The Change Football Needs
The history of civilization and humanity is a story of constant evolution and adaptation. From the tools and materials we use, to how we communicate, to how we govern our civilization and to even traditions themselves; we are always going through a change. I believe that the time for change has come for football. In this space, I’m going to talk about why I think change is needed and how the change will happen.
The Exciting Idea of Football
Football (or Soccer, as blasphemously called in certain parts of the world) is the most popular sport in the world, with an estimated over 3 billion fans around the globe. Football’s popularity is not a coincidence at all. It has been around for a while, it’s easy to pick up and exciting to watch.
It’s part of the human legacy, with origins leading up to hundreds of years BC. It has seen different forms and ways to play and in the last decades, football has risen as not only a prominent sport but also one of the ways for people all over the world to connect.
Being very accessible outside the “official format” also contributes to football’s popularity: Many of us have found ways to play it outside a field, whether by inventing new rulesets to play with a single goal, using stones to create an imaginary goal or simply hiring a place for fast football. Playing some sort of football is simple. As long as there is will… and a ball, there is a way.
Last but not least, football is an exciting sport to watch. It takes place in a huge field, which makes each attack almost like a story: There is a setup, followed by a build-up and hopefully, a resolution. Of course, plot twists happen: A perfect attack may be stopped by the goalkeeper or even the goal post and even better, hijacked by the defence and into a counter-attack! Players sometimes demonstrate personal talent to skillfully move between opposing enemies and other times, teamwork that might make you think the players read each other’s minds.
Today’s Reality
At least, that’s what it’s supposed to be in theory. Unfortunately, football has been degrading into a stale show. Many clubs seem to care more about their PR and big transfer than the overall feeling of the team. Fans are similarly being pushed to care about this facade of big names and one-man shows more than appreciating good sportsmanship and teamwork.
Today’s Football has the “wrong” mentality. It assumes that “perfect football” will emerge by transferring the “expensive star players. That is — if anyone looks for “perfect” football at all. Question is, how can perfection in a game of 11 vs 11 be achieved with singular transfers? Football isn’t supposed to be player-centric and selfish, it’s meant to be collective.
And achieving perfection for a true Collective Football requires research and investigation and maybe a step back to see things from a wider perspective. To get math and science into it. Collective Football can only be played by a Collective Playing Mind of 11 Players and which is extremely difficult and sophisticated just like Johan Cruyff persistently emphasizes.
The Change
Of course, football have seen certain changes and different tactics over the years. The “Total Football” movement, as tried by many different coaches and teams, was one such idea. However, these strategies have failed to create true change. Several teams quickly abandoned these strategies when teams or coaches changed and those who opposed the idea were quick to point out reasons that allegedly prove that these were exceptions.
The real missing point was the lack of a methodology. Instead of trying to apply the concept of Collective Football in Today’s Football mentality, one needs to change their way of thinking altogether.
For this reason, I don’t mean to simply present a new strategy. I present a whole new way of thinking, with its own ways of training and a base upon which new strategies can be built: A methodology.
Without methodology and without radically changing its conservative and conventional mentalities and taboos, Today’s Football has no chance of “coping” with this game called football and playing the “perfect football”.
Today’s Football must give up
- the mentality that focuses on the Star Players,
- the mentality of “Arbitrarily Assembled Teams” which is based on Money & Transfer
- the mentality that looks for excuses that are based on referee decisions.
Today’s Football is not entitled to talk about or even pronounce the word “Collective Football” without asking itself the following questions, without dealing with them day and night, without finding answers for them, and in other words, without discovering the paths directed to the next step in the evolution of football, or as I’d like to call it, the real football:
- What is the Collective Football Mind?
- How can a team playing football with a Playmaking based on a Collective Playing Mind be constituted?
I strongly believe that a so-called “collective” mentality which doesn’t comprise Math/Science/Art/Research/Development “such as” Today’s Football, can never beat a real collective football mentality which does. True collective football can only be taken on by itself.
The Future
In my future articles, I’ll expand this mindset, muse further on Today’s Football’s shortcomings and present ways to realize the next steps for True Collective Football.
If you are interested in learning more, please let me know by clapping on this article (you can press the button for multiple claps), writing a comment and if you’d like to thank me for the many hours I’ve put into research and shape this concept, feel free to buy me a coffee!
