How To Coach Creativity

Pep Guardiola (above) is always talking about the words we use when we coach players to understand what it is we want them to do. So let's start there. What does Guardiola want his players to do when they are in possession of the ball and how does he achieve that?

His key principle when his team is in possession is for his players to find and exploit space – that means players must have the ability to think for themselves.

When we are coaching we want to work on the brain of the players and not give them action, command style coaching where the players are doing what they are told not thinking for themselves.

As Guardiola says: “I can coach them to get to the final third but then it is up to them to be creative and find ways to score goals.”

In other words we want clever, creative players – to do that we must think about the words we use when we are coaching and the sessions we put on for the players.

Use drills like 4v1 and 6v2, and use phrases when we have lost the ball like “where could you have moved to be in a position to keep the ball?” Keep it positive and make their brains work.

What to work on in training

I work on position, possession, pressing at training with my teams, U9, U11, U12 boys and U14 girls – all of the players really respond well to this type of training.

In their teams they are playing some fabulous passing moves, using the wings and pressing high up the pitch. My U12 boys last weekend were unplayable for the first 10 minutes of the match scoring three goals before their opponents realised what was happening and changed their tactics.

However as always in a game when we were winning in the second half we had a period where the game turned chaotic. Our goalie went rushing out to block a pass arrived late and the player passed to a team mate who had a simple tap in. Then they scored a great goal with a shot from outside the penalty area.

That made it 4-2 and the opposition coaches and subs were roaring to their team that they could get this back – for a moment I saw a look of panic between my players, but we work on this in training by playing games like 7v3. When the three players get hold of the ball they try to keep it. This creates those moments of chaos when the team of 7 are trying to win the ball back and regain control.

In the game rather than panic and start booting the ball downfield the players kept to their team shape and managed to see the game out.

Preparing for moments of chaos is an important part of your coaching strategy and spending time with overloads in rondo-style games is vital to having a successful season.