The Jordan Mentality... in Soccer Team Training?

I love drawing inspiration from other sports.

Basketball offers plenty of them. The NBA has always been shaped by players who put their stamp on the game when it matters most.

Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Stephen Curry, just to name a few.

One of those legendary moments: "The Last Shot" by Michael Jordan in Game 6 against the Utah Jazz in 1998.

17 seconds left on the clock. Utah is leading 86-85 against Chicago.

At that time, Michael Jordan was the best basketball player in the league (and, in my opinion, of all time). The team relied on him. He lived for these moments. Everyone knew what was coming. He wasn’t going to pass the ball. He let the clock run down. With 5.2 seconds left, he made the game-winning shot.

A goosebump moment for every sports fan.

It’s simply beautiful to watch the entire sequence of movement unfold.

Basketball is played 5 vs. 5, and there's certainly more focus on one player deciding the game in the final moments. Everyone wants the ball in the hands of the best player. The outcome of the game is put on his shoulders.

But soccer also has these "clutch" moments, where individual players put their stamp on the game (e.g., Zidane's two goals in the 1998 World Cup final or Andi Brehme in 1990). Nevertheless it doesn't always have to happen through goals.

Who still remembers the legendary Bastian Schweinsteiger warrior performance in the 2014 World Cup final?

But "clutch performances" require... just like everything else... training and preparation. Players need to learn how to deal with pressure and learning to love being the ones who decide games.

Players need to gain clutch experience in training so they can translate it into the game, even if the actual match brings additional complexity (expectations, spectators, etc.).

So, what opportunities do I have as a coach to create more clutch experiences for my players in team training?

The final game in training is ideal for this. It already has intensity built into it, and as a coach, you can create additional rewards... God, how I hated having to clean up the goals when I lost, while the winning team was laughing on the other side.

In our final games, we like to raise the stakes with the Colorballs.

• Green Ball = Moneyball (counts as 2 goals)
• Yellow Ball = Golden Ball (counts as 3 goals)

The coach decides when and how often to introduce the Colorballs during the game. The dosage of the Colorballs is crucial. With them, I can decide games or bring my team back into the match. When used wisely, Colorballs are a fantastic tool to identify and challenge clutch players.

We can expand the concept further:

• Blue Ball = After scoring a goal, there is an immediate chance for an extra goal. The player who scores can take a one-on-one penalty (who remembers it from the MLS in the 90s?) to score an additional goal.
• Red Ball = After scoring a goal, the team gets another immediate chance for an extra goal. A player can be selected to secure an extra point for their team with a penalty shot.

By adding the Colorballs, we pour even more fuel into the fire of the final game of the training session.

Defensively, the "clutch" players will do everything they can to defend the Colorballs with everything they've got.

Offensively, the "clutch" players will do everything possible to score with the Colorballs.

Which players make the difference when the Colorballs are in play? Which players carry their team to victory?

By creating an environment in the final game that brings out more clutch moments, we increase the likelihood that players will discover their Jordan mentality and have the confidence to be decisive on game day.