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English Premier League, Spain´s La Liga and Italy´s

Serie´s A – What´s Different?

Hugo Sarmento1,2

, Antonino Pereira2, Nuno Matos

3, Jorge Campaniço

4, Maria T.

Anguera5 and José Leitão

4

1High Institute of Maia (Portugal)

2Polytechnic Institute of Viseu (Portugal)

3University of Coimbra, Centro de Estudos Biocinéticos

4University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro (Portugal)

5University of Barcelona (Spain)

Abstract

Our study aimed to understand which aspects are most important by

coaches in the characterization of the three best European Football

Leagues (English Premier League, Spain´s La Liga and Italy´s Serie´s

A). The sample included 8 expert high-performance Portuguese First

League football coaches. Semi-structured interviews were carried out

and data were analysed through Content Analysis.

The interviewed coaches believe that what distinguished the style of play

in the different leagues is due essentially to: cultural factors; strategic-

tactical factors; and, specific players’ skills. They considered that: the

English league is characterized by a direct style of play; the Italian

league continues to be characterized by the defensive tactical rigor; and,

the Spanish league favors the aesthetic side of the game and having

greater control over throughout the game.

Our coaches felt that what mostly differentiates these teams is culturally-

influenced whereby distinct ways of playing have been created through

history. In addition, they also referred to strategic and tactical aspects,

players’ characteristics and the coach's philosophy.

Appreciating the cultural aspects that contribute to the creation of

distinct playing styles may be useful for coaches who work in new

clubs/cultures and want their players to adapt to his methods and

improve performance.

Key words: Football, Coaching, Playing style

International Journal of Performance Analysis in Sport

2013, 13, 773-789.

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1. Introduction

Three of the best football leagues in the world include the English Premier League,

Italy’s Serie A, and Spain’s La Liga. These three leagues have dominated both the most

prestigious individual FIFA Ballon d’Or, World Football Player of the Year Award and

the esteemed team trophy of the UEFA Champions League (Obserstone, 2011).

Although football is considered a universal language, there are particularities that

characterize the way it is practiced in several countries, which is the result of a set of

historical, social and cultural aspects specific to each nation (Brown, 2008; Castelo,

2009; Hamil, Walters, & Watson, 2010; Nogueira, 2011; Wharton, 2007). Overall, the

style of English football is known as “Kick and Rush” (Crolley, Hand, & Jeutter, 2000),

the Italian as “Catenaccio” (Foot, 2007), and the Spanish as “Fúria Española” (Goig,

2007), depending on the form they choose to perform a game characterized by ball

possession or by direct play to get to the opposing goal, but also due to the impetuosity

that players put in the game itself, together with their natural ability to relate with the

ball.

The literature in the field of sociology and anthropology (Atherton, Turner, & Russell,

2001; Brown, 2008; Goig, 2007; Guschwan, 2007; Győri Szabó, 2011; Hamil, et al.,

2010; Hargrave, 2007; McFarland, 2007; Nogueira, 2011; Rodríguez-Díaz, 2007; Stone,

2007) provides important insight into the aspects described above. Unfortunately, there

is a lack of research comparing the different professional football leagues used in this

study (La Liga, Premiership, and Il Calcio). The available studies that investigated the

different leagues have essentially focused on: i) anthropometric data (Bloomfield,

Polman, Butterfly, & O`Donoghue, 2005); ii) technical aspects (Dellal et al., 2011;

Obserstone, 2011); and iii) motor activity data (Dellal et al., 2011).

Although there is a vast literature (Carling, Reilly, & Williams, 2009; Carling, Williams &

Reilly, 2005; Hughes, 2008) devoted to match analysis, to the best of our knowledge no

studies have focused on the coach’s view on match analysis. Since coaches play a

crucial role in the game, it seems pertinent focus on studies where coaches can actively

participate, contributing with their knowledge and experience for a deeper

understanding of the performance of players and teams.

