Rui Sá Lemos, certified trainer at our school, and coach with experience ate FC Porto, Vizela FC and Portimonense SC.

PT: Can you tell us about your experience of understanding the theoretical side of Tactical Periodization and then moving on to the practical side?

Rui Sá Lemos: I think that when people think about and read Tactical Periodization, Miguel, they really need to – like there is a video of a Chinese kid doing this. You know that video where he’s in school, doesn’t want to learn, and does this to try to put information in.

And that’s what you really need to do with the Tactical Periodization books. It’s not just reading them and thinking, “I’m going to repeat this.” No, it’s more than that.

After this, it goes to your head and you’re going to apply it your own way because the principles are there, okay? You’re going to be challenged – for example, in our case, you were talking about Vizela, back-to-back promotion, first division, eight players from the third division, ten players from the second division.

Do you think their bodies were used to playing in the first division, at the pace of the first division? No. Their bodies and habits were not there.

So that was also an adaptation, something new. Normally, we would add crucial players and by the adaptation period – it’s like a Formula 3 car competing in Formula 1. It’s the same adaptation.

After the Sunday match against Benfica, they would need Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday to recover. Yes, they would say, “I can’t, my body is sore. I am not prepared.” So then, what do you do? What kind of training are you going to do?

Are you going to adapt without losing shape? Another problem, previously at Porto, you were there too. Under-19 or B team, often they play on Sunday, and because they are very good, they go to the national team on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, sometimes Thursday, and come back on Friday with one or two games already in their legs.

And then, because they are good, they are expected to play. So how are you going to adapt your process, how are you going to communicate your game idea, and how are you going to continue to develop the players, because now everybody wants to develop the players, whether you’re in a big team or a small team.

Yes, because if you think, “We need to have 20 players to do these sectorial drills on Wednesday,” where are the 20 players? We only have 12 today.

Right? How can we adapt?

And the next day is the same because, yeah, I think you should be able to – I’m not saying to change, but to read, understand, and then create your own game model. Your own game model includes your way of training, your way of leading, your own data, your own way of evaluating your play.

Because another thing that I also don’t agree with is when, after one match, you go to WyScout and they say that your defender had 55% success in defensive duels. How can they say that? How can WyScout judge what’s successful in a duel? No, we are the ones who need to sit, analyze the game, and produce our own data based on what we want.

PT: Most coaches have always heard the word microcycle and when they hear Morphocycle it’s something new or different. So what do you think of when you hear the term Morphocycle?

Rui Sá Lemos: If “morpho” is like connected with form, right? With shape. So, morpho connects instantly in the right moment, at that precise moment, with the shape.

Shape means that you are shaping something, creating something. It means that you are working on some kind of project or organization, and this will keep flowing into the main thing. It’s an opportunity between two moments of competition for you to create the shape of your organization, right? So, it’s not just a moment in a week, it’s a moment with principles inside, a moment where you’re creating your organization.

PT: What do you see as the biggest challenges at the moment in terms of building your Morphocycle?

Rui Sá Lemos: For me, without a doubt, without a single doubt, it’s crucial to have balance and to maintain the consistency of the Morphocycle, okay? When I say balance, I mean following what you believe in, really sticking to your beliefs. You will be challenged a lot, week after week, with travel, different number of days between games, and more. You’re going to be challenged by losing, and then right after that you’re going to feel the pressure to work hard and train a lot because you have to get better to win the next game or you’re out.

So there are many circumstances around you that will challenge you and push you to change, or to change in some moments. For example, you might think, “No, today we have to practice. I don’t care if they’re tired, I don’t care if they might get hurt, we have to train, otherwise we won’t win. And sometimes you start to change ideas that theoretically you wouldn’t change, but under pressure you might.

Another example is the Morphocycle. Ideally, we want to train and then have a day off, or have a day off and then train, and keep training until the day of the game. But then you have a flight after the game, a long trip, and a lot of other things on your calendar that make you think, “How can I adjust to that? That’s why I said in the beginning, the most important thing for me is balance, to keep the process consistent.

PT:

Looking at human beings, they benefit from a certain consistency, such as the circadian cycle or the same number of days between games. But nowadays all that doesn’t exist. Looking at your experience, what do you take into account to try to minimize the impact of these constant changes?

Don’t miss Rui Sá Lemos question on the next article.

Become a PT Membership PRO to watch this 2023 Conference, and get free acess to the 2024 Conference Cycle.

Image by: Rui Duarte Silva

Keywords: PATTERN MORPHOCYCLE; FOOTBALL/SOCCER; TACTICAL PERIODIZATION®; TRAINING SESSION; EXERCISE; COACH.