Progressão

Jani Sarajärvi & Jussi-Pekka Savolainen
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Progressão is a book, a podcast, and a long-term thinking project focused on football, learning, and skilful human behaviour. Our work approaches football from a complex, holistic, and ecological perspective, where players and all football actors are understood as living beings always in correspondence with their environment.

  1. 2 DAYS AGO

    #183 Teaching and learning in enskilment

    In this episode of the Progressão podcast, we continue our exploration of enskilment and turn our focus toward what this perspective means for teaching and learning. In the previous episode, we introduced enskilment as a way of understanding how skills develop through active engagement with the environment. Drawing from the work of anthropologist Tim Ingold and the ecological psychology of James Gibson, enskilment invites us to see skill not as something stored inside the individual, but as something that grows in the relationship between the person and the world. Now we ask a practical question: what does this mean for coaching and teaching? If skill develops through participation in meaningful environments, then the role of the coach is not simply to transfer knowledge or correct movements. Instead, teaching becomes a process of guiding attention, shaping learning environments, and helping players become more sensitive to the information that matters in the game. In this episode we discuss how teaching and learning can be supported through exploration and experience, and how coaches can “walk along with” players in the process of becoming skilful. We also reflect on the role of mistakes, the balance between freedom and guidance in coaching, and how richer learning environments — including interactions across age groups and experiences — may support deeper development in football. This episode continues our series on becoming skilful, where we explore skill as a holistic human–environment phenomenon. 🌍 More about Progressão at progressao.fi 🐦 Follow us on X and Instagram: @progressaofi

    13 min

  2. 10 MAR

    #182 Enskilment: growing into skill

    In this episode of the Progressão podcast, we begin a new series on becoming skilful in football and in human life. We explore the concept of enskilment, developed especially by anthropologist Tim Ingold and rooted in James Gibson’s ecological psychology. Enskilment invites us to see skill as something that grows through participation in a living world. We explore how becoming skilful is a process of deepening sensitivity and responsiveness to the environment. Like said, "learning is inseparable from doing, doing is inseparable from place." In football, this means understanding skill as an attunement to teammates, opponents, space, time, rhythm, and culture. A press or a dribble is not merely a technique, but a coordination within a human–environment system. Skill grows within a cultural ecology: the games we play as children, the environments we train in, the values we celebrate, and the rhythms that affect to our footballing world. This episode lays the foundation for the next ones in the series, where we will explore more deeply the role of environment, culture, and practice in the lifelong process of becoming skilful. 🌍 More at progressao.fi 🐦 Follow us on X and Instagram: @progressaofi

    9 min

  3. 3 MAR

    #181 DISCUSSÃO MUNDO: Duarte Araújo – ecological dynamics and skill learning in football

    Welcome to Progressão. As Progressão now continues fully in English, we are revisiting some of our earlier Discussão Mundo conversations — episodes that were especially meaningful, widely listened to, and that still feel highly relevant today. This episode is one of those. Here, we speak with Professor Duarte Araújo, Director of the Laboratory of Expertise in Sport at the University of Lisbon and one of the key voices in ecological dynamics and complex systems in sport. In this conversation, we explore complex systems thinking, the origins and development of Ecological dynamics, the work of James Gibson, and what these ideas mean for skill learning and coaching — especially in football. Many of the ideas that shape Progressão today have been influenced by Professor Duarte’s work and by the broader Ecological dynamics community. That is why this episode still feels particularly important. We are very happy to share this conversation again. At the same time, new Discussão episodes are on the way, with fresh conversations that continue to explore football, skill, and human behaviour from a complex and relational perspective. For now, we welcome Professor Duarte Araújo. 🌍 More about Progressão at progressao.fi 🐦 Follow us on X and Instagram: @progressaofi

    46 min

  4. 24 FEB

    #180 Football as a complex phenomenon: sub-groups and local coordination

    In this episode of the Progressão podcast, we continue our exploration of football as a complex phenomenon, focusing on sub-groups and local coordination. Beyond the game and team levels, football performance also emerges within smaller units: defensive lines, midfield triangles, or players operating on one side of the pitch. At this scale, what matters is how players coordinate their movements in relation to space, opponents, and one another. We explore how local coordination develops through coordinated action, allowing sub-groups to function less like separate individuals and more like integrated systems. Using examples such as defensive line behaviour and compact collective movement, we examine how synchronised action shapes the wider dynamics of the game. The episode also reflects on the difference between principles and automatisms in team play, and begins to bridge toward the player level, showing how even individual actions are deeply relational and embedded within the larger system. This episode continues to build the central idea of the series: football is a living, dynamic phenomenon, where behaviour emerges through coordination across interconnected levels. 🌍 More at progressao.fi 🐦 Follow us on X and Instagram: @progressaofi