It is known that in the academic context, Sports Sciences has, for many years and still

today, mostly developed their research within the positivist paradigm (Munroe-

Chandler, 2005). Positivism, focus on external and measurable world events and

therefore states that science can only understand what is observable and measurable by

the five senses. The latter also means that anything that is subjective, since it cannot be

seen or measured is not real. For instance when trying to understand the sports

phenomenon, the "life" of athletes or coaches, their thoughts, perspectives, views and

emotions assume a significant importance and therefore, the assumption of an objective

interpretation of reality becomes difficult and incomplete. As a result, qualitative

research has been gaining interest and has progressively been more used in Sport

Sciences in the pursuit of a greater understanding of interiors, i.e. subjective and inter-

subjective phenomenon (Dale, 1996; Munroe-Chandler, 2005).

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O´Donoghue (2010) presents in a detailed way the main strengths for the use of this

type of data in the context of sport performance. The author notes that performance

analysis methods can identify some particularities in a specific context but, in others,

they cannot explain them. Therefore, the use of interviews with coaches and/or athletes

can be valuable to explain certain aspects of performance. Specifically in football, some

authors have recognized the importance of these type of methodologies and developed

their research using interviews to: i) investigate what professional coaches observe in

the game and how they evaluate and intervene based on their observations (Sarmento,

Pereira, Campaniço, Anguera & Leitão, 2013); ii) investigate the role of performance

analysis in the coaching process of a professional soccer club and the perspectives of

both professional players and coaches in relation to its use (Mackenzie & Cushion,

2013); iii) expose the views of professional coaches regarding the detected patterns of

play in the teams of Manchester United, Inter Milan and F.C. Barcelona (Sarmento,

2012).

However, Bishop (2008) considers that the transfer of research results in sports science

to practice remains poor, with researchers being criticized for failing to study problems

relevant to practitioners. This statement is most likely due to the partiality posture

assumed by science, which leaves an important part of reality (i.e., interiors) mostly

unacknowledged, making the transfer of theory to practice harder to apply. As such, it

was our aim to develop this work using coaches who work as professionals in this area.

We chose to listen to the opinion of elite football coaches in order to bridge the

aforementioned limitation.

We also wanted to understand which aspects in the characterization of playing styles of

the different soccer leagues are the most important for coaches. The English, Italian and

Spanish Leagues have been chosen for this study because they are considered by the

International Federation of Football History and Statistics (IFFHS), the three strongest

European Leagues of the 1st Decade of the 21

st Century. In order to allow coaches to

consider the wider context of the leagues they play in, the analysis focused also on the

three teams - Barcelona, Inter Milan and Manchester United - that won their respective

leagues in the season prior to the data collection.

2. Methods

2.1. Participants

We chose 8 expert high-performance Portuguese first league football coaches (Coach 1

to Coach 8) with a professional experience (as first coach) ranging from 2 to 30 years

(14.9 ± 8.6 years). All coaches, who were initially selected to participate in the study

and who accepted the invitation, were coaching professionally at the time the interviews

were taken, and had worked at some point in their careers as Head coaches in the

Portuguese League.

Because of the in-depth character of each interview, the interpretational nature of the

analysis, and the number of the teams in the first league (n=16), 8 coaches were

considered representative and met the objectives of the study, as well as the criteria of

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expert selection (previous experience as Head coach in the first Portuguese League;

UEFA Pro licensed coach).

2.2. Instruments

We used semi-structured interviews to collect the data (Bardin, 2008; Flick, 2005); the

advantages of using this type of interview are diverse when compared to other methods

of data collection (Flick, 2005; Quivy & Campenhoudt, 2005). The interview guide was

designed to identify the most relevant issues for the coach so that a further in-depth

exploration could be done.

