Modern Soccer Coach Podcast

Biggest Mistakes of Coaching Positional Play with Expert Bernat Mosquera

Gary is joined by Bernat Mosquera, a coach and analyst who has worked at two Spainish tiers and in China, as well as the aspect of individual development. He discusses the complexity of Positional Play, along with ideas on how coaches can teach it more effectively in their own environments.

You can follow Bernat here: www.linkedin.com/in/bernat-mosquera/

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Duration:: 44m
Broadcast on:: 11 Aug 2024
Audio Format:: mp3

We are in Champions League, man. That was my name. Dilly-dilly-dong, come on! [SPEAKING SPANISH] It's a sharing of-- I'm so sorry for it! I will move it if we beat that move it. This is the Modern Soccer Coach podcast with Gary Kurnee. [CHEERING] [CHEERING] Hello, coaches. Welcome back to another Modern Soccer Coach interview. Today, we are joined by Bernat Mosquera, unbelievable insight around positional play and is going to challenge traditional thought around that area. Is it about the team or is it actually about individual flair and creativity? Why is it so challenging to coach and teach? But yet, in Spain, it seems so natural and fluid. We talk about all of this here. We talk about the system. We talk about players. We talk about individual development. And we talk about how we can potentially teach it and coach it a little bit better. Before we start, please, a massive favor. Make sure you're subscribing to the channel. We're trying to get as much subscribers as possible to drive the content so we can keep growing it, keep building it. Thanks again. Here's Bernat. Enjoy. Bernat, thank you so much for joining me today on the Modern Soccer Coach podcast. Welcome. Excited to talk. Thank you. Thank you for your invitation. Great topic. I know that there's a lot of coaches here that are going to really, really enjoy this one because of the positional play. There's a lot of people who are big fans of it and try to use it with their team. So let's get stuck into it and really obvious question to start with. In 2024 with the game changing and the way it is and the tactical setup of it and a lot of relational versus positional conversations as well. What are the benefits of positional play in the game today that you still see? Well, the point here that for me that when we talk about positional play, maybe it's not the rigid thought of some people having in their mind when we talk about positional play. In my point of view, potential play, try to figure out and exploit the advantages of the game. And sometimes the advantages of the game is through more individual play. Sometimes it's about some interaction between players. Sometimes it's about occupying a spot where you can reach the ball. And sometimes it's about come close to a teammate in order to create a situation where we know that we can be the defenders. Then I think that nowadays it's also in the society black or white. My point of view is that these positional play or conception about 4-3-3 positions, rigid, stay in my position is not the best. And I think that the players are constantly in relation themselves with the environment, with the defender, with the other teammates. And I think that this is what we have to try to achieve and try to pursue in terms of coaches, to help the players to understand that the game is complex, but we provide them many tools that can complement their natural tendencies. On that kind of progression and the evolution of it and I love that there, where it's not black and white, how would you define Spain's recent success in the Euro as a positional system? Like, where on the spectrum does it lie? Well, I think that if you go through the 2008 or 2010 Spain play style, when you have what they all are, and also you have a spin national team, you have certain players that they significantly influence the game. Like for example, Chabi, Andresienista, Musketz, were also, they were some players that they have the capacity to control the game, don't lose the ball, provide real long, long, long possessions. And then business style at the end makes that Spain was a champion, but not just those players. In front you have David Pia, Fernando Torres, Pedro, that were some players that complement these other ones. The game is not just about passing the ball, it's about creating the best spaces, the best opportunities to find the right time to attack the ball. And I think that because we have excellent midfielders, we provide excellent chances for the strikers, but also you need some strikers that can be able to score. In my point of view, the since 2008, till 2012, what evolved more during the speed, after the speed, is the difference. Right now the difference is not a bit block, like in 2010, normally you have a high high press or you have a low block. And when the opposing team is making high press, and depending on more in a zone of marking or more in a mental man marking, then you can, you can have different advantages. If there's a man marking, probably if I have a relation of moving to one space in order to lead the space for another teammate, probably we can find solutions. If it's more zone of marking, probably I can exploit the space where the player is leaving and occupy his blind spot. Then I think that different difference provides