Football Theory Jonas Munkvold

GAME IDEA – PRINCIPLES OF PLAY
Jonas Munkvold – football coach and full time idea thief

Football philosophy
Football is communication. If the club speaks the same language it is an orchestra.
If not it is a mess.
Objective football philosophy
From evidence-based coaching
“Application is everything”
Subjective decision
making
JONAS MUNKVOLD, 2017

THEORY
o The aim of the Game Model is to make complex situations simpler for the players by first
disassembling the situation like a puzzle and then reassembling it step by step
o Our play is based on the our training sessions, based on our game model, that is based on
our player characters, that is based on our principles of play that is build from the head
coach’s game idea
o Tactics are how we plan to win the game, but it all starts in training.
Game Idea
DNA
Principle
s of Play
Player
Characte
r
Game
Model
Training

Phases of the
Game
Transition to attack
- Exploit imbalance
- 6 seconds
Attack Reactive
1. Build up
2. Scoring
Defence Proactive
1. Disturb build up
2. Deny scoring

FOOTBALL ACTIONS
o The logical structure of football actions
o Communication Tactical
o Collect information
o Decision making Game insight
o Chose a solution
o Execution Technique
o Execute the solution
o Repetition Football Fitness
o Better action, more frequent action

COMMUNICATION
INTERACTION TO GATHER INFORMATION
 Purpose: To improve predictability for team mates and increase speed of action
 Team quality – one player can, by definition, not be “tactically strong”
 You cannot wave to yourself
 Requires interaction between two or more players
 Verbal, non-verbal, voluntarily, involuntarily, obvious, hidden

DECISION MAKING
GAME INSIGHT
 What solutions are there?
 Based on information collected
 What can I do to help the team in this situation

EXECUTION
FOOTBALL: EXECUTION OF DECISION GYMNASTICS: EXECUTION OF
EXECUTION
 Often isolated – because it is the only aspect that can be seen from the sidelines
 “U8’s cannot play – they need to learn to pass”
 Development of the worlds best? Streets
 10v1on a large area?
 3v0?

FOOTBALL FITNESS
Better action: x  X
More frequent action: X—X  X-X
Football: X—X—x---x---x
Higher level: X-X-X—X—X

FOOTBALL FITNESS
FOOTBALL X-X--X--X----X HIGHER LEVEL FOOTBALL X-X-X-
X-X-X
 What is the characteristics of higher level football?
 Do they play for longer time or faster?
 Do better players know more actions or perform the same actions in a higher speed of action?
 Playing with better players gives you less time and space?
 Therefore, the main training objective is:
 To perform a higher number of actions in the same amount of time
 With better quality
 Football, then, becomes an intensity sport
 Not an endurance sport
 100%  101%
 Possible if training is at 80%??
x  X Better
actionMore frequent
actions X-X Maintain good action
Maintain frequent
action

FOOTBALL FITNESS’ ROLE IN FOOTBALL
Playing
style
High tempo
(actions/minute)
High quality
The role of football fitness is
to support the playing style

FOOTBALL
Attacking DefendingTransitionin
g
COMMUNICATION
(Game insight at team level – every action is communication)
GAME INSIGHT
(Decision making - Position, timing, direction, speed)
TECHNIQUE
(The execution of a decision - no such thing as ideal football technique)
FOOTBALL FITNESS
(Repeating the process many times over 45x2 minutes)

FOOTBALL ACTIONS
CAN ALWAYS BE EVALUATED ACCORDING TO THE FOUR PILLARS:
o Position
o Did the player initiate the action at the right place?
o Moment
o At the right time?
o Direction
o In the right direction?
o Speed
o With the right force/power/speed?

FOOTBALL
o Holistic approach
o By isolating either of the processes we are no longer coaching
football
o All must be in relations to each other
o Neither exists in a vacuum

TACTICAL PERIODISATION
YOU DON’T IMPROVE AT ‘A’ BY PRACTICING ‘B’

The purpose of training is to enhance the playing style.
Playingstyleisaframeworktoimprovethecommunicationbetweenplayersonthepitch

SPECIFICITY PRINCIPLE
o Train situations, not execution
o Train movement, not muscles
o By isolating execution we define technique as something that can be ideal rather than something
practical
o By training situations we follow the laws of the game and its logical hierarchy
o Communication  Game insight  Execution  Football fitness
o This allows us to develop the playing style more efficiently
Implications of
fatigue?

RAISE YOUR BAR
 What you expect from the players – Demand from yourself
 And never accept anything else
 You get out only what you put in
 Exceptional success requires exceptional circumstances
 Normal doesn’t create excellence
 Go for the gap – Always improve
 When on top of your game, develop your game
 Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something
you want done because he wants to do it.
 Football is a complex game, so the most important goal is to be
very clear
 Doing my best is a choice
Some people think that if their opponent play a beautiful game it’s ok to lose. I don’t.You

Football Theory Jonas Munkvold