Futsal v Football A theoretical and practical review of how the principles of Futsal could be implemented into the coaching of English youth football players to develop technical ability? Introduction The Football Association (FA) is in charge of developing English football. In 2007 they established the National Game Strategy to develop grassroots football. One key goal states ‘to develop better players, focusing on improving the quality of the 5-11 age group’ (The FA, 2007). To do this effectively the FA needs to provide high quality training for children (The FA, 2007). Although, this goal puts emphasis on improving youth coaching, it overlooks ways to improve the playing standards of youth football. This situation was compounded in November 2007 by the nation’s failure to qualify for football’s 2008 European Championships, accentuating problems that had, until now, been covered up - most significantly, that English players are not technically good enough. Subsequently, the FA encountered a lot of criticism regarding their current youth development set up. ‘Unless you (England) change your whole approach to football, nothing will get better... the most important thing that can happen to English players is that they improve their technique’ (Carlos Alberta, 2007). A seemingly fundamental problem of English football is that it does not provide players the opportunity to develop a good level of technical and tactical skills. A number of reasons have been suggested to explain this situation. For example, in the professional game there is an overcrowding of foreign players restricting home grown players participating at the highest level. This problem was highlighted by a report in 2007 stating ‘Since the start of the 2002-03 season, only 53 English players have made Premier League debuts’. This suggests that the technical ability coming through foreign youth systems is far superior to our own. In an interview with West Ham Coach Kevin Keen, he stated this was because their sessions were completely technically orientated.
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Futsal v Football
A theoretical and practical review of how the principles of Futsal could be
implemented into the coaching of English youth football players to develop
technical ability?
Introduction
The Football Association (FA) is in charge of developing English football. In 2007
they established the National Game Strategy to develop grassroots football. One key
goal states ‘to develop better players, focusing on improving the quality of the 5-11
age group’ (The FA, 2007). To do this effectively the FA needs to provide high
quality training for children (The FA, 2007). Although, this goal puts emphasis on
improving youth coaching, it overlooks ways to improve the playing standards of
youth football.
This situation was compounded in November 2007 by the nation’s failure to qualify
for football’s 2008 European Championships, accentuating problems that had, until
now, been covered up - most significantly, that English players are not technically
good enough. Subsequently, the FA encountered a lot of criticism regarding their
current youth development set up.
‘Unless you (England) change your whole approach to football, nothing will
get better... the most important thing that can happen to English players is
that they improve their technique’ (Carlos Alberta, 2007).
A seemingly fundamental problem of English football is that it does not provide
players the opportunity to develop a good level of technical and tactical skills. A
number of reasons have been suggested to explain this situation. For example, in the
professional game there is an overcrowding of foreign players restricting home grown
players participating at the highest level. This problem was highlighted by a report in
2007 stating ‘Since the start of the 2002-03 season, only 53 English players have
made Premier League debuts’. This suggests that the technical ability coming through
foreign youth systems is far superior to our own. In an interview with West Ham
Coach Kevin Keen, he stated this was because their sessions were completely
technically orientated.
Futsal v Football
‘I went to Holland and the main thing I saw was keep ball drills, all about
moving the ball, tackling didn’t exist…’
Unfortunately, English football is structured around physical strength and speed,
neglecting the importance of technique. Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger (2006)
emphasises that ‘The most important thing for under 14s is technique...’ Yet, if
English coaching continues to promote the physical qualities in youth football ahead
of technique, the style of football the nation will play will remain one-dimensional
and continue to restrict the development of players to retain possession under pressure
or play in other positions. Furthermore, from experience as a football coach, I
regularly observe qualified coaches instructing young players ‘do this do that’ a style
that hinders creativity and individuality. This is justified by Potrac et al, (2007) who
found, when observing four top English coaches, that instruction represented almost
55% of a coach’s behaviour, whereas visual demonstration made up just 3%.
A strong youth development programme, according to Brazilian World Cup Winning
Coach Carlos Alberto Parreira (2007), is imperative to producing new talent. ‘Players
are built in clubs... It is not about Pele, Kaka, Ronaldinho - it is about the system that
produces them’. This is what the FA must recognise, and, although changes to the
game and society are variables that they can not necessarily control, it is possible to
control the way the next generation of young players are developed. Therefore, to
suggest that fundamental changes to the coaching framework in English football are
required is by no means a rash statement.
