** Language warning**  (If you’re easily offended by swear words, maybe don’t watch!)

Finding further information to support the fact that we play football with our brain first, another find from the YouTube library.

Berlin, October 2015.

Sean Dyche on managing egos & why basic manners mean everything | High Performance Podcast

Success is the ongoing pursuit of meaningful, well-defined goals. According to Locke’s Goal-Setting Theory, setting clear, specific, and challenging goals greatly increases motivation and performance. So, how do we effectively set and achieve our goals? Start by working backwards.

1. Define Your Ultimate Goal: Begin with your overall aim—whether it’s winning a football match or mastering a skill. In football, the ultimate goal is simple: score more than your opponent. But to do that, you need a plan. Locke’s theory emphasizes that goals should be specific and challenging but achievable. A vague goal like “play better” won’t help much. Instead, aim for “improve ball control to reduce turnovers.”

2. Break it Down into Smaller Goals: Once you know your ultimate goal, break it down into smaller, more specific goals. This approach aligns with Locke’s theory, which stresses that setting smaller sub-goals helps maintain focus and motivation. For instance, if your ultimate goal is to win the game, smaller objectives might include:

• Learning how to create scoring opportunities
• Perfecting your shooting technique
• Developing strategies to regain possession
• Practicing defensive tactics to stop your opponent

Each smaller goal contributes to the larger goal, giving you clear, actionable steps to follow.

3. Increase Commitment Through Challenge: Locke’s theory highlights that the more challenging the goal, the more effort and commitment it inspires. For example, when you focus on something specific like “improve accuracy in shooting with your weaker foot,” you’re challenging yourself, which increases your investment in reaching that goal. Make sure your goals stretch your abilities without being unrealistic.

4. Use Feedback to Adjust: Another crucial part of Locke’s theory is the importance of feedback. Regularly check your progress on each small goal. Are you mastering your defensive positioning? Are you consistently creating goal-scoring chances? Feedback from a coach or self-assessment helps you adjust and stay on track. Coaches can help you prioritize and refine your goals, making sure you’re always moving toward your larger objective.

5. Write it Down for Clarity: Locke also notes that writing down your goals enhances commitment. When you see your goals on paper, you visualize them and stay focused. This helps to maintain motivation as you work through each stage of the process.

By breaking your ultimate goal into manageable steps and following Locke’s principles of specific, challenging goals with regular feedback, you’re more likely to stay motivated and achieve your desired outcome.

In football and life, success is about clarity, consistency, and progression. Whether you’re on the pitch or pursuing personal growth, setting clear, well-defined goals will keep you moving forward toward your bigger dreams.

Here’s a useful tip: Do not tell unnecessary people your goals, tell only people who will encourage you to commit to the goals you set out to achieve.  (see the video below)

In 2007, I came across a business management book that would change the way I would approach football team management on a personal level.

There are plenty of resources for actual coaching of tactics, principles of play etc, but there is very little out there that will help you to get your players to gel, to get on with one another and find that little bit of magic that turns a group of players into a team.

In LAX airport I picked up a copy of Patrick Lencioni’s “5 Dysfunctions of a Team”, by the time a touched back down in Hong Kong I had a new approach to the teams I was coaching and to be honest, many people that I had any kind of working relationship with.

In his book, Patrick Lencioni outlines 5 dysfunctions and then the methods of righting those wrongs, to create a harmonious, productive team. You can see what these are from the pyramid image above, working from bottom to top.

Let me simply summarize this for you now.