    9 min

  5. 17 FEB

    #179 Football as a complex phenomenon: game logic and team dynamics

    In this episode of the Progressão podcast, we continue our exploration of football as a complex phenomenon, focusing on the internal logic of the game and how this logic shapes team-level dynamics. Football is often described through phases of play or isolated tactical actions. From a complex systems perspective, however, the game can be understood as a continuous interaction between two teams, each trying to progress toward its goals while simultaneously preventing the opponent from doing so. From this interaction, different kinds of dynamics emerge: continuity and disruption, flow and interruption, order and disorder. In this episode, we explore how football unfolds through changing states of the game, rather than clearly separated phases. We discuss ideas such as game flow, stability and instability, risk and safety, and phase transitions, using concrete examples ranging from wave-like attacks to chaotic situations near the ball. These moments are not random, but constrained by the internal logic of the game and the interaction between players, space, time, and rules. From there, we move to the team level. We examine how teams organise themselves structurally and functionally, how formations and collective actions shape what is possible on the pitch, and how recognisable ways of playing emerge over time. Playing style is discussed as a way of making sense of football’s complexity, helping coaches and players navigate a rich and constantly changing environment. The episode also highlights how team-level organisation influences behaviour at smaller scales, preparing the ground for the next episode, where we will focus more closely on sub-groups and local coordination. This episode deepens the foundation for understanding football not as a sequence of isolated phases, but as a living, dynamic system, where game logic and team behaviour are inseparable. Further reading mentioned in the episode Gréhaigne, J. F., & Godbout, P. (2014). Dynamic Systems Theory and Team Sport Coaching. Quest, 66(1), 96–116. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/00336297.2013.814577 ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/272119838_Dynamic_Systems_Theory_and_Team_Sport_Coaching 🌍 More at progressao.fi 🐦 Follow us on X: @progressaofi

    9 min

  6. 10 FEB

    #178 Football as a complex phenomenon: game scales

    Welcome to the Progressão podcast. Today’s episode starts our discussion on football as a complex phenomenon. This time, we focus especially on the different levels, or scales, of the game. Football is often analysed by breaking it into parts: phases of play, technical actions, tactical structures, or physical demands. While these perspectives can be useful, they can also fragment our understanding of the game. In this episode, we take a different view. We look at football as a complex adaptive system, where many elements continuously correspond with one another, and where behaviour emerges across different, interconnected levels. We discuss the game level, the team level, the sub-group level, and the player level, using the idea of scales to explore how the same game can be understood differently depending on where we place our focus. Like looking at a forest from afar, from within, or up close, each perspective reveals something different — yet it is always the same forest. We also question some traditional ways of structuring the game, such as strict phase-based models and clear separations between attacking and defending. Instead, we explore how intentions, dynamics, and capacities overlap and evolve throughout a match. This episode sets an important foundation for understanding football not as a collection of isolated actions, but as a living, dynamic phenomenon that unfolds across multiple, interconnected levels. Thank you for listening. You can follow our work at progressao.fi and on X and Instagram at @progressaofi.

    11 min

  7. 3 FEB

    #177 DISCUSSÃO MUNDO: Niklas Moisander – build up and relationist football

    Discussão Mundo Revisited Before we begin, a short note on why we’re sharing this episode again. As Progressão now continues fully in English, we also want to revisit and republish some of our earlier Discussão Mundo episodes — conversations that were listened to the most and that still feel highly relevant today. This episode is one of those. Here, we speak with Niklas Moisander, former captain of the Finnish national team and a player whose career spans Europe’s top leagues and teams such as AFC Ajax. At the time of this conversation, Niklas was playing for Malmö FF, working under head coach Henrik Rydström. Niklas has always been an exceptional player in build up, known for his calmness on the ball and his ability to read the game. And at that moment, Malmö were developing a very distinctive way of playing, often described as relationist or unpositional football, where relationships between players matter more than fixed positions. That combination made this conversation especially rich. We talked about build up, relational ways of playing, and how a team’s playing style shapes what skill actually looks like in the game. These themes are very much at the centre of current football discussions, which is why this episode still feels relevant and fresh. So whether this is your first time listening, or you’re returning to this conversation, we’re very happy to share it again. We welcome Niklas Moisander.

    47 min

  8. 27 JAN

    #176 Too much technique? Generic forcing in football

    What happens when players become highly technical, but less effective in the game? In this episode of the Progressão podcast, we introduce generic forcing, a concept we developed to describe behaviour where players try to impose rehearsed technical solutions onto the game, instead of adapting their behaviour to what the situation actually offers. We explore how generic forcing emerges when technique is learned and practiced without sufficient connection to real game information. We draw parallels from jazz improvisation, where copying and forcing learned patterns can break the flow of music, and connect this to football training environments that emphasise repetition over adaptation. We also discuss observations from elite youth development, including recent changes at one of Sweden’s most successful ice hockey academies, where players had become technically sharper but less adaptable in the game itself. Through examples ranging from street football to elite-level players, we argue that technique is not the problem. The problem arises when players lose their connection to the game environment. This episode invites coaches, players, and educators to reflect on a fundamental question: Are we training players to repeat solutions, or to find them? Progressão is a book, a podcast, and a long-term thinking project focused on football, learning, and human behaviour from a complex, holistic, and ecological perspective. 🌍 More at progressao.fi 🐦📸 Follow us on X and Instagram: @progressaofi

    11 min
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About

Progressão is a book, a podcast, and a long-term thinking project focused on football, learning, and skilful human behaviour. Our work approaches football from a complex, holistic, and ecological perspective, where players and all football actors are understood as living beings always in correspondence with their environment.

Information

  • Creator
    Jani Sarajärvi & Jussi-Pekka Savolainen
  • Years Active
    2022 - 2026
  • Episodes
    183
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Progressão
  • Show Website
    Progressão

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