Steve Jobs unveiled the iPhone in 2007. It changed the way the world works. Every year since it was refined, the competition caught up, to the point now where every phone looks the same. This is where I feel we are with positional play in attack.

The slow trickle down of information and ideas has reached the lowest performing teams in each league. Every automation, every formation, and most combinations have been tried. We have made the bezels smaller, the notch less noticeable, and the frame thinner. Everyone knows what to expect.

Going forward, any team in Europe that intends to play strictly positionally will be considered a laggard. You can update the software and the players, but the hardware of each new device and the structure of the team are the same.

When I flip the channel between games, I can close my eyes and picture what is happening. It is too predictable. This is the safe space, the safe way to play. They take a risk, try something new, but when things are going wrong, they retreat back to the safe system.

Innovation is happening in defense. No matter where you are on the table or what league you play in, everyone plays positionally. Everyone trains against their own offense, so they know their weaknesses and strengths. Through that repetition, teams are quickly learning how to clog up the passing lanes and stem the flow of chances.

When one rigid structure faces another rigid structure, it becomes hard to create.

Everyone is afraid to make the Apple Vision Pro. Something that is new. A risk. The teams that break through are the ones that are taking risks and improvising.

Take more risks. Give more freedom to the players to roam. Create systems that put the emphasis on the creators. Less automations, more thinking for themselves.

Those that do that are the new innovators that will best the laggards. Results will convince everyone that this is the way to win; it will be adopted, and then the cycle starts over.