Player Profiles and Understanding Just What You're Looking For

Whenever I’m on a course or I have a project to complete I tend to make a bit of a mountain out of a molehill, all because in order to understand the task I have to strip it down to the bare bones and understand it the best I can. I’d be a terrible mechanic because if you were having trouble starting the engine I’d have it on blocks and pulled apart to better understand how it’s injecting fuel. In other words, I sort of have to pull it apart in order to build it up again in the way I want.

This was how it went when I came to write my Player Profiles during my UEFA B. Sat in front of a blank Excel spreadsheet the only real thought going through my mind was “well what am I supposed to do here?”

Maybe my brain doesn’t really work how it’s supposed to but I couldn’t really get a solid idea in my head of just what I was assessing my players on, so instead I went a bit left field and found some great examples from the Wales FA on the core characteristics they want from each playing position; not the same as the England FA’s 6 Core Capabilities (which I think are very helpful in observing individuals - https://learn.englandfootball.com/articles-and-resources/coaching/resources/2023/What-are-The-FAs-six-core-capabilities) but a set of core competencies that they believe are essential to play in a specific position. Now this intrigued me!

If I was to assess each of my players individually, I had to know exactly what I wanted them to be able to do in order to know where they were on that journey. So I made my own Position Profiles which I’m sharing here (albeit from 2022/23 so whilst some parts of my style have changed and the players featured may be “of a time” they are still the characteristics that I want to see).

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Goalkeepers

Beginning with the keeper made me realise that of the 4 Corners these profiles really leant heavily into the Psychological and Social corners more than the Technical or Physical - we know what we want to see in those corners and it doesn’t really change much between positions because of how we play, and is especially true of the keeper who we still want to be a solid shot stopper above all else (Roy Keane “that’s her job” meme here) but with qualities that make her dynamic.

The Social corner is vital here, and as someone who began as a keeper idolising Peter Schmeichel and Santiago Canizares I’m acutely aware of them being “part of the team, not apart from the team”. How we want to play, the trust involved and the fluidity we want to see means the goalkeeper has to have a strong basis in the squad.

Ball Playing Centre Back

Much like the goalkeeper, our centre backs' defining qualities are in the mind. I absolutely love defenders who love to defend. It’s a difficult quality to pin down but it’s as close to a non-negotiable as it gets: you have to go into those duels wishing, believing, KNOWING that they’re not getting to the goal. That’s big energy right there, not only in games where these things are truly tested but also within the player’s development.

They don’t need us coaches to tell them they made mistakes, they’re not idiots, they know. So it’s the ones who ask questions during breaks, want to see the tactics board or make suggestions and challenge us that are the ones I know want to be better. If that’s an important characteristic that we hold in high esteem then as coaches we need to foster an environment to allow it to thrive.

Wide Defender

I went with “Wide Defender” over “Fullbacks” for the simple reason that I have played a number of systems that use back fours, traditional left/right midfielders in a midfield four, or even wingbacks to accompany a back three so I wanted a bit of a catch-all rather than pinning it to a specific system. And our wide defenders are the first foray into more of the Technical/Tactical and Physical corner prominence (whilst still maintaining vital Psych/Social qualities).

Choosing to defend in wide areas is great but it can’t just be because it’s furthest away from the goal; there are consequences and outcomes to every choice we make and we have to understand them fully. If I choose to force the opposition into wide areas, I have to appreciate that my wide defenders are going to be doing A LOT of work. For that reason their abilities in the 1v1 need to be sharp, decisive and confident but also have the freedom to get on their bike and take it back where it came from.

I have loved a flat midfield four in the recent past playing an Antonio Conte style 1-3-4-3 and utilised the left and right midfielders in a way that was quite traditional but perhaps resembled a more modern wingback; their defensive and attacking duties were split fairly evenly so their ability going forward and back in the 1v1 was vital. So much so I often used “defenders” in these roles (players who had played previously at fullback or centre back). Now with my U18 Merlins, a lot of our ball playing centre backs have also played at left/right wing to further hone their abilities on the ball going forward.

Defensive Midfielder

No single pivot/double pivot. No 4/6 (yes, I still use 6 even though England say “that’s a CB!”). No box-to-box dynamo. Again, adaptability is the aim of the game here. I want to be able to play different systems, I want to be able to change things in the game either to help my players or to challenge them, and I think this is most noticeable in the defensive midfielder role. I love a player who can play any of these roles at any time, but it’s on us as coaches to make sure the instructions for each role is clear and achievable.

