silver wrote:

Peter:

You’re never too old for a step change!

Seriously, I’ll try and answer your question.

Through my children’s involvement in the game I’ve been fortunate to witness some younger professional coaches who follow an approach where possession is the key focus.

If you look at football in Spain at youth level they don’t play with goals until they get to 12 or 13. The game is won or lost by how long you have possession of the ball rather than how many goals you score. It’s not surprising therefore that Spanish players all appear a lot more comfortable in possession of the ball.

If you consider what Guardiola did at Barcalona and is now doing at Bayern, and the way teams like Swansea under Martinez, Everton now under Martinez,  Watford under Zola to name a few, play, they are almost redefining the game tactically.

Characteristics of the approach are:

- Technically able players who are comfortable on the ball, including the goalkeepe- r
- A massive focus on possession, keeping the ball when you have it, pressing/swarming to get the ball when you haven’t
- Players playing between the lines to find space
- Playing out from the back, rather than the goalkeeper hoofing the ball forward
- Full backs overlapping to become attacking threats
- Midfield overloaded with five plus midfielders interchanging positions
- A false nine (striker) dropping into midfield to help the overloading
- Strikers focused on movement to find pockets of space away from large less mobile defenders

I’m over simplifying it but you get the idea.

Now linking this back to Chippenham as the above is all very theoretical, the reason for my first post was to ask the question whether it was possible to adopt this more modern way of playing at our level or whether the above is me being too demanding as a fan and living in a dream world!!

Based on the above our current style is close to the opposite:

- Players who might be comfortable on the ball but don’t want it through fear of failure
- Players who appear scared of possession through fear of failure
- A rigid formation 4-4-2, 3-5-2 etc
- No playing out from the back, Ben normally hoofs the ball forward into an area and concedes possession of the ball
- Full backs defending OK but with little attacking threat
- 4 sometimes 5 in midfield with no interchange between midfield and forwards
- 1 sometimes 2 forwards with somebody typical hoofing the ball up to Griff who flicks it on to nobody (no offence Griff as I know you work hard), again conceding possession 

The approach I’m attempting to describe requires a lot of contact with the players which would be difficult as our lads are all part time and have day jobs. It also requires a commitment from top to bottom to commit to a different style which will take time to yield results (most managers don’t have time!).

Maybe a balance between the two styles is a more realistic target however I would be interested in the forums view.
 

I was at Saturday's match when at half-time there was an exhibition game by one of the junior sides. Guessing, I would say the boys were around 6 or 7 years of age. The sort of coaching you're talking about seems to make a lot more sense than what I witnessed. A swarm of young lads all chasing a ball around, trying to force it into a minature goal, seemed a pretty pointless exercise.