Members of teams with an absence of trust…

• Conceal their weaknesses and mistakes from one another
• Hesitate to ask for help or provide constructive feedback
• Hesitate to offer help outside their own areas of responsibility
• Jump to conclusions about the intentions and aptitudes of others without attempting to clarify them
• Fail to recognize and tap into one another’s skills and experiences
• Waste time and energy managing their behaviors for effect
• Hold grudges
• Dread meetings and find reasons to avoid spending time together

Member of trusting teams …

Admit weaknesses and mistakes
Ask for help
Take risks in offering feedback and assistance
Appreciate and tap into one another’s skills and experiences
Focus time and energy on important issues, not politics
Offer and accept apologies without hesitation
Look forward to meetings and other opportunities to work as a group

Overcoming the absence of trust …

Personal histories exercise
Team effectiveness exercise
Personality and behavioural presence profile
360 degree feed back
Leader role

Teams that fear conflict…

• Have boring meetings
• Create environments where back-channel politics and personal attacks thrive
• Ignore controversial topics that are critical to team success
• Fail to tap into all the opinions and perspectives of team members
• Waste time and energy with posturing and interpersonal risk management

Teams that engage in conflict …

Have lively, interesting meetings
Extract and exploit the ideas of all team members
Solve real problems quickly
Minimize politics
Put critical topics on the table for discussion

Overcoming Fear of Conflict …

Acknowledge that conflict is productive, and that many tend to avoid it.
Team Members must occaisionally assume the role of a “minor of conflict”
(someone who extracts disagreements in the team to sheds light on them.)
Team members need to coach one another not to retreat from healthy debate. Remind them what they are doing is necessary.

A team that fails to commit…

• Creates ambiguity among the team about direction and priorities
• Watches windows of opportunity close due to excessive analysis and unnecessary delay
• Breeds lack of confidence and fear of failure
• Revisits discussions and decisions again and again
• Encourages second-guessing among team members

Teams that are committed …

Have clear directions and priorities
Are aligned around objectives
Develop an ability to learn from mistakes
Seize opportunities before the competition
Moves forward without hesitation
Changes direction without hesitation or guilt

Overcoming lack of commitment …

reformulate action plan
Set and honor deadlines, including interim milestones
Worst case scenario analysis to remove the fear from mistakes
practice quick decision making with limited analysis

A team that avoids accountability…

• Creates resentment among team members who have different standards of performance
• Encourages mediocrity
• Misses deadlines and key deliver-ables
• Places an undue burden on the team leader as the sole source of discipline

Teams that are accountable…

Ensure that poor performers feel pressure to improve
Identify quickly problem by questioning one’s approach without hesitation
Establish respect among the team who are held to the same standard
Avoid excessive bureaucracy around performance management and corrective action

Overcoming avoidance of Accountability …

Publication of goals and standards: no one can ignore them and we know who is responsible for what
Progressive review : team members should comment on their peer performance against objectives and standards
Reward team instead of individuals
Do not relegate accountability to consensus approach: shared team responsibility with individual responsibility

A team that is not focused on results…

• Stagnates/fails to grow
• Rarely defeats competitors
• Loses achievement-oriented employees
• Encourages team members to focus on their own careers and individual goals
• Is easily distracted

A team that focuses on collective results …

retains achievement-orientated employees
minimizes individualistic behaviours
enjoys success and failure acutely
has individuals who subjugate their own goals for the good of the team
avoids distraction

Overcoming inattention to results …

public declaration
the team must make results clear
have results based awards
reward only those behaviors and actions that contribute to those results.
They must be careful not to get sidetracked to tangential action items.

Teamwork ultimately comes down to practicing a small set of principles over a long period of time.  Success is not a matter of mastering subtle, sophisticated theory, but rather of embracing common sense with uncommon levels of discipline and persistence.

The article sparked widespread interest, prompting me to meet the man who has revolutionized the way we think about coaching.

“His drills start off simply but become progressively more complex, challenging players’ focus and keeping their concentration sharp.”

This process of gradual complication is something I’ve always considered central to effective coaching design. When I first began coaching, we used to refer to it simply as “ABC”—the idea that you can’t move on to “C” without mastering “A” and “B.” Once you’ve worked through “A” to “Z,” you can start forming “words” and “sentences,” or in this case, more advanced drills, strategies or small sided games.

