ABSTRACT

Elite soccer players typically spend around 98 per cent of match time on mental appraisal and mental processing – in other words, perception and decision-making – while only 2 per cent of a 90-minute game involves the physical execution of technical skills. This emphasis on cognitive processes necessitates a well-developed tactical triangle: that is, reading the situation, acquiring skills to meet the situation and making decisions in their application. Further demands from the abundance of information in game environments include verbal and non-verbal communication, along with the game’s technical and physical requirements. Furthermore, the majority of players’ decisions must take position, moment, direction, and speed into account. Thus, to bring everything together, coaching content must be suitably holistic by acknowledging and incorporating the typical technical and tactical content as well as diverse physical, cognitive, emotional and social dimensions of play. Both individual- and team-oriented considerations will be addressed. Players are encouraged to make situation-appropriate decisions on a quick, continuous, and frequently changing basis that is more representative of game contexts than drills alone.