Editorial:Puskás Power

Interview:Roy Hodgson

The BarcelonaExperience

Supplyand Demand

René Hüssy –A Tribute

N EWS LET TE RF O R COAC H ES

N O . 36J U N E 2007

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I M P R E S S U MEDITORIAL GROUPAndy RoxburghGraham TurnerFrits Ahlstrøm

PRODUCTIONAndré VieliDominique MaurerAtema Communication SAPrinted by Cavin SA

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSHélène Fors

COVERSir Alex Ferguson of Manchester United (winner of the English Premiership title for the ninth time) living up to the suggestion that managers “kick every ball”.(Photo: Getty Images)

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THE UEFA PRESIDENT, MICHEL PLATINI, WITH MRS

ELIZABETH PUSKÁS.

MANCHESTER UNITED’S CRISTIANO RONALDO AND AC MILAN’S KAKÁ (BELOW) INSPIRE YOUNGSTERS.

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PUSKÁS POWERE D I T O R I A LBY ANDY ROXBURGH,UEFA TECHNICAL DIRECTOR

Four and a half months after the pass-ing of Hungarian footballing icon FerencPuskás, a new football academy bear-ing his name was opened in Felcsút,some 40 km west of Budapest. A heart-felt message from the UEFA president,Michel Platini, another illustrious No.10in the annals of European football, wasread out at the inauguration ceremony:“Ferenc was truly a great among greats.He was one of the most talented foot-ballers ever and a devoted and caringman. A true legend.” Special words fromthe president for an exceptional manwho inspired a generation of youngfootballers during the 1950s and 1960swith his exploits for Hungary and RealMadrid. And few people need to bereminded that his four goals for Real ina 7-3 victory in the 1960 European Cupfinal against Eintracht Frankfurt remains

a record – a distant, tantalising targetfor today’s elite finishers.

Charismatic characters who can inspire others to perform, or to followthe steep route to the top, are pre-cious. Puskás is in this category, and to emphasise this ongoing power, hisenduring influence, the entrance to the new academy has a top step with the footprints and signature of thegreat man embedded in concrete.Hopefully, the symbolism will not belost on the young football apprenticeswho dream of great victories, of won-derful goals, of a hero’s adulation.

Great coaches not only motivate players to perform, but often inspireothers to follow in their career path.How many coaches at grassroots levelwould love to emulate Sir Alex Fergu-son of Manchester United? Some, I’m sure, in the professional game alsoharbour such ambitions. But dreamingis one thing, replicating those who are successful is another. It takes talent,dedication and intelligence to reach the top of the coaching profession –

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being inspired only ‘lights the fire’. Ferenc Puskás had his own role modelsfor coaching. He once said: “You can’t be strong without good coaches. Wehad them – foremostly my father wasunforgettable. Without them we wouldnot have been successful.” And in theaftermath of his playing career, the captain of the ‘Magical Magyars’ provedhe also had the ability to coach a teamwhen he led the unheralded Panathi-naikos to the 1971 European Cup final.Very few, like Ferenc, have taken part in a European Cup final as a player and as a coach. Indeed, only five havewon it in both capacities – MiguelMuñoz, Giovanni Trapattoni, Johan Cruyff,Frank Rijkaard and Carlo Ancelotti.

In addition to front-line participants,those involved in coach education alsohave a key role to play in influencing the future of the game. As the old saying goes: “I teach; therefore I touchthe future.” Inspiring the next genera-tion of coaches to be creative, to havetheir own philosophy, to be curious, to be obsessed by details, and to havemanagerial class is a noble cause, onewhich will have an important influenceon the game’s development.

In the age of wall-to-wall TV coverage of football, the impact of star players like Cristiano Ronaldo or Kaká, can’t beoveremphasised. The elite, whether theyare performers, coaches or educators,will never know the effect they have on those who look up to them, but theymust be aware of the influence theyhave and their responsibility. FerencPuskás, with his humility, humour andgenius, not only collected cups andmedals, but, more significantly, he wonthe hearts and minds of countless fans and ambitious young footballers.Now with the opening of the footballacademy in his name, the power ofPuskás lives on. In a football world ofspiralling salaries and transfer fees, thosewith the aura and ability to inspire thenext generation are priceless treasures.

Ferenc Puskás, in his Hungarian colours, between his Real Madrid team-mates Raymond Kopa and Alfredo Di Stefano.

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ROY HODGSON, THE CURRENT MANAGER OF FINLAND’S NATIONAL TEAM, HAS BEEN

