What to team talk ?

A team talk will vary considerably depending upon the team that you are coaching, the age group, the level of competition, what you’ve worked on in training etc.

For this example, we are to assume we are working with a senior competitive team.

I’d first say that the the vast majority of the “hard work” should already have been done.

Over the days, weeks and/or months prior, the team should have been made aware of what the formation(s) they play, what the role and responsibilities are of each position in those formations both in a high press or a counter attacking strategy, whether we have or don’t have the ball. Players should know what the strengths and weaknesses are of each formation and how we would adapt to counter any exploitation of the weaknesses in our formation.

Before the game I would consider the variables in the match that we have to play Things such as our opposition (what their formation is and where are their strengths and weaknesses are), the size of the pitch (is it long, short, wide or narrow?), what’s the weather like (is it 40oC and energy sapping? Is it raining and the pitch soggy), is the pitch “fast or slow”? etc

The variables would be discussed not as their own topic, but as details within the regular structure of the team talk as and when we get to them, eg: when we discuss our formation regarding defending from wide areas, we might mention that our opponent regularly attacks the right wing with an overlapping full back, that the pitch is particularly wide, which may make it harder to defend and remind our team what we do to counter that.

I would start with a get together and welcome, make sure everyone is ready to pay attention, then start with the basics, what formation we plan to play, whether we are going to play high press or counter attack, (where we will hold a line) and leave it there just before the players go and do the first stage of their warm up.  This gives the players the chance to think about what it is we are doing as a team (and I’ll remind them of that) during the first stage of our warm up and be ready for the next step of the team talk, after the first stage of the (physical) warm up. I generally like to present the team talk as a Q&A to help ensure that the players know what the team is doing by giving the correct answers to questions.

I might fire some questions off during the active warm-up or stretching (which are relevant to the way we are playing that day and specific to things that they should know from our work on the training ground), eg: “Which position are we looking to create the width in the final third, when we’re attacking?”, “If we lose the ball during build up phase, what is the first thing that we do?” and so on.

I would then let them move on with their physical warm-up, rondo’s or small sided game. Ensure that they are all focused and “on point”, try and watch to see who is or isn’t in the right frame of mind, keeping a close eye on any of the more “junior” players in the team, or anyone suspected of carrying an injury.

We then come in and discuss together the formation and the roles and responsibilities of the players in that formation, through discussion, Q&A as and when, always using a tactics board. I would try to ensure that all players know each others roles, in this way everyone can hold each other accountable (see “5 Dysfunctions of a Team“).  We cover this topic about us with the ball, when we lose the ball (- transition), when we don’t have the ball and when we win the ball (+ transition).

We shouldn’t need to spend too long on this, because we have done this again and again on the training pitch and in previous games.

We then discuss set-plays, both attacking and defending, again we’ve done this all in training.  How we set-up, what is expected of each player.

Throughout each section as it’s completed, I’ll regularly ask if there any questions and whether they understand.

Depending upon the players I have, I may or may not need to discuss the need for concentration, focus on the processes and not the outcome, focus on things you can control and not those that we can’t (like referee decisions, or the protagonist opposition).

Finally we leave on the mantra of the team, whatever that is, whatever your team needs, whatever you repeat on a day to day basis among your players, repetition creates a common knowledge, a knowing that this little phrase embodies everything we are working for together, eg: “Hard work beats talent, when talent doesn’t work hard” or “Believe” or “Together”, what’s some that you have used?

HALF TIME

Every training session, whenever I call for the team to “come in” or “go and get a drink” I demand it to be done with purpose.  This to me, as I explain to my teams, is training for half time.  At half time we have a finite amount of time to share information for the betterment of the group and to do this successfully we need to do the little jobs quickly, ie: jog off the pitch, get your drink and do the things that are the basics, quickly. Then ensure players get in with everyone quickly to discuss. (It’s usually the same during training, we only have a certain amount of time for training, so why waste it!)

** I’ll add for youth teams a VERY important interjection here. Many players don’t bring their drinks with them, their parents do it for them. As a result the first place they run at half time and after the game is to their mum or dad. It is very important to not allow this to happen, as too often parents/spectators become a distraction, whether it’s taken as an opportunity for parents to do their own coaching, making a joke, starting a conversation with them, or anything. This time is not a break from the game as a whole and so it should not be treated as such. Do what you can to ensure that this time is spent with you and the players and not the parents. 

During the half you should have made some notes as to what we did well, what we have not done well and what we need to change.

If things are going badly and you have a clear change of plan, demand attention (that doesn’t mean be angry, it requires discipline) take the lead and start your team talk as if it’s a new game.

Otherwise I like to start with a question, “how are we doing”?   This could be as a team on the processes we were meant to be working on, as individuals, physically (are we tired or injured). One person only ever speaks at a time, chair the discussion, feel free to agree or disagree with the comments made (with reason) and encourage comments (and discussion) regardless of whether you think they’re right or wrong.

Don’t allow emotion to get in the way of a good discussion.

To get the feedback from the team can be interesting, as they may or may not feel they are doing better or worse than they actually are.

Understand that you have a limited amount of time and make sure that you have enough time to convey what you need, so cut the Q&A short when you need to deliver the information you want to and make the changes you feel are needed.

(If this was a development team and we were dominating the game and winning convincingly, if you haven’t already, you would set new objectives and clear requirements within the game, eg: the keeper needs to touch the ball before we have a shot, or, ten passes, or we can only score from crosses created by third man running overlaps. Don’t just go out again and destroy the opposition.)

FULL TIME

There are some things that everyone needs to do at full time and making sure that happens is the first priority and leading by example encourages this. Go and shake hands, your opposite number, the referee’s, the opposition (regardless of the score of the sentiment of the game.)

Let players grab their drinks and call them in for a quick chat, straight after a match is rarely the time for detailed analysis. However, do ask the question again, “how did we do?”

Get the immediate feedback form the players. Share what you thought were the negatives and positives of the match and depending upon the urgency or seriousness of the situation, elaborate on them.

Whatever the result, re-enforce the the sense of doing things together as a team!

What you often find at the end of a game is that emotions are running high and things can be skewed one way or another. Take stock of what happened, take your notes, get your feedback, give your calm and considered (initial) feedback to the players and then end it there.  Leaving you the opportunity to reflect, maybe view replays if you have video and create some considered feedback for the next training session.