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English Premier League, Spaińs La Liga and Italýs Seriés A – What's Different?

Article  in  International Journal of Performance Analysis in Sport · December 2013

DOI: 10.1080/24748668.2013.11868688

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 International Journal of Performance Analysis in Sport
2013, 13, 773-789.

English Premier League, Spain´s La Liga and Italy´s

Serie´s A – What´s Different?

Hugo Sarmento1,2, Antonino Pereira2, Nuno Matos3, Jorge Campaniço4, Maria T.

Anguera5 and José Leitão4

1
High Institute of Maia (Portugal)
2
Polytechnic Institute of Viseu (Portugal)
3
University of Coimbra, Centro de Estudos Biocinéticos
4
University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro (Portugal)
5
University of Barcelona (Spain)

Abstract

Our study aimed to understand which aspects are most important by

coaches in the characterization of the three best European Football
Leagues (English Premier League, Spain´s La Liga and Italy´s Serie´s
A). The sample included 8 expert high-performance Portuguese First
League football coaches. Semi-structured interviews were carried out
and data were analysed through Content Analysis.
The interviewed coaches believe that what distinguished the style of play
in the different leagues is due essentially to: cultural factors; strategic-
tactical factors; and, specific players’ skills. They considered that: the
English league is characterized by a direct style of play; the Italian
league continues to be characterized by the defensive tactical rigor; and,
the Spanish league favors the aesthetic side of the game and having
greater control over throughout the game.
Our coaches felt that what mostly differentiates these teams is culturally-
influenced whereby distinct ways of playing have been created through
history. In addition, they also referred to strategic and tactical aspects,
players’ characteristics and the coach's philosophy.
Appreciating the cultural aspects that contribute to the creation of
distinct playing styles may be useful for coaches who work in new
clubs/cultures and want their players to adapt to his methods and
improve performance.

Key words: Football, Coaching, Playing style

773
1. Introduction

Three of the best football leagues in the world include the English Premier League,
Italy’s Serie A, and Spain’s La Liga. These three leagues have dominated both the most
prestigious individual FIFA Ballon d’Or, World Football Player of the Year Award and
the esteemed team trophy of the UEFA Champions League (Obserstone, 2011).

Although football is considered a universal language, there are particularities that

characterize the way it is practiced in several countries, which is the result of a set of
historical, social and cultural aspects specific to each nation (Brown, 2008; Castelo,
2009; Hamil, Walters, & Watson, 2010; Nogueira, 2011; Wharton, 2007). Overall, the
style of English football is known as “Kick and Rush” (Crolley, Hand, & Jeutter, 2000),
the Italian as “Catenaccio” (Foot, 2007), and the Spanish as “Fúria Española” (Goig,
2007), depending on the form they choose to perform a game characterized by ball
possession or by direct play to get to the opposing goal, but also due to the impetuosity
that players put in the game itself, together with their natural ability to relate with the
ball.

The literature in the field of sociology and anthropology (Atherton, Turner, & Russell,
2001; Brown, 2008; Goig, 2007; Guschwan, 2007; Győri Szabó, 2011; Hamil, et al.,
2010; Hargrave, 2007; McFarland, 2007; Nogueira, 2011; Rodríguez-Díaz, 2007; Stone,
2007) provides important insight into the aspects described above. Unfortunately, there
is a lack of research comparing the different professional football leagues used in this
study (La Liga, Premiership, and Il Calcio). The available studies that investigated the
different leagues have essentially focused on: i) anthropometric data (Bloomfield,
Polman, Butterfly, & O`Donoghue, 2005); ii) technical aspects (Dellal et al., 2011;
Obserstone, 2011); and iii) motor activity data (Dellal et al., 2011).

Although there is a vast literature (Carling, Reilly, & Williams, 2009; Carling, Williams &
Reilly, 2005; Hughes, 2008) devoted to match analysis, to the best of our knowledge no
studies have focused on the coach’s view on match analysis. Since coaches play a
crucial role in the game, it seems pertinent focus on studies where coaches can actively
participate, contributing with their knowledge and experience for a deeper
understanding of the performance of players and teams.

