Train Your Teams Smarter: Updating The Four Phases of Play

This article will revamp the commonly used phases of play. It has been said that all models that map out the game are wrong, but some are useful. Determining whether a diagram of the phases in a match are useful are not can be calculated by noting whether they are consistent/reoccurring and if they can be isolated and trained.

Where many game diagrams and flow charts have failed are accounting for the intentions behind teams. Ex: Jose Mourinho probably the most well known coach for saying in a press conference that when his side played against Pep’s Barca they did not want to win the ball back while defending. They wanted to block the opponent without becoming stretched and unstructured. Also, when teams are winning they may be in possession and not trying to score. The transition phases have also been very ambiguous without people able to put a specific label on them.

Acknowledging Transitional Variability

When teams lose the ball they enter a transition phase. The first key aspect of the transition is where it is taking place. Location alone will greatly change the whole dynamic of the transition. Next, people have not been able to accurately define the duration of either defensive or offensive transitions. 6 seconds has been thrown around when talking about counter pressing and a various number of passes has been mentioned for how long it takes a team to become structured.