The certification of the content validity of the interview was done according to common

qualitative research methods (Strauss & Corbin, 1990). More specifically, it was

attained after preparation and discussion of previous drafts of the transcript, based on

the following steps: i) preparation of first draft of the transcript based on the specific

aims of the study and available literature (Castelo, 2009; Carling et al., 2005; Knudsson

& Morrison, 2002); ii) evaluation of the interview transcripts by three senior researchers

in sports pedagogy, who have substantial experience with qualitative methods; iii)

discussion of findings based on the presented suggestions by each; iv) a pilot study done

with a Portuguese first league coach; v) minor adaptations to the transcripts resulting

from the reflections of the pilot study: vi) resubmission of the updated version of the

transcripts to the experts; this, ultimately resulted in the final version of the interview

guide.

2.3. Data Collection

All the interviews were done by the first author, between December 2011 and February

2012, in a relaxed setting (normally in the office) at the football academies where the

different coaches work. The interview began by stating the general information about

the purpose of the project. Next, the interviewer focused on background and

demographic information. And finally, a more in-depth exploration of the topic

followed. None of the interviews were rushed, and the coaches had time to clarify and

reformulate their thinking. Each interview took between 1 and 2½ hours and was

transcribed verbatim (223/59 pages).

2.4. Data analysis

The objective of the analysis was to build a system of categories that emerged from the

unstructured data and that represented the organization and utilization of expert high-

performance football coaches' view of the topic.

Data analysis was performed using content analysis (Bardin, 2008), and through

combining inductive and deductive approaches, the text units were coded and text units

with comparable meanings were organized into specific categories. Three researchers

conducted the analysis independently to ensure that the resulting classification system

was suitable and best fitted the data. The software QSR NVivo 9 was used in coding the

transcripts of the interviews.

The initial data analysis revealed 10 categories of data related to the different leagues

and 8 categories of data concerning the different teams; for each situation these

categories were grouped in 4 final categories.

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3. Results

3.1. In relation to the different leagues

Given that our purpose of study is not common in studies in this area, we sought to

explore the understanding coaches have regarding the differences (i.e. technical and

physical capacities of players, type of sport leaders, type of coaches, fans, referees, etc.)

that characterize the playing style of the three leagues.

The results (figure 1) allowed the inference of an interesting and surprising fact, i.e. that

coaches take cultural factors as more important when compared with strategic-tactical

factors. In addition, they referred the specific characteristics of the players (physical and

technical) and less often, the characteristics of the referees.

Figure 1. Representation of the aspects that most contribute to each of the football

leagues’ playing style.

Cultural factors are the most often referred to by coaches as a source for the differences

that characterize the professional football leagues. These cultural issues are of various

kinds, in particular issues related to politics, economy, fans, culture of sports leaders

and historical aspects of the different nations.

As stated previously, there several have focused on the analysis of the aspects described

above (Brown, 2008; Goig, 2007; Guschwan, 2007; Győri Szabó, 2011; Hamil et al.,

2010; Hargrave, 2007; McFarland, 2007; Nogueira, 2011; Rodríguez-Díaz, 2007; Stone,

2007; Wharton, 2007), with little research on the influence that these variables have on

the playing style of each of these championships (Milby, 2006). Castelo (2009)

considers that one of the factors underlying any organization (of a football team) is that

its activity cannot develop and improve unless it is made up of a set of values and goals

that are shared by its members.

Main factors contributing to the playing style of each

football league

Figura 4.5 – Representação gráfica das categorias

relativas aos aspetos diferenciadores das Ligas

Strategic-Tactical Factors (n=40)

Cultural Factors (n=45)

Characteristics of players (n=24)

Characteristics of referees (n=14)

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Larson (2001), alluding to the operating model that differentiates the developmental

levels existing in playing style proposed elsewhere (Olsen et al., 1998), states that there

are many socio-cultural factors that may influence the strategy or philosophy of a

team’s playing style, such as tradition, culture, social class, identity, or history. Our data

supports the literature since to our coaches the aspects related to culture, history, and

tradition of the people and the club itself determines, to some extent, the playing style of

the different teams.

