The official name of the football association in England, the motherland of association football, is “The Football Association,” abbreviated to “The FA.” There were no disputes regarding this name, since The FA was the only football association in the world when they were formed and established its first set of rules in 1863.

Today, The FA is known around the world as an organisation that emphasises and promotes “Respect.” I found an interesting video on its official website, in which the England National Team’s coach Gareth SOUTHGATE coached a group of youth players in a futsal match against an adult team (many of whom were beer-bellied men).

In this video, coach Southgate led the boys to victory by praising and encouraging them. The adult team on the other hand, was yelled at and scolded by their coach, resulting in a disastrous match where the players started to complain to each other and the referee.

In fact, the coach of this adult team was an actor who knew nothing about football, and his “negative” words were all scripted. The purpose of this video was to show the contrast between how positive words can bring the best out of the players and how negative words can demotivate the players.

Ahead of the match, coach Southgate sent out the players by telling them, “Enjoy yourself. Show me what you can do. Let’s encourage each other.” And once the match started, he repeatedly spoke positive words to the players.

What impressed me the most was the variety of words that coach Southgate used to encourage the players.

“Well pressed.”
“Well done.”
“Great save!”
“Super break.”
“Nice finish.”
“What a great pass!”
“Lovely pass.”
“Very good.”

It didn’t sound like the words of a football coach, but rather a commentator who had prepared all the adjectives to use during a live broadcast of a football match.

And it was evident that these praises were making the players feel good and play better.

I myself, as a coach of women’s football team, also try to praise good plays as much as I can during practices and matches. However, I often find myself using the word “nice” in most of those situations. Although I’m writing many words every day to do my job as a writer, I have very limited vocabulary to praise my players on the pitch, and I feel embarrassed every time I use the word “nice,” but the next time I see a good play, the word coming out of my mouth would be “nice” again.

In recent years, I hear many of the coaches in Japan use the word “good.” Very occasionally, I hear the word “excellent,” for the highest level of praise, but I would guess that over 95% of the praises given by Japanese coaches is the word “good.”

Mr. Ivica OSIM, former coach of the Japan National Team, used to use the word “Bravo.” He never shouted out loud, but I heard that the players felt on top of the world when they heard him mumble that word.

Having a wide range of vocabulary is not what’s important here, but the act of praising good plays to allow the players to play positively is the most important thing. However, the wide variety of praises used by coach Southgate seems to be a reflection of the breadth of his “Positivity.” And I think the players are highly motivated when they hear him say “Great,” “Super,” or “Lovely.”

I once heard a young coach of the opposing team say, “Wow, that was sick! (Yabai!)” when he saw his player make a good play during a match. To be honest, I felt a little weird at the time, but now that I think about it, I'm sure the player was happy to hear that.

Even when pointing out a flaw, coach Southgate used wording like this:

“Well done, if you can just get back into a position, well done.”

Written by OSUMI Yoshiyuki (Football Journalist)

*This article was originally posted on the Japan Football Association Newsletter, “JFAnews,” October 2021 edition.

Japan Football Association Newsletter “JFAnews”

The Japan Football Association Newsletter “JFAnews” contains all the information on the Japan National Team, and all the events hosted by the JFA. Tournament results and team information throughout the nation are also available. The official monthly magazine is a must read for coaches, referees, and all members of the football family.

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