different advantages. And our aim is that the players can recognize it, but sometimes it's difficult because you know that the game is fast, it's chaotic and sometimes it's a little bit difficult to do it. And to end this, if you observe right now, Spain nowadays, you have some players that can provide you this capacity to keep the ball, like Rotary, Fabian, Daniolmo, even La Niemal, but also you have those players like Nick Williams, that it's different profile of the player, but also it's complementary. It's not about that you must have eleven midfielders or eleven instructors is trying to figure out how is the best option to find how the players can interact with them, and you can exploit or you can find situations for the best players. Hello, coaches, we take a quick break here just to let you know that we are continuing to grow the modern soccer coach website, all the video interviews that we're doing, all the video tutorials that we're doing, they're all available with written breakdowns on the modern soccer coach website. So if it's exercises you're looking for, they're all available for free. We also have new articles coming out, so our new article this week, Tactical Breakdown of Liverpool's pre-season, differences between club and slot and the progressions in the Liverpool system, some brilliant work from our riders there. So we're continuing to grow the platform, we really appreciate your support, we've got tons of free resources on there, and we've also got webinars and packages available for coaches as well. The vast majority on the website is free. Where we want to be a little bit different is there's no login required. You don't have to go in and get a free pass for three months, and then it starts building up. Now it's just free, just head on over to the website modernsarcicochics.com. We will continue to grow, we will continue to build it out with your support. So again, if you wouldn't mind liking it, subscribing to what we do, if it's a podcast, if you wouldn't mind giving us a rating, if you wouldn't mind subscribing, the more subscribers, the more content we get that is supported, then the more we can build it out, simple as that. So we really, really appreciate your support and your help. The past 12 months has been our biggest growth in modern soccer code, so we want to continue to give back to the coaching community and make as much content as we can free. You help us do that, I really appreciate it. Thanks again. Yeah, the piece on that it's not easy, I think sometimes gets lost, of course it does in the soccer world. One of the things that fascinated me just to try and stay on this topic is that if they go to Yamal and coaching tactical understanding, which I've began to shape in my head that it takes a lot of time to do this, to get a real tactically proficient player, a decision maker, they're going to have to experience X amount of games at an X level, and this grows and grows, and as it grows, their confidence grows, decision making grows. How does a 16-year-old come into a team like that? tactically, how do you think that you can get a player there a bit quicker? I think that Yamal is the result of a natural talent, plus a really well-educated player. I think that, for example, if you compare Yamal and Nico Williams, that could seem the same player in terms of Ojiz Young, his winger, you can observe that they have totally different tendencies, and Yamal is always looking first for the pass. Nico Williams, his first dimension is always to go with 1b1. Then I think that you have different profiles, depending on the other tendencies, but the most important thing here is that you find a way that in the same structure or in the same team, you find the moments and you find spots where they can take advantage of situations that they are the best. Lamin Yamal, in this half a space, trying to pass him behind, and Nico playing the 1b1. My point of view is that at the end, Lamin Yamal, it's going to be a 4s9, or he's going to play behind the striker, because I think that his best talent is to this first touch, how he's been in the players with two touches and this last pass. I think that on the future, we'll see him in this spot. Fasten, because in our traditional thinking, we think of making a player better tactically is to talk to that player and give them all the information tactically and educate them. Like, traditional education is done where you sit in the classroom and you get everything and you somehow come out of it with a deep understanding of it. I'm not, I would still challenge that there, but definitely that has come into soccer. That's our culture, and I see it in the UK as well. In the Spanish culture, is there a belief that the education of tactics is similar to school education, or what's your philosophy right over there? I think that the Spanish coaches, we had a problem in the past, because I'm 35 years right now, and most of us, we started being coach when we saw more the Ola team and you could observe this style, all of us, I think that we enjoy in terms of how they play, and of course that what you like is what you try to reproduce with the teams. And sometimes as you said, we go over the complexity that the player needs, and sometimes we provide too many information for the player, and the player is not able to assimilate. I think that here