Ghana: Time to Coach Footballers and NOT Athletes

In 2011, I pondered “why are football players trained in Brazil, Netherlands, and Spain so skillful?” “How come Ghana does not have a player as good on the ball as Xavi, Messi, Oscar, Kaka?”  It disturbed me to the point that I had to search for answers.

Take a walk to any neighborhood football park that has players training. Observe the training session. You will notice that there is a lot of jogging, sprinting, running, jumping, push-ups, sit-ups, and stretches. If you’re lucky, you will see footballers training with the ball.

I am not saying jogging, sprinting, running, jumping, push-ups, sit-ups, and stretches are not important. However, if you do them without the ball; you are not training a footballer; you are training an athlete. If you train a player to run without a ball, the player would not be able to run comfortably with the ball at his feet during the game. If a player is good at jumping but he hasn’t practiced with the ball, he might misjudge the flight of the ball and jump at the wrong time.

"A great pianist doesn't run around the piano or do push-ups with the tops of his fingers. To be great, he plays the piano. He plays all his life and being a footballer is not about running, push-ups or physical work generally. The best way to be a great footballer is to play." – Jose Mourinho

The reason why Messi is great with the ball is because he has developed a deep bond with the ball since childhood. He has practiced with the ball for over a decade. When you watch Messi play, you do see him jog, sprint, dribble, and run very comfortably with the ball. He knows when to jump to meet the ball.  If Messi had had his football development in Ghana; he would probably quit the sport because there is no joy in training without the ball. Messi would also not have his great ability because he would not have enough training on the ball.

Traditionally Brazilian players were skillful because they had little spaces to practice football. As a result, they did less physicals and more ball work. Today Brazilians play futsal. A modified game of football; it is played in smaller space so there is little room to operate. Futsal players have better ball control because they have more ball contact and because they have to utilize it more creatively. 

In the Netherlands and in Spain footballers do most of their training with the ball. They play small sided games. Coaches mark out a small portion of the pitch where the small sided games take place. Small sided games are designed to give players more touches of the ball, to handle the ball well under pressure, and to maneuver through tight situations.

Until we start coaching our players to be very comfortable with the ball; we will not produce much world class football talent.