One of the most unheralded and beautiful elements of sport… well, of good sport, anyway… is the thing that the Japanese call Ma. Ma, or negative space, as it is sometimes called, is well-known in the spheres of art, design, architecture, drama, dance and music but, when used properly, is also one of the most powerful tools available to an athlete or sports team. This is … [Read more...]
Whats wrong with the Matildas?
Socrates is worried! Here is a lament from the idiot sports philosopher who has coached multiple sports for multiple years but has recently forsaken his earlier loves for Rugby, Rugby League and Basketball for “the beautiful game.” Some people who have only ever loved soccer will argue that he is not a real football person and that he doesn’t know what he is talking about. They … [Read more...]
Aivi Luik interview – Matilda unsung hero
It is difficult to summarize the career of Matilda’s mid-fielder, Aivi Luik. She has done so much, achieved so much and had so many successes in so many footballing spheres that it is hard to get your head around it all. One of her most astounding achievements was the way in which she forced her way back into the Matildas team in 2018 after spending many years (and two world … [Read more...]
Ante… I’ve got no problems with the “high line”…. but….
In comparison to Ante Milicic, I know sweet bugger all about the technical aspects of football. I am way too ignorant of the intricacies of his sport to offer a learned opinion on his choices of players or to critically analyse his decision to play “a high line of defence” and a “4-1-4-1” positional structure. Oh, I do have opinions on these matters, but as a rank amateur … [Read more...]
Forget technical genius. Great coaching is managing player expectations and emotions.
A while back I had the opportunity to teach a new activity to a soccer team at practice that I thought would be of great benefit to them. I had seen this particular “practice game” work miracles for other teams both in terms of the individual technical skills it helped to develop in participating players and in the effective teamwork it tended to facilitate. This activity had … [Read more...]