Concept developed in the section "Need for the existence of the Fundamentals of Collective Game".

FACTORS THAT PREVENT THE MAKING OF CORRECT DECISIONS (causing most of the mistakes that are made in the Associative Game).

We note that football continues to undergo a process in which the game's own interactions are increasingly affected by the growing presence of several momentous factors:

  • The level of pressure to which the adversary subjects us.
  • Lack of spaces in certain game situations.
  • The short time the player has to make the best decision (among all possible options) in a coordinated manner with the rest of the teammates.
  • The stress of the competition, often increased by the importance of an outcome, by responsibility, etc.
  • Highly complex game situations due to the direct participation of multiple variables (ball, teammates, opponents, etc.) that modify their incidence extremely quickly (sudden and continuous alteration of the space/time/opportunity factors of the game situation).
  • This causes a correct decision to stop in a short space of time (2-3 seconds).
  • Incorrect play habits acquired during training through reduced effective situations in which in the space of a demarcation (in which we should only have one player) evolve between 6 and 8 players (between attackers and defenders).
  • Existence of multiple possible answers in each game situation.

All this prevents our player, however talented he has, from being able to decide correctly, in a regular and coordinated manner with the rest of his teammates, which are the most appropriate options.*

This is the reason that in a high-level match, of the approximately 100 competition units that manifest themselves during the 90 minutes, only the expected objective (finish) is achieved by 10% at most.

Currently, efforts are made to reduce decision-making errors in the following ways.

  1. Through training based on reduced effective situations.
    • We will see that these not only do not solve the problem, but significantly aggravate it
  2. Through automation-based workouts.
    • They are also not effective since, in addition to nullify talent:
      1. They hardly "come out" during the competition.
      2. They're predictable by the opponent.
  3. Entrust to the individual talent of the players.
    • Even if great players are available, the extreme complexity of 11:11 means that a high number of ball losses caused by wrong decisions (70-80) continue to manifest.

Given this impossibility, we must find new learning proposals that allow:

  • Respect the aspects that characterize the specificity of football. For this reason we must rely on training in the use of real game situations. 
  • Avoid the extreme complexity that appears when that specificity is respected.

To do this, the only solution is to reduce the number of elements to be analyzed, which will allow us to reduce the name of possible decisions to be made with their consequent actions to be taken.

To achieve this, we start from the idea that, for each game situation, there are slogans that allow us to solve it. Therefore, we must have a closed list of game situations. 

To have this list we had to:

  • Consider the many possible combinations of factors that make up a game situation:
    1. Space.
    2. Demarcation.
    3. Time.
    4. Concept of opportunity.
    5. Presence of companions and adversaries.
    6. Location and origin of the ball.
    7. Offensive and defensive proposals submitted by the opponent.
  • Determine the specific aspects that manifest themselves in each game situation (recognize the game situation).
  • Concrete actions (slogans) that allow us to solve each game situation.
  • Check that, once these slogans are resolved, the development of a high level of play in any competition situation is ensured.