01/05/2025
🔍 Emanuel Pais’ View on Skill Acquisition
1. Street Football Roots
Emanuel often refers to the value of street football and free play. This suggests that while he respects the FFA’s structured Skill Acquisition Phase (SAP), he complements it with unstructured play and problem-solving.
💡 “Football isn’t learned in lines. It’s learned in chaos.”
So, instead of isolated drills:
Kids learn first touch through small-sided games with real-time pressure.
Running with the ball is encouraged in open play, not over-coached.
1v1 moments are treated as learning opportunities, not just battles to win or lose.
2. Perception-Action Coupling
Emanuel has shared ideas around how football is about the link between what a player sees and how they act. This neuroscience-backed concept influences how he teaches skill acquisition:
Kids are trained to recognise cues, not just execute patterns.
Design activities where the environment teaches the skill.ble, shielding?).
3. Less Instruction, More Experience
Rather than focusing heavily on technical repetition, he:
Designs activities where the environment teaches the skill.
Believes in guided discovery over constant correction.
4. Game-Realism Over Perfection
While traditional SAP models often chase "perfect" technique, Emanuel prefers:
Functional technique – does it work under pressure?
Mistake-tolerant coaching – kids are allowed to try, fail, and try again.
🎯 "Don’t coach the pass. Coach the picture that leads to the pass."