the point is, as our coaches, both step by step, sometimes we think that the simple message is too simple, and then we don't give the message, and we think that the player has the same knowledge as the coach, and I've been working with professional players the last almost four years, and my point of view is that you must provide less information, make sure steps in their career, but solid steps, and provide some references that can help them, because if we provide many information, if this information is very general, probably going to be difficult for them to identify when it's happening. I think that we have few players like Messi that they recognize the advantages on the game, even though it's very complex to do it, and some players, if they recognize that, "Oh, this play is in the diagonal pass," and he knows that if we prioritize this pass, my teammate is going to have advantage instead of playing vertical, maybe vertical, going to be more difficult to turn forward, or if I identify that my defender is stepping up, he's stepping up, maybe can do a double pass, or a control on their blind spot and win the player, I think that we provide them those references, it's going to be easier for them, and sometimes we overcomplicate in terms of teams, in terms of we as a team must do this, and then the individual aspects are not well connected, or not well-worked for the players, and they have this lack of comprehension of the individual capacity that they have, or how they can connect between two players. I think that this is a problem for some coaches, and if we overcomplicate the game, if we go to peak and general ideas, I think that the information is not effective. I think that the player probably cannot understand because it's too abstract, and the player needs examples, can be able to visualize what we're talking about, and could recognize that what we talk in the game. If I cannot able to recognize it, if I cannot able to visualize it, then it's a really abstract, but I think that it's not helpful for anybody. Yeah, you mentioned there about, you know, Spain kind of going through that process, and I wonder if over in the US, if we're actually going through that process, because as you, I'm sure you're aware, but our coach education and information has made tremendous strides over the last few years, and we are getting a lot better, and getting coaches through processes and frameworks, et cetera. But I don't think we're addressing the fact that too much information, abstract, not worried about individual connections, and for a player who is, let's say, 13, 14, 15, and they're really moving into the tactical side, to have the constant information as global, where, you know, I think coaches have a game model over here, where it's, you know, it might be 10 slides. And sometimes I feel as if they feel a responsibility that the players individually has to know all of those 10 slides without really a deep understanding of the individual piece that they have to do throughout it. So I guess my question would be how do you get that balance rate between having the game model and then individually connecting or individually educating players around it? Well, I think that if we can split the content in different ways, my point of view is that the most complex is the game model. But my point of view is that the game model must not create it in a U13 or U14 team, because it's something that you go straight to the point that, because this player has this strength, he must play here. Because of this player is fast, he's going to be a winger. I think that for most of these teams, what we must work on is about the game principles that are general ideas of the team. First of all, we have the playing style. We want to be this, this, this is our identity. Then we can create the game principles depending on some situations. Okay, when we are playing against a high price, we want to achieve this, this and this. If you post in teams, it's definitely in a mid-block, because of that nature here, we will try to split this, this and this. And then you can work this on awesome defense. I think that the step after this was set before is what I like to say, the role concept in terms of what is the processor, what the processor could do, what the receivers could do, and if you think about how we want to achieve the game principle, I'm sure that you can break down some behaviors of the processor and the teammates. And I think that those are the levels. And if you go even more individual, I like to work with five ideas that is about perception, location of the field, quality position and first touch. Decision making and execution is about what I have to see, what I have to be, how I position myself, my body shape, which is the common decision making that I will find because of the game. And finally, how I execute my passing or my people or my action in order to facilitate my teammates' resilience. I think that if you think this in the whole picture, I'm sure that many coaches spend many time on the game model. Oh, you're the full bag. You must go here. You must go there. And maybe they are not working on situations where they play four against four, six against six. Where the player must work on these roles concepts in terms of the processor and the receiver, or even more general, but more basic ideas in terms of