"... Because it's historic, it’s the matrix of their game ... (...) we cannot dissociate

the social issues from the cultural ones, or even the weather. (...) The Anglo

Saxon countries are generally much more organized, much more structured,

they plan according to longer deadlines, and this is also apparent in the

organization of football teams, clubs, and administrations, obviously. (...) We

are from Latin origin, we’re more emotional, much warmer but also much less

rational. Here you have, once again a cultural matrix of reasons, and the

weather which in itself influences people's way of being and their mental state."

(Coach 1)

“English people’s conservative nature mixed with a country that is socially

much more stable compared to other countries (...) But I think the genesis is

their education and training, and their conservative mode, which provides much

more support compared to what happens with the Spanish, for example. (...) It’s

something that’s part of English culture, forward, forward is the way…" (Coach

2)

One of the factors that coaches most often refer regarding the influence on the team’s

playing style relates to the type of public. Although several studies have focused on the

behavior of football fans, in particular in Spanish (Ball, 2003; Wharton, 2007), English

(Brown, 2008; Nash, 2001) and Italian (Foot, 2007; Guschwan, 2007) leagues, they

focused their analysis on organized cheerleading, its relations with the political system,

and violence. However, understanding the influence that fans have on a team’s playing

style failed to be studied, whilst being a factor that contributes to the view that our

interviewees hold.

"... We work for the fans, if our fans want intensity and virility we'll give them

this. If our fans aren’t bothered with how we win, only the result, we play for the

result, which is to win regardless of how we play." (Coach 3)

"The fans constrain and directly influence the team’s playing style. At the end,

they can have a strong influence in the coaches’ work…“(Coach 4)

We found previously that the specific features of supporters exert a direct influence on

the playing style of the different professional football leagues. Fans from different

countries, with different stories, cultures and traditions have specific dynamics that

influence how they perceive and experience football that.

Our coaches considered, unanimously, that the English fans are those who live in a

more pronounced way the "game by the game", unlike the Spanish and Italians, who

decide how to support their team depending on the final score, also showing more

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aggressive behaviors. This is consistent with the literature (Guschwan, 2007), which

considers that the Italian fans have won recognition for their passion for the sport, but

also for their violent behavior, demonstrated contrasting attitudes that can go from love

to violence and in a sense make them “actors” in the game.

"It is clear that the English fans are characterized by a culture of support, even

when the team is losing, they never stop shouting, they always help (...) I've been

to a few Italian matches, and I felt that the Italian fans are worse than the

Spanish, I suppose; more demanding... " (Coach 2)

“I think that the fans can affect a team’s playing style. Such strong support as

seen by the English fans, and the support or lack of it that systematically is seen

in Spain or Italy, that positive and negative commitment that quickly turns as a

result of the different phases of the game is characteristic of teams from Latin

origin.” (Coach 5)

Another particularity mentioned by the coaches as being influential on the teams

playing style, is the culture and views of the club directors. As fans (since they also are

fans), the directors are influenced by a set of experiences arising through the history and

culture of their countries that often leads them to behave in manners that also have

political motivations underneath. Depending on the country, leaders can use clubs as a

form of social climbing, but also as a means for political socialization, since the fans of

these clubs eventually share the same ideas and beliefs (Wharton, 2007). Our

respondents believe that the cultural views of club directors and leaders can even

influence how they manage their teams.

"The English clubs keep their presidents for 40 years, or 50 years (...) The

culture of directors directly shapes the way teams play because the players know

that the coach is not going to leave; will be kept. The players that are less

comfortable with their position as substitutes already know who the coach is and

that its with that coach that they have to work, and therefore they won’t be

waiting for another coach to come that may potentially give them better chances

to play. As such, the stability with which coaches work in the Premiership is

highly contrasting, even though, more recently this stability is also emerging in

Spain. " (Coach 5)

Moreover, the coaches stated that the differences observed in the different leagues also

stem from particular strategic and tactical aspects. In this context, all coaches are

unanimous in recognizing that the football played in Italy is characterized especially by

its strong tactical component and defensive rigor. Foot (2007) states that the Italian

teams have been “accused” since the 50s of being extremely defensive. One of the

coaches however, believes this to not to be true because in reality what one finds is that

Italian teams are simply much better in defending than the other European teams.