A PROFESSIONAL COACH FOR MORE THAN 30 YEARS, AND HAS SPENT THE BULK OF THAT TIME OUTSIDE

HIS NATIVE ENGLAND. HE STARTED HIS COACHING CAREER IN SWEDEN WITH HALMSTAD BK,

WINNING THE TITLE TWICE IN FOUR YEARS. THEN, AFTER TWO YEARS AT BRISTOL CITY FC, HE COACHED

SWEDISH CLUB ÖREBRO SK TO THE SECOND DIVISION CHAMPIONSHIP. A MOVE TO MALMÖ FF

RESULTED IN A PERIOD OF EXCEPTIONAL SUCCESS WITH FIVE SUCCESSIVE CHAMPIONSHIPS AND TWO

CUPS BEING ACCUMULATED. AFTER WORKING FOR NEUCHÂTEL XAMAX FC IN SWITZERLAND, ROY

TOOK OVER THE NATIONAL TEAM OF THAT COUNTRY AND LED THEM TO THE 1994 WORLD CUP FINALS

AND EURO ‘96. FC INTERNAZIONALE ACQUIRED HIS SERVICES AND HE ADDED A UEFA CUP SILVER

MEDAL TO HIS COLLECTION. SPELLS AT BLACKBURN ROVERS, GRASSHOPPER-CLUB ZURICH,

FC KØBENHAVN (HE WON THE CHAMPIONSHIP WITH THE DANISH CLUB), UDINESE AND THE NATIONAL

TEAM OF THE UNITED ARAB EMIRATES THEN FOLLOWED, BEFORE HE WAS ENTICED TO TAKE CHARGE OF

FINLAND’S NATIONAL TEAM. WITH EURO 2008 AS HIS TARGET, ROY HAS MADE AN IMMEDIATE IMPACT,

AND THE FINNS HAVE HIGH HOPES OF QUALIFYING FROM A VERY DIFFICULT GROUP. NO MATTER

THE OUTCOME OF THE CURRENT CAMPAIGN, ROY WILL SURELY PROVE ONCE AGAIN THAT HE IS A COACH

OF IMMENSE QUALITY. HE IS ENGLISH, HE IS AN OUTSTANDING PROFESSIONAL, HE IS…

I N T E R V I E WBY ANDY ROXBURGH,UEFA TECHNICAL DIRECTOR

ROY HODGSON1 • As the head coach of Finland, whatare the main challenges you have faced?There have been no major problemsbecause the squad was composed ofmany tried and tested players, with a lot of experience. But, of course, in allnew jobs you face some challenges.These could be summarised as theneed to make a good impression on theplayers and the staff, the importance of convincing everyone about yourcoaching ideas and methods, and estab-lishing a good working environment.These have been essential factors herebut would, of course, be important anywhere. But I have to say, there havebeen no dramatic issues to deal with.

2 • In your view, what is the differ-ence between managing a top

club side and coaching a nationalteam?The obvious answer is time. Thetime spent with players and yourability to work on team play is muchmore limited with a national squad.There are fewer matches with thenational team, but each one carriesan element of prestige and pride for your country. On the other hand,you avoid the club management situations like dealing with agents,negotiating salaries, buying and selling players. Both club coachesand national managers, however,can be faced with conflict when itcomes to the release of players fornational team duty. The players areunfortunately stuck in the middle of this debate. Finally, the image you

project is probably even more impor-tant when it comes to national teamsbecause you are representing anation’s football – this is very impor-tant for the national coach to remem-ber. At club level, you can be a littlemore parochial. You can fight for yourclub’s agenda and sometimes youmay even anger others or create jeal-ousy in the country. But the nationalcoach must be aware of his responsi-bility for the way football is perceivedin a country, and that is an importantaspect of his particular role.

3 • How would you describe yourstyle of management?It is not always easy to describe one-self, but I would like to think that mystyle could be considered as studied,

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player-orientated, and with an emphasison preparation and tactics. Because you take on leadership responsibilities,inevitably you have to be somewhatauthoritarian. The game of football does-n’t lend itself to true democracy. Cer-tainly as I get older, I have become moreaware that you can delegate certainthings. For example, the players’ opinioncan be useful when discussing trainingtimes or deciding travel schedules, etc.Indeed, most things to do with the play-ers’ preparation can be open for discus-sion. When it comes down to the majorissues, for example, team selection, howyou are going to conduct your trainingsessions, what you will emphasise, andhow you will deal with any conflict situa-tion which might arise, I don’t think thereis any room for a democratic approach

when dealing with these matters. Playersexpect you to take the lead, becausethat is what you are paid for. But I think it is good to involve them in thingswhich make a big difference to their lifebut don’t compromise your position.

4 • What do you emphasise whenpreparing the national team?Tactical preparation is crucial and I try to make sure that each player knows hisrole and is prepared for any challengeswhich he might face. That can, of course,be specific to the opposition which wewill encounter. I try to make it clear tothe players that the time we havetogether is very limited and we need tomake efficient use of it. The goal is to be like a club side – to be as well organ-ised as possible without the benefit

of working day in and day out. Wewant to avoid wasting any trainingsessions because time is precious.You try to produce an instant gellingof the group and you need to beadaptable to cope with the inevitablecall-offs and enforced changes. Themore club-like you can make theteam, the more security you can givethe players, the better. This is espe-cially the key when you are workingwith a small country. Each playerneeds to feel part of a stable squad of maybe 20-25 players. Very fewnations in the world can field two different teams of top quality. There-fore most have to blend together thesmall group of players who are capa-ble of playing international football.

5 • How has the coaching jobchanged since you started?Thirty-one years of coaching is a longtime, but I resist taking the view that‘distance lends enchantment’. But,unquestionably, there have been sig-nificant changes in the staffing of foot-ball clubs. Today we have everythingfrom nutritionists to high-tech special-ists. For example, when we were inSouth Korea recently, they had videoanalysis at half-time. There is nodoubt that a lot has been done togive the coach more tools and tomake the job easier. But, the crux ofthe job, i.e. standing in front of playersand trying to persuade them that your ideas, your methods, your way of working are worth following, thishasn’t really changed. Whatever kindof help the coach gets from the psychologist and the fitness trainer, he will still have to convince thegroup in front of him that he hassomething to offer them. When Istarted, there was only my assistantand myself, but today many coacheshave a staff of 20 to 30 people. Therehas been an enormous developmentin terms of support, à la Americansports organisations. But I still thinkthe face-to-face communication withthe players and the basic coachinghaven’t changed much over the years.

