The hardest thing for a senior (performance) football coach is to find a blueprint for continuing success as it simply does not exist. Money has too much bearing in relation to world class performance. Unfortunately not everyone has money.
When it comes to youth development, the blueprint for continuing success does exist and performance is planable. You only have to study the facts!
The small-sided games format is now being replicated across youth systems in Germany, following a study by the University of Cologne in 1996. In the study, three games were tried and compared: 11-a-side, 7-a-side and small games such as 5v5 or 4v4. The study, carried out with 6-10 year-olds, found that when they played 11-a-side games on full pitches the youngsters were getting less touches, especially in the midfield area. The 7-a-side game had a similar outcome with hardly any build-up in midfield and less creativity was being used because all the goals were coming from long passes out of defence. The 4-a-side game was the best outcome as it allowed more technical training rather than a focus on tactics and positions. There were far more shots, far more touches and a number of one-on-one situations, but more importantly, less ground was being covered and it allowed the players to concentrate on what they were doing with the ball.
This simple study has revolutionised the German youth system. The FC Koeln Youth Academy requires players to focus on technique 75% of the time they are on the training field, which is normally around 4 or 5 days a week.
One of the new faces on the German football scene is TSG Hoffenheim which only won promotion to the top-flight a couple years ago. Owner Dietmar Hopp has invested heavily in infrastructure and has refrained from spending big on individuals stars. Hoffenheim now has one of the most recognised youth programs in German football with three basic stages of training:
1. The youngest are encouraged to have fun in football with the club investing £3m a year into community coaching.
2. The basic level is based on small-sided games from the Cologne study which allows fun, competitive and technical games to be carried out.
3. In the intermediate section, players are taught tactical positions along with the technical skills which they want to ‘groove into the player’.
Only when players reach 15-16 years of age do they look at 11-a-side games with tactics. Some clubs in Germany have actually begun looking at 9-a-side and 10-a-side games before making the step-up to the 11s.
Germany is beginning to exert itself as the superpower of world football. Their domestic league is thriving with a huge core coming from the German youth system which has enjoyed serious financial investment. The new development programs are flourishing with more and more talented youngsters emerging in the top leagues in Europe.
Question: If powerhouses like Germany are implementing this system in their youth development yet here in Australia the under-12 youth start playing 11-a-side then how on earth can we close the gap?
If you already behind, you need to do better than the leaders. When I observe local football every weekend and see the technical deficits players possess then I believe we need to play small-sided games as long as we possibly can and that means longer then the world leaders!
Australian football experts please wake up!
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