Youth Development Australia: Where are we at?

I was recently given the rare opportunity to visit arguably the best youth academy in the world, AFC Ajax. Along with my current employer Melbourne Football Academy, we were given an in-depth and behind the scenes view and analysis of the every day operation at the world renowned De Toekomst youth academy.

The sheer talent, professionalism and structure was nothing short of breathtaking! Seeing children as young as 7 years of age performing and executing extremely difficult skill moves was an absolute joy to behold.

Having said this, there was one thought which was ringing in the back of my head. Where does that leave us? How far off is Australia in terms of youth development?

One thing that really resonated with me wasn't the abundance of talent or the prestige of Ajax (that was a given). I found that most of their focus was on coach education. This way, by making sure that their coaches were well educated, this way they can ensure that their players would be receiving the correct training and football education.
Having said that, it is all well and good to teach someone all the technical knowledge in the world. But what good are they if they cannot deliver a message and educate their players?

This played on my mind for quite a while. The questions I started to ask myself were:
- How can I better myself to educate my players?
- What steps do I need to take to ensure my players are constantly improving?
- How can I inspire my players?

The Ajax academy coaches were able to do this like it was simple daily routine. Obviously with a lot of practice along the way, I could see that their ability to deliver a message and have their players execute the drill with such precision and class didn't come overnight. This was through a lot of due diligence and support from the upper hierarchy of the academy (eg, technical directors).

My football knowledge and tactical nous has come through endless football games. Both watching, playing and analyzing, I thought that my coaching repertoire was coming along quite nicely. Although, if I cant inspire and educate my players, what sort of a coach am I? Am I a teller or an educator?

This seems to be a pressing problem in Australia. We have a lot of "tellers/shouters" but not a lot of educators. This is an issue that we're faces with in Australia. Especially when we dont have a lot of good football educators coaching our young footballers.

This is where I believe that all of our better coaches here in Australia need to be coaching our younger generation. Teaching them fundamental skills and therefore developing their technical skills. By doing this, it will put them in good stead once they get older.

Germany v Spain: The evolution of our game

Bayern Munich & Dortmund, Barcelona & Spain. The two powerhouse clubs from both nations. In this year's champions league semi finals we saw the German teams dominate the Spanish ones. But the question needs to be asked, is the possession game (or tiki-taka) style of the Spanish teams outdated? Is the sheer efficiency of Bayern Munich far too much for Barcelona to overcome?

We saw the way Bayern dominated Barcelona in the 4-0 drubbing of the first leg in the semi finals. Barcelona had 65% of the possession yet did absolutely nothing on the scoreboard. Bayern allowed Barcelona to play within their own half and get "meaningless" touches on the ball. As soon as Barca turned the ball over, Bayern (with their overlapping full backs, frantic off-the-ball running and extremely efficient ball movement) was far too much for Barcelona to handle.

The exact same can be said in the 4-1 drubbing Dortmund gave to Real Madrid. It was all too similar in this game also. The frantic defence, the efficiency of ball movement and profligacy in front of goal was, once again, too much to handle for the high possession team.

This begs the question, is the possession game outdated and obsolete? Has our game moved on from this style?

My opinion is that teams from all around the world can take a leaf out of the German style of accountable football, yet also learn from the possession style as well. For the possession football style to work, turnovers cannot occur. Because as soon as the ball is turned over, any team worth something are going to make you pay, and your possession counts for nothing as soon as you've conceded.

Referees: Killing our beautiful game!

As we all know, a football game cannot go ahead without any sort of authority figure officiating our game. This would have to be one of the most difficult jobs going around these days in modern football. They have two assistants who run the line, and a 4th official who (lets be honest) does nothing but hold up a board showing the substitutions. But THE biggest issue in today's football has to be, are referee's destroying our game?

The reason it has taken me this long to publicly rant about this issue is because I have had false hope that this issue would somehow smooth over. But, after watching the absolute farcical acts of A-League referee Jarred Gillet during the Adelaide United v Melbourne Victory game have got to have caused some ringing alarm bells for FFA officials to get up of their corporate behinds and do something about this. The 76th minute straight red card of Adama Traore is nothing short of a joke! This was his first card of the game and, at first sight I thought that Traore would've showed studs going in on the opposition player. But the replay shows that Traore got the ball and had minimal contact with the player.

Referee incompetency aside, other sports have begun to use technology to assist officiating during their matches, and even eliminate the complete howler. So why cant football? Why doesnt the 4th official actually make himself useful? These referee's have microphones, what for? Why not have the 4th official up in the stands to override the referee's decision?

Now with these so-called 'officials'. I'm under the impression that a good referee is one that has minimal influence on the game. It looks like that referee's these days want to make a name for themselves by causing controversy and throwing the essence of our game out of the window. In my opinion, Jarred Gillet should be reprimanded and demoted to youth league matches. This was an absolute farce! But this is not the first time refereeing has been incompetent in our game. This happens all over the world. This must be fixed ASAP!!

In conclusion, my opinion is that a good official should allow the game to flow, should allow a game to be the spectacle that it should be and should have fans barging the door down to watch. But when officials are worried about getting sufficient air time on television, this is when we know that football is no longer about 11 players playing with a round ball. Referees are only human and are bound to make a mistake. So why not use technology to override the 'howler' decision? Other sports are in the 21st century. Why not football?

Has 4-2-3-1 lost it's gloss?

I just read an article on www.guardian.co.uk about the 4-2-3-1 formation. The real question here is has this formation lost its gloss?

I've been swearing by this formation for a very long time and I've broken my defenders out of the habit of kicking the ball long. I've always been about playing out from the back, getting my DM to drop deep and to be the deep-lying playmaker that can dictate play and control the middle.

But having read this article, it makes me think... is 4-4-2 the way to go? The 4-4-2 formation has been the backup option for many football managers, due to it's robustness and accountability in the backline.

The 4-2-3-1 formation has allowed me to create fantastic distribution from behind and all around the pitch. Yet, I have found time and time again that once my boys lose the ball, that hunger and desire of winning the ball back is somewhat lost. Look, I'm all about playing attractive football and playing the opposition off the park, although football is predominantly results based and its shown in the premier league that the fans don't necessarily care about the brand of football played. It's all about that three points!

Stoke City

Boring yet effective?

As we all know, Stoke City are well renowned for playing a bland, outdated and boring style of football. Although, Tony Pulis has found himself still in a job! Why?

As we see time and time again, Stoke find a way to get a result. Even though they've been outplayed in every facet of the game. Their defence, led by Stoke captain Ryan Shawcross, has been so difficult to break down in recent years, AND teams actually focus on an away fixture to Britannia stadium due to the difficulty of getting the three points there.

Is one formation better than the other? Who knows?