Comment améliorer la prise d'informations des joueurs ?

How to improve players' information gathering?

*exercise available at the end of the article, always good to read it in full and learn more*

INTRODUCTION

Collecting information is inseparable from our activity: football. It is also the first step in the decision-making process which will directly condition the choice made by the player. So, as Arsène Wenger says very well: “Football is about controlling the ball, making a decision, executing the decision. The very good player controls his environment six to eight times in the ten seconds before receiving the ball. » As a reminder, his comments are based on a study carried out with a Norwegian university to measure the number of times professional players take information before receiving the ball. Xavi was, moreover, the best in this area according to this study. Therefore, knowing that a very good professional player undeniably possesses this quality and takes a lot of information before receiving the ball, a question arises. How can we improve our players' information intake?

What is good information gathering?

Good information gathering is characterized by three dimensions:

The temporal dimension: This is the moment when information is taken. Indeed, before receiving the ball, the information must have been taken in order to allow an execution quick and efficient decision-making. However, if it is carried out too soon before receiving, it is possible that the solution and the situation observed are no longer relevant. Thus, it is very advantageous to carry out a new scan before executing the decision if the previous information taking dates back a sufficient time for the adversary to close the opportunity. Therefore, good information gathering is first characterized by the moment when it was carried out.
The spatial dimension: This is the area observed. This aspect is very important because it will directly influence the elements observed during the scan. Indeed, let's take the example of a central defender in a six-yard situation. Located in his area, he prepares to receive the ball from the goalkeeper. Before receiving the ball, our defender carried out two information grabs. We are in a stopped phase, the angle of information is reduced (the goal line means we do not have to scan 360 degrees), we could estimate that our defender has done a good part of his job because he will now be able to make his decision because he has taken information. However, I will now reveal to you that before receiving the ball, our defender took the information towards his goalkeeper and towards the other central defender. So, when receiving, he ignores the position of our defensive midfielder, he ignores the position of his near side, he does not know where the pressing is coming from, how many players are coming to press… Why? Because the spatial dimension of his information gathering did not allow him to have this information. Here is the impact of the observed area in taking information. Depending on the situation, the areas to be observed are not the same and it is very important that they are consistent with the situation.
The elementary dimension: These are the elements observed during information gathering. This dimension is directly linked to the previous one because depending on the spatial area observed, the observable elements will not be the same. However, with the speed of the game, the number of elements to take into account and the technical quality of the player, it is possible that when taking information, the player does not observe all of the observable elements in his field of view. The footballer must be able to take into account the maximum / all of the relevant elements (which could influence the game: a spectator is not a relevant element in decision-making) in order to be able to analyze and evaluate the situation effectively. .

How to improve players' information gathering?

We now know that information gathering is based primarily on three dimensions. Thus, it is essential that, from a perspective of developing this skill, the player is placed in an environment in which all three dimensions are used.

First of all, our sport has a special characteristic: we play with a ball at our feet which we will look at frequently but we have to raise our heads to observe what is happening around us. Knowing this, it is essential that every football player is accustomed to mechanically raising his head but also to actually visualizing the observable elements. Indeed, the colors of the bibs and bibs used during sessions are very often “flash” colors. These “flash” colors (neon yellow, green, blue, pink, etc.) are visible in the peripheral field of vision without actually lifting your head and looking around you. Over a long-term process, there is a probability of developing the habit of relying on peripheral vision to take in information and therefore not being able to observe all of the observable elements. It is therefore very important to try to develop the habit of raising your head . Placing reduced information (symbols, cones) or even positioning information overhead can be solutions. Also, we have created two-color headbands which replace bibs during sessions and allow you to develop the habit of raising your head.

Subsequently, on the temporal dimension, it is favorable for the player to be in a real context with an opposition . Indeed, putting the player in an opposition situation will allow him to be subjected to a certain amount of stress which will bring him closer to the match. Also, an opposition seeking to recover the ball will limit the time available to gather information. Indeed, if our player takes the information too late, he will be in difficulty against an opponent who is trying to recover the ball. In addition, the space of the activity will allow you to modulate this temporal aspect. Indeed, the larger and less dense the space, the more time the player will have to take in the information. Conversely, the smaller and denser the space, the quicker the player will have to take information. Smaller spaces mean that the time to pass will be shorter and therefore the time to take information before receiving will also be shorter. You can therefore modulate the difficulty by managing the density of the space but also through the number of opponents but, to reproduce a context close to the match, the opposition is essential.

A football player needs to take in the information around him, that is to say in 360 degrees. However, some positions offer a lot of moments where taking in 360-degree information is reduced to a lower angle. The central defender, for example, rarely needs to see behind him when his team has the ball, just like the full-back whose information gathering is reduced by the touchline and other positions have other specificities. However, in order to utilize this temporal dimension, it is important to put players in situations where taking 360 degree information will be necessary to evolve. So, if your area of ​​development is information gathering, you should not hesitate to change the positions during the session in order to have times when the spatial areas to be observed are larger.

Finally, the elementary dimension is essential. It is easy to modulate the difficulty by managing the number of opponents, partners but also by adding specific constraints to the activity: colors of cones, bibs, two-color headbands . The player must be subjected to a certain number of elements so that he can develop the ability to consider a large amount of information during his scan.

  Thus, to improve the player's information gathering, he must evolve in a real context with opposition by managing the different parameters of the activity in order to be able to act on the three dimensions of information gathering: temporal, spatial and elementary.

An example of an exercise that requires 360 information:

Organization: 6vs6 in a rectangle with two goals (one blue and one red) to attack and two goals (one blue and one red) to defend. In each goal there is a blue or red colored cone

Instructions: The teams play in a classic match. 1 goal = 1 point

The coach has a blue cup and a red cup, he moves around the field holding one cup in his hand and hiding the other. If the team in possession of the ball scores in the goal of the color indicated by the coach, it is worth 4 points. It is strictly forbidden to communicate (all forms of communication: "it comes", "here", "change", are information that the ball carrier must perceive visually) and if a player says the valued color, his team loses 1 point.

Variants:

- 3 touches of the ball

- Play with the Footlab Analytix bi-color headbands

- Invert colors

- Force to score in the goal concerned by the cup (be vigilant of the behavior of the opposing team)

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