Nurturing Creativity in Young Players - Part 1

The maverick player has been looked upon with a mixture of awe and distrust in the English game. Gascoigne was an enigma who could win a game on his own, Beckham transcended football with a magical right boot and Matt le Tissier was the first midfielder to score 100 Premier League goals. Gascoigne was dropped in favour of 32-year-old Gordan Cowans for ‘tactical reasons’ following a sublime World Cup in 1990. A mob burnt an effigy of Beckham after his red card against Argentina in 1998. Matt le Tissier only ever played for England eight times in his career despite being one of the most talented players of his generation. Why are creative players judged with such volatility? Why does English football seem so hostile to the maverick, creative player? How can we remedy this?

Lack of creativity in the English Game

In the UK, we often exalt the creative geniuses playing for our club sides, yet we struggle to create our own players in the same creatively expressive vein. Throughout the years, British fans have marvelled at the ability of Bergkamp, Henry, Cantona, Hazard, Ronaldo, and the list could go on and on - why have we so struggled to create similar players?

Nature and nurture both play an immense role in the development of any young player, and the same logic can be applied to the creative aspect of a player’s game. Why are we failing to nurture creative geniuses? This blog piece will show the reasons for the dearth of creativity among British players, with the second instalment displaying how we can try to impart creativity on developing players.

Winning vs Development

The major problem in English football is cultural, with these issues holding back talent who could go on to be creative and exceptional players. A win at all costs mentality, as previously discussed in our post entitled ‘winning vs development’, has been prevalent in English football, and this, in turn, has limited performances and development of players. This process is particularly felt by naturally creative players - coaches and parents want the team to win, so players who are naturally creative will be discouraged from expressing themselves on the pitch in a ‘risky’ manner. Creative players are restricted in games, they are not able to display and develop their creativity. This leads to a dearth of this kind of player.

Trusting the process

A distrust of skill due to its ability to lead to mistakes and therefore conceded goals causes some coaches to diminish creativity among young footballers. As we have previously argued, mistakes exist to be learnt from, and players should be encouraged to express themselves on the pitch so as to learn when their creativity is a hindrance, and when it is beneficial. Players will then be able to develop creatively while also maturing into making the correct decision as to when to take a risk in the game.

Of course, lack of technical skill also plays its part. Fabio Capello admitted that one of his most difficult challenges as England manager was the development of a style apart from the pace and intensity prevalent in the English game. Technicality is often overlooked in the face of physicality in the English game, and this also negatively impacts players' ability to creatively express themselves on the pitch. However, we have seen the British game aim for reform after the disasters that struck the England team from 2008 (with the failure to qualify for Euro 2008) to 2014 (that disastrous World Cup). This provides a platform from which we can provide players with the necessary skills and proper mindset to develop as creative players.

The future’s bright

English football suffers from a dearth in creativity driven largely by culture. The British game is physical, relying less (thus promoting less) on the technically astute player. The British game is relatively conservative, thus fearing the player whose creativity could lead to an error and a goal conceded. A ‘win at all costs’ mentality saw England face a historically bad 6 years from 2008-2014, however, things do appear to be changing. The next instalment will outline how we at Bloomsbury are trying to ensure that our players flourish creatively.

How do you think clubs and coaches nurture creativity in the UK? Are we doing enough to nurture creativity at the grassroots level?