It is known that in the academic context, Sports Sciences has, for many years and still
today, mostly developed their research within the positivist paradigm (Munroe-
Chandler, 2005). Positivism, focus on external and measurable world events and
therefore states that science can only understand what is observable and measurable by
the five senses. The latter also means that anything that is subjective, since it cannot be
seen or measured is not real. For instance when trying to understand the sports
phenomenon, the "life" of athletes or coaches, their thoughts, perspectives, views and
emotions assume a significant importance and therefore, the assumption of an objective
interpretation of reality becomes difficult and incomplete. As a result, qualitative
research has been gaining interest and has progressively been more used in Sport
Sciences in the pursuit of a greater understanding of interiors, i.e. subjective and inter-
subjective phenomenon (Dale, 1996; Munroe-Chandler, 2005).

774
O´Donoghue (2010) presents in a detailed way the main strengths for the use of this
type of data in the context of sport performance. The author notes that performance
analysis methods can identify some particularities in a specific context but, in others,
they cannot explain them. Therefore, the use of interviews with coaches and/or athletes
can be valuable to explain certain aspects of performance. Specifically in football, some
authors have recognized the importance of these type of methodologies and developed
their research using interviews to: i) investigate what professional coaches observe in
the game and how they evaluate and intervene based on their observations (Sarmento,
Pereira, Campaniço, Anguera & Leitão, 2013); ii) investigate the role of performance
analysis in the coaching process of a professional soccer club and the perspectives of
both professional players and coaches in relation to its use (Mackenzie & Cushion,
2013); iii) expose the views of professional coaches regarding the detected patterns of
play in the teams of Manchester United, Inter Milan and F.C. Barcelona (Sarmento,
2012).

However, Bishop (2008) considers that the transfer of research results in sports science
to practice remains poor, with researchers being criticized for failing to study problems
relevant to practitioners. This statement is most likely due to the partiality posture
assumed by science, which leaves an important part of reality (i.e., interiors) mostly
unacknowledged, making the transfer of theory to practice harder to apply. As such, it
was our aim to develop this work using coaches who work as professionals in this area.
We chose to listen to the opinion of elite football coaches in order to bridge the
aforementioned limitation.

We also wanted to understand which aspects in the characterization of playing styles of

the different soccer leagues are the most important for coaches. The English, Italian and
Spanish Leagues have been chosen for this study because they are considered by the
International Federation of Football History and Statistics (IFFHS), the three strongest
European Leagues of the 1st Decade of the 21st Century. In order to allow coaches to
consider the wider context of the leagues they play in, the analysis focused also on the
three teams - Barcelona, Inter Milan and Manchester United - that won their respective
leagues in the season prior to the data collection.

2. Methods

2.1. Participants
We chose 8 expert high-performance Portuguese first league football coaches (Coach 1
to Coach 8) with a professional experience (as first coach) ranging from 2 to 30 years
(14.9 ± 8.6 years). All coaches, who were initially selected to participate in the study
and who accepted the invitation, were coaching professionally at the time the interviews
were taken, and had worked at some point in their careers as Head coaches in the
Portuguese League.

Because of the in-depth character of each interview, the interpretational nature of the
analysis, and the number of the teams in the first league (n=16), 8 coaches were
considered representative and met the objectives of the study, as well as the criteria of

775
expert selection (previous experience as Head coach in the first Portuguese League;
UEFA Pro licensed coach).

2.2. Instruments
We used semi-structured interviews to collect the data (Bardin, 2008; Flick, 2005); the
advantages of using this type of interview are diverse when compared to other methods
of data collection (Flick, 2005; Quivy & Campenhoudt, 2005). The interview guide was
designed to identify the most relevant issues for the coach so that a further in-depth
exploration could be done.