what I should be located depending on the teammate. Should I move close? Should I move far? If my teammate is here, should I go there or should I move opposite in order to proceed? Then I think that those things that are detailed are really important for the players. And sometimes the coaches don't spend too much time thinking that it's more important that they model, but without capable players, you cannot have a good game model. Oh, absolutely. That's a good question. On this topic, then, let's move this along nicely. You did a post on LinkedIn that was the mistakes when coaching positional play, and I was all over this. I love this. And I wanted to talk about it. And one of the first points, you said, was I'm going to go through a couple of quotes on it and get your thoughts. One of the first points was too often both in games and training, players focus on executing a concept rather than truly playing the game. To your answer before, where, again, the thinking coaches thinking this here, I guess, what are some ways that coaches can kind of catch themselves doing that, or maybe stop doing that, or improve the aspect? For example, we think about an exercise, and we want to improve the 1-by-1. Maybe a common situation is, okay, if you can only score in 1-by-1, if you're doing this, probably the player will only play 1-by-1. Then you're playing the drill, you're not playing the game. For example, if you want to work 1-by-1s, but you make a space that is really white, but it's not deep, then the player probably will pass and switch fields because he has no space to play 1-by-1. Or if, for example, I want to put this as a 1-by-1, and I play with four jokers, four neutrons, then the player will pass the ball, why he must dribble if I play it's free. Then we must reflect on which is the context where this concept makes sense. Or, for example, how many times we heard about the Thurman, we have to play a Thurman to score. The Thurman is an option in the game where the Thurman could be an option. If I have a pressure, if I see that another player can receive but someone is blocking the passing lane and to the Thurman I can arrive there, then we can provide a context where this tool makes sense. But these are tools that we can apply. It's not mandatory because in the game we cannot do mandatory things because it's too much complex tool to say that is the only question. Then I think that as a coach, we must reflect on this. What is what we want to prove? What is the context where this situation is favorable? Because sometimes, as I told you, a 1-by-1, when the cosine team is truly in a low block and we have no space, maybe the spaces on the other side. Then I will not say the 1-by-1, I will switch to field. Then I think that here is where the coaches must think and reflect, it makes sense what they want to apply. Very good, very good. And then similarly, Paston is not the only answer, which again, sometimes surface level. I'm a possession-based coach, I play a positional style game. They both go together, but in reality, the deeper the level you go and it doesn't take you long to see and watch these teams and study these teams to see that the possession is to create the opportunities of those 1-by-1s or create the opportunities of isolation for attacking players. Can you talk a little bit about how important those dribblers are in the system? And there's a few guarriolas quotes as well on this here. But I still feel as if this is an area that we still need a little bit more education about. Yeah, but I think that when we talk about dissipation, it's not just about the play with dribbling 1-by-1 in the outside areas. Maybe we are finding some players that with 1-by-1 control can beat the player. Or a player who can dribble in the middle and can beat the line because of his dribbling. And I think that sometimes in order to provide this style, we limited the player only passing the ball. And we're not encouraging them to make a control that can be the defender. Make a dribbling that you can win this action. Sometimes this safety, because we want to have the control, this safety thoughts about try that no pass, pass, pass. We are not having the players to block themselves. And the best players normally are the ones who are dribbling. I'm sure that if you see the players that are playing on top level right now, when they were 10, 11, 12, most of them, they were center midfielders, strikers, wingers, because they were technically, and after that they go to the defense or to any place. But that's the point that we cannot just pass the ball and pass the ball, because we are limiting and we are taking off many options for the players. And I think that the best player always is the one that can be able to beat his defender. If I want you in a 1-by-1, you don't need anything else. You will create the advantage. If I cannot beat your 1-by-1, then it's when I need the support of the other players. Then I think that our thought must be how we can create players that can beat the defender. Because once we have this, we are forcing the opposing team to accumulate more players. And then it's when I can find all the solutions. But if I cannot beat the 1-by-1, only one player will defend myself, will defend the player. And it's a big advantage of the teams. And I think that's really important in your stages, that