Coach the players to know the game, not only the position they are used to play.

"I have to pay attention to the way my teammates play, even the left and right back or the center backs, because you never know what is going to happen in the game"  

Said Gaitan in an interview to Record

«Thats right. The game is CHAOS. And it does not mater the space or position that you usually play. Modern structures are organized in a way that every player in the right context have to play in "unfamiliar situations". The demand, this way, is that every player has to know the global way of the structure, so that they can relate to each other in every moment, without putting in risk the stability of the organization.»

A while ago, a reader questioned us, in a very smart way, what would be the "road to take" in order to put in play the game principles in the begining of the season. «I think the argument is: would it be better to work on sectorial and intersectorial behaviour, where every player plays their role and just their role, or should we make the entire squad know all the positions in their sector.»

The way we think is « On the other side, if we really want to teach, if we really want that the whole is more than the sum of its parts.. we have to teach the game, not the position. The player has to understand what he does, and why he does it, he should not play "by heart".»

The way, for us, should be, teaching the game the way it is today. If in a game, in a certain point, every player pass through every position in the pitch, then... in the begining of the season (first oficial match) they should know how to behave (in a simply way) accordingly to the zone in the pitch where they stand at the moment, and of course, relating to their teammates. In the end, they should behave the way the game asks for. That is knowledge of the game.

In the video, Coutinho did not realized that, for that moment, he was a left back. And if he did realized, he does not know how a left back should behave in that (apparently simple) situation. 

(You can also see this in portuguese, here)

Zonal vs Man versus Man

Did you asked for drama? Gunners and Spurs win in the last minute

Drama begins today they said...

Here it is.

Eric Dier in his debut. Poor controle of the defensive line, should have been in sync and Dier would either be offside or if they have taken a two steps back (in a line) they would have resolved the problem. Late winner for the Spurs, using a player that was not even in the first eleven in his last club

and Ramsey, also in the last minute. Arsenal played his usual passing game, with good positional play but lacking speed circulating the ball. Its not about how much you run, its about moving the ball faster in order to create problems for the defensive organization of the oponent.

Manchester United changed from night to day, with much much less crossing than the year before, but still lacking consistensy. Mata wins new life in this kind of playing style and United fans can expect some exciting games. With 2/3 more weeks we will be able to see if their deffensive organization is better than the Nederlands in the World Cup. It has to be.. otherwise.. no trophys for the United fans. 

Let the drama begin!