The certification of the content validity of the interview was done according to common
qualitative research methods (Strauss & Corbin, 1990). More specifically, it was
attained after preparation and discussion of previous drafts of the transcript, based on
the following steps: i) preparation of first draft of the transcript based on the specific
aims of the study and available literature (Castelo, 2009; Carling et al., 2005; Knudsson
& Morrison, 2002); ii) evaluation of the interview transcripts by three senior researchers
in sports pedagogy, who have substantial experience with qualitative methods; iii)
discussion of findings based on the presented suggestions by each; iv) a pilot study done
with a Portuguese first league coach; v) minor adaptations to the transcripts resulting
from the reflections of the pilot study: vi) resubmission of the updated version of the
transcripts to the experts; this, ultimately resulted in the final version of the interview
guide.

2.3. Data Collection

All the interviews were done by the first author, between December 2011 and February
2012, in a relaxed setting (normally in the office) at the football academies where the
different coaches work. The interview began by stating the general information about
the purpose of the project. Next, the interviewer focused on background and
demographic information. And finally, a more in-depth exploration of the topic
followed. None of the interviews were rushed, and the coaches had time to clarify and
reformulate their thinking. Each interview took between 1 and 2½ hours and was
transcribed verbatim (223/59 pages).

2.4. Data analysis

The objective of the analysis was to build a system of categories that emerged from the
unstructured data and that represented the organization and utilization of expert high-
performance football coaches' view of the topic.

Data analysis was performed using content analysis (Bardin, 2008), and through
combining inductive and deductive approaches, the text units were coded and text units
with comparable meanings were organized into specific categories. Three researchers
conducted the analysis independently to ensure that the resulting classification system
was suitable and best fitted the data. The software QSR NVivo 9 was used in coding the
transcripts of the interviews.

The initial data analysis revealed 10 categories of data related to the different leagues
and 8 categories of data concerning the different teams; for each situation these
categories were grouped in 4 final categories.

776
3. Results

3.1. In relation to the different leagues

Given that our purpose of study is not common in studies in this area, we sought to
explore the understanding coaches have regarding the differences (i.e. technical and
physical capacities of players, type of sport leaders, type of coaches, fans, referees, etc.)
that characterize the playing style of the three leagues.

The results (figure 1) allowed the inference of an interesting and surprising fact, i.e. that
coaches take cultural factors as more important when compared with strategic-tactical
factors. In addition, they referred the specific characteristics of the players (physical and
technical) and less often, the characteristics of the referees.

Main factors contributing to the playing style of each

football league

Cultural Factors (n=45)

Strategic-Tactical Factors (n=40)

Characteristics of players (n=24)

Characteristics of referees (n=14)

Figure 1. Representation of the aspects that most contribute to each of the football
leagues’ playing style.

Cultural factors are the most often referred to by coaches as a source for the differences
that characterize theFigura 4.5 – Representação
professional gráficaThese
football leagues. das categorias
cultural issues are of various
relativas aos aspetos diferenciadores das
kinds, in particular issues related to politics, economy, fans, Ligas
culture of sports leaders
and historical aspects of the different nations.

As stated previously, there several have focused on the analysis of the aspects described
above (Brown, 2008; Goig, 2007; Guschwan, 2007; Győri Szabó, 2011; Hamil et al.,
2010; Hargrave, 2007; McFarland, 2007; Nogueira, 2011; Rodríguez-Díaz, 2007; Stone,
2007; Wharton, 2007), with little research on the influence that these variables have on
the playing style of each of these championships (Milby, 2006). Castelo (2009)
considers that one of the factors underlying any organization (of a football team) is that
its activity cannot develop and improve unless it is made up of a set of values and goals
that are shared by its members.

777
Larson (2001), alluding to the operating model that differentiates the developmental
levels existing in playing style proposed elsewhere (Olsen et al., 1998), states that there
are many socio-cultural factors that may influence the strategy or philosophy of a
team’s playing style, such as tradition, culture, social class, identity, or history. Our data
supports the literature since to our coaches the aspects related to culture, history, and
tradition of the people and the club itself determines, to some extent, the playing style of
the different teams.