This section has highlighted weaknesses in English football specifically relating to the
FA’s apparent neglect to develop young players technically. Consequently, as
Brooking (2007) states ‘Young English teenage players are technically behind their
counterparts in leading countries across the world’. Appropriately, the next section
reviews literature on countries such as Brazil who have created youth systems that
produce technically gifted young players and how a similar system could be
integrated into English football. The main findings relate to a game called Futsal and I
believe introducing Futsal as an integral part of the FA’s youth development scheme
would enhance the technique of English players.
Futsal v Football
Futsal – Can it make England a better football team?
Futsal is a five-a-side game, played with a smaller ball with reduced bounce that is
recognised by FIFA (football’s world governing body). The playing area is smaller
and constantly places players in situations where they must play under pressure in
confined spaces, placing considerable demand on technique, tactical awareness and
fitness (The FA, 2008). Futsal originated in Uruguay during the 1930s and today is
played by over 30 million people worldwide. Former Brazilian player Goncalves
(1998, p.94) states ‘Futsal is excellent for developing technique, in particular the fast
movements with and without the ball’.
Literature Review
The English approach to coaching young players’ football currently neglects technical
and tactical skill acquisition. As a coach, I work hard to develop my player’s
technique, their understanding of the game and their ability to solve problems to
encourage them to be creative, an attribute in short supply in young English players.
In contrast, many young foreign players play Futsal, as its dynamics promote greater
technical and tactical expertise. This is illustrated in a short case study of Futsal in
Brazil. I am using a case study as it will help to gain a holistic understanding of the
issues (Gratton & Jones, 2004) surrounding Futsal and how they relate to developing
players.
Futsal in Brazil
In Brazil Futsal is a major part of youth development and is credited for nurturing
great players. At a young age, Brazilian children are playing small sided football in
parks and shanty towns and by the time they are 9 or 10 are introduced to organised
Futsal at local clubs and play up to the ages of 16 before moving into football.
Brazilian Coach Parreira (2007) claims the youth development programme in Brazil is
essential to the success of Brazilian players.
Futsal v Football
‘When a player is nine, he is already being evolved by a club. At 19, he has
already had 10 years’ organised football. That’s why Brazil have so many
good players, playing in the first division of Brazil aged 19…’
A fundamental aspect that players learn from Futsal is the ability to defend and attack.
As teams consist of just 4 outfield players, each one defends and attacks as there are
no predetermined positions. This allows players to develop both defensive and
attacking mentalities. Tim Burns (2003), former Futsal coach, states this helps players
to become familiar with many positions as ‘all players have to attack and defend in
line with modern soccer…’ (p.7). This enables players a smoother transition into
football as they are comfortable on the ball in all situations as well as enabling
coaches to employ different styles of play to outwit opponents by exploiting the
tactical knowledge of the players. This is an option English coaches lack as those who
grow up playing football often become defence or attack specific before the age of 11,
decreasing their knowledge and motivation to learn about other positions. As
Brooking states (2007) ‘If you can't play it from the back, or in tight areas, it doesn't
matter how good the coach is, you're not going to make it’. This perception is
reinforced by Alfred Galustian (2007), Technical Development Instructor for
Japanese football, who believes England’s neglect of technique in youth development
is a major flaw. He states:
‘English players are technically weak when compared to the Spanish, Italian
and French. Spanish defenders are so comfortable on the ball compared to,
let’s say, John Terry or Micah Richards, the physically robust English
defenders. It’s got to do with the fact that in England, the emphasis has been
largely towards speed and physical strength rather than skill.’
As a player and coach of football, I try to understand where the likes of Kaka and
Ronaldhino learn to execute complex skills in pressure situations. One reason is
Futsal, because a smaller ball with 30% less bounce forces players to work on
technique to control and move the ball quickly on the ground, rather than rely on the
bounce of a ball (University of Worcester, 2007). Even Pele the greatest player of all
time, developed his lightening reflexes and incredible skills playing Futsal (Fish,
1977). In his autobiography, Pele (1977) states:
Futsal v Football
‘Futsal - started outdoors, being played on small courts with reduced
teams… and because of the small size of the field, it makes for a very
fast game.’
Besides Pele, Ronaldo also started his football career playing Futsal. From his
autobiography Ronaldo (2002) describes how he used to play bare foot after school,
dreaming to be his idol, Zico.
‘Futsal is played with a size 2 ball... The ball has very little bounce which
means that the ball is always on the floor… designed to encourage foot
control and is credited with being one reason why Brazilian players are so
skilful.’
Today young Brazilians are dreaming of becoming their idols through playing Futsal.
