Interactive training in Brussels

An 'interactive' training session was one of the highlights of the second day's programme at the fifth UEFA Conference for Coach Education Directors in Brussels.

First-hand information
Delegates at the conference watched Belgian side RSC Anderlecht in training, with the guests given first-hand information on the training session as it happened by head coach Hugo Broos, who was equipped with a communications link to the grandstand.

Vercauteren in charge
Anderlecht's assistant coach, Frank Vercauteren, took charge of the session, which concentrated on counterattacking, with Broos giving an immediate insight into the aims of the exercise for the benefit of the watching delegates. Vercauteren, a former Belgian international, is currently studying for his UEFA pro-level licence.

Champions League trends
Back in the conference hall, UEFA technical director Andy Roxburgh gave a comprehensive overview of current trends in the UEFA Champions League, reviewing tactical developments and considering various talking points related to European football's premier club competition.

Set-play fall
Among the observations made was that the number of goals scored from set-plays in last season's Champions League fell from 35 per cent to 20 per cent. Roxburgh also gave an interesting insight into the various impressive methods of counterattacking used by Europe's top teams – such as the use of the long ball, collective counterattacks featuring several players, or solo counters by individual players. Another observation concerned the popularity of the so-called diamond-shaped midfield, as deployed by leading Champions League contenders such as Juventus FC and Manchester United FC.

Silver-goal acceptance
With regard to UEFA's introduction of the silver-goal system to replace the sudden-death golden goal, Andy Roxburgh noted that the move had met with considerable acceptance – a fact borne out by the positive comments made by Europe's leading coaches at the recent UEFA Elite Coaches' Forum. On the coaching front, he said, the indications are that success on the field is not enough nowadays to guarantee job security for coaches, who currently also have to contend with commercial and image-related pressures as part of their high-profile jobs.

Convention update
Delegates were given an update by UEFA's technical education manager, Frank Ludolph, on the UEFA Convention on the Mutual Recognition of Coaching Qualifications. This currently involves 35 European national associations - 21 of whom are full members of UEFA's programme to ensure that coaching standards in Europe are of the highest calibre.

Association contributions
The national associations made informative and worthwhile contributions to Tuesday's proceedings. The Belgian Football Association's technical director, Michel Sablon, presented the association's ambitious Futurofoot project aimed at developing the country's youth sector and nurturing the stars of tomorrow, while Wim Koevermans, coaching instructor at the Royal Netherlands Football Association's academy, showed delegates a new software tool used for tactical analysis and organisation of training sessions and exercises.

Hungarian experience
In a presentation entitled The Hungarian Experience, Dr György Mezey, the Hungarian Football Federation's technical director, spoke in detail about the sterling work undertaken to reorganise the country's coach education system in recent years. The ongoing success of the programme, he said, gave rise to optimism that Hungary would soon re-establish itself among the major football powers in Europe.