Small-Sided Games in Football: From theory to practice: develop a game model using an ecological approach

This is not a full original book. It is a collection of ideas from many authors and coaches. We are lucky enough to live in a world of progression and innovation, and more than that, of sharing. And that was the idea: to collect previous research in the area of Small-Sided Games and condense it all together in the same manuscript, to allow a better understanding of the process of using this representative task in the coaching environment. In particular, it aims to understand how Small-Sided Games can be used on a daily basis as part of the football periodisation process and how to build a game model based on this specific task. If Small-Sided Games are part of your daily routine, you will hopefully find useful information in this book to understand the theoretical components behind their use, but most importantly, how to apply them and transform theory into practical activities.I’ve always thought the training process in an ecological approach, so it is of utmost importance to bring the match demands to our training session. The training process can be divided, but not disintegrated. And that is why SSGs can be a powerful tool used by coaches to improve team and players’ performance. Leonardo JardimSSGs are players’ favourite part of the session. They enjoy playing football, in a small area, the competition, the realism of winning and losing. They love competing and it fuels them to achieve even more. James CollinsWhen I was playing, I used to be happy the day before the SSGs session, waking up ready and looking forward to starting to train. Gus PoyetSSGs give players a chance to go back to the basics of football, why they first wanted to be a football player. And it feels like street football, where players are exploring and enjoying themselves. Robbie Nielson Read more