Football Philosophy

Throughout my coaching career, I have always used my knowledge of positional, tactical, physical and the mentality gained as a player, to innovate and develop tactics that resulted in my team having positional superiority against the opponents and being tactically disciplined.

There are many different factors that one could say, shape up my philosophy, with the main emphasis being placed on positional play and the transition moments of the Game. Being an admirer of Pep Guardiola, he once claimed that “If there weren’t a sequence of 15 passes first, then it would be impossible to carry out transition from defence to attack.” and I’ve adapted the same principles.

My Philosophy is also based a lot around the leagues I’ve played in. The knowledge I acquired as a Coach while completing my Coaching Licences and my continuous studying of the Game, has helped me find my identity on what works and doesn’t, thus finding solutions to problems.

Some of my ideas on How to play football in a specific way come from 3 different Countries.

Here are some examples:

The Dutch philosophy of Total Football refers to things such as off the ball movement, pressing the opposition up the pitch together and efficiently, without leaving spaces in the for the opposition to play diagonal balls into. In the Netherlands, there used to be this system of keeping the ball as much as you can, with every player attacking fluently. Possession doesn’t mean everything in football but in this style termed as ‘Total Football’, possession used to be everything. The usage of the 4-3-3 formation is the key and most Dutch Managers have used it in the past. Attacks are generated with creativity, but there is still composure and team communication. Players free roam through different positions to accommodate the style of football.​ Defensively, they put a lot of pressure on the attacking team to regain possession of the ball.

Here the great Johan Cruyff, comes to mind.

The German style is Aggressive, Fast and Organised. Together with their high pressing, or what Germans refer to as ‘gegenpressing’ is a slightly different approach to the game than high pressing. It refers to pressing the opposition intensively, in blocks of 3 or 4, when the attacking team loses the ball in the final third, such that they nip it closer to the goal.German teams typically tend to work very hard and show good efficiency and commitment to the profession out on the pitch. The game is played very directly with determined but anticipated attacks. Defensively, a formation is always maintained. Players on the team have very specific jobs and don’t usually improvise. These teams in attack usually keep possession or just try to overwhelm the opposition with numbers on the offence. Although this style is not very attractive to watch, it is still very effective.

Here the German Jurgen Klopp comes to mind.

Spanish Football places a lot of emphasis on technique, positional play and speed. Very much possession oriented method of playing and with free flowing passes. Has a very fast pace to the game with structure kept at a minimum. This leads to defensive weaknesses, prone to counter attacks.

As displayed by the teams Pep Guardiola has coached.

In conclusion

Man Management of players is very important as I love getting to know the players, their behaviors on and off the field, the conditions they live in and what their Ambitions are in life. Although I encourage the players always to work hard in training and matches, it’s important that I also building them holistically. It is one of the main reasons I decided to become a Coach as it brings so much joy to see young talent, being Developed and Character being Built. I believe the following STEPS help me become Better, each day.

I want to keep things Simple.

Be aware of Tripwires, that could keep me from moving forward.

Be Emotionally and Physically active in my Coaching.

Always be able to show Practical examples of how to Develop better.