaches telling players what to do, having to make decisions and look out for themselves. Developing confidence, leadership, expression, friendship and, importantly, competitiveness - areas of concern with the modern player in a world where social interaction happens more on phones and computers than face to face.
Street football has re-emerged, and with it we are seeing a skill revolution. Which fortunately, Academies are engaging with, promoting and embracing. All of this therefore leading to a new culture and appreciation of skill. Meaning – greater emphasis and promotion of skills, creativity and positive reinforcement to practice. Leading to more creative talents. Hurrah!
Mistakes happen - embrace them!
So how can we help nurture and develop creativity? I believe it comes down to practice. Working on techniques, experimenting, trial and error. And this process requires a lot of failure and mistakes. That's part of the process.
The problem is that still today too many coaches distrust ‘skill'. They worry that it may lead to a mistake which could lead to conceding a goal. Instead of seeing the value in trying new things, too many coaches effectively forbid the use of skill in games. "Don't do that! Play simple!"
Look, the truth is players will make mistakes and young players will make many of them, yet mistakes should be viewed as a key learning tool, because they are very important for a player’s development. For players to develop they require a challenging environment and, of course, they need to make mistakes.
The idea of stretching the player beyond their current levels is important for progression. And in doing so, players will make mistakes along the way!
Mistakes are not crimes; they not an indictment of poor performance but a necessary characteristic of skill development. Unfortunately a vicious cycle is produced where players are fearful of making mistakes, which results in a lack of development and improvement. We therefore fail to produce creative artists on the pitch, because they never get the chance to experiment & learn!
The problem is compounded further because players do not want to try new things for fear of criticism and being shouted. Too many youth football coaches have created players who are fearful of making mistakes, as the coaches anger and intimidation has restricted and destroyed creative players, instead promoting functionality, physicality and fight over skill and creativity. Just imagine how many players could have been stars had they not been put in this kind of environment.
Creating a positive environment
The best coaches are those who understand that mistakes and errors happen and who actively seek to challenge players in order to test and further them.
Ask this question to a young player training or a game, “Did you enjoy it?” I wonder how many do. Many environments seem to think you have to be hard and aggressive to be ‘elite’, ridiculous! Enjoyment fuels motivation which makes players want to work harder and practice more. You can create a demanding, hard working and challenging environment without shouting and screaming at the players.
And this environment will produce more expressive players who play without fear. Elite development can still come about with this approach, in fact I believe it will produce more players of the level we require!
The truth is that the environment in academies is too critical for players to develop. Being competitive is important but the development of players is the key part of academy football. Unfortunately, this is not always the case. Results are seen above performance and development, and too many players are asked to fill their specific role and are not allowed to express themselves in case of making errors.
Young players enjoy trying new things, learning new skills, experimenting and developing. Too many coaches however deny this enjoyment, restrict what they can do and limit the players expression and ultimately development. All for what? The result on the weekend?! How disappointing.
The best environment for a young player is one which offers enthusiasm, enjoyment and which, importantly, allows for expression and creativity without the fear of being reprimanded if a mistake is made. This is the type of culture and environment which will produce creative and technically confident players.
As Messi says “You must remember soccer is a game to have fun and you play for that.”
If we wish to develop creative players then creating the right environment is one of the most importance roles that a coach has. This environment is hugely significant for the future development of a young footballer.
Creative = intelligence
What separates the very best players is their level of game intelligence. For me it may be the most important ability on the football field. There are many players who possess excellent skills yet don’t translate this into games well enough. It is this game intel aspect which is the missing component for many.
Horst Wein believes that “A high level soccer player is only possible when making constant use of game intelligence.” And with 98% of the game spent without the ball in many players cases, this aspect of focus, concentration and tactical intelligence in and out of possession is fundamental. Are we focusing and developing on these key areas?
Average players make decisions on receipt of the ball, when it is too late. The best players, those who possess game intelligence, are able to ‘read the game’ and make good decisions as quickly as possible. In doing so, they are able to exploit spaces and opportunities quickly and effectively. Before receiving the ball a player should be fully aware of the situation and ‘pictures’ which are around him. Therefore the ability to play in the future is about recognising situations and seeing opportunities early.
And how can coaches develop this? Well players have to be systematically exposed to games, “which unlock and stimulate their creativity and game intelligence.” Games help to develop awareness and understanding, help players make real game decisions. Wein believes that too many coaches treat young players with disrespect by not challenging them and pushing them. He argues that from the earliest ages, “Players must be exposed to game situations in ever-increasing complexity.”
Playing games, rather than just isolated drills, is a key factor in developing game intelligence. Through games there is a constant change of pictures and decisions. Players must be exposed to this and develop their understanding, vision and awareness. And it's important to understand that it is not easy to implement this kind of approach - it takes time, patience, and great coaching.
By putting players in progressively tight areas which involve competition – this could be 1v1 games as well as 3v3/4v4 SSG's or building up to larger formats - the development of acute footballing decisions is increased. Learning processes are enhanced and the freedom to make errors on a player’s journey to becoming a professional enables them to be develop into a master decision maker.
More imagination and innovation in coaching and academies will allow player development to flourish much more.
Wanting to develop creativity and being able to do it are two different things. It takes courage from both coach and player to persevere and show the patience required for creativity to shine. Many will falter along the journey, falling for the safe options and taking an easier path. Coaches may lose their bottle when results appear to go against them, falling for short termism over long term gains. It is perhaps why so few are genuinely creative in their ways; the fear of failure, a pathway marred by the wrong people.
To have a near perfect continuum of positive development, accounting for perfect conditions of opportunity and progression is not realistic. It is not a magic formula and aspects of luck will determine a player journey. However, we can create better environments to help players continue to develop positively, while challenging and pushing them along the way, positively.
English football is proving that it has the talent. We are seeing a high quality of players coming through now who can rival the best in the world. This is fantastic! We have always had the potential to develop world class players, yet the truth is that too many players have been wasted by fear, negativity, poor methods, styles and coaching. If we continue to Improve the technical and tactical skills, intelligence and creativity of our young players then we can produce a higher quantity of quality players. This will be determined by the environment the players develop within. The responsibility lies with us. Embrace it!
The Whitehouse Address @TheWAddress
Feedback and discussion on the above article is welcomed, you can email me at thewhitehouseaddress@gmail.com
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