Is It The Barca Way For Football Development In The ACT? It Should be!

Well if it isn't, it should be.

They are the perfect training aide for National Football Curriculum. Who wouldn't want to play like Barcelona? The number of triangles they create in quick time, the willingness of every player off the ball to work to provide the next best option, the hunger to retain the ball and then win it back quickly if its lost, are attributes you would want in your team, every team, not just the representative teams or development programs. Every Junior coach should analyse the Barca style, Capital Football should make it their business to get as much vision of their games, edit it to provide a training resource to coaches and clubs.  If the Junior Clubs mandate the use of the 1-4-3-3 this season, the National Football Curriculum will really take off and the Football leap ahead.

Parents take note - look to have your child trying to play like this and their coach advocating and training to play in this style. Its fun! The best that Football can offer - next to the enjoyment of playing a truly beutiful game with your mates.

If you get a chance, find a video fo the recent first round game between Barcelona and Arsenal. It was nothing short of Football heaven. An inspiration for the season ahead here in the ACT at every competitive level in junior commmunity football.

The Les Murray Blog from that wonderful Football program "SBS The World Game", contains a terrific article on Barcelona - http://theworldgame.sbs.com.au/les-murray/blog/1048057/Is-Barca-the-best-in-history#add

Les Murray had this to say:

Is the current FC Barcelona the best club team of all time?

"...Sorting through the images that are in my mind, and the experiences that I’ve had as a student of the game for more than half a century, I’m having difficulty resisting the supposition that this Barca is not only up there with the cream but may be as good as it gets.
It’s important that I qualify what I mean here. I’m not talking about the greatest club in the world, based on trophies won, achievements made over prolonged periods, star players paraded etc. I make reference only to the unique excellence of this current Barcelona, the one under the guidance of Pep Guardiola, which is yet to complete its third season.
Greatness in football is defined by many things. But the greatest point of distinction and respect, is when a team becomes a singular reference point for all that other teams admire and want to become. This is the Barcelona of today, in a way and to an extent one has rarely seen in the long annals of the game." ....

"The stars have aligned, creating a product that is the envy of all clubs and will be remembered and nostalgically recalled fifty years from now. By and large it has a team that was not bought but organically fashioned from within, and by a technical ideology which, though inspired by the Dutch, is now distinctly its own. This is important when making comparisons for too many great teams of the past were assembled by the cheque book.
This fact promises the greatness of the current Barcelona some serious longevity, which brings us back to the original question: is it the greatest club team of all time? "....
"What I can and will say, is that the Barca of today is the finest club team I have ever seen. I would guess that many would take the same view, including Craig Foster who I’m sure would shamelessly concur. And I’ve been around more than twenty years longer than him.

I rejoice every day at being alive to witness the infinite beauty of this Barcelona and sometimes have to pinch myself to see if it’s all real."

Here is a couple of video clips of Barcelona to inspire you:

Coerver Co-Founder Alfred Galustian Talks About the Importance of Skills Development in Young Players and the Training of Coaches In this Specialist Area of Football Knowledge

In this program we have a long "fireside chat" with Alfred Galustian about Coerver's most recent addition to its formidable Football offerings - the Coaching Diploma in Youth Development. The program just completed in Australia was the pilot program for the World!

Alfred Galustian is sort out by the Clubs and Coaches at the highest levels of the game around the world. The FFA has engaged Alfred to assist in the preparation of the FFA's Skills Acquisition Coaches, who will deal with the best of the best in Australia at age.

When asked what he thought of the world Cup, Alfred's reply was short, but said it all - based on data collected by FIFA, Australia was third most physically capable, while Spain (the eventual winners) was not in the first five nations for the same characteristic. The rest of this short form analysis went unspoken, but with a knowing grin, you may just detect in his voice. Kinda says it all. Which brings us all the way back to the FFA's National Football Curriculum and the National Development plan, and Alfred Galustian's role in skill acquisition coaching. Coerver are already there!

When Alfred Galustian talks, its always worth listening too!

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Technical Development of Our Young Players and the Socceroos at the Asian Cup

This program was broadcast on 2xxfm (98.3mhz), Tuesday 1 Febraury 2011 at 7:00PM, across the Australian Community radio Network.

The wonderful performance by the Socceroos in the Asian Cup, signalled a turning point in the development of players across the nation. We finally adopted a forward thinking approach to our opponents, what we conceded had to won from us, which utilised the best of what we have at this time. Not since Gus Hiddick have we demonstrated a style of play that seemed to match our national character. All good so far!

Importantly, it demonstrated what we are not - at this time in the process of our domestic football revolution, following the release of the FFA National Football Curriculum and National Development Plan. We are not as technically proficient as our opponents, even when we beat them on the day. We are playing a style of play that will do for now as we go forward, but it not where we need to be, if we are to challenge successfully and consistently at the highest international levels.

The introduction of the FFA National Football Curriculum and its comprehensive adoption at club level across the nation, is critical to producing the sort of players we admire in places like Barcelona, Japan, Korea and yes, Uzbekistan. Just as important is coach education and training.

In this program we hear from Craig Foster of the fantastic SBS World Game program, who sums up our situation, following our narrow loss to Japan. Then its on to Alfred Galustian of Coerver, the doyan of techncial coaches, together with the Coerver COO of Japan, Shinji Ishibashi (former J League player). The points they make should written in stone! Then we follow with the Head Coach at the AIS, Jan Versleijen and his reflections on player development, following a friendly game his squad played against the Japanese High School team Nara Ishijo. Its one coherent subject from a troika of football luminaries - we should, we must listen carefully - then take action at club level.

One thing is certain, its a point that Ron SMith made in his recent review of our HPP - we need to get this FFA National Curriculum and playing 1-4-3-3, operating in every team in Junior / youth football in the ACT region. Give it a go in the Premier League. It takes years, perhaps generations, to produce players as technically gifted as we see in other places. So get started. Get Club coaches on board with the change.

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