So now we have a "System of Play" - So what "Style of Play" will we adopt??

The FFA Technical Director, Han Berger, talks about two things when he is speaking about the new National Football Curriculum:

1. The "System of Play" he wants adopted in all "developmental" contexts  - the 1-4-3-3
2. The "Style of Play" he wants employed when using the "System of Play" - a possession based game and playing out from the back.

The two together are the way ahead. You can have a 1-4-3-3 system of play and not be a possession based team. We want to be a possession based team. Peaches and Cream!

Let's have a closer look at this one - it's worth the effort. Courtesy of the publication "Soccer Systems and Strategies, Jens Bangsbo and Birfeg Peitersen, ISBN-10:0-7360-0300-2" and "The SBS World Game video of Han Berger at the FFA Coahing Conference March 2010".


Football Systems of Play

A plan called a system of play governs the way players act individually and together with others on the pitch. Such a system consists of a starting formation and guidlines for carrying ou the primary functions in attacking and defensive play.
In modern football, number conbinations identify the systems, showing how many players in the team's opening formation occupy each of the three zones: defence, midlfiled and attack. When we talk, say, about the 1-4-3-3 system, we mena that in the basic formation there is one GK, four players in the defensive zone, three players in the midfield area, and three players in the attacking zone. We speak of the back row or defensive unit, the midfield unit and the attacking unit.
The system's numeric conbinations are relatively uninteresting: It is players who win matches, not systems. Still, the choice of a system of play is tactically important. It is vital to decide upon a combination of figures according to the skills of the players on the roster. The coach should designate player's positions and roles iwth theidea of giving individual players and the team the best options for maneuvering on both offense and defense.

The FFA has mandated the system of play to be 1-4-3-3 because it best enables the "Style of Play" they wish to use as the developmental environment for our player. It serves as a common piece of football structure for the development of all players. All our NTC, State and Territory rep teams and HPP playing teams / squads must use this system of play. Football's developmental "Trogan Horse"! Simple as that!

Now to the "Style of Play" the FFA requires us to adopt.

A Style of Play

A "Syle of Play" is the characteristic way in which a team uses a "System of Play".
Selecting a style a style of play should take into account the playing qualities a team possesses. Above all, the coach should ask the following:
"To what type of football do the playing qualities at my disposal immediately offer themselves? Is there grat offensive potential, or is it a matter of more all-round play? How do I assess the four basic areas of the players: their physical capacity, technical foundation, tactical lelve and psychological balance?"
The coach should match up and adapt these considerations when selecting a the team's system of play, so that all resources are utlised optimally. This also brings out a completely individual approach to the game - a way of playing for each individual team - but there is some common ground when the coach assesses different style of play. This applies particulary to the choice between offensive and defensive play.

Again, the FFA has mandated a particularly important aspect of the style of play - the Attack or Offensive element of the game- we are to pursue a possession style of play. Before we go any further, lets look at a video from that wonderful football program, the World Game, which has Han Berger making the possession aspectv ery clear - as they say, a picture is worth a thousand words.



Lets be a bit more specific about thispossession based objective!
Attacking Styles

Broadly speaking there are four attacking styles:

1. Systematic Buildup of Play - possession football
2. Direct Play - a team consciuosly plays the ball qucikly forward to the opposition's third and treis to to finish quickly
3. Counter Attacking Play - By consciously allowing the oppositon to come well up up the pitch, a team creates conditions for eastablishing counter attacking play - a fast, direct counter attack with few players, set in motion when the ball's won, followed by a quick pass played over many opponents. In the instant of passing, one or two players should rush forward to support the player who receives the ball in plenty of space.
4. Total Soccer - a style where the players, stretched very widely, switch positions during the buildup play - a quasi rotational system between midfield and attack ensures that the opposition's marking is more difficult, especially when the opposition is man marking. (Dutch origin 1974 World CUp and !988 Euro Champs)

The FFA Techncial Director is clearly directing us to a possession game - his words! Its a great way to teach , coach and play - just look at Barcelona. So lets take a closer look at what this means.

Systematic Buildup of Play

This style is characterised by a meticulous buildup consisting of any passess betweeen defence and midfield. Another term is "possession football", where a team "owns" the ball and tries to keep possession of it. The idea to try to puch many players forward and then establish the game in the last third of the pitch. The team keeps the ball patiently during attempts to create an opening until it can make a breakthrough. Normally, any team with good technical players can use this style.

Now you will have noticed that Han Berger 's short presentation, particularly of the futsal drill, illustrated the importance of " Passing Triangles". Nothing new in this idea, but how often do you see players at any level (I watchd with with dismay three Fed Cup games last week and too many A league games to recall) fail to move to create these triangles. Lazy players with poor technicque. The result of poor coaching over many years. No options, pass is pushed to a play under pressure or kicked longer than it should be and - ball is lost, we transition to defence and have to win it back again and so it goes. Just do a simple "passing count" on your team and if they arn't getting past 5 passes in a movement on a regular basis, then there is probably not a lot worth looking at is happening on the field. When they meet a team that does it better they get beaten. No fun in this type of football. Must have tri-angels and preferrrably more than one between the byline and halfway!

No one does the possession game better than Barcelona. They play from the back as naturally as breathing, value possession, create passing triangles, support each other, provide more than one passing option, frequently use angle passess and all look so comfortable on the ball. And boy can they finish! Here's and example of what I think people like Han Berger and expert commentators like Criag Foster and Les Murray mean when they talk about the possession game:


We haven't talked about the "Defensive Style of Play" yet! There are two parts to a game - defence and attack. As they say - stay tuned!



The Challenge for Coaches, Players and Parents

The impementation FFA's  curriculum which incorpartes the system and style of play mentioned previously is the challenge for all coaches, players and parents. Successful uptake in community football is the key. It starts in Roo Ball and is an absolutel must in Under 10 to 13 year old football as they move through small sided games to full field 11 v 11. If you haven't done a lot of it by then - you've wasted an enormous amount of valuable player development time. Every Junior / youth coach should be pursuing the 1-4-3-3 system of paly and the possession based style of play. Why would you do anything else.

In fact, in the ACT, every PL16, PL18 and PL Pathways should also manadate the 1-4-3-3 and possession based style of play as their foundation. Then we really would have football!

It will require good coaching and plenty of patience to get the results, the mistakes will be many in games and definately cost goals, so forget about "winning" and stay with "development". Re-define winning! The young players will "get it", have no doubt and  you can be certain of one thing - they love playing this style of play. Parents soon convert to appreciating the game and care less for the scoreboard. And we get better football all the way up the grades to the national teams.