Courtesy: The FA.com

Time to analyse

By Graeme Dell

Wednesday, 10 October 2007

Hi again, I can’t believe where this year has gone already. No sooner have we started our international programme and already the next set of games are fast coming round so there’s hardly time to catch a breath. I’m already looking forward to our next two home fixtures at the end of the month.

First we play Andorra, which we now know will be held at the Sports Training Village at the University of Bath, otherwise known as the English Institute of Sport. It’s a fantastic £21m facility which we played at three years ago against Belgium so, if you’ve not been there before why not put it in your diary and take a trundle down there on Monday 29th and Tuesday 30th October.

I’ve spent most of the past fortnight glued to a screen going over the analysis videos from Turkey. It’s important that I see the games with more time at my disposal rather than trying to recall them in the frenetic pace of the live action. We spend a lot on analysis but this allows me to have a more sedate look at who did well enough to warrant a recall and who perhaps needs some more work and in what areas.

There are a number of existing F30 lads to come back into consideration, so after some careful thought my mind is now made up on who the 14 will be to face Andorra and they’ll be announced at the end of this week.

I was pleased to see two players who shone at the National Finals earlier in the year get their chance in Turkey and it demonstrates that if you do show well domestically, we will look at you. Both Steve Gallen and Steve Perkins, who have been on the F30 programme previously, also showed up well in those Finals and they are worthy of another chance and will face Andorra.

Having said that, it’s been an irritating couple of weeks too. My frustration isn’t with the players, it’s with the club set-ups and coaching. It’s becoming more and more apparent that our domestic Futsal clubs haven’t quite understood the game yet although some will admit that and have been very open with me. Others think they have but in fact they’re still a long way off and we need to put things in place which will help them. As a national coach I need to be able to take players from our domestic clubs for international duty in the knowledge that those players understand the basics of Futsal. That’s not the case at the moment which is very much an accusing finger being pointed.

I said some time ago that what I am seeing is five-a-side played on a Futsal court as the numbers grow but that’s what we’re still seeing. Few have gone and looked at what the game is about and taken that back in to the clubs, which is what we need. Tactical understanding in defence and attack are both key and underpin the fundamental principles of Futsal yet if the best players domestically don’t understand it, then it makes my job that bit harder.

I also think another limiting factor is the surface upon which many Futsal matches are being played. I had a discussion with a Director of Sport at a university last week who said: “We’ve tried to promote it and have a small league running, but we don’t seem to have the interest as people don’t see what’s different.”

When I delved further it transpired the league was played on an astro-turf pitch with five-a-side goals and five-a-side referees. There was my answer in one breath. We need to see the better teams and better players getting used to playing on hardwood floors with proper shoes where the uniqueness of Futsal can be displayed, not on rubber crumb with studded boots.

In the meantime, to try and offset this I’ve taken the opportunity to set up another assessment day for this weekend when I will have almost 40 players coming in to have a look at them. These are players who have been recommended to me or whom I have seen over recent months and who could add to the programme but the talent mix will probably be quite varied.

The Mourinho affair has also caught my eye in the past couple of weeks. I liked his charisma and the general way he handled the media, nothing ever too serious and someone who could laugh at himself with ease in the process, which you need at that level. To be a good coach you don’t have to have been a good player and that’s true in any sport. Those who weren’t great players are invariably the great coaches as they have had to learn a lot more to be able to survive in a sport where the talented generally survive on that raw talent alone. Jose Mourinho is a prime example of that and an inspiration to all young coaches.

On a final note much of the past fortnight has also been taken up on the phone. I’ve been amazed since we got back as almost every new player has called me to discuss their performance and to thank me for the opportunity. “Why thank me?” I got asking. “That was the reward of your efforts domestically and your desire to play Futsal,” was my answer on more than one occasion. One of the conversations got me thinking though, as someone asked me: “How do you keep going and keep the enthusiasm in the face of not having won a game yet?” Good question and one which I’ve pondered carefully.

After some thought, the answer was easy. It’s self belief, the knowledge that you know sooner rather than later that people will sit up and take note of Futsal and what we’ve been harping on about. It’s that, linked to a will to win and the desire to encourage others to have the same approach as you to get better in the process.

I was once taught to love what you do, whatever it is that you do in life, do it with enthusiasm or don’t bother. It’s enthusiasm that’s infectious and that can help create a sustainable working culture which is what the entire staff team have developed on our England programme. Our F30 sessions are something that you do, not a place that you go, and every player comes there with enthusiasm – it’s a very refreshing environment which drives us all.

Catch you in a couple of weeks.

Graeme.



Posted by Luca Ranocchiari --> luca.ranocchiari@futsalplanet.com