Ned Zelic is regarded as one of Australia's most gifted players, he represented the Socceroos 34 times over a decorated career that spanned Europe, Asia and the United Kingdom. The NPL interviewed Ned a couple of years ago, have a listen to it and when you read what follows, you will know that this is a heartfelt contribution, seasoned with hard Football experience at the most senior and elite levels of the game.
Ned Zelic had something important to say on his SBS World Game Blog. It has meaning for us here in the ACT, particularly as we talk of how to give our best Under 17 - 20 mens players a pathway beyond the Capital Football Premier League.
Zelic points out that the disappointing performance of the Australian Under 17 Mens team is not solved immediately by sacking the Coach, everyone involved takes responsibility for the outcomes. This outcome is deserving of a great deal more thought and Zelic starts the ball rolling, drawing it all the way down to junior football.
Zelic draws our attention to a number of points that you will hear many ordinary coaches talk about as they implement the FFA National Football Curriculum - every week in community football! Ned makes an important distinction between what I would call "training" and "coaching" among those that guide junior players and teams. Then there is that further distinction between "winning" and "development" in junior / youth Football.
Please read this article - it will give you food for thought.
We must educate our kids06 Jul 2011
00:00-Ned Zelic
I left McKellar stadium in Canberra deeply concerned. I had just watched the Joeys get past Malaysia and Laos in the first phase of Asian qualifying, but they were far from convincing.
Now that we’ve been bounced out of the FIFA U17 World Cup with a 4-0 defeat to Uzbekistan, the question is: ‘who’s fault is it really?’ The coach Jan Versleijen? He carries responsibility, but it would be too easy to lay the blame squarely on him.
What about the players? They are the ones responsible for implementing what the coach wants. They are required to play to their potential and avoid making critical errors.
Both parties must take some responsibility, but the problems lie deeper than that.
In the search for answers, we must look at the earliest levels of player development.
When Barcelona scouted a 12-year-old named Lionel Messi in Argentina, do you think it said: "we love the way the ball bounces off his shins and the way he keeps tripping over. Let’s get him over to Catalonia, fix those problems and make him the world’s best player". No of course not. He already had great technical ability.
Barca saw that and decided it was worth bringing Messi over to keep working on his technique, but at the same time implement the club’s philosophy, work on decision-making, tactical awareness, physical attributes and mould his character. The training that allowed his technical ability to blossom had already begun and beared fruit in Argentina at Newells Old Boys.
The example of Messi and countless others shows how important junior coaches are to our future. The coaches below the Jan Versleijens of the world, who are responsible for nurturing the technical ability needed to be successful in the game.
It’s the job of Versleijen to pick the best of this bunch – the players that were deemed to suit the philosophy, just like Barca has done with its squad.
While it is easy to lay blame at the feet of Versleijen and the AIS for our failure at the FIFA U17 World Cup, we really need more quality coaches to teach kids technique and tactical awareness, before they get to 17.
Unfortunately the way things are at the moment, with short junior seasons and the countless other programs on offer, kids are being told to run right one night, then run left the next. This coach tells them to play out from the back, while that coach insists on clearing the ball at all costs.
It is not enough to expect our youngsters to suddenly play amazing football just by introducing small sided games, as if they are some magic potion to our technical woes.
What is and always will be the most important factor is the coaching. Coaches need to work intensively with juniors, putting them in trying situations on the pitch and showing them how to find solutions.
They must be taught not just 'play' their way out, but to 'feel' their way out of tight areas on the pitch. Instilling a feeling within the player is the key to improving technical ability. Correcting constantly during training is vital as well. Too many times I see little or no intervention. A coach should be constantly highlighting errors and providing solutions at training.
Of course, we still need to preserve our traditional qualities: willpower, never-say-die attitude, grit and determination and physical capabilities, the very characteristics that were missing in the Joeys loss to Uzbekistan.
Germany is the model for a nation that is succeeding in doing all of the above. Its exciting, attractive football and movement off the ball stems from being physically fit – a factor we were poor at during the World Cup. This is what creates space and options. The great players of the world are great because of the superior technical ability they have, but also because of the runs their team-mates make off the ball for them.
Working tirelessly to get the ball back when we lose it is vital, so we can get rhythm into our game. Guus Hiddink said the team had six to seven seconds to get it back. That philosophy should be funnelled through to our junior teams, or have we forgotten what Hiddink did for us? Football Federation Australia has done many positives for our game, but one thing bothered me in Mexico.
The efforts to delay the Uzbekistan game proved to be fruitless. We shouldn’t have even tried. The message that was being sent by doing so was we're not backing our team to get out there and do the business on the pitch. We gave our players and coaching staff an alibi if we crumbled. Crumble we did, wilting helplessly in the Mexican sun.
I would have preferred to hear: ‘Come on, we got a result against Denmark with 10 men. We beat Ivory Coast with a sub-par performance! We had good periods against Brazil. So a day less rest lots of travel? Who cares?’
Football is psychology and at that moment it was vital to build the confidence of these developing players and make them believe that we backed them, even with a day less rest. By trying to delay the game, FFA and the coaching staff delivered a message that the day’s less rest and travel were too big a mountain to climb, something the players are still impressionable enough to believe. On the display it looked like they did.
I was reminded of a quote from an old team-mate of mine at Dortmund, Matthias Sammer, who is now sport director at the German Football Association and responsible for junior and youth teams. Upon getting the job he was asked what the goals were. He said: "We want to be number one. We want titles at junior, youth and senior level.”
Juniors and Youth teams have their titles already with the seniors going close in South Africa last year. In Germany many young players are brought through a system that demands a combination of winning and attractive football. Our selection criteria at all levels should focus on those that can combine playing the game with a winning mentality.
A lack of these components within a team means problems arise when times are tough in a game. The result is a system of players who pass on responsibilities, as happened in the Uzbekistan game.
Downplaying the importance of results gives teams an alibi and threatens to take away the intensity and pressure needed to perform at a high level, the same pressure that will need to be dealt with in later years.