I am a huge fan of German football. Watching as many games as I could get my hands on when Wynton Rufer was playing in the league gave me a real appreciation of the Germany way of playing and their attitude to the game. Even how they organise the clubs in Germany, in my opinion, shows the rest of the world how to run a competition. You don’t hear of many German clubs becoming insolvent, and when they do, they just get on with employing younger, cheaper german players and start to move their way back up the league tables.

My playing model is unabashedly similar to the Bayern Munich side of Jupp Heynckes (2011-2013). I believe that that model is a model that will clearly resonate with the players in New Zealand. Whilst Barcelona is a team and Spain a country that so many wish to follow in their methodology and thinking I am not so sure that is right for players coming through the system in New Zealand.

Spain is a country is warm and hot, there is a sense of adventure and freedom, emotional, unpredictable and spontaneous.  I have used sweeping generalisations here but would we call kiwis, unpredictable, spontaneous, open to new experiences, garrulous and prepared to accept a stranger into our lives with a kiss on either cheek?

In a football sense the Spanish would rather see their teams play “beautiful football” than care about winning. As written in many places Barcelona don’t put any emphasis on winning until the players are playing in their first team. They are allowed to develop in a culture of creativity and learning. There is also an enormous amount of “A” licence coaches in Spain than many other countries with the same population levels.

England has many other issues and in the past it is the country that we have mostly aligned with. I have always believed that we as a nation should base a lot of our philosophies on the German style. German people have many of the same characteristics that a lot of New Zealanders have and the learning styles and structures suit the culture that is within New Zealand.

Part of what this blog will do is allow me to upload my training sessions that align to the playing model I use to develop players for anyone to view and comment. Its going to be an interesting journey as we move through the year.