Story by Simon Barrow, Red Bulls Development School Manager

Paul Marco stands in front of a packed media room at Red Bull Arena, the afternoon before the New York Red Bulls take on seven-time Ligue 1 champions, Olympique Lyonnais.

“Who’s here to see someone famous?” he asks, slowly, and humbly raising his arm. His audience follows suit, eagerly sharing his excitement for the guest presenter soon to appear at the microphone.

But this isn’t your typical media room audience. The photographers and journalists who normally populate this venue are notable for their absence. Instead, the room is filled with enthusiastic soccer coaches, shuffling anxiously in their seats.

Furthermore, the “someone famous” everyone has come to see, isn’t your typical pre-match press conference guest. Rather than anticipating the arrival of Thierry Henry or Tim Cahill, some of the most recognizable faces in Major League Soccer. This audience is instead here to hear one of the brains that make the Red Bulls tick--Andy Roxburgh, Sporting Director for the Red Bulls. Since he arrived in New York, Roxburgh has been a major influence in the club’s charge towards the upper echelons of the MLS.

If Marco was entirely honest, he’d concede that the group was there to see him too, but in this moment of modesty, he’s all too willing to dodge the limelight.

Roxburgh, former manager of the Scottish national team, and Technical Director for UEFA for almost 20 years, and Marco, head coach of Binghamton University and senior member of the NSCAA Academy staff – together form the star-studded panel for NSCAA’s special topics event, titled “Reading of the Game." Speaking in front of a standing-room only, capacity crowd of 50 soccer coaches from all levels of the game, they are here to share their experiences in interpreting and evaluating the maelstrom that is professional soccer.

Marco opens the seminar, asking his audience to consider the 5 W’s and 1 H, when evaluating 90 minutes of soccer; specifically he talks of the who, what, when, where, why, and how of the game. His presentation focuses on identifying soccer’s finer nuances, and considering the different perspectives from where they might be perceived, both on and off the field. He discusses how to evaluate the game, and perhaps more importantly, how to present this information to coaches and players alike, in order to enhance understanding and affect change.

Roxburgh follows Marco, sharing his own perspectives on the game, whilst mixing in a range of anecdotes collected over 50 years as a world class player and coach. Roxburgh’s anecdotes, however, are not like yours or mine. While the central characters of our favorite stories may be relative unknowns, his are from world famous coaches in the mold of Mourinho, Benitez, and Houllier, or all-time great players of the ilk of a Xavi and Maradona. Engaging an adult audience as if they were toddlers awaiting a bedtime story, he recounts with eerie clarity an occasion where one of his intricately planned and perfectly formed defensive walls failed to defend one of Maradona’s free kicks. When asking his awe-struck players why they had turned their backs on the ball as it had been struck, the collective response was that “…we wanted to see the goal, boss."

Following the two presentations, the participants on this exclusive course proceed to the playing field, to watch the warm-ups from the most intimate perspective available. The speed and unerring accuracy with which Lyon conduct their warm up routine demonstrates that they are well into their pre-season preparations, and are ready to take on the Red Bulls with an intensity that belies the game’s exhibition title.

As the candidates retreat to their vantage point in the stands, what follows is a hard-fought, fractious opening thirty minutes in which both teams trade goals (and caution cards) in a closely matched 1-1 first half. After a halftime debrief among the candidates, a slightly more subdued second half ensues, with both teams making multiple substitutes as they look to save their legs for later competitive fixtures. Despite heat that flirts with the 100-degree mark, both teams also find the net again in the second half, leading to a final score of 2-2.

At the conclusion of the game, the candidates regroup in one of Red Bull Arena’s state-of-the-art dressing rooms to pick the bones out of the events they have just witnessed, with the benefit of the insight of their two guest presenters. Having seen the game through an adjusted set of lenses, they leave Red Bull Arena with a new perspective to share with their players, and some great after dinner stories.

For more information on the Red Bulls youth system visit www.redbullsacademy.com. For the full match report, click here.

The NSCAA Academy conducts Special Topics Courses periodically in different parts of the country, as well as special clinics at various events, including the annual NSCAA Convention. In addition to the aforementioned course hosted by the Red Bulls, other examples of Special Topics courses include zonal defending, sports psychology, striker play, and management of soccer programs. For more information or to sign up for a Special Topics course, visit the course homepage.

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