Estructura de la Tesis

“…As coaches, we all have our philosophies, our identities and our preferences of how we want to play” and this is an important influence on the Model of Play. But as coach Brian continues to explain, coaches need to be pragmatic and be willing to adapt to suit their environment. In full resonance, coach Sergio shares that in the past he used to bring his philosophy with him to every club. After 10 years of experience, he learned how important it is for him to adapt to the needs of the environment. He continues to explain that you always start with some of your ideas, but then, after you scrutinise everything, you continue working on the contextualised Model of Play. “There are some things you can introduce from the first day, and then through deeper scrutiny, you can decide the

complete Model of Play,” he says (Sergio). Notwithstanding this, he still makes it very clear that he starts working on the principles from the first day. “If you know the players you can start with basic general [principles] and [then] start working on smaller principles” (Sergio). On the other hand, if the environment is totally new, he starts “working on the big principles that can apply the big idea. Then [he] start[s] working on the specifics with the finishing of the game model in the next days” (Sergio). Assuming that not all coaches are experts and that all are continuously learning, coach Sergio explains that coaches can engage in this ongoing learning process even when conceptualising the Model of Play.

Scrutinise the environment, go in training, start including general principles if you don't know them enough, or more specific if you know them better, then keep repeating this process until you get into detailed specifics. (Sergio)

Many of the participants talked about the strong influence of the self on the Model of Play, but they also agree on the importance of adaptation to the needs of the environment. This has been identified by Delgado-Bordonau and

Mendez-Villanueva (2012) when they discussed the factors that influence the design and construction of the game model.

The Model of Play is adapted to suit the environment and the objectives set by the environment (Brian). While a Model of Play may be written over a couple of days or weeks, in real fact ‘the game idea…is in a continuous

evolutionary state’ (Hugo). This is confirmed by coach Fannar when saying; “I have been working on how I want to play soccer for five to six years”. Coach Brian confirms this continuous evolution:

I have my philosophy document, so a lot of my modelling has been done, and that is why I am saying, when I go in, I scrutinise the environment, I have my model, and then in preparing that I only adjust. (Brian)

The Model of Play needs to adapt to different styles of play and formations as to be able to provide a framework that allows a clear understanding of what the team needs to do in different situations (Mark). Coach Mark states that he aims to coach “them and teach them how to adapt to different situations”. He

mentions an example when his team played against a 3-4-3 formation, “so they [his players] ended up having to deal with a wing-back and a wing”. This shows how important it is for the coach to introduce a Model of Play which is flexible in its adaptation to both attack and defence (Mark).

Being aware of the adaptation that one needs when working with new players at the same or at a new club (Fannar), Coach Fannar decided to move to a new club which has players with the right characteristics to play his game. Still, he admits that to improve the game, he needed to implement changes to his midfield update, to the responsibilities of his defenders, and to the runs of the strikers (Fannar).

The need for adaptation as expressed by the participants clarifies that they have implicitly or explicitly recognised the process as one which is

problematic. It also shows the level of Pedagogical Reasoning and Action these soccer coaches engage into, when working on their Model of Play. Coach Mark confirms that he structures a model but keeps in mind that he needs to be flexible with it, not only for new players, but also because “[he] will learn as time goes by with the players, what they can do or what they cannot do”. Coach Paul confirms that coaches need to be realistic and accept that principles may need to change. “It is very easy to say, I want to play this way, but it is not always easy to get the players you need for that kind of game”. Hence, coaches need to be ready to “set the principles and adapt them to their players” (Paul, coach

Brian) and then over time, teach the players who can potentially change. If it is necessary, those players who do not fit the Model of Play would need to be replaced (Brian).

I find this section best concluded with a statement by coach Soldano: The balance between - keeping the model to suit the players, getting new players to suit the model, changing the players to suit the model -

changing the model to suit yourself.