we must understand that it's not just about passing. It's about if I can control and go forward, if I can dribble and beat my opponent, if I can deceive a pass and then move to your side. And I think that those things are really important and not just the pass. How is that 1-by-1 coached in Spain and in the academies, in your culture? Again, I look at it over here and I think we're missing something in 1-by-1 quite a bit, where it's me and you stand 10 yards apart and you pass me the ball. And I try and dribble past you in a 10-by-10 box with zero context or anything beyond me and you on a pitch. You've got to be doing more than that over there. Well, I think that the 1-by-1 is really cultural in terms of how we, for example, when I was in the States, I could observe that many players are using the 1-by-1. But I think that more than because they want to execute the 1-by-1 is because the way that the sport, sometimes it's perceived is not to interact with the teammates. It's more individual, more about highlights. And sometimes the player first thought is about the 1-by-1. That's a feeling that they had when I was there. On the other hand, for example, if you go to South America, you observe that they are playing with more freedom. But normally, the player has, in his mind, players like Bernal Dino, like Neymar, missing, that they have dribblers and they have the references. But, for example, if you go to Spain, by now, I think that Nico and Lamyama are not -- that if you think they're in Spain, we have more materials than attackers, normally. And especially the past year, why? Because we had a generation where we were influenced about those players, like Niesta. Niesta was a really good dribbler. But many people talk about his passing options or the style of play, but he was a good dribbler. Then I think that in terms of the background of the country, we can -- now this could be changed because we have more information, but it's something that's influenced. On the other hand, I think that if we play small-sided games, if we play with multiple directions, we can improve a little bit. Even though it's not a specific context, we are providing a different context where the player must react and find different solutions in a changing environment. But I think that maybe, if you face a 1v1, 10 yards, the player must only react about the player. Maybe it's a comfortable situation. And maybe, for example, this player is using backwards. You'll change a little bit his perception of his pressure or not press. If you're playing two 1v1s at the same time, then the space is changing because you must perceive what is the space. Then you are adjusting -- you are adding a layer of complexity. If, for example, the player can score in two goals, you're giving more options, and then the player must -- or has the option to find different ways, not just one. I think that maybe this could help the player to be more creative, to try to find different ways to score, and I think it would be something that the end could help the players. Yeah, a very interesting point. I've never thought of the culture openings, but thinking when you're talking, yeah, like in our culture in the U.S., I don't think we can separate other sports. So basketball, 1v1s are straight up isolation plays where everyone stands over there and you have Alan Iverson, and he has to do something in another side of the court. Football, wide receiver runs, everyone else does their decoy. Baseball, you know, it's a very, very nice feature and the one who want to hit the ball. See, right, on all our sports over here, there's no real relationships around the 1v1, and you're saying there that that's almost the key then to kind of unlocking 1v1 within the system? I think that there are also, for example, you think about those sports. It's a sport where the rules in basketball, you have eight seconds to cross your half. You have 24 seconds to score. In American football, if you don't advance 10 yards in four attempts, you lose the possession. In baseball, you have to hit the ball and run to the base and conquer the spaces. Then I think that it's like a countdown in terms of win space. And in football, this is not, it doesn't work like this. In football, sometimes have a little bit more possession or spend a little bit more time on your half. It could be beneficial to then attack the opposing half. Then I think that we have different rhythms. And I think that this is one of the problems of the state that normally we want to score fast, see goals. And sometimes we are rushing in taking decisions, we are rushing in goal forward. And sometimes the best situation is to stop a little bit of game to come down and then find the right path or the right spot to score. And I think that those things between football and football could be a little bit cultural in terms of the sports from the United States. Yeah, very interesting. I also think then you add the environment in where unlimited subs coming on and off, big squads, a lot of teams. So now it's a high tempo game, but it's not a high tempo game. In terms of maybe the quality, it's just a high tempo of a lot of movement around. So now it's even harder to imprint or educate the changes of pace, the slower, slower. And that's when I look at all our countries, I see there's a real understanding of, like