| Feature | No.43 January 2005 |
A Multidisciplinary Model of Talent Identification and Development in Football Thomas Reilly, United Kingdom |
Abstract Talent identification and its optimal development are important issues in contemporary professional football: the rewards of a successful process are large, the consequences of failure may be gloomy. Analyses of match demands provide a framework for setting out physical and physiological requirements for playing football at a high level. Such a template is only partially helpful in view of the multivariate demands, variation between playing position and style of play adopted. The major physical characteristics include aerobic and anaerobic capabilities, muscular strength and muscle endurance, agility and flexibility. Without a good sense of tactical know-how, these characteristics on their own become useless. Practice-based models of talent identification lack the precision and validity for use in scientific research programmes. Nevertheless a process incorporating detection, identification, selection, development and perfection can help structure a quasi-scientific approach. There are indications of a strong genetic component in performance of football but systematic training and development programmes can strongly influence the determination of talent. Elite young players may be distinguished from sub-elite on the basis of a comprehensive battery of test items. Nevertheless, such batteries may be more useful in talent discrimination than in talent identification. At high levels of performance such test items fail to separate the more successful players due to the homogenosity of playing abilities. A more holistic approach that employs subjective ratings of coaches can help complement quantitative analyses of player characteristics. 1. Introduction The focus in this review is on some developments in the U.K. The first formal attempt to promote talent in football was setting up the National School of Excellence in the 1980s. About a decade later the FA’s Charter for Youth was instrumental in setting up the Football Academies within the professional clubs. I should first distinguish between some of the terms used in promoting talent (Williams and Reilly, 2000). Detection refers to bringing newcomers into the sport from outside, identification refers to recognising current players with the potential to become elite. Development refers to guidance and development, and selection is the inclusion in a given squad for specialised training (see Figure 1). Figure 1. The identification-development process. These notions suppose that we have markers of talent characteristics. These might be:- Morphological – such as size and physique Physiological – anaerobic and aerobic Motor – co-ordination and skills Psychological – attitude and motivation. These characteristics on their own are not enough since the development of games skills demands a major commitment. Academy recruits in U.K. at 16 will already have 10 years’ football experience (see Table 1). Table 1. Football Academy recruits in England at age 16. Source: Ward, Hodges, Williams & Starkes, 2003 Started playing at 6 Average 10 h/week for 10 years 700 hours per year 7000 hours in total 10,000 hours before 1st team debut So how can a scouting mind-set be established? One approach is that used by Ajax Amsterdam typified by the acronym TIPS – technique, intelligence, personality and speed. 2. Scientific approach A more objective approach is to measure individual characteristics – using physical, physiological, and field or performance tests. The degree to which these are determined by genetics is quantified in a heritability coefficient – highest for height and leg length but lower for co-ordination tasks (Figure 2).
Physical Characteristics | %
Height | 85 ± 7
Leg length | 80 ± 10
Height/Weight | 53 ± 19
Skinfolds | 55 ± 26
Ectomorphy | 35-50
Mesomorphy | 42
Endomorphy | 50
Physiological Factors |
VO2 max | 30-93
Muscle fibre type 55-92 | 55-92
Anaerobic power | 44-97
Muscle endurance | 22-80
Field and Performance Tests |
Sprinting | 45-92
Jumping | 33-86
Flexibility | 66-91
Balance 24-86 | 24-86
Figure 2. Heritability for various characteristics expressed as percent values. Coaches would often wish to know basic information like how tall is this young player going to become. Adult stature can be predicted from current and mean parental stature but there is still an error in the calculation. There are also issues around the maturation of the player and relative age. In the FA’s School of Excellence, the majority of those selected were born at the start of the competitive year. Similarly in Sweden (Brewer et al., 1995), there is the same trend that those with a relative age advantage benefited by being selected (Figure 3). FA School of Excellence birth dates Swedish male Under-17 squad birth dates Figure 3. There is a bias towards selecting players early in the competitive year in U.K. (top) and in Sweden (bottom). In our game analysis, we examined the data available for the players aged 14-16 in the National School of Excellence. The data were patchy in that we had aerobic power as well as anthropometry for most participants but not anaerobic power data. None of the measures could discriminate between those who became successful professionals and those who did not. More success was attained in discriminating Academy players from sub-elite (Table 2). On this comparison, the elite players were superior in all running tasks, speed endurance, power and agility. 3. An ergonomics model Within this multivariate battery skills tests can be incorporated. These include: a. wall-volley test; b. shooting test (with each foot); c. slalom dribble; d. straight dribble. When we use these items, the best discriminator is a slalom dribble test. In contrast, shooting was not significantly different between groups (Reilly et al., 2000). So how does the development process fit into an ergonomics model? At all stages, individuals must have the fitness and readiness to meet the demands of the game (see Stratton et al., 2004). Fitness profiles in turn have implications for selection and for training. The appropriate training load alters at different ages. A scheme for emphasising load features was proposed by Kohno et al. in the Third World Conference on Science and Football. At 12-13 years of age, the emphasis is on technique, later emphasis can be switched to muscle power and then endurance (Table 3). Table 3. Age for discrete training emphasis.
