How to create great decision makers
How to create great decision-makers
The beautiful game is ever changing, with its tactics and rules constantly evolving. These changes have created a game that is almost unrecognisable when compared to its earlier form; the pace at which the game now takes place is far greater than that of its previous iterations. Fitter, faster and stronger athletes alongside regimented training has created a game where players sprint more, the ball circulated quicker and players are on average in possession of the ball for a mere 3.02 (in the Premier League). This has elevated the value of decision making in the sport to new levels; players now need to make more decisions within a game and these decisions need to be made at a far faster rate than ever before. Within the context of the new, faster paced game of football the question posed is this; how do we create great decision makers who can thrive in the modern game?
How do we define decision making?
Decision making is the art of choosing a particular action (be it passing, shooting etc.) that benefits the team as a whole. Players need to be able to observe and obtain as much information as possible, make the best decision based on the information collected, then execute that decision. Obviously, the technical ability to execute the decision is important, but what is that without the ability to come to the right decision in the first place? The game of football requires players to eliminate mistakes from their game as just one mistake, one poorly made decision, can cost the team a goal and the match. This is the difference between a defender who costs their team a victory, like Shkodran Mustafi (his indecision to step forward and clear the ball in a match against Southampton, leading to Shane Long tapping in the goal in front of him), and one that can save the team in essential moments, like Virgil van Dijk (one moment last season where he successfully navigated Son and Sissoko tearing down on the Liverpool goal in a 2 vs 1 springs to mind), which resulted in the scores remaining level, and an eventual 2-1 victory for Liverpool. Learning to make the right decision at the right time is clearly of the utmost importance for a developing player.
How can players improve decision making?
A key aspect feeding into a player making the right decision is complete awareness of what is going on around them. Former Barcelona midfielder Xavi once said that ‘the difference between them and us is we have more players who think before they play, quicker. When you arrive at Barca the first thing they teach you is: think, think, think, think. Quickly. Lift your head up, move, see, think. Look before you get the ball’. A presentation delivered by the director of methodology for the Barcelona academy analysed how many times Xavi ‘scanned’ within a game; the tally showed that Xavi scanned 804 times from side to side over the 90 minutes to paint a picture of the situation around him. This awareness of the situation on the pitch is what allowed him to so consistently make the right decision. Research on Premier League players showed a direct correlation between searches done by a player and the player’s performance. This shows the importance of awareness in decision making; if players are taught to constantly observe the pitch around them they are given a platform upon which to make the right decision during a game.
How can you coach decision making?
In order to make the right decision for the team, the player must be completely aware of the tactical structure that they are playing in. Tactical periodisation, which we have already talked about in a previous blog post, can aid in this. Directing every aspect of training towards the tactical outlook of the team can do well in imbuing the team’s tactics into a player. This puts them in place to make the right decision on behalf of the team.
Coaching must do more than create tactical awareness; the correct coaching can directly affect decision making ability. Raymond Verheijen, Dutch football coach, states football is composed of four elements; these are, in hierarchical order, insight, decision-making, technique and conditioning. Coaching must reflect this; decision-making should be ever present in the coaching progress as the platform upon which physicality and technique can blossom.
Where decision making isn’t prioritised, the sequence of events after which a player has received the ball reflects this model: receive, look, decide and play. By the time the player has looked, and decided what ball to play, the opportunity is gone and the opposition (previously out of shape) have reorganised and restricted opportunity for constructive play. Consciously re-ordering this sequence of events in training to reflect the model of look, decide, receive, play creates players who instinctively will have made at least one decision before the ball is at their feet. Players are thus morphed into faster, better decision makers, and the team operates as a well oiled machine.
How important is it?
A player's decision making capacity is arguably the most important attribute in a player's arsenal to effectively play, also remaining a slightly intangible, immeasurable quality when placed alongside broadly physical traits. Often, it means that it is overlooked in comparison to these physical traits, and its training is neglected in favour of conditioning and technique. Of course these are also incredibly important to a player’s development.
We at Bloomsbury strive to use all of the available information and our coaching ability to morph our players into competent decision makers alongside this. This, we know, will allow our players to reach their full potential and succeed in football.