PRO INSIGHT SERIES: The Difference UK vs NZ

Hello, my name is John Freeman, a coach with The Pro Project and player for Hibiscus Coast.

I arrived in January from my role as a coach and analyst in a Professional Academy (MK Dons) and I have already identified huge differences from the Academy System in England, compared to the New Zealand Football set up.

FIRSTLY - A BIG THANK YOU

I want to thank Adam and everyone at the The Pro Project for facilitating my move from London to Hibiscus, a place that myself and my partner are already  starting to love. All the people I have met have been incredible and made this process so enjoyable which allowed me to start coaching and making these observations as soon as I got off the plane. 

Things are definately different to how we coach and train in UK

FOUR METRICS

In the UK we review players in FOUR metrics:

●      Technical,

●      Tactical,

●      Psych/Social

●      Physical

and would strive to develop players in each metric and this would be used all the way up from U9’s to U18’s.

"Willingness and a desire to learn

My initial positive impressions of the NZ players were that these young people all have the most important attribute to be successful, which is a willingness and desire to learn. This is essential to grow as footballers and people.

TECHNICAL AND TACTICAL METRICS

This has a direct correlation to the most common player type I have seen here which is technically gifted and intelligent players. With the assistance of good coaches they can soak up feedback and use different learning styles to develop. Technical and Tactical are often the hardest metrics to find which makes it very exciting to coach these athletes.

However, there are some major differences that the players in England have gained over the players here, mainly due to environment and competition. The  environment of Academies have become incredibly professional, all young players now have:

●      One on one coaching

●      Academy training

●      Football specific programme consisting of plyometrics and movement training

●      Club psychologist

●      Regular reviews with game and training analysis

This environment creates incredible young athletes and learners which can make  huge benefits in players performances and well being. These differences are quite clear here in New Zealand, I see a lot of young people running and moving in a way which is not as efficient as the fast pace of academy football in the UK.

"Players do not need all this - they need INTENSITY."

However, the good news is that players do not need all this at all but what I highly recommend, as an essential, is to prioritise good coaching, and incorporate plyometrics and efficient movement as part of your training.

Now the factor I believe that has created the biggest gap between the development of players here compared to the UK is intensity.

Because the competition to get into an academy in England is so high, the players we coached had to give absolutely everything in every training session. Therefore, when we demand intensity of actions such as pressing, reactions, transitions, speed of play, aggression, 1v1 battles they are 100% in all actions which leads to frequent touches of the ball under incredibly high pressure. I  believe this was a huge catalyst in the accelerated development in all metrics. 

And this is where The Pro Project comes in

As the majority of our coaches, including director Adam have seen and been a part of this system in the UK, we understand the technical demands as well as player lead intensity, movement and standards needed to succeed. This is our point of difference

From my brief observation, the NZ Players here are content for the other team to have the ball and are content at giving what feels comfortable to them, which is slowing the rate of their development as a person and player.

" As a Coach, this is incredibly exciting! At The Pro Project we pride ourselves on creating an intense and competitive environment, all whilst taking care of our players, which challenges players to develop in all metrics which is truly unique here in New Zealand."