Whichever way we play a lot of the fundamentals don’t differ - we want to play through quickly and counter-press when we don’t have the ball. Whichever role our defensive midfielder takes on will still need to stick to these principles so their tactical understanding of the game is perhaps the most important aspect of their game, a 360° view observing the moment they’re in. As we play two CDMs in both the U18s and the Firsts, one must play “The Pessimist” when we have the ball and be thinking “what if we lose it? What is my job?” - to do this they have to read the moment and understand what might happen next.

But whilst it’s pessimism first, the opportunity for optimism is always on the cards - if the moment calls for an extra player to go forward they need to be aware of how they can contribute further forward.

Attacking Midfielder

I reckon that if the defensive midfielders needs to see as much of the game and pitch as possible, my attacking midfielders need to absolutely own the game within 10 metres of them. The rest is in vision but only in the scope of “what happens when it gets to me?”

We talk a lot about triggers in football and they generally come on the defensive/out of possession side of things (pressing triggers, etc) but there should also be triggers to attack, to burst out of the blocks and make the opposition stop you. That’s why I want my attacking midfielders to coordinate the attacks, to be “The General” and be in exactly the places that the opposition don’t want you in.

Even better, when you are in areas they want you, trust yourself and your abilities that you can still do the business; be creative, brave and resilient to be in the danger zone and know that you are coming out of it on top. This requires a high level of technical ability yes, but I guarantee when you hit these areas once or twice and the opposition notice, then the space will open up elsewhere as they try to cut you off. You may not get the ball, but you’re still going to affect it.

Wide Forward

Much like our attacking midfielders, our wide forwards should always demand the ball but their role is first and foremost finding or creating space - space for themselves and space for their teammates. In our 1-3-2-5 the wide forwards really look to maintain width and allow room for others in the half spaces, but also have the freedom to attack from the far side of the pitch in order to be another out-and-out/central forward - basically, get in at the far post.

Without overlapping fullbacks our wide forwards should play high, attacking the last line in order to get beyond and either deliver into the box or carry as far as possible to create chances and be supported by our attacking midfielders who will rotate freely. These relationships are where our attacks will take on some real creativity and unpredictability.

This unpredictability, somewhat poetically, is born of routine and structure; if our wide forwards can observe the opposition and their strengths and weaknesses they can be in a position to exploit what they know to our advantage, to dominate their duels by learning within the game, not just at training. I don’t even care if they’re able to articulate it to us as coaches, we have a relationship with our players now to know if they “get it” or not, but we also have to be alert to change it up and give them a new challenge if we feel they don’t.

Central Attacker

Oh man. Be brave. Be adventurous. Live, breathe, eat and sleep attacking and making opposition lives a misery. I always think people ask why players or teams don’t score enough goals (I will not be commenting on England Men’s Euro 2024 campaign, I will not) and it just comes down to a very simple concept: you have to WANT to score above all else. Erling Haaland isn’t always the cleanest striker of the ball, but he’s bloody-minded in knowing exactly where he wants to put it and when.

I have a running joke with my forwards, driving my standards by making sure they don’t turn into a “typical lazy striker”, always staying on the same centre back, never making the run, giving the keeper too much credit when closing down a loose ball that is there to be won. As I said previously, the relationships with our U18s are build on firm ground; they know I want them to keep moving, to lose defenders, to be elusive yet entirely present and I know that they will give me that. For some now the challenge is greater, one where I might jump into a session to play “the bully”, giving them the little shove in the back that a defender will on Saturday, tracking them all over the pitch so they can never find space. It’s up to them to be smart and deceitful, and this is what we work on.

And of course the “lazy striker” isn’t just about them letting an attack go by them. They know that they have a really great opportunity to be the ones that can have the most positive transitions on the whole team, pressing and back-tackling to cause chaos, panic and disorder to win the ball in areas of the pitch where we can be dangerous.

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All in all, these position profiles aren’t necessarily the be-all-end-all; every individual player is viewed on their own profile, but they allowed me to understand what I was looking for, what I wanted to see but also where I could be challenged. It then also allowed me to give players areas for improvement, long-term targets, but also hone down on their Star Qualities - their top skills - and their X-Factors - the qualities they possess that set them apart from everyone else.

It was a process I enjoyed, and whilst it was a lot of work it was a process I had to go through in order to understand the task, and that has taught me an awful lot about myself too.