Lately there has been much duscussion about the Dutch system currently being deployed by the powers that be at Football Federation Australia. There have been complaints about our national youth teams’ failure at two recent World Cups and questions about whether our young footballing talent is up to the job.
Even the coaches have come out and said as much.
Having seen the system in action first hand, and being acquainted with the ability of many of the players we are talking about, it has become crystal clear that the failure is a coaching failure.
The system as it is being deployed by the coaches of the youth national team is restrictive in the extreme and actually serves to nullify the talent of our young players. I have seen young players who have the potential to be world-beaters cut down in an effort to make them fit into the prevailing Dutch system.
If we consider the situation as regards player talent logically, every generation will throw up individuals who due to a combination of natural talent, circumstance and hard work will rise above their peers to be considered among the elite.
Some will be great passers of the ball. Some will be great dribblers. Some will be great shooters and finishers. Some will be good at two or more of these things in combination, as well as each possessing a mixture of other skills and traits which will make them who they are as players.
So how do you make a great team out of such a varied group of individuals?
Marcello Lippi, in his book A Game of Ideas: Thoughts and Passions from the Sidelines, argues that what is most important is that the tactical plan or formation is one that allows each player to maximise his utility for his teammates, and the expression of his full potential.
Lippi also noted that the choice of tactical formation is constrained by the qualities of the players available. Therefore, selecting the best possible team not only requires finding the right combination of players for the chosen formation, but also finding the right formation for the chosen players.
I believe that this is essentially the problem in Australian football. The Dutch coaches have declared that they have a curriculum and a system of playing that, in order to attain success, must be followed to the letter.
The problem with this way of thinking is that it does not allow, as Lippi put it, the expression of the player’s full potential. If, for example, a player has a creative dribbling style, he is immediately discouraged from dribbling as the system calls for immediate passing without thought for other possibilities.
When I say “discouraged” I don’t mean gently here. I have seen the youth national coaches swearing and screaming abuse at a player because he dared to turn and dribble, even though he did so successfully.
The current system is not tailoring the system of play to the abilities and talents of the players to hand. Therefore our creative dribbler is not encouraged to develop his skills while also developing the ability to know when to dribble and when to pass. He is merely ordered not to dribble.
What if Pep Guardiola did the same to Messi? What would be left? Would Messi be considered as great as he currently is if he was not allowed to follow his instinct?
Great coaches know how to fit the system around the players they have. They know that some players, like Messi, will wither and die if restricted in their play. Sven Goran Eriksson while he was at Sampdoria in the ’90s said of Roberto Mancini, “If I had been a strict disciplinarian with Mancini, he would have been a poor player. He could find solutions on the pitch you couldn’t find in any textbook.”
Australia, believe it or not has such players. Right here, right now. I have seen them with my own eyes at youth national level trying to play the beautiful game as it should be played, and as we all want to see it being played, but being abused and insulted for doing so as the Dutch coach tried to make the player fit the system instead of the other way around.
Every little child in kindergarten learns that when confronted with a round hole, it is futile to try to put a square peg in it. We could regard our players as pegs of differing shapes. The current system is like a board where all the holes are the same shape.
It is clear that the pegs will not all fit but they keep hammering away anyway, futilely clinging to the belief that they cannot be wrong and that they will make them all fit regardless.
Kindergarten children learn to modify their thinking. Our national coaches and the FFA need to learn the same. Develop a system of playing that is designed to accommodate the players of the moment and that allows our brilliant individuals to develop and flourish and then you will see Australia take its place on the world stage with the best of them.
We have the necessary talent right now. We just need to allow it to happen.
Come on Jan and friends. Small children can figure this one out. I’m sure you can too.
Mick
Guest
I am sick of hearing all the systems talk. Teach the kids the technique 1st as if the players are duds no system will make them play better
Futbanous
Guest
I'm no coaching expert but there is one certainty ALL great players have had what J Binnie states " The ball was an extension of their own bodies". Dribbling is a prime example. Any coaching that stifles that is plain wrong.
PaddyBoy
Guest
Really good article, enjoyed it immensely. Personally I've always thought that a more direct style would be better. Not just all out long ball, but take advantage of the fact that we have a height advantage over our shorter neighbours in Asia. After all, we play the majority of our games against them.
MFLY
Guest
Actually the writer has quite a good grasp of modern coaching practices and systems, physiology, adolescent and youth psychology as well as practical hands on experience developing young players successfully, together with in depth and current contact with the coaches of whom I spoke and how they interact with their charges. I never speak about anything unless I am well versed in the subject matter. It is because I have insight into the topic of the article, that would not be common knowledge, that I chose to write about it. It really makes no difference to me if you choose to ignore what I am saying. The future of football in this country does not effect me personally. However, what I have said is wrong with the current youth national setup is not idle speculation from afar. It is careful and considered observation from within. The current system is inherently flawed on the level I have spoken about as well as in many other areas. Believe me or don't, that's up to you but please do not accuse me of arguing from an uninformed position.