"... Because it's historic, it’s the matrix of their game ... (...) we cannot dissociate
the social issues from the cultural ones, or even the weather. (...) The Anglo
Saxon countries are generally much more organized, much more structured,
they plan according to longer deadlines, and this is also apparent in the
organization of football teams, clubs, and administrations, obviously. (...) We
are from Latin origin, we’re more emotional, much warmer but also much less
rational. Here you have, once again a cultural matrix of reasons, and the
weather which in itself influences people's way of being and their mental state."
(Coach 1)

“English people’s conservative nature mixed with a country that is socially

much more stable compared to other countries (...) But I think the genesis is
their education and training, and their conservative mode, which provides much
more support compared to what happens with the Spanish, for example. (...) It’s
something that’s part of English culture, forward, forward is the way…" (Coach
2)

One of the factors that coaches most often refer regarding the influence on the team’s
playing style relates to the type of public. Although several studies have focused on the
behavior of football fans, in particular in Spanish (Ball, 2003; Wharton, 2007), English
(Brown, 2008; Nash, 2001) and Italian (Foot, 2007; Guschwan, 2007) leagues, they
focused their analysis on organized cheerleading, its relations with the political system,
and violence. However, understanding the influence that fans have on a team’s playing
style failed to be studied, whilst being a factor that contributes to the view that our
interviewees hold.

"... We work for the fans, if our fans want intensity and virility we'll give them
this. If our fans aren’t bothered with how we win, only the result, we play for the
result, which is to win regardless of how we play." (Coach 3)
"The fans constrain and directly influence the team’s playing style. At the end,
they can have a strong influence in the coaches’ work…“(Coach 4)

We found previously that the specific features of supporters exert a direct influence on
the playing style of the different professional football leagues. Fans from different
countries, with different stories, cultures and traditions have specific dynamics that
influence how they perceive and experience football that.

Our coaches considered, unanimously, that the English fans are those who live in a
more pronounced way the "game by the game", unlike the Spanish and Italians, who
decide how to support their team depending on the final score, also showing more

778
aggressive behaviors. This is consistent with the literature (Guschwan, 2007), which
considers that the Italian fans have won recognition for their passion for the sport, but
also for their violent behavior, demonstrated contrasting attitudes that can go from love
to violence and in a sense make them “actors” in the game.

"It is clear that the English fans are characterized by a culture of support, even
when the team is losing, they never stop shouting, they always help (...) I've been
to a few Italian matches, and I felt that the Italian fans are worse than the
Spanish, I suppose; more demanding... " (Coach 2)

“I think that the fans can affect a team’s playing style. Such strong support as
seen by the English fans, and the support or lack of it that systematically is seen
in Spain or Italy, that positive and negative commitment that quickly turns as a
result of the different phases of the game is characteristic of teams from Latin
origin.” (Coach 5)

Another particularity mentioned by the coaches as being influential on the teams

playing style, is the culture and views of the club directors. As fans (since they also are
fans), the directors are influenced by a set of experiences arising through the history and
culture of their countries that often leads them to behave in manners that also have
political motivations underneath. Depending on the country, leaders can use clubs as a
form of social climbing, but also as a means for political socialization, since the fans of
these clubs eventually share the same ideas and beliefs (Wharton, 2007). Our
respondents believe that the cultural views of club directors and leaders can even
influence how they manage their teams.

"The English clubs keep their presidents for 40 years, or 50 years (...) The
culture of directors directly shapes the way teams play because the players know
that the coach is not going to leave; will be kept. The players that are less
comfortable with their position as substitutes already know who the coach is and
that its with that coach that they have to work, and therefore they won’t be
waiting for another coach to come that may potentially give them better chances
to play. As such, the stability with which coaches work in the Premiership is
highly contrasting, even though, more recently this stability is also emerging in
Spain. " (Coach 5)

Moreover, the coaches stated that the differences observed in the different leagues also
stem from particular strategic and tactical aspects. In this context, all coaches are
unanimous in recognizing that the football played in Italy is characterized especially by
its strong tactical component and defensive rigor. Foot (2007) states that the Italian
teams have been “accused” since the 50s of being extremely defensive. One of the
coaches however, believes this to not to be true because in reality what one finds is that
Italian teams are simply much better in defending than the other European teams.