Roy Hodgson

gives instructions

to Swiss defender Stéphane Henchoz.

Roy Hodgson in the San Siro.

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6 • As someone who has qualified for previous European Championshipand World Cup final rounds, what are the important difficulties a coachfaces when preparing for suchevents?In the qualifying rounds and ‘the finalphase’ the task is to produce a consis-tency of performance, so that the coachknows that his team are not going to let him down. You need to work veryhard to avoid extremes – for example,last month your team was compact, this time you were all over the place.This is particularly significant when working with a national team where the result creates either euphoria or disaster,and has consequences for the players’morale and public expectations. As acoach of a national team you have to avoid extremes, either getting carriedaway because of a good result orbecoming pessimistic after a loss. Whenyou go into a final round you must beaware of what it will mean for the play-ers to be fully concentrated for the dura-tion of the event. Also, they are awaytogether in a different, sometimes claus-trophobic environment. The Italians can usually handle this better than most

because they are used to living in train-ing camps for extended periods of time.Most players don’t have this type ofexperience. Making sure that the playerscan keep some sort of perspective anda reasonable level of enjoyment in theirlives is vital during a final round. Youneed to lighten their load because theywill be under pressure, with all sorts of demands on them. Normally, thefootball and coaching side is the least of your problems, but the care of theplayers on a human level may require a lot of attention. The teams which consistently qualify have a wealth ofexperience in dealing with tournamentplay and this is their advantage.

7 • As someone who has been onboth sides of the fence, what wouldyou do to improve the relationshipbetween club and national teamcoaches?The only way to improve this issue isthrough communication. Both partnersneed to show empathy for the other’sproblems. All coaches agree that it’s not a good idea to put the players into a bad situation. Yet, we consistently do,because each side is thinking about their own needs. Having said that, thecoordinated calendar has made a bigdifference. Certainly within Europe it hashelped, but clubs with South Americanor African players still have major prob-lems. However, the one thing I wouldlike to see is some discussion about thenumber of dates for official matches andfor friendlies. If you are in a big qualify-ing group like ours, then you need touse some friendly dates for officialgames and this can be a disadvantage.In summing up the club versus countrydebate: give and take, common senseand the ability to put yourself in some-one else’s shoes would go a long way tobringing harmony amongst the coaches.

8 • In your opinion, what are the significant trends in top-levelEuropean football, from both a tacti-cal and managerial perspective?From a managerial perspective, thetrend is for a coach to be judged more

quickly and more harshly than in the past.Because of that, there is little scope for a coach to develop his philosophy or hismanagement style because he might not get the results quickly enough to givehim the time. What it has meant, at thehighest level, is that the ability to spendmoney and buy the right players, and toget them to fit in, has become moreimportant than it was in the past whenmore time was given to the manager todevelop the players at his disposal. Todayhe is being judged more on the quality of his buys than on the standard of workbeing carried out on a day-to-day basis.From a tactical viewpoint, we could talkabout a lot of things but I’ll contentmyself with three. Number one is theimportance of the counter-attack and the ability to profit from the turnovers.Secondly, the improvement of athleticismand pace throughout the team. There is no doubt the game is faster and theselection of players reflects this. Andthirdly, there is less high-intensity pressingfrom the front and in advanced areas.This is partly because concern over theinterpretation of the offside law has led teams to play deeper. Sides are stillcompact, but this is mainly in their ownhalf of the pitch.

9 • Having worked in a number of different football environments (e.g. England, Italy, Sweden, Switzer-land, etc.), what are the biggest challenges you have faced in adaptingto each new culture and approach to the game?I must say that I have been lucky and Ihaven’t encountered too many problemson my travels. The language has got to be a key factor. If you can master the lan-guage, this is of enormous benefit. This,of course, helps you to communicate, but it also sends out a message to thecountry that you are not there just toprofit from them, but to take part and tocontribute. In addition, I think it is veryimportant to be open-minded. The worstmistake you can make is suggest that youhave all the answers and your way is theonly way. It’s necessary to keep an openmind and not to dismiss things that are

After his stint with Internazionale, Roy Hodgsonhad another Italian experience, with Udinese.

HANSI MÜLLER,

ANDY ROXBURGH AND

ROY HODGSON AT THE 2007

UEFA GRASSROOTS

CONFERENCE IN HELSINKI. Key

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part of the culture of that country. In anew environment, you often have towork even harder on new relationships –this includes the media, the public, thedirectors. The playing side of it is oftenthe easiest part because football is a universal language and the players willquickly recognise if the coach is anygood. The players will forgive problemsin communication skills and manner if they think you know your stuff.

10 • During your long, varied and successful coaching career, what hasgiven you the greatest satisfaction?There have been three key moments forme. The first championship at HalmstadBK in Sweden – to avoid relegation inthe first season and then to win the titlethe next was very special. The fairytalenature of this first success is an indeliblememory, albeit a long time ago. The fivesuccessive Swedish championship titlesand the two cup triumphs with MalmöFF added up to a major success,because it doesn’t matter which leagueyou are in, it’s difficult to win it year afteryear. And then the two qualificationswith Switzerland for the World Cup andthe European Championship would haveto rank the highest among my achieve-ments. Apart from the results, you alsoget a lot of satisfaction from being recog-nised by your peers, and being acceptedinto the elite football family. You can’t

always be winning trophies and medals,but you can be acknowledged by yourcolleagues as a good coach, and thisbrings its own contentment.

