HOW A FIRST DIVISION TEAM WORKS DURING A MATCH WEEK: THE PROFESSIONAL METHODOLOGY OF RCD ESPANYOL

1. The coaching staff as a family: the invisible basis of success

Manolo González defines it clearly:

“The coaching staff is vital, you have to choose well, especially in the human sphere… without them I am nothing.”.

In professional football, the coaching staff is not a set of isolated specialists: it isa cohesive human unit, where trust, communication and the ability to anticipate are as important as tactical knowledge.

At Espanyol, the roles are perfectly defined:

• Assistant:Gerard Garrido

• Physical trainers:Dani Parra and David Martín

• Analysts:David Llobet and César del Pozo

• Goalkeeper coach:Josep Pascual

This structure allows each professional to contribute their experience without invading the role of the other. Decisions are made jointly, but each person has autonomy to carry out their work.

What you can learn as a coach:

• Define clear roles in your staff, even if it is small.

• Create spaces for daily communication: 10–15 minutes of sharing before training.

• Prioritize the human: a united staff transmits stability and clarity to the players.

• Assess complementary profiles: tactical observer, finishing coach, analysis manager, physical coordinator...

Heleadership distributionIt is fundamental in modern football.

2. The weekly microcycle: how a game week is built

As physical trainer Dani Parra explains:

“We schedule the week based on the analysts, what and how they want to work.”.

In the First Division, the week is organized inloading blocks, tactical stimulus and recovery, all connected with the analysis of the rival. Nothing is improvised; Each session responds to an exact objective within the match plan.

Standard example of the competitive microcycle:

Monday – Regenerative + introduction to the rival

• Light physical work or active recovery.

• First short video of the rival: general trends, base structure.

Tuesday – High load + offensive and defensive behaviors

• High intensity exercises (peak load).

• Line work, tilts, ball release, positional attacks or transitions.

Wednesday – Average load + analysis of plays

• Sessions applied to specific behaviors detected by analysts.

• Collective tactical work and corrections.

Thursday – Moderate/low load + strategy

• Offensive and defensive set piece test.

• Tactical review and automation.

Friday – Tune-up + emotional activation

• Short session, focused on precision.

• Essential tactical reminders (2–4 key ideas).

• Mental preparation: concentration, motivation, stress management.

Adaptation for grassroots football:

The players have school, less carrying capacity and fewer days of training.
Still, you can replicate the logic:

• Day 1:recovery + short video

• Day 2:strong tactical content

• Day 3:strategy + reduced game

• Day 4 (if available):activation and review

The key is not to copy the intensity, but thelogical structure of the process.

3. Individualization and monitoring of the load: the player as the center

David Martín sums it up like this:

“The player's feelings have a strong weight on the field.”.

Nowadays, professional clubs combine technology (GPS, load control, heart rate monitoring...) with the player's subjective perception.
Every footballer has oneindividual tabwhere they register:

• Training load

• Muscle status

• Sleep quality

• Perception of fatigue

• Pain level

• Recovery time

This allows the sessions to be adapted according to the player's condition, avoid injuries and plan precisely who arrives at the game in the best conditions.

How to apply it without technology:

• Daily question: “How do you feel from 1 to 10?”

• Write down discomfort or fatigue in a notebook or Excel.

• Adjusted exercises: a very fatigued player should not do high intensity series.

• Observe patterns: If a player always arrives tired before games, change his weekly routine.

In modern football, the coach no longer directs “the team”: he directsto 20 different people within the team.

4. Rival analysis: converting data into decisions

Analyst César del Pozo insists:

“The 3–4 match ideas must penetrate the players.”.

In the First Division, the analysis of the rival is organized into three levels:

1. Complete report for the coaching staff.

   • Tactical trends

   • Game phases

   • Decisive players

   • Weak points detected

2. Summary report for players
   Brief, visual, direct.
   Players don't need all the information: just the essentials.

3. Individual reports
   For example:

   • How to pressure the rival winger

   • How to defend the opposite side

   • What movements does the forward make? reference

The objective is for each footballer to know exactlywhat will be found.

In grassroots football:

You don't need an analyst to apply these principles.

Can:

• Record a rival match with your mobile.

• Identify 3 offensive and 3 defensive habits.

• Prepare a 10 to 15 minute talk.

• Give clear instructions to your key players.

The analysis helps to anticipate the game, but also to generatetruston the player.

5. Game identity: attack, bother and defend with meaning

Manolo González explains a fundamental tactical idea:

“If when you steal, you attack and create danger, the rival ends up getting scared.”.

The professionals work so that the team has a clear identity:

On attack

• Aggression after robbery

• Quick connections

• Presence in the finishing area

• Rational occupation of spaces

In defense

• Prevent the opponent from playing comfortably in the creative zone.

• Direct the game towards areas of less danger

• Force the opponent to retreat

• Control of second plays

All of this is not born by spontaneous generation: it is trained every day in specific tasks.

Adapted to training categories:

• Teach your wingers to decide quickly after stealing.

• Work on recovery after loss.

• Generates habits: driving in, centering, attacking the first post...

• Teach a defender to orient the opponent towards the wing.

Identity is constructedrepeating behaviors, not with speeches.

6. Set pieces and goalkeepers: the details that win games

Set pieces are decisive in professional football: between 25% and 35% of the goals in a league come from these actions.

The work of RCD Espanyol includes:

• Offensive and defensive routines

• Variants of blocks, movements, zones.

• Jump times and marks

• Specific roles for each player

• Integration of the goalkeeper in defensive actions

The goalkeeper coach has his own microcycle, but always connected to the collective phases: footwork, start of play, positioning in the area, communication with the defense.

In lower categories:

• Rehearse corners and faults every week.

• Determine fixed roles: finisher, blocker, distractor.

• Involve the goalkeeper in exits and clearances.

• Without improvisations: the strategy is trained.

7. Communication and clarity: the message that arrives is more important than the message you give

César del Pozo explains it like this:

“The player receives a brief and clear report.”.

In professional football, the staff first meets and synthesizes all the information.
Then, the filtration into essential messages: two, three or four keys to the game.

Players should not go out onto the field with their heads full of data.
They must have three certainties:

1. What do we want to do

2. What we want to avoid

3. What should we constantly repeat

For grassroots coaches:

Always simplify.

• Don't give 10 instructions before the game: give2.

• Don't explain a complex system to the extreme: give ita behavioral key.

• Repeat ideas: repetition creates automatisms.

CONCLUSION: how to bring the professional method to your own team

Working as a First Division team does not require having the same resources, but it does require adopting the same principles:

• Organizethe week with logic.

• Define rolesin the staff.

• Analyze the rivalwith the available means.

• Take care of the playerindividually.

• Create an identityoffensive and defensive.

• Prepare strategyevery week.

• Communicate clearly.

Success does not depend only on the quality of the players, but on the coach's ability toorder, plan and leada process.

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