Bournemouth manager Andoni Iraola explains why, in a world where information is easy to access, it’s not difficult to emulate what other coaches are doing in training, but highlights the importance of creating exercises to fit a team’s needs.

Today in football, we have such an amount of information and access. Today, we have seen a report from Pacheta. We can see training from Guardiola. We can see, and in the end, football is not about choosing.

Look, we have Guardiola’s exercises from 2007-2008 in Barcelona. I am going to nail them. I am going to train all year with these exercises, and we are going to play cinema. Because probably, it will not work out. In the end, you do not know why Guardiola has decided what exercise to do. You do not know who he is going to play against that weekend in Barca and why he has decided that he has to do this. Your circumstances are going to be totally different.

So, in the end, I always say the same. Every time you start a year with a team, look at our exercise library. Ours is our notebook, the PowerPoint, the Keynote — whatever you use. For me, my advice is to start doing it because every year the circumstances are different, and what served you in one season will not serve you in the next season. They are not my players; they are not my opponents. You do not have the same needs […]

Credit to GauravAnlyst for the English translation

Each player is different, each team as a whole is different, each opponent is different. It’s cold, it’s raining, it’s snowing, it’s windy, it’s hot. Each game is different. This is what makes the game interesting. There’s no one size fits all approach.

The things we see don’t get drawn up on a whiteboard an hour before the match. The instructions come in training and the exercises are tailor made for each opponent.

Photo Credit: Robin Jones - AFC Bournemouth