“Italian football is very tactical. When they lose the ball, the first objective is to
create a block, usually in a low intermediate positioning, to close spaces at the
entrance of your area. It’s a much colder football, more mathematical and much
less romantic. Sometimes not so enjoyable to watch.” (Coach 1)

779
 "Both the Italian national team and other Italian teams have won extremely
important trophies playing essentially with a consistent defensive organization
and performing counterattacks (...) Tactically they are extremely rigid and fulfill
the defensive and offensive tasks with a very high degree of accuracy, and this
aspect comes out in their game ... " (Coach 6)

In regard to English football, the coaches considered that it is still characterized by its
"pure" side, in which the strategic aspects do not assume the same importance as in
other championships, although this was not an unanimous position for all our
respondents.

“... English football still has a lot of purity in the game; it’s a game in which the
cynicism, the tactical aspects and especially the strategic aspects are not as
important... In essence, the strategy doesn’t exist in the English game. It’s their
pure way of playing.” (Coach 4)

“…They play for the pleasure of playing, the pleasure of attacking, but there is
no balance in their game [England], there is less control of the game. I can’t tell
if many English teams that could only rely on their physical capacity, would do
well in a championship here in Portugal. These teams from mid-table down… I
don´t know if they would survive playing in our league that way.” (Coach 7)

In contrast, they consider that the football played in Spain has features that have it be
placed between the characteristics of English and Italian football. Although not so tactic
as the Italian, and not so "pure" as the English, it has a little of both, resulting in a better
interpretation of the game’s moments and great technical quality of the players.

"Spanish football is in between the Italian and English football. It is not so open
and pure as the English, it’s more constructed, more elaborate (...) Spanish
football has more plasticity in the moments of the game, the teams are able to
interpret more moments of the game, as a function of the game and of the
context, when compared with the desire to always play well. .” (Coach 4)

"Spanish football is a bit of both (English and Spanish), it’s organized tactically,
and known by its great quality..." (Coach 2)

In line with what has been referred elsewhere (Ball, 2003; Crolley et al., 2000; Foot,
2007; Goig, 2007; Milby, 2006; Wharton, 2007), the coaches also described some
specific characteristics in playing style in each of these championships. English football
for instance is characterized, even today, by a direct game "Kick and Rush", and for its
physical aspect. Spanish football however, stands for its technical beauty, and the Italian
game continues to be dominated by a rigorous defensive tactics and for the offensive
transitions to the counter-attack, the so known "Catenaccio".

“A large part of the teams [English] still play a direct football [Kick and Rush],
because it's historic. The matrix of their game is done by skipping stages in the
construction of the offensive phase to eventually reach a quicker goal. (...)The
Italian football is much colder, more analytical, much less romantic. Also,

780
 sometimes less enjoyable to watch. (...) In Spain, because they play a football
where the ball is constantly circulating, who runs more is the ball, not so much
the players. But that does not mean that there is no intensity in the game; simply,
they prioritize the beauty side of the game, its aesthetic side. " (Coach 1)

“The few times I faced English teams [medium quality teams] the moment we
removed the ball from their possession they felt immense difficulties, whenever
we would give them the ability to have the ball and come with that "long ball
game", we felt enormous difficulties (...) The first thing that comes to my mind in
terms of Italian football is the "Catenaccio"; their defensive organization and
how cold they are in the counter attack - this is Italian football.” (Coach 7)

All coaches recognized that the playing style present in each of these countries,
especially in Spain and England, has been suffering changes over the years. The latter
stems not only due to the organizational structures currently in place for the acquisition
of foreign players, but also to the proliferation of the media and technology, which now
enables live transmission of games in different countries. The latter aspect leads fans to
be more involved in their team’s football, consequently making them more demanding
with their team and players.

