Coach's Corner: January

The Advantages of Using a Game Model

By: Andrew Bennett

A game model creates clarity in the learning environment. Players understand expectations, grow with confidence, and transition between teams smoothly because terminology and positional responsibilities remain consistent.

The Advantages of Using a Game Model

Aligned training across the club
A clearly defined game model eliminates generic session planning. All training activities are designed with intention, guided by shared principles, roles, and responsibilities. This creates alignment across teams and age groups, ensuring players experience a consistent methodology regardless of coach or level.

Continuity through player pathways
When coaches use the same language and reference the same principles, player movement within the club becomes seamless. As players progress from 7v7 to 9v9 to 11v11, or transition between teams as age groups merge, they carry a common understanding of expectations. This continuity reduces confusion, accelerates learning, and supports long-term player development.

Game day as an extension of the curriculum
Matchday is no longer separate from the training environment. By setting objectives rooted in the principles of play, games become opportunities to apply and reinforce learning. Competition remains important, but it is framed within a developmental context that prioritizes decision-making, understanding, and growth.

What Is a Game Model?

A game model provides clarity and alignment across an entire club. It removes ambiguity for players, coaches, and parents by establishing a shared blueprint rooted in the club’s identity and playing philosophy. It defines not only how teams play, but why they play that way.

At its core, a game model is built on several key components:

Identity and philosophy
This defines the club’s culture. Who are we? What do we value? How do we want to be recognized, regardless of results? These principles guide behavior, decision-making, and long-term development.

Team structure and shape
Formations describe the shape a team adopts during matches. Within that structure, the team is organized into three units: defensive, midfield, and attacking. Each unit is further broken down into individual positions, with clearly defined roles and responsibilities that guide player decision-making.

Phases of play
The game is divided into four distinct phases. Two are moments of transition: defending to attacking, and attacking to defending. The other two are the attacking phase, when the team is in possession, and the defensive phase, when it is not. Understanding each phase allows players to recognize game moments and respond appropriately.

Principles of play
Principles of play define how the team approaches each phase of the game. They emphasize the team’s intentions and behaviors, focusing on our approach rather than reacting to the opposition.

Coaching terminology
A shared game model requires a shared language. All coaches use the same key words and coaching points, creating a universal vocabulary that supports learning, consistency, and smooth player transitions throughout the club.

A clear example of this approach is the Philadelphia Union, which applies a unified game model across the First Team, Union II, the Academy & Union Juniors, and the Union Youth Player Pathway Program. Four distinct departments operate from the same playbook, ensuring continuity and alignment from the youngest age groups to the professional level.◆