“Italian football is very tactical. When they lose the ball, the first objective is to

create a block, usually in a low intermediate positioning, to close spaces at the

entrance of your area. It’s a much colder football, more mathematical and much

less romantic. Sometimes not so enjoyable to watch.” (Coach 1)

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"Both the Italian national team and other Italian teams have won extremely

important trophies playing essentially with a consistent defensive organization

and performing counterattacks (...) Tactically they are extremely rigid and fulfill

the defensive and offensive tasks with a very high degree of accuracy, and this

aspect comes out in their game ... " (Coach 6)

In regard to English football, the coaches considered that it is still characterized by its

"pure" side, in which the strategic aspects do not assume the same importance as in

other championships, although this was not an unanimous position for all our

respondents.

“... English football still has a lot of purity in the game; it’s a game in which the

cynicism, the tactical aspects and especially the strategic aspects are not as

important... In essence, the strategy doesn’t exist in the English game. It’s their

pure way of playing.” (Coach 4)

“…They play for the pleasure of playing, the pleasure of attacking, but there is

no balance in their game [England], there is less control of the game. I can’t tell

if many English teams that could only rely on their physical capacity, would do

well in a championship here in Portugal. These teams from mid-table down… I

don´t know if they would survive playing in our league that way.” (Coach 7)

In contrast, they consider that the football played in Spain has features that have it be

placed between the characteristics of English and Italian football. Although not so tactic

as the Italian, and not so "pure" as the English, it has a little of both, resulting in a better

interpretation of the game’s moments and great technical quality of the players.

"Spanish football is in between the Italian and English football. It is not so open

and pure as the English, it’s more constructed, more elaborate (...) Spanish

football has more plasticity in the moments of the game, the teams are able to

interpret more moments of the game, as a function of the game and of the

context, when compared with the desire to always play well. .” (Coach 4)

"Spanish football is a bit of both (English and Spanish), it’s organized tactically,

and known by its great quality..." (Coach 2)

In line with what has been referred elsewhere (Ball, 2003; Crolley et al., 2000; Foot,

2007; Goig, 2007; Milby, 2006; Wharton, 2007), the coaches also described some

specific characteristics in playing style in each of these championships. English football

for instance is characterized, even today, by a direct game "Kick and Rush", and for its

physical aspect. Spanish football however, stands for its technical beauty, and the Italian

game continues to be dominated by a rigorous defensive tactics and for the offensive

transitions to the counter-attack, the so known "Catenaccio".

“A large part of the teams [English] still play a direct football [Kick and Rush],

because it's historic. The matrix of their game is done by skipping stages in the

construction of the offensive phase to eventually reach a quicker goal. (...)The

Italian football is much colder, more analytical, much less romantic. Also,

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sometimes less enjoyable to watch. (...) In Spain, because they play a football

where the ball is constantly circulating, who runs more is the ball, not so much

the players. But that does not mean that there is no intensity in the game; simply,

they prioritize the beauty side of the game, its aesthetic side. " (Coach 1)

“The few times I faced English teams [medium quality teams] the moment we

removed the ball from their possession they felt immense difficulties, whenever

we would give them the ability to have the ball and come with that "long ball

game", we felt enormous difficulties (...) The first thing that comes to my mind in

terms of Italian football is the "Catenaccio"; their defensive organization and

how cold they are in the counter attack - this is Italian football.” (Coach 7)

All coaches recognized that the playing style present in each of these countries,

especially in Spain and England, has been suffering changes over the years. The latter

stems not only due to the organizational structures currently in place for the acquisition

of foreign players, but also to the proliferation of the media and technology, which now

enables live transmission of games in different countries. The latter aspect leads fans to

be more involved in their team’s football, consequently making them more demanding

with their team and players.

