10 things I learned at SOCCER EX in RIO

Last November, my good friend and fellow soccer idealist, Victor Kasanezky, and I set off on quixotic mission to SOCCER EX in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil.  SOCCER EX is  a global soccer business conference that brings together the world leaders in the sport including  international players and managers--the likes of: Carlos Alberto Torres, Ronaldo, Mário Zagallo, Roy Hodgson, Bebeto , Zico, Ruud Gullit, Carlos Alberto Parreira, Roberto Ayala, Jay Jay Okocha, Caju, Paul Breitner, Gaizka Mendieta. and many others. The trip was a chance to test out our ideas with the top clubs and leaders. Our plan was took look closely at past and current trends in youth soccer  from around the world and get thoughts on Free play and its role in that development. Throughout the week we had direct access and often sat down with these leaders to talk about their own experiences, their philosophies, and ideas. Here are the take-aways:

1) THE MOST IMPORTANT TOPIC AT A SOCCER ECONOMIC CONFERENCE IS PLAYER DEVELOPMENT
Players are the drivers of the world soccer economy. No matter if the panel discussion was Imaging, Branding or Stadia, the conversation always drifted to Player Development.  Who is doing it? How they doing it? How is Spain doing it? What about Argentina? What  happened to France?  Is Brazil still the gold standard?  All week it was understood that in developing players it's best to get a handle on those trends that are working, and everyone seemed to be busy doing that, except a few.

Carlos Alberto loved our ideas of reviving free play

2A) IDEAS MATTER
When to teach passing? Tactics? What about physical vs Technical? Individual vs the collective? Winning vs Development?  Countries united with their vision and methods: Germany, Spain, (and to a lesser extent, France, Argentina, Holland, Croatia, and Brazil), are working and moving forward, but, they are also the ones listening and talking about these ideas. But also, they are interested to new ideas, they have eyes and ears open, they are learning as they go. Have an idea that small sided futsal may improve the outdoor game? Well, Spain has adopted Futsal big time, Germany is now just rolling it out nation-wide (they first had to complete a nine month task force report).  Those without a vision (England, USA, some of the African representatives) are divided and defensive of their developmental ideas.  Harnessed with a lack of vision, their minds are made up--and they are busy trying to recreate worked 30 years ago.

2B) IT TAKES TEN YEARS...OF LOSING
Everyone was into the Gladwellian idea that it takes a ten year-ten thousand hours to develop players.  A long term plan is integral. (This is why no one is worried about USA or England, but everyone is concerned about Germany, they are kinda good at planning and executing).  But get ready, 'cause for those ten years, forget about winning. "You can grow the Lemon, or you can squeeze it," Said France's Gerard Houlier.  From the early days of France's Clairefountain, and Gines Melendez' Spain, it takes ten years with no winning at all for the first five--nothing.  Then at 5 years they began to see signs of something.  At ten years they understood.  Reminds me of that Cruyff quote.  "When you understand, then you will know." It takes ten years of great faith.

3) EVERYONE IS GETTING BUSY EXCEPT ENGLAND
Wow, England is clueless. Great league, sure, but they are confounded about about player development.  They did show some neat pictures of a amazing new training center at St. George's park, but seem to have no idea of what to do with it.  When asked directly about player development, current England National team coach, Roy Hodgson, just shrugged his shoulders, "our players will never be as technical as Brazilians...we have no beaches!"  I guess their plan is simply slog on the way they have for the last 30 years (Level of commitment, "get stuck in laddie").  Their approach to the game as compared to the thorough Germans and the professorial French and Spanish was eye opening.

4) BRAZIL IS STILL THE GOLD STANDARD, BUT THERE IS CONCERN

Parreira: "All the greats played Futsal"

 Zico looked worried. He understood the secret to Brazilian development, the street. "We have always had a formidable free play culture, but that is going away." Their method was to count on the streets to generate the next Ronaldo or Rivelino, patiently waiting for the skills to emerge organically. But the lack of space, the building on open spaces, the safety issues are keeping kids from interacting; and, clubs are robbing the most vibrant free play environments too early, from the age of 8 they are signing street kids into academies.  The once vibrant Free Play culture that produced players from Zito to Pele, to Garrincha, to himself was no longer the primary developmental tool.  That role had passed to the clubs and their academies. On the positive side Carlos Alberto Parreira, coach of the '94 World Cup winning team, was upbeat as he sat down with us to talk about JOTP and futsal.  He loved Futsal for kids, "all the greats played futsal, without exception." And, he was high on the future, a new group of young players led by Neymar, Lucas Moura, Coutinho and Oscar are providing hope if not for 2014, certainly 2018.