Goig (2007) states that Spanish football and especially its national team - dubbed "furia
española" as a result of certain values such as impetuosity and virility - had its origin
mainly through the way Athletic Bilbao playing style evolved; they focused more on
playing well and in the high levels of skill and talented players (Crolley et al., 2000).

“In Spain football has changed over time. I remember when I started watching
football by the time of the 1982 World Cup everyone spoke about the “la furia
española”. Nowadays no one remembers the Spanish fury but they remember the
quality that the Spanish teams present and how they play." (Coach 7)

Some authors consider that English football remains unchanged and anchored to its
past, while other European countries have evolved (Crolley et al., 2000). The opinion of
the coaches interviewed is in line with the literature (Kuper & Szymanski, 2010), in that
it has evolved, not only by introducing a considerable amount of foreign players, but
also by the acquisition of several coaches with different playing philosophies.

“The English football has gone through some remodeling. With the introduction
of new coaches and players from other cultures, this has contributed to
improving the quality of the game. It’s a game that is not very artistic, but it’s
very competitive; however, there’s no great wealth from a tactical standpoint.”
(Coach 8)

“In English football, I would say that the high quality or great improvement that
happened has to do with its tactical organization. The teams have become more
organized.” (Coach 2)

781
Our coaches considered the Italian football to have suffered the least evolution,
continuing to be strongly characterized by its tactical side with a special emphasis on its
defensive aspect, making less attractive for the fans.

As referred by Foot (2007), the Italian word - "catenaccio" - used to describe its
championship, represents everything bad about football: defensive play, aggressive
fouls and cynicism.

“I think that the Italian football is too attached to the defensive-tactical aspects,
and lost its show. I have no strong motivation to watch an Italian game, because
I don´t like the way the teams play. I think that concept of game has not worked
out. Rarely does an Italian team reach the finals of a European competition, and
therefore I think they are a bit influenced by this; they focus too much on the
tactical-defensive aspects.” (Coach 8)

“I do not really like the Italian football, although its strategic-tactic

organization is strong enough.” (Coach 5)

The players characteristics was also mentioned as a distinguishing feature of the three
professional football leagues under study. Coaches in general highlighted the
importance of the physical dimension of the players who play in England, the technical
dimension of those who compete in Spain, and the tactical dimension of the players that
compete in Italy.

“If we were to use a taxonomy based on a physical, technical, tactical and

strategic dimension, there is no doubt that nine out of ten individuals would say
that the physical dimension in English football is their greatest feature, whilst in
Spanish football it would be their technical dimension, and in Italian football it
would be their strategic-tactical dimension” (Coach 5)

The players’ characteristics in the various leagues are restricted to the playing style of
their own championships. However, the interviewees considered that the introduction of
foreign players and coaches in these championships led to a change not only in the
teams’ playing style, but also in the definition of the typical characteristics of players;
the latter being one of the aspects in which the literature has devoted attention to (Goig,
2007; Kuper & Szymanski, 2010; Larson, 2001; Milby, 2006).

“… in Italian football, there are also fantastic players in what comes to skill-
level. However, the way these teams play makes players much more "tied-up",
much more constrained, while in Spain and England they are much more
"loose". As such, the same players in Spain and England tend to perform better
when compared to previous performances in the Italian Championship.” (Coach
6)

782
3.2. In relation to the different teams (Barcelona, Manchester United,
Internazionnale Milano)
When analyzing the specific characteristics of the three teams, the coaches mainly
referred to aspects related to a playing/identity culture of each team that is influenced by
their history, their tradition and a set of values underlying the different clubs (Figure 2).

Main factors contributing to the playing style of each

team

Game Culture/identity (n=18)

Strategic-Tactical Factors (n=17)

Players characteristics (n=14)

Coach Philosophy (n=14)

Figure 2. Graphical representation of the aspects that contribute to the characteristic of

each team’s playing style.

