Welcome to the Dynamic Soccer Coaching Substack. This post is the second in a series called “Defining Your Game Model.” In Part One, we defined game model as a coach’s idea(s) for how we want our teams to play. Seen that way, every coach has a game model, whether we know it or not. Then we categorized three basic types of game models: style-based, phase-based, and thirds-based.
In Part Two of the series, we will define the game behind the game model.
Here we go!
Thinking About the Game Itself
As we start to think about how to define our own game models, we need to separate two things in our minds: 1) our game models and 2) the game itself.
Our game models are going to be subjective; they are going to be unique to each of us as individual coaches. My game model is going to be different than your game model because mine is some combination of my values and personality and players and context. In terms of my game model, what works for me may not be something that works for everyone; and that’s okay! It’s my game model, after all. So we should expect that game models can be very different from one to the next.
The game itself, on the other hand, is going to be objective. Soccer is generally the same for everyone, whether it’s five year-olds or fifty year-olds, men or women, amateurs or professionals, in Africa, Asia, or America. We all play and coach the same game according to the same Laws of the Game. Each local competition, of course, may add rules and regulations for its context; but the fact remains: the fundamental elements of the game itself remain objectively the same for all.
This distinction is important because we need to base our game models (our subjective ideas) on the game itself (the objective reality of soccer). Some game models are actually better than others! Game model ideas based on the true nature of the game are going to be better than ideas based on an incorrect understanding.
So, what is the objective reality of soccer? What is a correct understanding of the game itself? Simply put, soccer objectively is the interaction of the BOTS: the ball; the objective; the teams; the space.
The Ball
Soccer is a game played with one ball. The ball is moved around primarily with the feet, but also occasionally by any other body part than the arms or hands. The goalkeeper may use her hands inside the 18-yard box, and players may use their hands to throw the ball in after it has gone out over the touchline or to move the ball after a foul; but other than that, no player may use their arms or hands to touch or move the ball.
The fact that the ball is played primarily with the feet is what separates soccer from other team invasion games like basketball or hockey. Part of the difficulty of soccer is that the game is played primarily with the same parts of the body which are also responsible for enabling player movement around the field: the feet and legs. But this unique difficulty is, of course, also one of soccer’s best qualities!
And, what exactly are we trying to do with the ball?
The Objective
Ultimately, what we’re trying to do with the ball is score goals to win the game. Virtually every time we play soccer, we’re trying to score one more time than our opponent does. (There are occasional times where we might play for a draw, but those are few and far between.) If we can do that, we will win the game! And that’s our objective.
Sometimes coaches will say that the objective of the game is joy or player development or community building, or something else like that. And all these things are good things that can be by-products of playing the game. We want our players to enjoy and grow and be part of a healthy community. But in an objective sense, we play the game in order to win.
So, is it just players who play the game?
The Teams
There are two teams who compete against each other to win each game. Our team plays against the opposition. We’re trying to win, and they’re trying to win. We can expect that for everything we do, they will respond. And we should always try to respond likewise to anything they do. Our team is made up of 11 players, and so is theirs.
Sometimes when we talk about the game, we take a kind of radically player-centered view. We zoom in extremely closely upon an individual player and then try to make sense of the game from that vantage point. But I don’t think that’s the best way to understand the game. Of course, we want to develop and empower each of our players! I think the best way to do this, though, is to actually think about each player in the context of the team. Objectively, soccer is a team game, which means the team must come before the player. This may seem controversial, but it’s the most objective way to think about the game itself. It may not be the most popular view, but it is the most logical.
Now, where do the teams play the game?
The Space
Teams play the game in the space, which can be as large as 130x80 yards or as small as 100x50. There is always a midfield line, as well as an 18-yard box on each end. While it’s probably incorrect to say that the space is the most important element of the game, it is nevertheless interesting to note that the very first Law of the Game is called “The Field of Play.” This shows the importance of recognizing that game itself is actually bound by spatial limits. Soccer is always and everywhere a game of space; that space will change based on where teams move and where the ball is, but space will always be available since the game is played in such a large space.
Perhaps the most helpful ways to categorize the space are by thirds and channels. There are three thirds of the field: the defensive third, the middle third, and the final third. And there are five channels: the left and right wings, the center, and the left and right half spaces. The half spaces are halfway between the wings (the outer-most parts of the field) and the center. The thirds and channels are objective ways to think about the space, but they are not the only ways to do so!
But, how do the ball, the objective, the teams, and the space fit together?
The Interactions of the BOTS
The most important part of the objectivity of the game is not centered on any individual element, but on the interactions between all the elements. The interactions between the ball and the teams in the space as each team tries to achieve the objective, just are what soccer is.
We can’t really understand soccer if we focus only on the ball without reference to the teams or the space; we can’t really understand soccer if we focus only on one team and not the other; and we can’t really understand soccer if we focus only on an individual player, rather than how that player interacts with the space and their teammates and the opposition.
In other words, under no circumstances should we separate the ball, the objective, the teams, and the space in our understanding of or thinking about the game. We can, of course, make distinctions between these elements, but a distinction is not a separation. If we have too narrow a focus on the ball or on an individual player, for example, then we will actually misunderstand the holistic, true reality of the game.
Game Model Ideas: The BOTS
I know all of this has been a little bit theoretical so far. But over the next few weeks I hope to show that basically everything flows from this objective understanding of the game. Since soccer is the interactions between the BOTS, then that changes everything about how we define our game models, how we design our training methods, and how we deliver our coaching magic.
For now, I want to say again: our game model ideas, whatever they are, must still be based on the objective reality of the game itself. Put another way, when we think about our game model ideas, we need to acknowledge that they aren’t really anything other than how we want our team to play in the space with the ball against the opposition in order to win the game.
What’s Up Next
Next week we’re going to consider how to use the concept of the team as the starting point for building an effective game model. We’ve defined “game model” and the “game itself,” and now we’re ready to look at a few different ways that we might want our teams to play.
I hope it will be a little more practical. But at this early point, I think it’s so important for us to be on the same page. Viewing soccer as the interactions of the BOTS really will change how we define, design, and deliver our coaching. Please stick with me! I promise we will get out of the clouds and down to the field, as quickly as we can.
Thanks again for joining me so far. I appreciate everyone who’s reached out with kind words. I’ll keep doing this for as long as other youth soccer coaches find it helpful. Looking forward to next time.
See y’all then!
