Sean Connor: Sorry Arsène Wenger, but I don’t agree!

​Now maybe he simplified his message for expediency, but he stated that skill and technical development should be first, then followed by the physical development and finally tactical.

I did not agree with was the fact that Arsène stated that if a player has not developed fully technically by 14, he will not become an elite player.

Why do I not agree, well it’s simple. Yes skill and technical development must be focussed on from day one in a player’s journey, but it does not stop at 14, or any other specific age in an athlete’s developmental pathway.

Skill acquisition and technical development must be continuously worked on and adapted always, it takes time and hard work and planning by both coach and player, here’s why!

Having observed a lot of underage coaching over these past five years or so, I have come to the belief that the majority of coaches working at this’ elite level’ are still coaching and preparing their players around the physical requirement of the game, because it’s easier and requires less thinking.

For me, coaching skills should be at the very heart of player development, especially in the formative years. Mr Wenger I agree. Ask any coach or player and they will tell you skill development is essence of any sport. It’s why we love Messi, Federer, or Jonny Sexton, we love their high levels of skill, and how they execute these skills consistently and within a highly competitive environment.

How many of those coaching at the top youth level actually focusses on skill development? How many players have engaged with a coach in their formative years who assisted in their skill development? I bet the answer is very few and here is a reason why. Two weeks ago, I watched an U12 boys football game, where one of the coaches was so intent on winning the game, he made minimal substitutions, leaving a number of players with no game time. Once his side got in front, and only after the opposition had made eight changes, he then openly encouraged his players to kick the ball out of play, to time waste. It was embarrassing. This coach was ego driven and only concerned with winning, from the way he celebrated after the game, this was obvious. He had zero interest in letting players express themselves or actually try something in the game. In other words have fun. I fear for the players who spend any length of time with this type of coach.

What is skill? well, here is a definition I use; ‘it’s the ability to solve a sporting problem with a specific technique consistently well at speed, under pressure and under fatigue in a competitive environment’. How can we coach it and do we need it to be coached technically text book perfect? But, if you want to win in the real world, it is more than just coaching the text book skill. Your players must be able to execute in performance and pressure situations, they must understand when and where to use the skill. So, how can we do this?

The answer is we can create the environment within our sessions to allow players to try and fail again and again as they develop their technique or skill. We begin with skill work in isolation, at the very beginning, but quickly we must work towards performance practice. The first step in this process is to begin and learn the skill. The next stage is mastery of the skill, this comes with regular practice and feedback and can include video analysis and personal reflection. Now, this is where the development stops with a lot of coaches, they think they have done their job.

Wrong, you have only scratched the surface and in no way have you equipped your player for a performance environment. The player must be able to perform the skill at speed and consistently, technical perfection at slow speed maybe pleasant on the eye, but if the skill cannot hold up under competitive conditions and with agility, accelerations and explosivity, it’s not game ready. How many coaches work on skill development at this level, or are they purely focussed on winning. Because the work done at this stage still carries a level of error, re-adaption and fine tuning.

The next stage once we have perfected our skill at match tempo, is the ability to perform under fatigue. It’s a swimmer holding his technique together in the last 10 metres of a 200-metre race, or a player in the last five minutes of a match. Most games at an elite level come down to moments, inches and being able to perform skills while dehydrated or in glycogen depletion and muscular fatigue. Are we done yet, no!

Now you have to prepare your players to perform the skill at speed, under fatigue and under stress, and this is a coaching issue. You can incorporate the element of pressure by making your sessions more demanding and as challenging as any competitive environment your players will perform in.

The next stage is taking the skill execution to a high level of consistency. For this to occur you have to adapt a ‘no-compromise’ attitude to skill execution in training, set high standards and look for them to be met. Some players will struggle with these demands, but the very best embrace and devour them. Most athletes have two brains, their ‘training brain’ and the ‘competition brain’. The secret here is getting your players training with the competition mindset. That’s down to you as a coach, you set the climate for your sessions, you set and accept the standards. If you are willing to work through this process then you will have developed players capable of performing skills at high speed, under fatigue, under pressure consistently and in competition conditions.

This process begins with the players’ coach at the start of their development journey, allowing them to make mistakes, to adjust and adapt as they perfect their skills. But it does not stop at 14 or any age, in my opinion it should never stop.