When a team struggles against a high press, a coach can identify the problem quickly: “We need to work on playing out from the back.” But that sentence already points toward a particular session. Has the staff first considered all the ways the team could solve the match problem?

A useful coaching conversation begins one step earlier. What exactly is happening? Are we failing to create a free player? Is the goalkeeper unable to see the far side? Are our receivers standing behind opponents? Are we refusing an effective direct pass because it does not look like the solution we expected?

Alex Osborn’s ideation principles offer a simple discipline: generate possibilities before evaluating them. The point is to expand the range of credible responses, then use football judgment to select, test and refine them.

Four principles for a better coaching conversation

1. Defer judgment

During the idea-generating stage, avoid dismissing a suggestion as soon as it is offered. Early criticism can close down a line of thinking before another coach has had the chance to adapt it. Write the idea down. Evaluation comes later.

2. Generate quantity

Ask for several possible solutions, not the first plausible one. A longer list can reveal options the staff would otherwise overlook. Quantity is a way to widen the search; it is not a promise that every idea will be useful.

3. Welcome unusual ideas

Give less familiar ideas a hearing. A seemingly unlikely suggestion might reveal a different way to use a player, change an opponent’s pressing reference or create space elsewhere. It may need adjustment before it fits your team.

4. Combine and improve

Build on what has already been offered. A goalkeeper’s wider starting position might work with a higher fullback. A direct pass into the #9 might create the space for a third player to receive. The strongest answer may be a combination rather than one coach’s original proposal.

First widen the options. Then narrow them with evidence.

Apply it to a high press

Imagine an opposition front line forcing your centre-backs toward the touchline. Your team loses possession before reaching midfield. Rather than choosing a build-out drill immediately, ask the staff to propose ways to change the situation:

These are possibilities, not instructions to use all seven. Some will conflict with your game model or expose a risk your players cannot manage yet. That is precisely why a separate selection stage matters.

Choose with the players and match in mind

Once the ideas are visible, ask what each would require. Does the goalkeeper have the range and composure for the proposed pass? Can the #9 secure a direct ball under pressure? Is the far-side receiver positioned to exploit a switch? What happens if possession is lost?

Choose an option against clear criteria: the players available, the opponent’s pressing shape, the intended playing identity, the risk in your defensive third and the time available to train. A creative idea becomes a coaching solution only when it helps this team solve this problem.

For example, the staff might combine two suggestions: draw the press toward the goalkeeper’s left, then find the far-side fullback through a central supporting player. That gives the session a specific objective and a visible test: can the team recognize when the press has shifted, find the next player and progress with control?

Turn the idea into a training problem

Set up a directional practice with a goalkeeper, defenders, midfield support and opponents who can press and score from a regain. Give the attacking team an end zone or target to reach beyond the first pressing line. Start with manageable numbers, then adjust the space, opposition and recovery time as the players improve.

Watch the information and decisions behind the action. Do receivers create a useful angle before the pass? Does the goalkeeper recognize when one side has been overloaded? Can the team identify a direct route when a short route is closed? If the planned solution fails, was the concept unsuitable, the timing poor or the practice too predictable?

The session should allow more than one valid answer. Otherwise, we have merely turned a brainstorming conversation into a predetermined pattern. Coach the principle and the cues, then see whether players can adapt when the pressing team changes its behaviour.

A short staff exercise

  1. Define the problem precisely. Use one recent match sequence. “We lose the ball when the left centre-back receives facing our goal and the opponent blocks the #6” is more useful than “our build-up is poor.”
  2. Generate options. Give every coach a chance to contribute. Aim for at least ten ideas and postpone criticism until the list is complete.
  3. Combine and improve. Ask which ideas could work together and what would make each more realistic for your players.
  4. Select one or two. Compare them with your game model, player strengths and match demands. State what successful execution should look like.
  5. Test and review. Design a game-like practice, observe the players’ responses and revise the solution. Return to match footage to see whether the behaviour transfers.

Osborn’s idea-generating questions also influenced later tools such as SCAMPER, developed by Bob Eberle. A prompt such as “What can we substitute, combine or rearrange?” can help a staff escape a familiar session plan. But a prompt is only useful when it leads back to the real football situation.

Creativity needs a second phase

Deferring judgment does not mean abandoning standards. The first phase welcomes possibilities; the second asks hard questions. Can our players do this? Does it solve the actual problem? What might the opponent do in response? How will we know whether learning has carried into a match?

Coaches are often asked to make quick decisions. Osborn’s principles remind us that speed and familiarity can make the first answer feel like the only answer. A brief pause to generate alternatives can produce a more thoughtful training objective and a better conversation among the staff.

Before choosing the drill, make sure you have explored the football problem.

Generate. Select. Test. Refine. Then let the players show you what the game requires next.

Further reading: Creative Education Foundation on Creative Problem Solving · CEF guide to divergent thinking · Eberle on SCAMPER