Awareness in Football / Soccer - An Introduction

“When you arrive at Barcelona the first thing they teach you is: think. Think, think, and think quickly. Lift your head up, move your head, see, and think. Look before you get the ball. If you’re getting this pass, look to see if that guy is free, make a decision before you get the ball”.
Xavi Hernandez, Barcelona FC.

This leads to my almighty question of what is awareness and how do we interpret it in the football world? The stimulating oxford dictionary offers two definitions 1. Knowledge or perception of a situation or fact: i.e. ‘we need to raise public awareness of the issue’ 2. Concern about and well-informed interest in a particular situation or development: i.e. ‘a growing medical awareness’. I’m sure that you would have worded it slightly differently but are along the same lines. A common denominator that these two definitions have is that they highlight knowledge, perception and well-informed interest. This does not highlight the importance of thinking or making a decision yet modern coaches when doing awareness will constantly speak of this, is it wrong?

Let’s take a look at Xavi Hernandez, also known as the Einstein of football. Xavi has been educated in Barcelona’s La Masia where he was taught to enjoy and love playing an attractive style of football. Dani Alves said “Xavi, plays in the future.” Intelligence and awareness are what separate Xavi from many other promising technical centre midfield players. It seems as though Xavi will not try to force the play; he will pass the ball patiently with his eyes and head in the air waiting for a small bit of movement, which is enough for him to play a clever pass to create a goal scoring opportunity for his team. Interestingly, during the last three major tournaments that Spain won: Euro 2008, World Cup 2010 and Euro 2012 Spain scored 6 goals in total from all three finals. Out of these 6 goals scored Xavi has provided the assist for 3! Xavi is known for his high level of knowledge which allows for him to perceive the game in a different light that allows for him to produce the most crucial passes in the highest levels of football when the pressure to win is like no other.

Have you ever gone on a coaching course and come of it know how to play the game better? Have you ever had a coach whose knowledge took your game to the next level? Thinking back to the Oxford dictionary this has to do with knowledge. If this is the case then we should just start delivering FA Level 2 or 3 type courses, job done! Not quite, players need to be able to understand the game tactically and technically and know what sort of outcomes could occur and it is through game like environments, good coaching detail and the freedom to experiment that will allow future players to grow in this area. It is important that players understand how to get and process the information they are getting whilst playing and then link this with situational probabilities which in turn will hopefully give them an accurate outcome, i.e. a successful pass, cross, header, dribble, shot, interception, tackle.

Over the decades coaches have tried to help players awareness by the introduction of coloured wrist bands, coloured headbands, games in silence, no bibs, ruler under chin, multiple balls, colour cones, multiple things going on, simulation boards, touching changing lights or conditioned games. All of this for the purpose of increasing a player’s knowledge in order to help with their ever famous decision making process. Mark Williams a lecturer and author famous for his papers on awareness speaks of the importance of game realism, the knowledge that the players should be looking to acquire is both tactical and technical mastery. For the coach, if it is not done in a game then why teach them something that is not real which will ultimately not help them. Ultimately, the modern coach and player need to be students of the game as this is what will help them see early pictures, dissect the scenario in front of them quickly enough to make a confident decision. The point we all need to consider is that the actual outcome may not always be a positive one due to the fact that the timing or technique is wrong as well as other factors. Players need to constantly be put in environments that they can relate to come game day.