When I started this page over a year ago I wanted to not only use my account to talk about relational football and comment on tactical phenomena, I also wanted to show that interactions and connections can be the focal point of a methodological framework and a key reference for session design. I've had the privilege of speaking to coaches, academics, methodologists that have helped me refine, articulate and most importantly understand the type of coach I want to be. Over the first few months of this season to coach a reserve team , whilst searching for other roles, and I wanted to use this opportunity to present my ideas and way of working, aided by visual examples from session recordings. I recently shared a thread on x with these videos hoping that they be an insightful resource for those wanting to know how to apply ecological - relational- concepts in a training environment, this article broadens these concepts in more detail. My intention is to also to show those who de...
Sport gives people a sense of identification and personal resonance, yet in the modern game Football is becoming more about cybernetics and controlled mechanisms as tactical approaches get more sophisticated. There is a motion that suggests that the idea of autonomy can simply not exist in modern football, structures are too important and the intensity is far too great, to break away from a match plan designed with militaristic precision risks tilting the pendulum away from control to uncertainty. What happens in the game is often pre meditated and coach coded, coaches seek to eradicate chaos as much as possible and bring the game closer towards the grips of their control, training sessions are designed to expose players to as much familiarity as possible so nothing can be improvised once they enter the pitch. People in the game are talking about this issue, we have noticed a shift in how football looks and feels, people want to return to an era where each game had an air of mys...