Offensively Speaking: Create an Identity.

This article was written by Ruy Vaz, a 36-year old college soccer coach. Ruy has coached at Cowley College for eight years, two years as an assistant coach and six as a head coach. Ruy also works as a Technical Director for Sporting Wichita, having also coached their UPSL team.

Read time: 3 minutes.

There seems to be a general idea that the team that plays well on the ground and dominates possession is the one to be followed. We look at the ball possession driven teams, coached by top managers, and relish on the notion that there is nothing better than this type of game style, or model.

This notion has led many coaches around the world – at all levels - to put all their efforts in training and games into making sure their players “move the ball.” Nothing wrong with trying to emulate the beautiful (I, myself, love a game model based on “ball possession”), but there is something to be noted. In trying to reproduce this type of soccer, without questioning why they are doing that, or even looking within, many coaches are missing one of the most important aspect of coaching: creating a unique identity.

For coaches to create an identity, first they need to look within and understand how they see the game themselves. Not only do they need to understand how they see it, but they also need to figure out how they perceive the game, what they value most in soccer, and what brings pleasure to them when living it. Each and every coach is unique due to his or her background. It is not necessary to delve deep into the geopolitics of soccer to recognize that culture affects the way the game is approached. Therefore, it wouldn’t be fair for a coach to simply try to reproduce a type of game just because it is beautiful. All coaches must try to create their unique identity, based on what they value the most in soccer, and that will be the foundation upon which they can develop their game model.

Yes, short passes, triangles, the third man, positional play (even saying it is beautiful) all of these concepts have value in themselves. But do you value them as something intrinsically beautiful, or do they just sound nice? Can you clearly convey all of these concepts to your athletes, or do you just toss them the fancy words that you heard when you were watching interviews? My question is, do you really believe and understand these things, or are you just using these terms because they warrant success? I truly believe we all should ask ourselves these questions.

In my experience, the most difficult teams I have played and coached against were not the ones that kept the ball with an organized possession based game. The most difficult teams I have faced were the ones that clearly knew what they wanted as they firmly believed in their game. There is nothing worse than playing against a team with strong game model self-esteem.

Whether it is a game focused on a fast-vertical build up or a team with quick triangles on the flanks followed by a seventy-yard diagonal ball, teams with a clear identity are harder to break because eventually the qualities of their game model emerge in the game, and it is hard to stop.

Needless to say, when measuring success there are several other variables that should be considered such as coaching, quality of players, club or program situation, just to mention a few. However, coaches with clear ideas, a strong desire to develop them, and the humility to reform them as the modern soccer evolves, are at a strong advantage to build something special.