j binnie
Guest
Have watched the Under- 20 Cup Final today & ,after doing so, find it incredible that people still cannot correctly analyse the main problem area in our game.The 2 teams playing today consisted of 20 ++ players who showed just how far our kids who played in the same tournament are behind the 8 ball in their basic skills standards.The kids today were confident on & off the ball almost to the point it looked an extension to their own bodies.Now the blunt truth is that another 2 years of intense coaching under whoever one cares to mention is going to make very little difference to our kid's basic skills,passing,first touch,heading,comprehension of movement,&, if this is admitted, we then have to look deeper for a cure. Firstly,it was found out years ago that kids have a psychological change in their attitude to the game around 11-13.Before this time they simply love to kick the ball,or,better still,score a goal. (This is the real reason behind small sided games). After that a strange change takes place for they become aware of the team aspect in football thus opening their minds to tactics & formations as a means to gaining victory.This is a proven fact so it means if kids are not schooled in basics at the younger age it becomes so much harder for them to do this later AND develop the tactical & formation "nous" required to advance their personal talent. Anyone who read Craig Johnston's book would remember how,recognising how far behind he was in basic control at 16, he developed a lone "game" of keeping the ball up kicking it against a wall with both feet until he reached 100 touches. This was after the manager told him his first touch was rubbish so he set about curing what he had missed out on in his formative years.That was back in the 70's. We still haven't fixed the problem . Do we never learn?
Beaver
Guest
Which coaches have denigrated the system who are already in the FFA coaching structure?
Mark Hately
Guest
A shame the writer of this article has no idea whatsoever about coaching practices in different coaching systems. You need to learn about what is involved in different systems so you can argue from an informed position.
RIP Enke,
Guest
Well my good man, I do concur. Vilification was probably a bit over the top, but there has been a bit of angst against Dutch wrongly focused instead of towards a certain coach. It will be interesting to see how Vidmar goes, I bet they'll play different, but how much after a 10 day camp??
MFLY
Guest
Thanks for your comments. If you notice, I didn't mention 433 because as you have said, it is a perfectly good way of playing if done in the correct manner according to the talent you have available. My whole point is that one should pick a formation or system to suit the players at your disposal. Guardiola uses 433 in a way that allows his players to play to their potential. He recognises that Messi can only play well if unrestricted. The system used in Australia is the opposite and squanders the talent of the Australian youth players currently available, which is considerable, by being too restrictive and dictatorial.
MFLY
Guest
RIP Enke - I wasn't vilifying the Dutch per say. Just making a point about the coaches who are in place at the moment, who happen to be Dutch. I was pointing out that these particular coaches are letting the players down with their philosophy and ability, as you have said yourself. I don't care what nationality they are but these guys are dutch so I can't describe them as anything else.
RIP Enke,
Guest
The 'Dutch' vilification is uncalled for, Jan vilification IMO is, as I have said before, it's not the formation that's the problem, rather the coaches abilities and or philosophy that is. There are many different ways a 433 van be implemented and different ways positions can be played. Just because our youth coach is Dutch, means as much as German, Brazilian, Spanish or Fijian. It all depends on their ability to comunicate and teach our youth tactics that enhance their opportunities and abilities, while tightening defense with position, fitness and tactical knowledge. Messi, Lamb,, Robben,Adabeyoul each thrive on this formation for different reasons, sure they are great player's in their right, but it show's how a position needs not be stagnant and can be employed differently. The game is changing, I would like to see us at the forefront, or at least the basics of tactics like position, forward runs, off the ball play. Where we looked atrocious and is the coaches job to implement. So yes I think Jan is not the coach for our youth, but I don't care where they are from, Netherlands, England or Feroe Islands.
Qantas supports Australian Football
Guest
MFLY----yes I agree, however, to be far the 4-3-3 system is the foundation of a good attacking go forward team, and not the dutch system entirely. We have seen Baca play the system with variations of tiki-taka small triangles. Messi go on his memorising runs at defences. It all comes down to the philosophy of the manager not the system per se---we have recently seen the Dutchman Pim Verbeek play a negative 4-5-1 with our ANFT, where I felt so sorry for our own Nicky Carle under Pim, who never gave him a decent chance to prove himself on the pitch.
j binnie
Guest
MFLY - Don't know what the initials stand for but this person has just committed to writing more common sense,& logical thinking than I have read for years on this subject.He has attempted to introduce "people" into all this rubbish that has been written about systems,playing from the back,playing through the middle,keeping possession,etc. & has attempted to "humanise " the game again by pointing out simple truths that have been evident in our Australian game for some years now.We have stopped producing the "end product" (did we ever start?) out of what is probably one of the finest,best cared for,educated,fittest,strongest "youth systems" in the world today. He has attempted to get to the root of the problem by going back to kindergarten age &logic & although that may be a step too far in some minds it is a step in the right direction.Millions of dollars are being spent on trying to convert raw talent into the finished product between the ages of 16 & 20 without the aid of a Magic Wand, but by impressing on to a select few a 55 year old system of expressing oneself on the field,a lost cause before it starts. Spend the millions where it matters most in educating our young kids in basic skills & if done properly the natural course of progression will take care of the development of the "pieces" needed by the chess masters of today's game.Only when the youth are properly equipped for the task should they be evaluated & a system devised to suit their individual talents as MFLY has suggested.