Introduction

A famous quote from Bill Shankly reads: “Football is a simple game based on the giving and taking of passes, of controlling the ball and of making yourself available to receive a pass. It is terribly simple.” I couldn’t disagree more with these words as they appear; I think the more subtle subtext of the quote is that when all the little cogs which make up the aspects of football are perfectly in place, football appears to be a very simple art. Top teams who comfortably move the ball around are frequently described as “making it look so easy” by commentators and pundits alike, and this is true – to the average eye of the spectator it looks a task that even they would be able to manage. Being available to receive a pass from a team-mate, having options to pass to when in possession, creating options for yourself and making a pass into space which many fail to notice are all things which require extensive tactical practice as a team. Such complete team performances are misinterpreted as football being inherently simple. It is not just supporters who peddle this myth – it has been pointed out before that it begins from pundits, who have played professionally, relaying it to viewers of football in this way, and coaches at grassroots level also pick up on this, and therefore transmit this message to amateur players, including youngsters. In England, where quality coaches are in drastically short supply (this Guardian article here of 2010 says there are only 2,769 English coaches with a UEFA A, B or Pro licence, roughly one tenth of other major footballing nations in Europe – 26,000 odd hold an FA level one according to this BBC article from around the same time), the problem extends all the way up to the mid-reaches of the football pyramid where I play, and beyond. 

This leads me on to what I wish to discuss in this piece. Oversimplifying football, misinterpretations and what causes them, and how they hold players back with the attitude to football which evolves from them. My experience in England is the primary area of study but once I progress in my journey abroad the two will be put together. I shall pick out various instances that I experience from both training sessions and matches, mainly in a sort of diary format but also mentioning unforgettable moments of earlier days in my playing ‘career’, and explain how they can damage (or indeed enhance!) the development of a player and a team. Not only this, but I shall also attempt to clarify somewhat the complexities which make up football from a training session to a match, for example how two things which appear equivalents on the surface aren’t quite so. 

As a bit of background, I have just graduated from University and am attempting to get back on track in football trying to carve out a respectable career for myself in the non-league pyramid. I had been training with a club (who I cannot name for reasons which will become obvious) who play a handful of divisions below the Blue Square Premier (not being any more specific than that for now) but have just moved abroad and wish to get involved in the game, for the reason that the attitude I perceive countries to have in general would fit me better and give me more motivation, and also so that I can compare respective methods – and indeed see if my conceptions are true (indeed, I could turn out to be completely wrong). My years at University, where football most certainly fell well behind socialising, ‘banter’ (including taking control of my friends’ unguarded Facebook accounts and telling all their friends how much they loved cock), getting hammered and going out on the pull in my list of life priorities, certainly hindered my development and I ended up just playing for a mate’s team in one of the organised leagues there. Before that I had enjoyed a brief spell in the world of semi-professional football having trialled with a handful of clubs from Conference to Ryman Division One level but, looking back on it, I don’t think I was good enough to make it last anyway. I tried to combine Uni with teams of the level I am now but this never lasted. This was all after I realised I was too good to continue playing Sunday League football (my then manager would certainly disagree with that!) and if I wanted to make progress then I’d have to do something sooner rather than later. I was a bit of a late starter – I didn’t sign up to a junior club until I was a very nervous 13-year-old with almost no self-confidence, which might also explain my comparatively late development as a footballer. 

My footballing mind really began to develop when I reached the age of 17, I think, and I no longer took any old bloke’s word as gospel. I’d re-signed for my previous Sunday League club after a year out of the game (for reasons I won’t go into) and was surprised at how I stood out as one who would hold the ball and pass it rather than just kick it forward. The manager was playing me up front for the reason that he thought I’d be too risky further back as he didn’t trust me not to make a mistake; even then, he certainly wasn’t pleased by my lack of ability to chase a ball hit 10 yards above my head and 30 yards beyond me and beat the defenders to it, nor was he pleased by my lack of ability to smash into opposition defenders, and one of his unique tips to me to encourage a more aggressive side was to go round picking fights with opponents. Things all came to a head between us during one training session shortly after this – we were about to start a training game and I was about to line up in my preferred position of the centre of midfield. He questioned what I was doing there and suddenly remarked “only good players can play that position you’re in.” He then proceeded in front of the whole squad to go on a rant about how I hadn’t improved at all in three years since knowing him. I think this scathing criticism coupled with his warped idea of aggression gave me the (temporary) motivation to prove him wrong and earn praise at a higher level from better qualified coaches. From my ‘journey’, I now realise I (and many others) have witnessed and been exposed to methods of management and coaching which are tragically lacking in footballing insight. Worst of all, they appear to be pretty harmless at first but as we shall find out, football is a complex game.

Just as a disclaimer, I am not going to pretend that I am whiter than white myself. I realise that some may read this and think I come across as a petulant twat who blames everyone but himself. That’s not the case, there have been times where I’ve failed to prepare properly for a match and it’s been my own fault, such as necking a load of whisky the night before a game and being unceremoniously pulled off in the first half to prevent myself from further embarrassment on the pitch. My point is that there are, in my opinion, glaring deficiencies in our attitude to football which holds back players’ development and even lets plenty of talented players slip through the net, even driving them away from the game. I do NOT, however, profess to be the man with all the answers to the problems, or know anywhere near everything there is to know about football. I also realise that some readers may find this very boring – and that’s fine, I’m a bit geeky and like analysing little things, probably too much.