Originally Posted by
Keyser Soze
Absolutely. Systems coaching started becoming more of a thing in the Sixties onwards, with Germans and Dutch leading the way. But Brazil showed that systems can be open and fluid and that if you have higher skill levels it provides an alternative way of breaking down systems.
Until the last year or so, systems coaching could win you games, but now at the top end we are seeing the converence of systems, multi skilled players and analytical statistics. The thicker, less clever coaches like Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, Alan Cork, Wayne Rooney who cannot think analytically can now be outsmarted by smarter coaches who can adapt shapes and systems, or altering players positions or instructions to counter the opponent’s “patterns of play”.
But now I think we seeing a new wave, with the advent of coaches armed with laptops, advanced statistics, real-time data lakes of information, ProZone heat maps and slow introduction of low grade AI, computers are increasingly used by top clubs to show coaches where the patterns of play are from opponents. At the top end, but it will percolate down, coaches and managers will analyse less and be responsible for decision making, having been provided real-time analysis to them.
What impact will this have on players? Well New Zealand in rugby for the last ten years, and Ajax / Barcelona in academies (and recently Klopp, Guardiola and Arteta) talk of “solving problems”. Rather than telling wingers what do do, they are trying to teach better quality decision making by players themselves, based on what they see in front of them. Less playing to systems and more playing to opportunities / weaknesses.
This new dawn favours ambidextrous players because it nullifes instructions such as “always push him wide” or “attack this guy’s left foot” because if the in-game or half-time analysis picks up repeated patterns of behaviour you can be nullified if you are playing to predictable instructions. If you are an ambidextrous winger that sees the full back is showing you outside you hit him on the inside because you are playing to opportunity / weakness. You will always outsmart the AI / pattern recognition analysis being fed to the coach.
I am surprise the ambidextrous player is a magical concept. Dutch Coerver Coaching has been around for decades and the players with the best ambidextrous footwork have often been coached using Coerver Coaching methods. It isn’t hard. You can go on courses or buy the DVDs. If you’re coaching kids it is golden and you see a massive difference in technical output of players at a young age.
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