THE

PRINCIPLES
OF PLAY
THE ESSENTIAL GUIDE TO THE FUNDAMENTAL
BUILDING BLOCKS OF SOCCER

FEATURING CONTENT FROM UEFA PRO

LICENCE COURSE TUTOR MARTIN HUNTER
 INTRODUCTION
The Principles of Play are perhaps the most fundamental components of a coach’s
understanding of the game, yet we find ourselves in a situation where many do not
learn about them until far too late in their educational journey.

This guide is focused on helping coaches to develop a deep knowledge of the

Principles of Play and pass that knowledge on to players.

During the vast research project we undertook during the last 5 years to understand
what level of knowledge coaches had of the Principles of Play, it became very
apparent that Level 1 Coaches in the USA and Europe had almost no clear
understanding of the Principles of Play.

Level 2 had, at best, rudimentary knowledge and even many level 3 Coaches have
serious gaps in their knowledge. It’s not until coaches are taking professional
qualifications that their knowledge of - and ability to teach - the Principles becomes
well established

On the flip side, most coaches have a good level of understanding of tactics and
formations, especially those tactics made fashionable by successful managers like
Jurgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola.

The issue is that Klopp and Guardiola both apply their tactical approach on a solid
foundation of how the Principles of Play are applied. Guardiola has said this on many
occasions. For these coaches, the principles come first, the tactics second.

Therefore, it’s concerning that the majority of coaches who are teaching the game
are doing so without this foundation and the risk is that young players are not actually
learning the game, they are just learning about tactics.

This has serious implications for players when they get to 13 and start playing 11 a side
football, because suddenly they feel like they are playing a game they don’t
understand. The consequence of this in the USA and Europe is that we have more
young teenagers leaving the game than ever before.

THE PRINCIPLES OF PLAY

 WHAT ARE THE
PRINCIPLES OF PLAY?
Simply put, they are the fundamental truths for how the game can be played within
the boundaries of the pitch. They remain constant whether you are playing a small
sided format or the full sided game.

This is different to laws and tactics. Both laws and tactics change on a regular basis.
Laws perhaps less so than tactics, but neither are fixed. Laws and tactics also have a
direct correlation with one another. A change in a law (such as Law 12 Section 2 - the
back pass rule) can create a new tactical approach (i.e. pressing from the front).

There are 10 Principles of Play.

5 for attacking...
...and 5 for defending.
Why are the principles so important?

The Principles of Play, along with technique, are the two primary fundamentals which
players must learn if they are to reach their potential. One (technique) dictates their
ability to perform the actions required in the game and the other (the principles)
dictates their game understanding. If either of these components are missing, the
game will not be enjoyable, because you won’t be able to play it properly.

Once they have these foundations in place, then the rest of the things which players
require such as tactical/strategic understanding, physical training, resilience, courage
and attitude can be added to help them become the best they can be.

The problem is that coaches can build successful teams in the early years, without
helping players properly understand the principles or develop proper technique. This
is mainly because big, strong physically-capable players, with some simple tactics and
some rigid positioning can overcome the deficiencies they have in technique and
game understanding.

However, by the time players hit puberty and the 11 a side game, these physical and
tactical advantages start to wane and their ability to perform correct technique whilst
understanding all aspects of attacking and defending become essential to their
continued success and enjoyment.

THE PRINCIPLES OF PLAY

 WHO NEEDS TO LEARN THE
PRINCIPLES OF PLAY?
All coaches should be well versed in the Principles of Play. You may have noticed that
we recently changed our practice and session templates to give coaches help on
which principles they can focus on in their sessions.

All your players need to understand all the Principles of Play. Your defenders need to
understand and apply the attacking principles as well as the defending principles and,
likewise, your attackers need to understand the defending principles as well as the
attacking ones.

To this end, you should be mindful of the Principles of Play and they should be the
bedrock of the sessions you deliver, even if you are working on tactical sessions. In
fact, there’s a very strong argument to say that any good coaching point, as you’ll see
in this content, is always based on the Principles of Play.

Summary
The Principles of Play are perhaps the most fundamental components of a coach’s
understanding of the game, yet we find ourselves in a situation where many do not
learn about them until far too late in their educational journey. Without a proper
grasp of the Principles of Play and their applications, coaches are at an automatic
disadvantage - and so are their players. Coach Education without the Principles of
Play is like learning a new language without understanding the concept of sentence
structure.

With our latest series of broadcast-quality video sessions, The Coaching Manual is
setting out to equip coaches with the knowledge that will not only help them
understand the game better, but understand the reasons and benefits behind every
training session, practice progression, and coaching point they’ll ever deliver.