you're saying, that sometimes you need to slow down, but you're still in control of the rhythm of the game. I don't know how we changed that with the cultural elements being so big. Well, it's a big challenge. It's a big challenge. It's in terms of course coaching education, but I was living in China. I think that they have kind of the same problem in terms of the football is not the culture sport of the country. They're really good in swimming, in weight, some sports where they have to repeat. Also because if you think about the Chinese social, like the educational program is about repeating copy, paste, copy, paste, then they're really disappointed. They want this type of games or type of a sports where they have to execute and not into much. And I think that each culture has his own things. I think that it's really difficult to change a culture of a country, but I think that it requires time. Of course, that without the help of the local coaches, it's impossible to achieve it because the solution is not to bring 500 400 coaches to play the culture players. You need to work with the coaches because the coaches are the ones that can influence the players. It makes no sense that me or another 400 coach going and work with 20 players for one year and then it's over or two or three years. The most intelligent thing is try to help the coaches to develop themselves, try to understand the mode of the game, try to understand which advantages they can find in the game. And I think that also the local coach will always be better in terms of communication with the players, because my English is not that good. For example, if I want to speak with the player, probably I will think this is the best way to say it, but maybe he doesn't understand what I want to say. And I think that the local coaches is power to understand the environment, understand how he could speak and make the information with the players, and I think that this is, it's helpful. Then I think that the best solution is in terms of coaching education, in terms of practice and sometimes don't want to go too far in terms of 43 against 4231 or game systems. It's about really understanding the game and how it works in these more pieces. All right, last couple for you, there seems to be a feeling with coaches in the coaching community that I'm involved in around a little bit of apprehension around where the game is going in terms of being entertaining, pleasing to watch, pleasing to be a part of, exciting. A lot of teams, again, like the gift that I think Spain and Barcelona and Pep Guardiola gave us 10, 15 years ago has sometimes now moved towards everyone doing it and trying to do it and not doing it very well. And it's almost a lukewarm system of positional play where it's quite static and its teams cancel each other out. Sometimes I get that, sometimes I watch a game, even Man City, sometimes I watch Man City and I switch it off after 20 minutes and it doesn't do a lot for me, and I don't mind saying that, but when I watch Spanish football, I never see that. I always see like tactical flexibility and both teams I never see them canceling each other out, where a city play against someone it's almost the same script as last week, they sit here, city do this, it's break them down. How has Spain as a culture had this footprint in the world, but yet still kind of been flexible with different ways of doing that I guess I don't know if that question makes any sense. Yeah, I think the point here is that Man City has the capacity to always dominate the game. I think that many teams is not because they want to be on their own half, but finally they stay on their own half because it's impossible to record the ball. Then I think that that is about what you want to do, what the opposing team wants to do, and finally what you can do, and I think that when you play against Man City. Sometimes it's about what you can do, and what you can do is just wait a little bit on with a lot in your own half and I don't and try to counter attack. The feeling is that on the past we were more rigid nowadays it's changing a little bit, you have teams like Bram Madrid who's trying to be less rigid. I think that at the beginning of Charlie Massona was more rigid than a bit more flexible, but I think that because of the tendency of man marking, the game requires more more interaction without the ball, more flexible structures. I think that on the past, you could be able to win by maintaining your structure, getting the control, but because you could be able to be organized the opposing team, when the defense goes better, then the possession is not good enough. Or they are marking you, then you need to be organized your team a little bit in order to disorganize themselves, to raise the opposing team. And I think that in the next years we will see this, some teams are trying to keep the structure, but probably a part of them, they have this freedom, or this not this flexible structure. And I think that that that will find these and these dynamic advantages on the part who have the position advantage, the quality advantage, the numerical advantage, I think that on the future. And nowadays we will see situations where in some areas where we are pressing this rotation or this exchange of positions of two, three, four players create an advantage. And if the team is able