Age | Emphasis
12-13 | Technique(avoiding overloading joints)
14+ | Muscle power(with appropriate loads)
16 | Endurance training
4. The football world At Liverpool there are two players in each of the clubs who have come through the Academies: Michael Owen at Liverpool and Wayne Rooney at Everton. Whilst their successes highlight the roles of an Academy, the majority of young players do not make it to a successful professional careers. What we have done is to derive performance curves for different measures and refer them to age. The Academy players can then be compared against this database. One of the questions for young players posed by the FA was the importance of mini-games or small-sided games. The growth of small-team games within a 3-year time-span is impressive. The question was whether 3 vs 3 was better or worse than 5 vs 5. From a work-rate viewpoint, the 3 vs 3 had less low-intensity exercise and more high-intensity exercise than 5-a-side. This difference was reflected also in the different movement categories – less walking and jogging, more cruising and sprinting (Platt et al., 2001). The higher the heart rate, the greater the training stimulus. In 3 vs 3, heart rate was higher all through the session compared to 5 vs 5. Not only was the training stimulus higher, but also there was more engagement with the ball in 3 vs 3, reflected in more tackles, shots and passes, with increased opportunity therefore for improving game skills. At a later age we were concerned with endurance training and to what extent concentrating on exercise with the ball could match traditional interval training. Here the work was with Academy players from Bolton F.C. The 40-minute session was conducted 2 times/week for six weeks. The heart rate response during game play matched that of classical interval training with active recovery (Reilly and White, 2005). So why did a talent like Wayne Rooney join Everton? Even sport science staff recognised he was a special talent. His Academy Director has indicated a host of local factors (Hall, 2003):- born near the ground, parental influences, a club fan, and so on. There were social and psychological factors that linked him with the local club which he loved. These, together with so-called significant others, are very powerful influences in the choices made by young boys. 5. Overview There is no parsimonious formula for talent identification. Sports science has a role in contributing towards talent development, alongside input from experts in practice. Coaching expertise is paramount in harnessing endowed characteristics and realising potential. Even so the gifted individual is subject to a host of influences that determine progress. Besides, there are requirements to tolerate high training loads, sustained practice and remain injury free. Circumstances may dictate the quality of coaching available, the selection onto representative teams and eventually judgements about professional contracts. References Brewer, J., Balsom, P. and Davis, J. (1995). Seasonal birth distribution amongst European soccer players. Sports Exerc. Injury, 1, 154-157. Hall, R. (2003). Things will never be the same. Insight: the FA Coaches Ass. J., 6(2), 53-55. Platt, D., Maxwell, A., Horn, R., Williams, M. and Reilly, T. (2001). Physiological and technical analysis of 3 v 3 and 5 v 5 youth football matches. Insight: the FA Coaches Ass. J., 4(4), 23-24. Reilly, T. and White, C. (2005). Small-sided games as an alternative to interval training for soccer players. In: Science and Football V (edited by T. Reilly, J. Cabri and D. Araújo) pp. 344-347. London: Routledge. Reilly, T., Williams, A.M., Nevill, A. and Franks, A. (2000). A multidisciplinary approach to talent identification in soccer. J. Sports Sci., 18, 697-702. Stratton, G., Reilly, T., Williams, A.M. and Richardson, D. (2004). Youth Soccer: From Science to Performance. London: Routledge. Williams, A.M. and Reilly, T. (2000). Talent identification and development in soccer. J. Sports Sci., 18, 657-667.Thomas Reilly Research Institute for Sport and Exercise Sciences Liverpool John Moores University Henry Cotton Campus 15-21 Webster Street Liverpool, L3 2ET United Kingdom http://www.icsspe.org/portal/bulletin-january2005.htm A Multidisciplinary Model of Talent Identification and Development in Football Thomas Reilly, United Kingdom