To see the ideas

A new season! No player has been definitely put on the bench, no team has been outplayed and everyone can dream about having success. Today’s tactical column will be divided into two separate parts: my dream scenarios for the season, and the tactical edge that will make sure that my top 4 picks in NLA actually turn out to be top 4 teams.

MY DREAM SCENARIOS IN NLA THIS SEASON:

More interesting situations during the games...

I genuinely think that floorball is entertainment. Partly because I will enjoy the small things. A great ball reception by a skilled defender or a neat backcheck where a player manages to steal the ball from underneath another players stick. It requires a nerd to fully appreciate that.

I also genuinely think we should make sure that the games are entertainment for people who just like to see exciting games general in sports. People who like an athletic environment, a feeling of ”I could never do that”, and games that are almost never considered to be decided.

We are a sport who can offer them that. I have had reporters for newspapers in Sweden calling me after we had made a comeback, turning a 2-6 game into a 6-6 game in the dying minutes. The reporter asked me: ”’How the hell could that happen?”, making it sound like we had beaten San Antonio Spurs in basketball. And my response was always that it should be a death sin to compare a four goal lead in floorball with the one in ice hockey or football. Which is what I think that people subconsciously do. Once I told a reporter to actually go and see some games, to get a hang of this sport’s mathematics.

I think that the main key to defining a floorball game as entertainment, is closely attached to the number of scoring opportunities that occur during a game. All of us in positions to make decision about the Swiss unihockey are responsible for this. The rules are not. Neither are the referees. Lot of scoring opportunities equals a lot of interesting and debatable situations. It creates a vibe often referred to as ”what a game that was”.

The cliché that ”you would rather win a game 2-1 than 10-9” has to be modified. Who said that? We are a sport without clichés, meaning we can write our own. Let us benefit from that. I would rather heare a coach calculating with conceding some counter attack goals, but trusting his offense to score more if the game will be a game with lots of scoring situations.

The best side for me as a national coach: more scoring situations means more offensive decisions have to be made. That is a wonderful learning situation for players. Do not mistake me, I still want teams that have sloppy decision making to be slaughtered by strong counter attack teams. I just do not want to see defenders playing thirteen passes to each other without actually looking forward.

Teams with ideas that are seen from the stands.

One of my proudest moments in sports was when a TV commentator said that you could strip the Pixbo players colors off and let them play as silhouettes, you would still immediately see that it is Pixbo who is playing on the court. I thought that was great. As a team we wanted to create something new. A team that could hurt the opponents in many ways, by playing offense. It proved to me, that we were getting somewhere.

It will take a lot for someone, to get me to criticize a coach with an obvious idea. The chess part of the game is ridiculously fun! If I see a floorball coach putting his idea and vision to the test, that is his right to do. Even though I would find the idea extremely bad tactically, I would rather see a bad idea than no idea.

From a supporter standpoint, I also think that it is a lot easier to scream your lungs out in support of a team who obviously have thought of what they want to do. Not what someone else did a couple of years ago.

TACTICAL EDGES OF MY TOP 4 TEAMS

Wiler Ersigen
I have seen Wiler play the Superfinal and some games during the end of the summer. I have the deepest respect for how they can modify their defense and offense around center Matthias Hofbauer. They can come at you steering from any direction, and they are probably able to dust off the old and very effective Thomas Berger-man-man if called upon. And they have - in my opinion - one of the tactically smartest floorball players in the world in Tatu Väänänen. Wiler Ersigen is the only team among my top 4 picks that has a new coach. It will be interesting to see what Olle Thorsell decides to do with his team tactically. This team will never be without tools, tactically as well as player wise. And the Wiler players I have been in contact with are all interested in tactics - a big bonus.

Alligator Malans
This one is of course a no-brainer: these guys are capable of going pressing as an underdog in the first Superfinal ever in Switzerland. It takes some balls to do that, and I love it. There is no more secure way of making sure that a game will have more interesting situations, then a team pressing furiously. They also have a lot of options in their team, with several high quality centers and lots of players who could play on different positions. Coaching against a team that possesses so many weapons tactically is really hard. It is hard to prepare a game plan if you do not know how they will come at you. And working out how to do it during the game, can get ruined two shifts later, when they have changed their line-up or gone down to playing two lines.

Grasshoppers Zürich
I really like the aggressiveness of Grasshoppers defense. I think we will rarely see them outplayed this season. That makes up a very strong build up for a team. They give their opponents no time to rest on court, forcing them to be heads up and make good decisions right of the bat. That is how I have always felt about my own teams. The other team should know that they have to be on top, otherwise they will have a long night. Other interesting tactical things are of course the positioning of Christoph Meier. They guy has potential of being a wizard regardless of if he is a defender, a center or a winger. With Kim Nilsson on the court, all opponents will have to face him with their normal system, giving him room to do his magic. Or they will have to alter it just for playing GC, which is a tough move. Grasshoppers will have to find ways to benefit more from Kims surrounding, when teams do just that.

Floorball Köniz
Just like Wiler, Köniz could steer their m-system from left and right, making them unpredictable in that way. They will have three lines that can hurt you. There is obvious chemistry between Manuel Maurer and Raphael Berweger, as well as between Christian Kjellman and Jens Frejd. And if you play them like that, you can put some of the floorball world’s most sensitive wrists in Emanuel Antener around them, or put him with Jonas Ledergerber. Lot of options. René Berliat will have an idea for each and every game, meaning that they will also be on a mission every time.

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_{David Jansson}

The Author:
David Jansson (1980) has been the Coach of the Swiss National team since June 2015. Already as a 17-year old, he debuted in the SSL (Swedish highest division) and between years 1995-2005 he had played for 3 different clubs  - Jönköpings, Älvstranden and Pixbo. His coaching career includes two years as head coach of the swiss club Floorball Köniz (2009-2011) as well as four years by Pixbo Wallenstam. He had also worked as the sports teacher at the floorball gymnasium in Gothenburg. He lives in Kloten.