Get the first Principles of Play session: Creating Space

THE PRINCIPLES OF PLAY

 ABOUT
MARTIN HUNTER
The man behind the educational content in this guide is UEFA Pro
Licence course tutor Martin Hunter. He is the former Technical
Director of Southampton FC

The Coaching Manual's Technical Director Paul Bright said:

"Martin's worked at every level of the game, he's been there, seen
it and done it. Martin delivering the sessions on The Coaching
Manual is a fantastic advert for how to deliver the Principles of
Play in a simple and effective way. If you can transfer terminology
and information into its simplest form for your players to
understand then you're an effective coach and I think Martin does
that very very well."

The Coaching Manual's Terry Barton said: "Martin and as his

contemporaries Dick Bate (the legendary FA coach educator who
passed away in 2018) and Les Reed (currently the English FA
Technical Director), are part of a lineage of football knowledge
that includes some of the finest minds the game has produced;
including Sir Bobby Robson, Howard Wilkinson and Sir Alf Ramsey.

THE PRINCIPLES OF PLAY

 THE
ATTACKING
PRINCIPLES

THE PRINCIPLES OF PLAY

Creating Space is a key attacking principle in football as we look to create time and
space when in possession of the ball. Also, as the defending team want to deny space,
the attacking team should look to create space to unbalance the opposition, creating
large or smaller spaces all over the field in order to advance forward.

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THE PRINCIPLES OF PLAY

It is vital that you are able to coach your players to pass over different distances
whilst also offering supporting angles to advance forward. Passing & Support is an
essential attacking principle that enables us to move through and around our
opponent.

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THE PRINCIPLES OF PLAY

Statistics show that the average player will spend no more than 90 seconds to 2 minutes on
the ball in any one 90 min period. This obviously depends on the position and style of play,
meaning it could be less but generally no more. This highlights the importance of what players
are doing off the ball for the rest of the time, especially when their team is in possession. This
is why the principle of movement and mobility is a huge part of the game - and must be
taught to all players.

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THE PRINCIPLES OF PLAY

Creativity is one of the most difficult things to coach in football. This is due to the
unpredictable nature of the individual footballer, their ability to read and see the game, and
their ability to decide what they can do to escape the pressure or produce a bit of magic to
score goals.

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THE PRINCIPLES OF PLAY

 THE
DEFENDING
PRINCIPLES

THE PRINCIPLES OF PLAY

Pressing is one of the most talked about facets of the game. However, with
professional teams setting new trends of how and where to press, we need to consider
the fundamental Principles of Play and the reasons why we press.

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THE PRINCIPLES OF PLAY

Pressing is a very fashionable term within the game, though it has been around for
many years. However, it isn’t possible to press the ball all the time. The next Principle,
after Pressing and Support, is Recovery and Delay. This refers to our attempts to stop
the opposition from progressing any further by either delaying the attack to regain
our shape, or win back the ball.

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THE PRINCIPLES OF PLAY

All principles of play are intertwined together. Often when discussing principles, one
principle will have a knock-on effect on another, and so on. This is no different to
compactness, cover and balance. Due to the close relationship between the two, if
compactness is done correctly, cover and balance will follow.

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THE PRINCIPLES OF PLAY

Many coaches believe that control and restraint should be confined to the Middle or
Defensive thirds of the field. However, this isn’t the case, as we can still teach players
how to have control and restraint all over the field.

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THE PRINCIPLES OF PLAY

 COACH EDUCATION
No matter how long you've been coaching, or how many coaches are at your club,
there are thousands of useful articles, guides, and sessions that will boost your
understanding of the game and support your journey to becoming the best coach
you can be.

The content on the Coaching Manual has been created by highly experienced and
qualified coaches, including tutors on the UEFA Pro Licence, Pro Licence holders,
Premier League Academy coaches, and more.

GUIDES
Below is just a selection of the educational guides we have on The Coaching Manual,
including guides focused specifically on particular positions, formations, stages of
practice, and session formats.

Guide to running a session

9v9 formation guides
Positional guides
Perception - Decision - Execution. What Is It?
How to Use Play-Practice-Progress-Play
Creating a State of Flow for Development

SESSIONS
Among the 3,000+ pieces of content on The Coaching Manual is our series of Pro
Masterclass sessions, delivered by the best coaches in the game. The Masterclasses
feature a full session with diagrams and animations, as well as supporting guides and
interviews to help you provide your players with the pro experience.

Rene Meulensteen Gary Rowett

Steve McClaren Chris Hughton
Stuart Pearce Mark Warburton
David Moyes Alan Irvine
Dean Smith Aitor Karanka
Mike Phelan Michael Appleton
Pep Clotet

THE PRINCIPLES OF PLAY

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THE PRINCIPLES OF PLAY

 HOW WE CAN HELP
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THE PRINCIPLES OF PLAY