11 • Can UEFA’s top competitions be improved in any way?I’m not sure that there is room for muchimprovement. Looking from the outside,I must say that things are going remark-ably well. I’m sure minor modificationsare being considered all the time. But,for me, the major and decisive movewas made when the UEFA ChampionsLeague was introduced in the early1990s. There was a danger back then of American-style competitions, withtheir franchise system, being imposedon the European game. The idea thatteams can never be relegated and justplay on year after year, no matter whatthe results, was never part of our foot-ball philosophy. The UEFA ChampionsLeague, fortunately, eliminated thethreat. Today, any subtle changes aremade by UEFA in close collaborationwith the major clubs, and that’s good for the game.

12 • What are the key qualities whicha coach requires to be a success?Briefly, I would say a successful coachneeds leadership skills, a talent for read-ing the game, a gift for communication,a capacity for detailed preparation, a

likable personality, a strong character, a sense of perspective, and humility.Books could be written on each of theseaspects of management – some alreadyhave. And when we talk about thesequalities, I remember reading a quotefrom the American John Wooden, whosaid: “Talent is God-given; be humble.Fame is man-given; be thankful. And conceit is self-given; be careful.”

13 • What is your best quality?Two qualities which I prize most in othercoaches are energy and enthusiasm,and fortunately I think I have both. If youare going to be a top coach, you need to have those core qualities. Of course,there are many other attributes whichwe could discuss, but without energyand enthusiasm a coach will struggle,and I hope nobody will ever accuse meof lacking either.

14 • How do you see the future of international football?It is certainly a battle to protect interna-tional football. I hope that the glamour of a few clubs will not have a negativeimpact on the national teams, or indeedon all the football being played aroundthe world. It’s very important that theleagues are healthy in the medium orsmall-size countries, as well as in themajor markets. Here in Finland, the first league needs to be thriving – anyinvolvement clubs have in the UEFAChampions League, no matter whichcountry they are from, must be consid-ered as the ‘icing on the cake’. Interna-tional football, in particular, needs to beprotected because it combines passionfor football and a pride in your country. It would be suicidal to take away theinterest and excitement which the Euro-pean Championship and the World Cupgenerate. These competitions surelycomplement the glamour of the UEFAChampions League and don’t detractfrom it. We need to show the necessaryperspective, clubs and national associa-tions, and be aware of each other’sneeds. The only way we will have a prob-lem is if some people become too greedyand want everything for themselves.

ROY HODGSON

AT HIS FIRST TRAINING

SESSION WITH

GRASSHOPPERS ZURICH

IN 1999.

A training session with

the Swiss national team.

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THE HEAD COACH

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Before going any further, it has to beexplained that the cameo correspondsto the new-format Meridian Cup andConference, where coach educatorsand technical directors and coachesfrom over 100 African and Europeanassociations watched two matchesbetween under-18 teams from bothcontinents, watched the boys training,watched the FC Barcelona first teamtrain at the Camp Nou, took part in discussion groups, and listened to thepresentations which contributed to theconference element. In terms of sheer

PITCH NO. 4 AT FC BARCELONA’S MAGNIFICENT NEW TRAINING COMPLEX AT ST JOAN DESPÍ.

THREE COACHES, EYES SHADED FROM THE SUN BY CAPS, ARE WORKING WITH AN UNDER-18 SQUAD.

BETWEEN THEM, IÑAKI SÁEZ, GINÉS MELÉNDEZ AND JUAN SANTISTEBAN HAVE WON POTS

OF MEDALS WITH SPAIN’S AGE-LIMIT TEAMS AND CAN MEASURE THEIR COACHING EXPERIENCE

IN SCORES OF YEARS. YET, EVEN FOR THEM, THIS IS SOMETHING NEW. THEIR SQUAD MEMBERS

HAIL FROM THE CZECH REPUBLIC, GERMANY, HUNGARY, ISRAEL, THE NETHERLANDS,

NORTHERN IRELAND, POLAND, PORTUGAL, RUSSIA, SERBIA AND SPAIN.

THE BARCELONAEXPERIENCE

numbers and diversity, it went into the logbook as the biggest event thatAndy Roxburgh’s football developmentdivision had ever staged. But, as Iñaki,Ginés and Juan would be the first totestify, this wasn’t an event. It was anexperience.

It could be argued that the threecoaches’ debut at the helm of a Euro-pean team was a one-off diversion from the mainstream of coaching. But it raised a series of interesting ques-tions. Are coaches prepared for the

moment when they might arrive at aclub where the dressing-room is multi-national? This was by no means arhetorical question when, down theroad at the Camp Nou, Frank Rijkaardwas coaching a squad of ten differentnationalities and in a day and agewhen cosmopolitan dressing-roomsare not exclusively encountered in thepremier divisions of European football.

Looking at the other side of the coin,the same thesis can be applied to the players. It was a first and fantasticexperience of life in a multinationaldressing-room, their first matches in a team that united different footballingcultures, and, in many cases, their firstreal contact with news-hungry media.For instance, FC Barcelona’s BojanKrkic, joint top-scorer at last year’sEuropean Under-17 finals and widelyfancied to reach the top, was asked to do so many interviews and photocalls that the club, anxious to keep histalented feet on the ground, becameconcerned about the amount of expo-sure he was receiving. It is no exagger-ation to say that the young playersarrived in Barcelona expecting a foot-ball experience but went home realis-ing that they had walked into a lifeexperience and one which could mark

UEFA VICE-PRESIDENT

GEOFFREY THOMPSON ALSO TOOK PART

IN THE MERIDIAN CONFERENCE.