The factors that contribute to the development of such an identity are diverse: different
political ideologies, specific cultural characteristics like the group of players and
coaches who have been in those clubs throughout history (Ball, 2003; Brown, 2008;
Foot, 2007; Goig, 2007; Győri Szabó, 2011; Hamil et al., 2010; Larson, 2001; Milby,
2006; Nogueira, 2011; Wharton, 2007).

“Barcelona has a history and a culture behind that is very difficult to shake and
it becomes a critical success factor. The Barcelona of today has a little of
Barcelona team of Dinus Michell and Cruyff; this is undeniable. And the club
now has established such a solid structure that makes up the teams of those
times.” (Coach 1)

“Barcelona has a playing culture that starts from a young age, in which players
are created and shaped. With Manchester United, there also is a playing culture,
but it has a different dimension, because it will continuously adjust depending on
the players they get.” (Coach 5)

In other words, our coaches described each team’s differences based on strategic and
tactical aspects. Overall, all coaches recognized the quality and merit with which

783
Barcelona plays, basing their views on a ball possession that is very difficult to equal by
any other team in the world. In contrast, Manchester United plays in a way where strong
ball possession is primary, but also their ability to play quickly and offensively, through
a more "direct" playing style. Finally, Inter Milan’s style is defined essentially by their
defensive tactical rigor and the capacity to develop effective offensive sequences of
quick attacks and counterattacks.

“I think that Barcelona has a very pronounced positional attack, even with very
specific characteristics. Inter Milan exploring in an obvious way the quick
attacks and counterattacks. Manchester United may potentially be the only team
that includes the three styles in a more even and subtle way.” (Coach 8)

“Inter Milan was the best team in the world in regard to quick offensive
transitions. Barcelona instead, is a team that enjoys ball possession, building ‛if
you like’ passing stations, a huge amount of passing lanes. It’s a team that plays
with the players and very closed sectors where you start equating two attributes:
we must give width and depth and when we have to defend we must be “short”.
Barcelona is the one team in the world that can perform these two field types
[i.e. width and depth] before f winning or losing the ball.” (Coach 4)

The players that form these teams are only one element that can explain the different
ways of playing. As described elsewhere (Ball, 2003; Foot, 2007; Kuper & Szymanski,
2010), our coaches feel that the strong and stable economic situation these teams have
allows them to have players who are perfectly suited to the game’s model, whilst also
contributing to an enrichment of the game shown through extremely high playing skills.

“Manchester United has had the financial capability to contract French,

Portuguese, Spanish and South American players. They went looking for players
who could bring them the end result without having to necessarily show better
game quality. Inter was a highly effective team, it had a mix of players typically
Italian, cynical, tactically worshiped from a defensive organization standpoint,
or a structural one, with a mix of creative players who bring unpredictability to
the game.” (Coach 1)

In addition to the players’ characteristics, the interviewees mentioned that the

philosophy the coach possesses is another aspect that can also influence a team’s
playing style.

“Manchester United is a team that has a national manager coaching it, holding
a typical English style, both in its essence and in its game philosophy. His
experience as a coach led him to create a game concept that is very close to
what is seen in the English teams, but more contrasting to the realities of central
Europe, like Spain, Portugal, or Netherlands, where primacy for quality of play
is paramount.” (Coach 1)

“…I think the great worker of that team [Inter] is their coach, someone who can
show such strong leadership and objectivity. That is, their playing style was
primarily based on someone who knows very well what he wants and what can

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 be achieved with the players he had; a great example of a good symbiosis.”
(Coach 5)

4. Conclusions

This work studied the aspects that coaches considered more important when describing
the English Premier League, Spain´s La Liga and Italy`s Serie A. Our project focused
on Barcelona, Inter Milan and Manchester United, winners of their respective leagues in
the sporting season prior to the interviews, providing novel data for the understanding
of the factors influencing a team’s playing style. We found that the coaches views go far
beyond issues related exclusively to tactical, strategic or technical aspects; i.e. they are
strongly influenced by cultural aspects.

