{"id":5461,"date":"2024-11-12T16:00:50","date_gmt":"2024-11-12T16:00:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tacticalperiodisation.com\/pt\/?p=5461"},"modified":"2025-07-24T16:05:18","modified_gmt":"2025-07-24T16:05:18","slug":"brett-uttley-competition-and-game-concepts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tacticalperiodisation.com\/pt\/2024\/11\/12\/brett-uttley-competition-and-game-concepts\/","title":{"rendered":"Brett Uttley – \u201cCompetition is not only a means of motivating the players, but also a way of integrating and reinforcing our game concepts\u2026\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

Brett Uttley, holder of Tactical Periodisation Certificate, and coach with experience ate Inter Miami FC and currently head coach at Austin FC II.<\/h1>\n

PT: The propensity principle, which is one of the three methodological principles of <\/span>Tactical Periodization<\/a>, is often the first door that gets people interested and excited about <\/span>Tactical Periodization<\/a>. How did you first approach <\/span>Tactical Periodization<\/a>, thinking about this idea of training your game every day?<\/span><\/h4>\n

Uttley:<\/strong> <\/span>Passion for player development and the coaching process is what drives many coaches to pursue this career. Reflecting on my own experience, I realize that one of the things that most motivates me to continue coaching is the connection with the players, as well as the love for the process of preparing and developing the team.<\/span><\/p>\n

In soccer, training is a fundamental part of everyday life. Although there is a visible change at the highest level of soccer, where the number of games is very high, in MLS Next Pro, for example, we still play an average of one game a week. Even in more intense weeks, with games on Saturday, Wednesday and Sunday, the focus on daily training is what really shapes the team’s performance.<\/span><\/p>\n

The training process is the opportunity to constantly develop the idea of the game. It’s in this environment that we build passion and inspiration in the players, encouraging them to commit to what we want to achieve as a team. Each player finds, within the team, a way to express their individual skills in line with our collective strategy.<\/span><\/p>\n

During this season, something that has intrigued me and aroused my admiration is how we can create and design even richer environments for the players. Environments that are connected to our idea of the game, but which also allow different aspects of our style of play to emerge, while continually stimulating the level of competition between the players.<\/span><\/p>\n

One question we raised throughout the year was: \u201cHow can we develop <\/span>training sessions<\/a> and exercises that are in line with our way of playing, but which also include elements of competition, with winners and losers?\u201d This is crucial because, as professional players seeking to reach the highest level of the MLS, the desire to win is in their DNA. And at the end of the day, the game comes down to the final result: win or lose. So we need to be able to stimulate this competitive spirit in our work environment on a daily basis.<\/span><\/p>\n

Although I don’t yet have an exact recipe or the perfect ingredients to achieve this balance in every <\/span>training session<\/a>, I believe we’ve managed to do an excellent job throughout the year. And while we reflect on how to make this process even more effective for next season, we remain committed to continuing to develop a training environment that inspires and challenges our players.<\/span><\/p>\n

PT: <\/span>For you, when you design a particular <\/span>exercise<\/a> or training situation, what is absolutely essential and how has this evolved over the course of your coaching career?<\/span><\/h4>\n

Uttley:<\/strong> <\/span>Recently, during a conversation in Porto, we discussed an essential topic in soccer training: competition. There is a view that competition in training is not part of the coaching process or the conventional definition of what training is. Traditionally, training is seen as a time when the coach transmits information, which the players absorb in order to improve their skills. However, I believe that stimulating competition through exercises, especially when connected to our style of play, is fundamental.<\/span><\/p>\n

For me, competition is one of the most important aspects of exercises. At the same time, it’s essential to think about the macro principles we’re trying to improve. One example would be the concept of fractals, where, for example, a 3v3 + 2 positional game, even with a reduced number of players, is directly linked to the development of our style of play in 11-on-11 situations. The players must understand how these smaller exercises connect with the intentions and principles we are trying to develop as a team.<\/span><\/p>\n

Therefore, the two most important aspects I consider in the <\/span>training process<\/a> are competition and the constant relationship between the smaller exercises and our playing principles. Competition is not only a means of motivating the players, but also a way of integrating and reinforcing our game concepts, ensuring that every detail in training contributes to the overall development of the team.<\/span><\/p>\n

PT: <\/span>Considering that in selective professional environments competitiveness is already natural, do you believe that coaches really need to encourage competition or is it enough to allow it to occur naturally?<\/span><\/p>\n

Uttley: <\/span>One of the challenges in soccer training is to ensure that the exercises respect the logic and nature of the game. When we manage to do this, players can simply play, which allows competition to occur naturally.<\/span><\/p>\n

One aspect that I consider fundamental when planning exercises is the use of a single restriction or rule. By limiting the amount of specific rules that players need to process, we prevent them from losing focus of the game and, consequently, the competition. When we introduce too many rules, we end up diluting the competitive aspect, as players become more concerned with complying with the rules than with actually playing. This can end up taking them away from the essence of what the game is really about.<\/span><\/p>\n

Therefore, by simplifying the rules and focusing on the logic of the game, we can keep competition alive in training, ensuring that players are always engaged and focused on what really matters: playing and competing.<\/span><\/p>\n

PT: <\/span>How do you deal with situations in which, when you arrive in the field, the <\/span>exercise<\/a> doesn’t correspond to what you had anticipated, especially in open contexts where everything isn’t predefined?<\/span><\/h4>\n

Don\u2019t miss Brett Uttley question on the next article.<\/span><\/p>\n

Become a PT Membership PRO<\/a> to watch this 2023 Conference, and get free acess to the 2024 Conference Cycle<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Keywords:<\/strong> PATTERN MORPHOCYCLE; FOOTBALL\/SOCCER; TACTICAL PERIODIZATION\u00ae; TRAINING SESSION; EXERCISE; COACH.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5262,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[46,33],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5461","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","category-educational-content"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tacticalperiodisation.com\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5461","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tacticalperiodisation.com\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tacticalperiodisation.com\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tacticalperiodisation.com\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tacticalperiodisation.com\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5461"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.tacticalperiodisation.com\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5461\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6374,"href":"https:\/\/www.tacticalperiodisation.com\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5461\/revisions\/6374"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tacticalperiodisation.com\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5262"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tacticalperiodisation.com\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5461"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tacticalperiodisation.com\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5461"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tacticalperiodisation.com\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5461"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}