5) SPAIN IS HUMBLE

Gines Melendez

Gines Melendez,  was happy to see a United States coach so interested in his player development model. He had a PowerPoint ready to present, but his time was hogged up by a academy coach from Arsenal who showed an inane video "highlights of the best goals in the Premier league by players from South America"  What?  Meledez was so excited that someone wanted to know about his seven elements of player development.  "The Seven Elements? You have heard about the seven elements? Follow me." Now this guy is a legend in Spain, having built up the formidable youth system in Spain, he could not have been more gracious.  He wanted to know about what we were doing. He loved the futsal. He loved the tennis ball machine. He sat me for an hour in front of his computer showing videos of Iniesta (he discovered him) and everything else in his computer including key principles of training at key stages 8-11, 12-16, 17-19, and of course those seven elements. He was a big proponent of small sided games for kids and pros. They are striving  for solid human beings, balanced emotionally.  To Spanish coaches who work with them, the humble qualities of Xavi, Inesta and David Silva are not accidents but the crafted results of a human curriculum as important to player development as learning how to receive a ball. 

6) THE POLISH NATIONAL TEAM COACH WAS INTO KICK BOXING
That's because he was the Polish National team Coach for Muay Thai, a sort of world Kick boxing thing. He didn't know much about soccer, but he did know Muay Thai (what he was doing at Soccer Ex, I'm not sure, but he was very interesting to talk to). 

"The best fighters  in the world are from Thailand, where the "play" of muay thai part of their cultural fabric.   From the very earliest ages they are taught to play at fighting. When they fight, they don't fight, they play.  Instead of slugging and Kicking there is brushing and slapping.  It is about fun."  

His point was that this was similar to organic free play soccer where there is competition, but rarely is it zero - sum, rarely are there winners and losers.  

"The kids are not devastated and can come back and play more.  The hours build up. If you could do the same thing is soccer, create an environment of fun, creativity, friendly interaction you could develop a deeper developmental system where kids play at competition and thus play longer creating more and better performance skills."

7) HOLLAND PRETENDS THEY DON'T CARE
They were the most fun.  A bunch of them were obviously here for the party.  They were easy to find,  always moving around in a group or  hanging around the convention girls.  They like to pretend they don't care, but they really do think that winning is important. They like being organized, and they have focused their resources toward identification, aiming to see every kids and get the ones they want into academies.  they have little concerns over missing out on talent, the entire small country is so well connected, They do not however, seem to be talking  too much about trends, about a vision of soccer for the future. They just seem to be 'Germany light,'stuck between winning and developing.  

8) ARGENTINA IS THOUGHTFUL
Roberto Ayala is small. Maybe 5'9".  He is soft spoken and courteous. He takes in everything and pauses to speak. He was a dominant center back, having  captained Argentina more than Maradonna and leading them  and his club team Valencia (Spain) through many great competitions.  He has always been one of my heroes for how he can bring the ball down ("Soccer Tennis")   He was reflective about his own upbringing:

"I never thought of it that way...that free play i was doing when I was 8, 9 10, 11 was important to my development...I thought I was just better than everyone else. But it must be true, cause I was playing more that the others. Still after signing with River I still played with my friends whenever I could."

 He spoke about the still vibrant free play and play cultures that are pumping out talent in Argentina.  There are downsides, It appears that gangs are buying up street players and pitting them against neighborhood gangs, paying the players if they win, beating them when they lose.  He said that Tevez came out of this environment.  You can certainly see why Tevez battles so hard when he plays.  He was now coaching youth at Racing in BA. He wanted to hear about what we were doing in the US and asked to see videos of kids at JOTP training.  He liked what he saw.  "So can I come down and hang out with you guys at Racing?" I asked, "If you bring those kids," he said.

9) FUN IS WELL KEPT SECRET
Every player we spoke to, and we spoke to so many, everyone of them repeated the same story: "we played everyday." Before school, after school recess, with friends.  Caju played barefoot on cobblestones, Ayala everyday aways the same court in Cabilito, Buenas Aries. Alex, everyday, Denilson, everyday. Carlos Alberto, everyday. Mendietta, everyday. Gulit, de Boer, Okocha, everyday.  But there is more, each one of them while recounting the stories would lighten up, smile, laugh--it was almost always their favorite time--just playing for fun.  There was always the talk of fun, it wasn't a code word, it was clear: If you want kids to play it has to be fun. It made us wonder: was it the touches that created soft feet and sharp minds? Or, was it the fun that energized and motivated them when the going got tough latter in there soccer progression--a sort of investment toward their long term development? We all know that without free play there is no world class. But also, without fun there is no world class.

10) GERMANY JUST WANTS TO WIN

I sought out Paul Breitner. 

Famous big hair German left back soccer thinker who captained der Mannschaft in 1982 and in 1974 beat the Clockwork Orange Holland. 

The Germans are serious

"Paul, I am here from Minnesota, you know, close to Canada, I am with an organization, Joy of the People, named after Garrincha. We are trying to grow free play in the United States, we have been talking to everyone about player development and their own upbringing and how free play was incorporated.  What was your development like?"

"I am afraid i am going to tell you vhat you don't vant to hear...from ZE time Zhey are three years old...Germans are trained... to VIN! ...Zhere is no fun. Zhere is no JOY...Ve just Vant to VIN!!"

"Joy of zee People?...Great name"