Kalusha Bwalya (Zambia) analyses the art of goal-scoring with Andy Roxburgh.

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their development as a footballer – and as a person.

Iñaki, Ginés and Juan soon discoveredthat a multilingual dressing-room acts as an excellent censor. Messages haveto be delivered in simple and concisefashion. Training routines need to bedemonstrated rather than explained in detail. Instructions and correctionshave to be delivered with gestures aswell as words.

The challenge facing the Spanish triowas clear: to prepare, starting on Mon-day, a European team to play Africa onthe Tuesday and Thursday, with eachsquad member guaranteed a startingplace in at least one of the two line-ups.In the other dressing-room, Ghana’sFrederick Osam-Duodu and Egypt’sShawki Gharib Baioumi took on thesame task but with added difficultiesderived from visa problems and the factthat their ‘feeder’ tournament – theAfrican Under-17 Championship – isplayed once every two years, whereasthe European nursery provides anannual crop. The results (6-1 and 4-0to Europe) passed harsh judgement on the Africans’ contribution but were,in any case, of limited relevance in acontext where the key elements were

getting the youngsters from both conti-nents together. It’s worth mentioning,by the way, that there were no UniteAgainst Racism activities pegged to theevent. Quite simply, the absence ofracist attitudes was taken for granted.At the four-day event, racism was notan issue.

Coming back to coaching aspects, theapproach by Iñaki, Ginés and Juan totheir crash course in team-building wasbased on: a well-defined tactical sys-tem (the 4-2-3-1 traditionally adoptedby Spanish age-limit sides), two orthree basic concepts clearly deliveredto each department of the team, chartsgiving precise positions for set plays for and against (pinned up in the dress-ing-room), and individual dialogue tomake sure that messages had beenunderstood, in a context where someplayers might have regarded questionsas an embarrassing admission of ‘lackof language skills’.

All in all, it added up to an intenseexperience that coaching studentswould have relished – and one whichraised questions about how techni-cians can best be prepared to handletheir first encounter with a multina-tional squad.

1 + 10 = A Team

The blend of team talk and individualdialogue in the European dressing-roomreflected one of the interesting themesbroached during the Meridian Confer-ence. The universally accepted aim is to develop today’s youth talents intotomorrow’s heroes. But how best to goabout it? How much emphasis shouldbe placed on the development of theindividual? How can individual develop-ment best be reconciled with teamethics? And how much attention shouldbe paid to team-building in an environ-ment where the coach’s status is all too often dictated by results?

It’s a subject that can be attacked fromseveral angles. Andy Roxburgh, review-ing the multiple elements which canturn today’s talent into tomorrow’sheroes, mentioned a number of quotesthat reveal how much importance isplaced by top coaches on the mentalaspects of player development.

“Talent is not enough – you need desireand intelligence.” – Arsène Wenger

“The focus of youth development in thefuture will be tactical training and per-sonality development.” – Louis van Gaal

“Clubs are focusing too much on spiritand will to win and are neglecting thetechnical education of players. Theydon’t teach them to think any more.” –Morten Olsen

“I very much believe in self-motivationbecause that is what it takes to reachyour goals.” – Frank Rijkaard

What’s more, one of the points toemerge forcibly from the discussion sessions in Barcelona was the need toachieve a balance, in the formativeyears, between football and a career.This opinion is not only motivated bythe high drop-out levels among aspiring professionals but also by the view that “an educated player has a betterchance of being successful”.

THE THEORY SESSIONS

AND THE DISCUSSIONS WERE

OF GREAT INTEREST.

The second match between the European and African teams was well attended.

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JACQUES CREVOISIER,

A COACH SPECIALISING

IN PSYCHOLOGY.

For the technician, the challenge is thatdeveloping a young player’s mentalstrength is not a question of devisingtraining routines. That’s why there wasgreat interest in a presentation madeby Jacques Crevoisier, a coach spe-cialising in psychology who has spentmany years with Gérard Houllier, theFrench Football Federation and, for aspell before he re-joined Gérard in Liverpool a few years back, with UEFA.

Jacques maintains that regular psycho-logical assessments – preferably everysix months – are the basis for work oncharacter development. His ‘MotivationProfile’ caters for evaluations in 16 cat-egories related to competence, teamdynamics, learning objectives, competi-tiveness, psychological endurance,resistance to stress, aggression, emo-tional control, self-satisfaction and, of course, various types of motivation.The results of the tests need to be correlated with performances and atti-tudes during training and match play –but Jacques’ experience has demon-strated that the best performers in the tests are the best performers onthe park.

Regular assessments help to detectweak points to be discussed with theplayer, and progress needs to be monitored. Clear objectives need to be defined every year and, accordingto Jacques, one of the key elements is to prevent the player from entering a ‘comfort zone’.

The participants in Barcelona acknowl-edged the importance of psychologicalfactors in the make-up of an eliteplayer but also raised some interestingquestions. Some felt that over-empha-sising mental considerations caninduce artificial ‘hyper-motivation’ andloss of control. Others felt that moreattention should be paid to stress-reduction techniques. Most felt that itshould be the coaching staff – ratherthan a psychologist – who work on atti-tude and motivation with the players,but some asked whether the average

technician is able or qualified to assessindividual levels of motivation or men-tal resilience. The other key questions– bearing in mind that the discussionwas focused on adolescents – are: Atwhat age should psychological analysisand personality shaping kick in? And at what stage is it possible to modify a young player’s character – if at all?