From these examples of great Brazilian players, there is clear evidence that Futsal is a
significant element in nurturing young talent and could help change the way English
players are developed. As Brooking (2007) states ‘The emphasis is on improvisation,
creativity and technique at a Futsal match.’ Introducing Futsal and shifting emphasis
onto technical development will serve to make England’s next generation technically
better. Admittedly, for the English system to replicate the fortunes of the Brazilian
system, a complete overhaul is required. If the FA require more evidence, then they
will be reassured to know that across North and South America, Eastern Europe and
even as far as Australia Futsal is integrated into the development of young players.
Available evidence, albeit anecdotal, does suggest that Futsal may be inexorably
linked to improving the technique of young players. Futsal appears ideal, as the
repetitive, but cognitive application of new techniques will allow you to develop
performance to a subconscious level (Burns, 2003). Burns (2003) goes on to argue
that players develop greater technical proficiency because ‘Playing Futsal allows you
to touch the ball nearly twelve times more than playing soccer…’ allowing players to
develop faster and more refined foot skills from making an increasing amount of
decisions, potentially accelerating their learning. Ericsson et al, (1993, p.20) claim for
one to become an expert at something one has to mass 10,000 hours of training.
Futsal v Football
However, I argue learning environments such as Futsal that expose players to
repetition of specific motor skills may develop technical expertise in a shorter period
than those who just play football. The next section supports this theory with academic
evidence and is something that is investigated further in this study.
Futsal development in England
As a Futsal player, I believe Futsal should be integrated into developing young
players as it promotes individual and team play in a small playing area that requires
the faster distribution of the ball, forcing players to make quicker technical and
tactical decisions that can be applied to the outdoor game (Burns, 2003).
In England, Futsal is at an embryonic stage. The national team has only won 1 of 49
games since its first in 2004. The FA has recently created 3 domestic regional leagues
to give senior players vital regular playing experience. In spite of this, strategies to
introduce Futsal to youth football have been minimal and responsibility left to the
county football associations to provide coaching courses and local leagues. This needs
to change and hopefully, in the light of this study, it will illuminate the potential
benefits of Futsal. As Martin Oxley (2008), Project Co-ordinator of Futsal Leeds
states.
‘Futsal is a fast game which improves fitness, passing and positional
play. We believe that if this version of the game is adopted at junior levels
we will soon see the skills, which foreign national teams enjoy, in our
football... providing long term benefits to the domestic game.’
However, any strategy aimed at youth football requires the support of the FA, Premier
League and Football League to ensure it is appropriately established. Technical
director, Trevor Brooking (2007) has announced that changes are underway at
grassroots level to improve the development of core technical skills but the complete
transformation of English football remains a long way off. He states:
‘We want to take the intensity out of it (coaching)… do more individual ball
work and concentrate on technique. With younger groups the philosophy is
Futsal v Football
about fun and just letting youngsters play… We're trying to give them a lot
of small-sided playing time, so they get as much contact time as possible.’
Establishing Futsal is possible as professional clubs such as Everton and Derby
County regularly coach their Academy teams the principles of football using Futsal
(Burns, 2003).
Why Futsal will develop better technically and tactically gifted English players
than the current system?
According to Vaeyens et al, (2007, p.395) ‘skilled athletes demonstrate decision-
making skills that are superior to those of their less skilled counterparts’. They claim
these decisions are underpinned by a number of perceptual-cognitive skills that are
utilised during performance such as the ability to recognise and recall patterns of play,
ability to sense visual cues in an opponent’s movement and accurately anticipate
likely event outcomes. Demonstrating mastery levels in each of these perceptual-
cognitive skills is far more likely to produce a talented sportsperson. For example, the
employment of various patterns of play in Futsal is extremely common with regards
to attacking and defending. Recognising each individual strategy with and without
possession will improve the speed of thought and responses of the individual and
team.
In Futsal, players are faced with a high proportion of small numbered situations from
1 v 1s to 4 v 4s and players who can quickly detect specific cues relating to these
patterns are far more likely to anticipate event outcomes and effectively be one step
ahead of their opponents. For example, an attacker who can detect weakness in an
opponent’s defensive shape will be able to exploit that space before the opposition has
time to react. This is supported by Vaeyens et al, (2007, p.396) who in a study of
skilled youth soccer players found that ‘the elite participants spent more time fixating
key areas of space that could be exploited.’ This process is even more important in
Futsal, as a smaller playing area means less space to exploit, forcing players to
develop quicker reactions and faster decisions to meet the constantly changing
dynamics of the game.
Futsal v Football
Moreover, Futsal intensively exposes individuals and teams to learning, by repeating
defensive and attacking movements and enhancing player’s memorial representations
to access specific motor programmes relating to technique and tactics thereby
improving performance. Vaeyens et al, (2007) conclude that the extended engagement
within the domain of expertise allows athletes to develop memory skills that can
trigger faster responses. Thus, time within a specific learning environment will
promote superior athletes technically and cognitively.