Our coaches believe that what distinguishes the football played in the different leagues
is essentially due to cultural aspects (history and people’s culture) and strategic-tactical
factors. However, they also emphasized the importance of the individual skills present
in some of the players.

They considered that English football possesses a much more direct style and privileges
its "pure" side, while the Italian football continues to be characterized by their tactical
defensive rigor. In contrast, the Spanish football is located between the two, favoring
both the aesthetic side of the game and a very strong ball control. In addition, they
consider that the ease with which coaches and players nowadays get hired is also a
crucial factor that was not present a few decades ago.

Regarding the 3 studied teams these coaches feel that what differentiates them are
aspects related to a culture of play/identity specific to each team. This is seen in a
context that takes into account the clubs’ history, which in turn is influenced by factors
like politics, culture and the players and coaches who have been part of the club.

Finally, they also referred to the strategic and tactical aspects, the players’ skills and the
coach's philosophy as aspects that also contribute to differentiating these teams. This
study used eight professional football Portuguese coaches and therefore, the ability with
which one can extend these results must be done with care. It would be important to
find out what coaches from other nationalities have to say in this respect and then
compare the data. In addition, exploring this theme using athletes and directors’ views
will certainly add valuable information into the understanding of the playing style
phenomenon. Understanding the factors that contribute to the different playing styles in
different countries and teams may provide useful information for coaches who want to
more efficiently adapt to their new cultures and implement their playing philosophy.

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 Appendix

Interview Guide

PART I

1- Over the years, "match analysis” (observation and analysis of players and teams movement
patterns and dynamics) has gained increased interest. To what extent does match analysis (of
both your team and opposing teams) contribute to the success of your team?

2- There are several aspects that influence the ability to observe. What characteristics do you
consider essential for a coach / analyst to provide an effective observation?
3 - I suppose that you normally observe and study your opposing teams. Who makes this
observation and what resources you use?

4 - The process of observation and analysis of opposing teams gives you relevant information
about the game and the players of these teams. What do you want to observe / know in the
opposing teams and why?

5- After obtaining data from the opposing teams, how do you transfer such type of information
to the players (meetings, videos, cd's, prescription of training exercises, etc.)?

6 - By having all this information, I suppose you feel more prepared for what may occur during
the game. Can you refer to your own performance as a coach whilst watching your team play.
What do you tend to observe more? Why?

7 - The observations you perform during the game allows you to collect data on different events
relating to your team and the opposing team. As you gather this information how do you
intervene during the game (speech, combined signals, changes in the team, etc.)?

8 - Match analysis of your own team is restricted to the effects resulting from the observation
performed in the game itself, or do you take on more detailed analysis after the game, using
video recordings, software requirements, etc.? What information do you want to acquire through
this process?

9 - When you have this information, how do you communicate it to the athletes and how do you
perform your intervention?

10 - Probably, throughout your career you did not always have the same goals/concerns
regarding the observation of the game. Can you describe what have been the main changes that
happened throughout your career in relation to what you observe in a game and what factors
account for this change?

11 - During a game there are many factors influencing the game itself, but the atmosphere
around it also impacts players and may also exert some influence on the quality of your own
observations. Do you think of these variables during the game? What factors do you consider to
have a greater impact in you?

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 PART II

1 - Football is a universal language but it is not the same in all championships, including the
aforementioned championships (English, Spanish, Italian). What features are present in each of
the different leagues?

2 - As I said earlier, I conducted a study focused on the teams of Inter Milan (European
champions), Manchester United (the year that was not champion) and Barcelona (Spain
champion, defeated in the semi-final of the Champions Inter) . How would you describe the
essential features of these three teams?

3 - What methods of offensive game (counter-attack, quick attack, positional attack) you
privilege the most, if any at all and why?

4 - Our study was able to identify certain patterns in the game these teams. I will show you
some of these patterns and ask you to give me your opinion as professional coach. (we will
present to the coaches all the diagrams and videos with the detected patterns of play in our
study).

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