Bridging the Gaps

Ask any elite youth coach to name the ultimate aims of the professionand the top priority will probably be to help the player bridge the gap –sometimes it seems to be chasm –between success in age-limit teamsand success at the sharp end of theprofessional game, whether it be atclub or national team level.

This was an especially relevant subjectin Barcelona, given that many of theAfrican technicians at the MeridianConference had first-hand experienceof players leaving their countries attender ages, keen to earn a living in the European ‘big time’ but secretlyhomesick or depressed in momentswhen a return home is, to all intentsand purposes, out of the question. If they are to bridge cultural, geograph-ical and footballing gaps, they oftenrequire psychological support in addi-tion to footballing education.

As Andy Roxburgh pointed out inBarcelona, the off-the-pitch demandson top players represent a heavier bur-den than ever before: more pressure,more influences and more restraints in exchange for more money. It meansthat traditional virtues such as love ofthe game and mastery of the ball areno longer enough. At elite youth lev-els, players also need to be coachedin concentration, self-confidence, character or leadership qualities, com-petitive spirit, athletic proficiency, teammentality, work ethic and, above all, a healthy lifestyle and a mental forti-tude capable of sustaining those phys-ical and psychological requirements.

As careers develop, experiencebecomes a great teacher. But, at youthlevel, it can be important to convinceplayers that self-analysis and, as FrankRijkaard says, self-motivation are itemsto place high on the personal agenda.As Jacques Crevoisier had bluntly put it, “a player with the wrong personalityand the wrong attitude is, for a club, a waste of time and money”.

Finishing the Job

Kalusha Bwalya, Zambia’s most-cappedplayer and all-time top scorer, teamedup with Andy Roxburgh in Barcelona toanalyse the art of goal-scoring. Onceagain, personality development wasregarded as one of the key issues dur-ing the transition phase from youth toadult football, during which many prom-ising young goal-scorers suddenly runinto problems or, to be more precise,more efficiently organised defensiveblocks.

One school of thought maintains thatgoal-scoring is an innate instinct – andthere is certainly an element of truth inthat assertion. So what can the youthcoach work on?

The answers start with athletic prepara-tion, in areas such as leg mobility, bodyshape, balance and the timing of runsinto scoring positions. Speed, thesedays, is a basic premise – and that alsomeans speed of thought in terms ofawareness and anticipation. Speed ofexecution is a fundamental asset, notonly in terms of being able to produce

No problem with the language – Sandor Varga translates for the Hungarian boys and Andy Roxburgh.

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The UEFA U18 team at training.

LEGENDE LEGENDE LEGEN

LEGENDE LEGENDE LEGENDE

LEGENDE LEGENDE LEGE.

ÁNGEL MARÍA VILLAR LLONA,

A FIFA AND UEFA VICE-PRESIDENT AND PRESIDENT

OF THE SPANISH FOOTBALL FEDERATION.

the explosive finish but also the abilityto contribute to high-tempo combina-tion play. On the training ground, wecan work on the first touch, whichneeds to be precise and, in and nearthe opposing box, needs to be some-thing more than ‘control of the ball’.

Kalusha and Andy approached from a different angle to look for reasonswhy attackers fail to score – and playerswho are expected to define the team’sapproach work by scoring goals are oftenthe first to suffer anxiety syndromeswhen the ball refuses to go in. It is upto the technician to offer first aid by pinpointing problems such as technicalshortcomings, poor timing of runs,problems with vision and awareness,slow or ineffective decision-making,reluctance to take responsibility, insuffi-cient of speed, lack of psychologicalresilience or fear of physical challenge.

Another useful training ground tool is to help the young goal-scorer to appre-ciate what defenders and goalkeepersdislike most. In this respect, dialoguebetween team-mates can obviously behelpful and, in practice or small-sidedgames, role reversals between depart-ments of the team can give the young-sters first-hand experience of what hurts most at the other end of the field.

In terms of confidence-building, goal-scorers are more at ease when offeredfull-size goals – with nets – during training sessions and benefit from con-stant repetition of goal-scoring movesand execution. For attackers, practicegames need to have a competitiveedge. Goals should never be made toappear ‘irrelevant’.

Postcards from Barcelona

The presentations – particularly thoseangled towards the development of the person rather than the footballer –fuelled some fascinating debate in theCatalan capital. The need to focus onpersonalities as well as footballingvirtues prompted questions about whatcan be done to prepare young coachesto cope with a ‘father figure’ role thatentails considerable responsibility. Role-play exercises within coaching courseswere among the proposals, along with a call for specialised seminars. Therewas also a proposal to add sessions of personalised training to the generalschedules for the squad.

At the same time, there was a currentof opinion in favour of ‘tinkering’ withpersonality as little as possible and tofocus primarily in correcting excesses: if excessive aggression is visible, the

player should be helped to control itand channel it; if a player is excessivelyshy, there should encouragement tospeak; if a player is excessively sub-missive, he or she must be helped tostand up and be counted, to expresspersonality; an excessive ‘I’m already a star’ attitude needs to be counteredby putting feet on the ground andencouraging modesty.

In Barcelona, it was never overlookedthat coaches also have different per-sonalities and different approaches to the development of young players.But one undeniable requirementemerged from the debating room: the coach must be well equipped incommunication skills and the ability to convince pupils as well as teachthem. This is why events such as theMeridian Conference, seminars andworkshops, which offer opportunitiesfor coach educators to exchange information, received such an enthu-siastic reception.

