I can remember crying, hiding behind the sofa in July 1990. England had just lost on penalties in the football World Cup semi-final to West Germany. My new hero, England’s Paul Gascoigne was crying too. Although one of the most talented footballers of his generation, he would be running laps of football pitches in training, drinking lots of alcohol in between matches and eating a fry up on match day. This isn’t conjecture – he says as much in his autobiography.
Around the same time, I can remember being sat in a row in a classroom at school listening to a teacher talk for an hour. I don’t remember the subject, but it wouldn’t have mattered. They were almost exclusively taught in this way. Except for physical education – always the favourite.
It’s important to say that it’s far from true that the old ways of doing things are bad. Running increases stamina and improves cardiovascular health. A teacher-led class imparts knowledge to large groups and allows for Q&A. However, running laps and teacher-led classrooms should form only part of the approaches to football training and learning respectively. There have been developments in both since 1990.
Firstly, in both cases we know that individuals are not all the same. What works for one person might not work for another. In football, technology, nutrition, analysis of data and statistics and a better understanding of mental health and wellbeing are some examples of advances.
We learn better too. Podcasts, audio books, virtual reality and gamification are just a few examples of methods of developing skills and behaviour in the digital age. However, what will always remain a key part of learning is doing the thing you’re trying to improve upon. If you want to have more effective conversations, practice those conversations in role play and forum theatre training. If you want to understand how a business runs, participate in business simulation training. Learning by doing will always be essential.
Football and learning both need to combine some of the old with some of the new. Through learning by doing, in conjunction with the latest technologies, thought leadership and research we will continue to make advances.
Cristiano Ronaldo still does lots of running in football training and he has practiced shooting thousands of times. Drinking alcohol in the downtime and eating a fry up on match day are not part of his regime. Many argue that Lionel Messi is the greatest football of all time. The fact that Ronaldo is mentioned in a similar breath is undoubtedly largely down to his modern approach. Had Paul Gascoigne had such an approach to his career, maybe his name could be in this conversation of the world’s greatest and maybe I’d have appeared happier from behind the sofa.