Goig (2007) states that Spanish football and especially its national team - dubbed "furia

española" as a result of certain values such as impetuosity and virility - had its origin

mainly through the way Athletic Bilbao playing style evolved; they focused more on

playing well and in the high levels of skill and talented players (Crolley et al., 2000).

“In Spain football has changed over time. I remember when I started watching

football by the time of the 1982 World Cup everyone spoke about the “la furia

española”. Nowadays no one remembers the Spanish fury but they remember the

quality that the Spanish teams present and how they play." (Coach 7)

Some authors consider that English football remains unchanged and anchored to its

past, while other European countries have evolved (Crolley et al., 2000). The opinion of

the coaches interviewed is in line with the literature (Kuper & Szymanski, 2010), in that

it has evolved, not only by introducing a considerable amount of foreign players, but

also by the acquisition of several coaches with different playing philosophies.

“The English football has gone through some remodeling. With the introduction

of new coaches and players from other cultures, this has contributed to

improving the quality of the game. It’s a game that is not very artistic, but it’s

very competitive; however, there’s no great wealth from a tactical standpoint.”

(Coach 8)

“In English football, I would say that the high quality or great improvement that

happened has to do with its tactical organization. The teams have become more

organized.” (Coach 2)

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Our coaches considered the Italian football to have suffered the least evolution,

continuing to be strongly characterized by its tactical side with a special emphasis on its

defensive aspect, making less attractive for the fans.

As referred by Foot (2007), the Italian word - "catenaccio" - used to describe its

championship, represents everything bad about football: defensive play, aggressive

fouls and cynicism.

“I think that the Italian football is too attached to the defensive-tactical aspects,

and lost its show. I have no strong motivation to watch an Italian game, because

I don´t like the way the teams play. I think that concept of game has not worked

out. Rarely does an Italian team reach the finals of a European competition, and

therefore I think they are a bit influenced by this; they focus too much on the

tactical-defensive aspects.” (Coach 8)

“I do not really like the Italian football, although its strategic-tactic

organization is strong enough.” (Coach 5)

The players characteristics was also mentioned as a distinguishing feature of the three

professional football leagues under study. Coaches in general highlighted the

importance of the physical dimension of the players who play in England, the technical

dimension of those who compete in Spain, and the tactical dimension of the players that

compete in Italy.

“If we were to use a taxonomy based on a physical, technical, tactical and

strategic dimension, there is no doubt that nine out of ten individuals would say

that the physical dimension in English football is their greatest feature, whilst in

Spanish football it would be their technical dimension, and in Italian football it

would be their strategic-tactical dimension” (Coach 5)

The players’ characteristics in the various leagues are restricted to the playing style of

their own championships. However, the interviewees considered that the introduction of

foreign players and coaches in these championships led to a change not only in the

teams’ playing style, but also in the definition of the typical characteristics of players;

the latter being one of the aspects in which the literature has devoted attention to (Goig,

2007; Kuper & Szymanski, 2010; Larson, 2001; Milby, 2006).

“… in Italian football, there are also fantastic players in what comes to skill-

level. However, the way these teams play makes players much more "tied-up",

much more constrained, while in Spain and England they are much more

"loose". As such, the same players in Spain and England tend to perform better

when compared to previous performances in the Italian Championship.” (Coach

6)

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3.2. In relation to the different teams (Barcelona, Manchester United,

Internazionnale Milano)

When analyzing the specific characteristics of the three teams, the coaches mainly

referred to aspects related to a playing/identity culture of each team that is influenced by

their history, their tradition and a set of values underlying the different clubs (Figure 2).

Figure 2. Graphical representation of the aspects that contribute to the characteristic of

each team’s playing style.

The factors that contribute to the development of such an identity are diverse: different

political ideologies, specific cultural characteristics like the group of players and

coaches who have been in those clubs throughout history (Ball, 2003; Brown, 2008;

Foot, 2007; Goig, 2007; Győri Szabó, 2011; Hamil et al., 2010; Larson, 2001; Milby,

2006; Nogueira, 2011; Wharton, 2007).