The technicians also acknowledgedthat first-hand playing experience isoften just as valuable – if not more so– than advice received from a mentor.Hence a call for the administrations in both continents to consider offeringmore match opportunities to age-limitplayers in the ‘weaker’ countries whoare not generally expected to leapmany hurdles in qualifying rounds.

In summarising the hectic, intensivefour days in Barcelona, Andy Roxburghremarked: “Some of the boys we haveseen here are already on the verge of becoming top players and I hopethat this experience will contribute totheir further development.” But let’sleave the last word to the head coachof Team Africa, Frederick Osam-Duodu:“I’m pleased the boys had a chance to learn how to criticise themselvesand how to correct things. Theylearned a lot from each other. Theexperience of being in Barcelona wasgreat. The future of football has beenshown to them.”

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The rapid growth of the women’sgame (ten years ago there was onlyone UEFA competition; today there are four) means that it has not onlybecome a greater component withinthe four walls of the House of Euro-pean Football in Nyon but is also tak-ing on much greater relevance withinUEFA’s member associations. This was one of the central themes at the2nd UEFA Elite Women’s CoachesForum, staged at UEFA’s headquarters.

The list of participants was not somuch a roll call as a roll of honourwithin the women’s game. In alpha-betical order, they were BjarneBerntsen (Norway), Yury Bystritskiy(Russia), Marika Domanski-Lyfors(Sweden), Pietro Ghedin (Italy),Valentin Grishin (Russia), AndréeJeglertz (Umeå IK, Sweden), MichaelKåld (Finland), Elisabeth Loisel(France), Maren Meinert (Germany),Carolina Morace (Italy), Silvia Neid(Germany), Vera Pauw (Netherlands),Hope Powell (England), ‘Nacho’Quereda (Spain), Bernd Schröder (1. FFC Turbine Potsdam, Germany),Alexander Shagov (Russia), AnnaSigneul (Scotland), Béatrice vonSiebenthal (Switzerland), JürgenTritschoks (1. FFC Frankfurt, Germany)

SUPPLY AND DEMAND

THE STEADY INCREASE IN THE NUMBER AND DIMENSIONS OF UEFA COMPETITIONS

IS A FAITHFUL REFLECTION OF BULLISH ‘MARKET CONDITIONS’ AND AN ENCOURAGING SYMPTOM

OF THE HEALTH OF THE GAME. THE LATEST ADDITIONS TO THE UEFA MENU

ARE THE WOMEN’S UNDER-17 CHAMPIONSHIP AND AN UNDER-21 FUTSAL TOURNAMENT.

and Dusan Zovinec (Czech Republic), not forgetting Karen Espelund, chair-person of UEFA’s Women’s FootballCommittee and a full squad of UEFA’s‘backroom staff’.

The addition of an under-17 compe-tition, allied with the development at under-19 level and the expansion of the senior European Championshipfinals to a dozen teams, was viewedas a solid basis on which to buildfuture development of the women’sgame. On the other hand, there arestill logistical issues in the pendingtray, not least the over-close proximity of the FIFA Under-20 World Cup and the European Under-19 Championship last summer, in addition to the thornyissue of a specific Olympic Gamesqualifying competition which, currently,doesn’t fit into the fixture list jigsawpuzzle. At the same time, the future of the UEFA Women’s Cup was dis-cussed and, although there was wide-spread endorsement of the currenthome-and-away format for the final,there was a call for a more rationalisedfixture list. This was in response to this season’s competition, in which the semi-finals were played at thebeginning of November and the finalin April.

In terms of the European Champion-ship, the upgraded finals will entailgreater attention to accommodation for the finalists and the quality of train-ing facilities.

However, there are also broader issuesto be addressed. Refereeing, for exam-ple, needs to keep pace with growthand there was a proposal to createspecial training programmes involvingelite referees from the men’s game.

In terms of The Technician, all of thisrepresents something of a preamble.Because the specific issue is that therapid expansion of the women’s gameoffers enormous opportunities oncoaching fronts. So much so, that thereare questions about supply meetingdemand and thoughts about the mostappropriate ways to encourage morewomen into coaching.

In most European countries, womenare now integrated into coach educa-tion programmes, with the majoritysimply offering mixed courses basedon exactly the same content. On theother hand, some national associationshave developed specific courses forwomen which, in principle, open thedoor to a wider field.

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THE FORUM IN ACTION.

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The forum also endorsed the idea ofencouraging more top players to stay in the game as coaches and, obviously,a spin-off from the growth of women’scompetitions will be, in the future, agreater number of players with inter-national experience. This raised theissue of how best to help them crossthe threshold from playing to coachingand there was widespread approval ofschemes to mirror the fast-track coacheducation courses currently available to top-level players in the men’s game.

The meeting also served to underscorethe value of interchanging informationand sharing best-practice methods.There was a call for UEFA to act as a‘clearing house’ by gathering data on

the sorts of courses currently orien-tated at women’s football and theroutes offered by pioneering nationalassociations for players to switch as fluently as possible into coaching.UEFA, by the way, will continue to feature women’s football in the extra-net section of the Coaches Circle.

Looking further down the road, therewere proposals to respond to the vast influx of girls into the game byestablishing centres of excellence or,at least, establishing working relation-ships with the academies already inplace for talented young boys – andthis is something that, as ElisabethLoisel reported, the French federationis already working on.