to take it and exploit it fast enough, they can go forward, but I think that it's part of the game. Before the defense were more static, for another defense, it's man marking, it's more active, and requires more movement of the players of the team with the ball. And then the reply of this man marking is about more movement and more interaction without the ball. I think that always is, depending on what team does, and what the team does, you find different ways to attack. And I think that this is a natural reply and it allows us to answer about what is happening right now nowadays. You have more high press, more men marking. Great answer, and then my last one would be kind of alongside that natural evolution phase would be. All right, so let's say that from a player development standpoint and not necessarily one be one, but let's look at individual profiles. And again, I see it in our culture over here where, you know, whether we're doing it at a high enough level, cultures can debate, but it's definitely we have progressed from youth to professional as a more possession based style over the last 10 years without a shadow of a doubt. But from a player profile, development standpoint, positional development standpoint, you said it earlier in Spain, we have more midfielders. And in the US, I believe we have more, we are creating more central midfielders because of positional based training. And where I would have a concern is, is like whether we can get a number nine at the elite level at the youth level, who can do the things that a number nine has to do, which is score goals lead the line do that same what it was probably 25 years ago, but at a higher level. How does Spain combat the tendency that we've just created a generation of this? Or I think that in terms of the strikers, I'm not sure if right now we have more, but we don't have too many strikers. And I think that we here, for example, we have two problems in Spain, or we would say one problem in Spain and one problem in the rest of the world, I could say, because I've been working in many countries and I have this feeling. The first thing in Spain is that we don't have too many pitches, the space is reduced, we don't have too much space to work on, and you will see that many of our strikers, and also because of the influence of a fellow play, many strikers, they like to drop between the lines. They are more like a player who is a false line, that the nine, and sometimes their thoughts are that I could, I'm playing a good game if I'm receiving between the lines, and not if I'm scoring. Then this is something that we must consider when we coach a striker, okay, our striker must come between the lines, yes, but also a striker must arrive to the box, must attack the first post, for example, must try to score if he has a chance, be a little bit selfish in terms of need of the box, make my own stuff in order to score. This is a problem that we face in Spain, and I think that the major problem that we have on the strikers is that if you see under 12s, not the teens, under 14s, under 15s, the player who is bigger is a striker, in many teams, or the centre back. You want to win a lot of games, but for example, a centre back that nowadays it's 14 years old, and you see that he has beer as me, and he is 173, he will never be centre back in the future, or not in the top levels. Then this player must play, or as a midfielder, or as a fullback, but this player because of his physical commissions will not be never, never ever are top centre back in the lead. Same with the strikers, if you put a player, but right now it's 175 and he's fast, he's strong, or he's fast because he's tall, and he grow earlier than the other ones. And you're playing long balls, and he's only running when he's 18, and he's not that bad, not that fast, or not that strong, and he's not able to receive him to the lines. He's not able to make a good control, he's not able to be, has this soft fit, then you have a player that has no future. Then the point here is that when we coach those players who are early growth, we must think about their solving the problems because of their physical capacities, or because of their understanding of the game. And we must encourage those players to solve the situations because of their knowledge of the game, or their technical capacities, not because of their physical capacities. If the player at the end, it's fast and strong, it's going to be perfect because right now he will be have individual capacities to solve the situations in different ways. Then it's a big problem that all the strikers and centre backs that are taller and strong, but because they are early growth, when they are 13, 14, 15, if you want to see them in three, four years in their bands, they have no future. Or not as a centre backs, then you must try to give them another role in the team, try to help them to develop other abilities. Fantastic, fantastic. What a great way to finish, Bernad, I have loved this, this has been amazing, thank you so much, brilliant insight. Thank you for your time, Gary, it was a pleasure to meet you and talk with you. Thank you for listening to the Modern Soccer Coach podcast. For more coaching topics, sessions, and resources, head on over to Coach Kurnine on Facebook or visit the website at www.modernsocercoach.com. [MUSIC PLAYING]