“Barcelona has a history and a culture behind that is very difficult to shake and

it becomes a critical success factor. The Barcelona of today has a little of

Barcelona team of Dinus Michell and Cruyff; this is undeniable. And the club

now has established such a solid structure that makes up the teams of those

times.” (Coach 1)

“Barcelona has a playing culture that starts from a young age, in which players

are created and shaped. With Manchester United, there also is a playing culture,

but it has a different dimension, because it will continuously adjust depending on

the players they get.” (Coach 5)

In other words, our coaches described each team’s differences based on strategic and

tactical aspects. Overall, all coaches recognized the quality and merit with which

Main factors contributing to the playing style of each

team

Strategic-Tactical Factors (n=17)

Game Culture/identity (n=18)

Players characteristics (n=14)

Coach Philosophy (n=14)

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Barcelona plays, basing their views on a ball possession that is very difficult to equal by

any other team in the world. In contrast, Manchester United plays in a way where strong

ball possession is primary, but also their ability to play quickly and offensively, through

a more "direct" playing style. Finally, Inter Milan’s style is defined essentially by their

defensive tactical rigor and the capacity to develop effective offensive sequences of

quick attacks and counterattacks.

“I think that Barcelona has a very pronounced positional attack, even with very

specific characteristics. Inter Milan exploring in an obvious way the quick

attacks and counterattacks. Manchester United may potentially be the only team

that includes the three styles in a more even and subtle way.” (Coach 8)

“Inter Milan was the best team in the world in regard to quick offensive

transitions. Barcelona instead, is a team that enjoys ball possession, building ‛if

you like’ passing stations, a huge amount of passing lanes. It’s a team that plays

with the players and very closed sectors where you start equating two attributes:

we must give width and depth and when we have to defend we must be “short”.

Barcelona is the one team in the world that can perform these two field types

[i.e. width and depth] before f winning or losing the ball.” (Coach 4)

The players that form these teams are only one element that can explain the different

ways of playing. As described elsewhere (Ball, 2003; Foot, 2007; Kuper & Szymanski,

2010), our coaches feel that the strong and stable economic situation these teams have

allows them to have players who are perfectly suited to the game’s model, whilst also

contributing to an enrichment of the game shown through extremely high playing skills.

“Manchester United has had the financial capability to contract French,

Portuguese, Spanish and South American players. They went looking for players

who could bring them the end result without having to necessarily show better

game quality. Inter was a highly effective team, it had a mix of players typically

Italian, cynical, tactically worshiped from a defensive organization standpoint,

or a structural one, with a mix of creative players who bring unpredictability to

the game.” (Coach 1)

In addition to the players’ characteristics, the interviewees mentioned that the

philosophy the coach possesses is another aspect that can also influence a team’s

playing style.

“Manchester United is a team that has a national manager coaching it, holding

a typical English style, both in its essence and in its game philosophy. His

experience as a coach led him to create a game concept that is very close to

what is seen in the English teams, but more contrasting to the realities of central

Europe, like Spain, Portugal, or Netherlands, where primacy for quality of play

is paramount.” (Coach 1)

“…I think the great worker of that team [Inter] is their coach, someone who can

show such strong leadership and objectivity. That is, their playing style was

primarily based on someone who knows very well what he wants and what can

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be achieved with the players he had; a great example of a good symbiosis.”

(Coach 5)

4. Conclusions

This work studied the aspects that coaches considered more important when describing

the English Premier League, Spain´s La Liga and Italy`s Serie A. Our project focused

on Barcelona, Inter Milan and Manchester United, winners of their respective leagues in

the sporting season prior to the interviews, providing novel data for the understanding

of the factors influencing a team’s playing style. We found that the coaches views go far

beyond issues related exclusively to tactical, strategic or technical aspects; i.e. they are

strongly influenced by cultural aspects.