At the same time, there are blueprintsfor a development programme aimedat the 16 nations eliminated in the first qualifying round of the EuropeanChampionship. The idea is to involveexperienced coaches from leadingcountries, asking them to contribute to the development of the women’sgame in other nations by going there,conducting training sessions, and meeting coaches and coach educators.

In other words, the rapid growth ofwomen’s football has prompted anunprecedented demand for coachingstaff, right from the grassroots to the top of the tree. The challenge for thecoaching fraternity is therefore to makesure that supply can meet the demands.

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Maren Meinert led Germany’s U19s to the European title.

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WOMEN’S COACHES FORUM

PARTICIPANTS.

RENÉ HÜSSY IN HIS

DAYS AT THE HELM OF THE SWISS

NATIONAL TEAM, DURING

A MATCH AGAINST LUXEMBOURG.

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RENÉ HÜSSY, THE FORMER NATIONAL COACH OF SWITZERLAND,

PASSED AWAY A FEW MONTHS AGO, AND THE GAME LOST A TECHNICAL

AMBASSADOR OF THE HIGHEST QUALITY.

RENÉ HÜSSY–A TRIBUTE

René was one of football’s gentlemen whose dignity and humility concealed his impressive credentials. As a player, he won three Swiss championships and three domestic cups. But it was his contribution to coaching that made himinternationally recognised. Following a decade as a trainer at club level (he wonthe league title with Grasshoppers of Zurich), two spells as Swiss national

team manager, and becoming the first president of the Swiss Trainers Union(USFT), he joined FIFA as an instructor/Technical Study Group

expert/Technical Committee member. In addition, he was appointed to UEFA’s Committee for Technical Development, acting as vice-chairman from 1992 to 1996. René was passionately inter-ested in coach education and contributed extensively to the UEFAworking group which explored the concept of a European coaching licence. He actually chaired the working group for a short period following the death of its leader, the Czech Dr Václav Jira.

René, who was a member of the FIFA World Cup Organising Com-mittee from 1990 to 1998, received the FIFA Order

of Merit in 2002 for his contribution to theworld game, and was included in UEFA’s

‘Amicale des Anciens’ for his efforts on behalf of European football. He will be sadly missed by his friends at

FIFA and UEFA for his wise counsel,for his sense of humour, and

for his football passion. RenéHüssy was an expert on

football, and on behalf ofhis technical colleagues, I pay tribute to a greattechnician, but above all, I salute a wonderful man.

ANDY ROXBURGH

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T R A I N I N G

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June 10 – 2316th European Under-21 Championship (Netherlands)

June 20 – 265th UEFA Regions’ Cup (Bulgaria)

July 16 – 276th European Under-19 Championship (Austria)

July 18 – 296th European Women’s Under-19Championship (Iceland)

September 5 – 69th UEFA Elite Club Coaches Forum (Nyon)

September 24 – 267th UEFA Symposium for CoachEducation Directors (London)

November 16 – 255th European Futsal Championship(Portugal)

November 273rd UEFA Elite Club Youth CoachesForum (Cannes)

November 27 – 299th UEFA Elite Youth Football Conference (Cannes)

A G E N D A

BY GINÉS MELÉNDEZ SOTOSSpanish Football Federation Director of Coach Education

and Under-19/Under-20 National Team Coach (Current European Champion)

Aim● To improve players’ creativity and

capacity to develop attacking moveswithin our style of play.

● To develop a player’s capacity toidentify and understand the mosteffective routes of attacking theopponents’ goal, depending on theirposition.

Numbers● Two teams; 9 against 9 (including

goalkeepers); 1-3-4-1 formation. ● 1 goalkeeper, 3 defenders, 4 mid-

fielders and 1 forward. There arefewer defenders so that the conceptsof assistance and zonal marking must be applied.

Area● A reduced pitch (60 x 50 metres)

Rules● The defender receives the ball from

the goalkeeper and has a maximum

Tactical Exercisefor Organised

Attack — Variants

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Key coaching points● 10-minute exercise:

a) The 4 moves, a, b, c and d, mustbe continuously repeated until the movements are synchronised.

b) The teams take it in turns; the other team presents passive opposition.

● 5-minute exercise with active oppo-sition.

● 10-minute final match with the following objective: A goal scored using one of the fourmoves, a, b, c or d, counts double.Active opposition during the match, in other words real play.

THE NETHERLANDS

WILL BE DEFENDING THEIR

EUROPEAN UNDER-21

TITLE ON HOME GROUND.

of three touches in defence before opponents can pressure(defenders have a maximum ofthree touches, other players havean unlimited number of touches).

a) After their three touches, defend-ers can only pass to the player onthe wing. The fullback then movesup to make it 2 against 1 on thewing.

b)If passing to a central midfielder,the midfielder must pass to thewing opposite from where the ballcame so that there is a change of direction of play.

c) If playing the ball to the forward,the forward returns it to a centralmidfielder and changes directionto either the near or far wing.

d)If the player on the wing receivesthe ball from the defender andreturns it to the fullback, the full-back has to pass to the forward or the midfielder who is furthestforward.

Development● The central defender cannot move

out of position. ● When they do not have posses-

sion, the fullbacks move up tomake it 2 against 1 on the wing.

● There should be continuouschanges of direction during thegame.

● When the defence has the ball,the other players have to keepmoving.

UEFARoute de Genève 46CH-1260 NyonSwitzerlandPhone +41 848 00 27 27Fax +41 22 707 27 34uefa.com

Union des associationseuropéennes de football