The concept is straightforward and logical: as soon as a drill becomes easy, Michel ensures it’s made more challenging, so players need to think and adapt. He achieves this by incorporating the use of both feet, encouraging players to turn in different directions, and even introducing varied football sizes to enhance sensory perception.  It’s like a workout for your brain, disguised as a football drill.

“Sometimes players train barefoot to heighten their sensory awareness. Other times, they engage in simple math games while doing physical conditioning work.”

Bruyninckx also emphasizes teamwork over individualism, and discourages aggression—players don’t wear shin pads, and tackling is considered a last resort for regaining possession.

Recently, he was appointed Academy Director at Standard Liège, opting for this role over interest from Real Madrid to stay closer to his family.

To better understand Michel Bruyninckx’s innovative methods, I encourage you to watch this presentation by him:

A Meeting of Minds

Back in the summer of 2011, I had the privilege of visiting the Standard Liege Academy, where I engaged in a thought-provoking discussion with Michel about his philosophies, techniques, and concepts. One of the key aspects we explored was the comprehensive evaluation process that each player undergoes to assess their athletic performance.

Bruyninckx referenced a book detailing over 200 different evaluations, ranging from standing jumps to lung capacity measurements. While it’s impractical for every young athlete in the Total Soccer Schools system to undergo all these evaluations, implementing a core selection could provide significant benefits.

For instance, Michel shared a remarkable case of a predominantly right-footed player whose posture revealed a muscular imbalance. Through targeted training, this player became proficient with both feet, making it nearly impossible for observers to determine his dominant side. The implications are profound: a well-rounded skill set not only enhances adaptability on the pitch but also reduces the risk of injury by addressing physical compensations.

The Academy Experience

The facilities at the Standard Liege Academy were truly remarkable, providing on-campus schooling and accommodation for all players. It was heartwarming to see the respect the young athletes showed Michel, greeting him warmly as they passed. This reflects the positive culture fostered within the Academy, where players from prestigious clubs like Paris Saint-Germain and AC Milan had come to develop their skills under Bruyninckx’s guidance.

Since then, Michel’s experience has extended beyond Liege; he was instrumental in establishing the Aspire Academy in Doha, where he reshaped training programs to emphasize cognitive development alongside technical skills.

The CogiTraining Method

At the heart of Bruyninckx’s approach is his CogiTraining methodology, which integrates cognitive tasks into football drills. This method is rooted in the understanding that football is fundamentally a game of the brain. By incorporating mental and sensory challenges, players enhance their attention, memory, and reaction times—skills critical for success on the field.

Bruyninckx’s training fosters neuroplasticity, the brain’s ability to form new neural connections, thereby improving both mental and physical agility. His sessions often challenge players to multitask or solve problems while executing football drills, sharpening their decision-making skills under pressure.

Focus on Youth Development

Michel Bruyninckx’s influence is particularly noteworthy in youth development. He advocates for a training philosophy that prioritizes long-term cognitive growth over immediate results. This forward-thinking approach prepares young athletes for the demands of higher levels of play, ensuring they develop not just as players, but as intelligent decision-makers on the field.

Education and Holistic Development

Beyond football, Bruyninckx emphasizes the importance of education. He believes that cultivating cognitive skills both on and off the pitch is essential for holistic player development. This philosophy aligns with modern coaching trends that recognize the value of nurturing well-rounded athletes.

A Lasting Impact

Michel Bruyninckx’s methods are gaining recognition globally, influencing academies and clubs that seek to develop smarter, more aware players. His focus on brain training in sports performance is reshaping how coaches approach player development (hence this website), making him a significant figure in contemporary football coaching.

Reflecting on my visit to the Standard Liège Academy and my conversations with Michel, I left with my theories reinforced, while also feeling inspired and enlightened. His insights transformed my understanding of coaching, and I am deeply grateful for the opportunity to learn from one of football’s leading innovators.

As football continues to evolve, the integration of cognitive training and neuroscience will undoubtedly play a crucial role in shaping the next generation of players. Keep an eye on Bruyninckx’s work; he is undoubtedly a name to watch in the world of football development.