Our coaches believe that what distinguishes the football played in the different leagues

is essentially due to cultural aspects (history and people’s culture) and strategic-tactical

factors. However, they also emphasized the importance of the individual skills present

in some of the players.

They considered that English football possesses a much more direct style and privileges

its "pure" side, while the Italian football continues to be characterized by their tactical

defensive rigor. In contrast, the Spanish football is located between the two, favoring

both the aesthetic side of the game and a very strong ball control. In addition, they

consider that the ease with which coaches and players nowadays get hired is also a

crucial factor that was not present a few decades ago.

Regarding the 3 studied teams these coaches feel that what differentiates them are

aspects related to a culture of play/identity specific to each team. This is seen in a

context that takes into account the clubs’ history, which in turn is influenced by factors

like politics, culture and the players and coaches who have been part of the club.

Finally, they also referred to the strategic and tactical aspects, the players’ skills and the

coach's philosophy as aspects that also contribute to differentiating these teams. This

study used eight professional football Portuguese coaches and therefore, the ability with

which one can extend these results must be done with care. It would be important to

find out what coaches from other nationalities have to say in this respect and then

compare the data. In addition, exploring this theme using athletes and directors’ views

will certainly add valuable information into the understanding of the playing style

phenomenon. Understanding the factors that contribute to the different playing styles in

different countries and teams may provide useful information for coaches who want to

more efficiently adapt to their new cultures and implement their playing philosophy.

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Appendix

Interview Guide

PART I

1- Over the years, "match analysis” (observation and analysis of players and teams movement

patterns and dynamics) has gained increased interest. To what extent does match analysis (of

both your team and opposing teams) contribute to the success of your team?

2- There are several aspects that influence the ability to observe. What characteristics do you

consider essential for a coach / analyst to provide an effective observation?

3 - I suppose that you normally observe and study your opposing teams. Who makes this

observation and what resources you use?

4 - The process of observation and analysis of opposing teams gives you relevant information

about the game and the players of these teams. What do you want to observe / know in the

opposing teams and why?

5- After obtaining data from the opposing teams, how do you transfer such type of information

to the players (meetings, videos, cd's, prescription of training exercises, etc.)?

6 - By having all this information, I suppose you feel more prepared for what may occur during

the game. Can you refer to your own performance as a coach whilst watching your team play.

What do you tend to observe more? Why?

7 - The observations you perform during the game allows you to collect data on different events

relating to your team and the opposing team. As you gather this information how do you

intervene during the game (speech, combined signals, changes in the team, etc.)?

8 - Match analysis of your own team is restricted to the effects resulting from the observation

performed in the game itself, or do you take on more detailed analysis after the game, using

video recordings, software requirements, etc.? What information do you want to acquire through

this process?

9 - When you have this information, how do you communicate it to the athletes and how do you

perform your intervention?

10 - Probably, throughout your career you did not always have the same goals/concerns

regarding the observation of the game. Can you describe what have been the main changes that

happened throughout your career in relation to what you observe in a game and what factors

account for this change?

11 - During a game there are many factors influencing the game itself, but the atmosphere

around it also impacts players and may also exert some influence on the quality of your own

observations. Do you think of these variables during the game? What factors do you consider to

have a greater impact in you?

789

PART II

1 - Football is a universal language but it is not the same in all championships, including the

aforementioned championships (English, Spanish, Italian). What features are present in each of

the different leagues?

2 - As I said earlier, I conducted a study focused on the teams of Inter Milan (European

champions), Manchester United (the year that was not champion) and Barcelona (Spain

champion, defeated in the semi-final of the Champions Inter) . How would you describe the

essential features of these three teams?

3 - What methods of offensive game (counter-attack, quick attack, positional attack) you

privilege the most, if any at all and why?

4 - Our study was able to identify certain patterns in the game these teams. I will show you

some of these patterns and ask you to give me your opinion as professional coach. (we will

present to the coaches all the diagrams and videos with the detected patterns of play in our

study).