As mentioned, decision-making skills can also be mastered through Futsal as
continual scenario repetition will foster player’s response during performance at a
faster rate. Needless to say, in football, with a larger number of players and greater
playing area, players are hindered in developing vital perceptual-cognitive skills as
individual players on average in a match touch the ball half as much as they do in
Futsal. A study was carried out by Set Sport Corporation (2005, p.171) which
reinforces this argument as they found that:
‘In a 40 minute Futsal match, a field player will touch the ball over 80
possessions per match. This compares to only 30 to 40 possessions per
player in a full 90 minute soccer match.’
Subsequently, Futsal appears to accelerate the learning of players regarding decision-
making skills through increased opportunities to form correct responses. As Weinbeck
(2000) professes:
‘The benefit to a Soccer player, of playing Futsal matches under the
pressure of restricted time, space and pressure, is an improvement in:
speed of decision-making, speed of anticipation and speed of perceptual
and visual processing…’
In addition, Williams et al, (2004) devised a coaching strategy to improve specific
decision-making skills in athletes that Futsal could adopt. The first step is to frame
practices where decision-making skills are at the fore, highlighting specific cognitive
skills, both in a physical and tactical context within the sport (Vickers et al, 2004). For
Futsal v Football
example, the ability to spot specific cues, anticipate specific events or retrieve
memory to solve a problem.
In step two, ‘the coach designs a drill that best trains the decision under conditions
that simulate those found in competition’ (Vickers et al, 2004, p.108). Vickers et al,
(2004) explain this strategy applying it to badminton. In relation to step one the
critical perceptual skill to be developed is the ability of an athlete to ‘see’ the
movement of the opponent, develop an awareness of their movements and exploit
weaknesses in those movements. Step two adopts a continuity drill, where a feeder in
this example places the shuttle in a predictable manner for the athlete to respond. To
simulate a competition environment, the feeder is required to move after the shuttle is
set so the athlete can learn to become aware of the opponent’s movement before they
play a stroke in order to exploit any weaknesses (Vickers et al, 2004). This is one
example that can easily be transferred to Futsal. For example, in Futsal, a continuity
drill could be used to teach players the 3 man weave where specific movement
patterns are required. By repeating the drill passively and then actively, players learn
precise movements in relation to their teammates and opponents and the relevant cues
that will allow them to make appropriate decisions to exploit the weave as an
attacking weapon. Producing effective decisions makers according to Vickers et al,
(2004) helps produce better athletes. As she states ‘What is the use of perfect
technique drilled to perfection if the wrong decision is made? (Vickers et al, 2004,
p.108).
Consequently, I believe due to the dynamics of Futsal, based around short patterns of
play, training sessions can be delivered similarly to the way Williams et al, (2004)
express, as integrating continuity and problem drills in a competitive environment will
enhance player memorial representations of attacking and defensive situations. This
will develop the critical perceptual-cognitive skills that Vaeyens et al, (2007) state are
essential for expert performance. In conclusion I believe the academic evidence
provided suggests that Futsal training as part of a player’s football development will
function to produce better technical and tactical players and that the FA need to think
hard about incorporating Futsal into the current youth development setup.
Futsal v Football
Research Development
Introduction to Case Study
The focus of this study has been on exploring Futsal and how, if integrated into
English youth football, it could improve young player’s technical and tactical ability.
The benefits of Futsal have been highlighted in the literature review, with evidence
provided by authors and practitioners from countries where Futsal has become an
integral part of youth development. In spite of this, I have only presented theoretical
evidence, and according to Punch (2004, p.257) ‘findings and conclusions of
empirical research are only as good as the data on which they are based’. Therefore,
to enhance the value of this study, I intend researching Futsal as a development tool
and use the subsequent findings to either concur or reject links between the theoretical
ideas (Bryman, 2004) already presented.
The Purpose of the Research
The purpose of this research is to adopt a working case study to discover if Futsal
provides the opportunity to better develop technical and tactical skills in young
players that they can transfer to football. According to Gratton and Jones (2004, p.97),
case studies are ‘used to gain this holistic understanding of a set of issues, and how
they relate to a sports team… often researched using a variety of methods, over an
extended period of time’. As I am a football coach working with a local under 14
team I will use players from this team to collect data. This case study will adopt a
three pronged approach to data collection by generating statistical data, conducting
specific conversations as well as drawing upon my own opinions.
Data will be collected by assessing player performance in two areas Futsal promotes