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. 5D AGO

    #191 Representative design: does your training really reflect the game?

    Welcome to the Progressão podcast. In this episode, we continue our journey from drills and games, through situations, and now into one of the key concepts of ecological dynamics: representative design. In football, training often looks organised, structured, and even very “game-like”. But does it truly represent the demands players face in matches?  In this episode, we explore how learning depends on the relationship between the player and the environment, especially on the information available, how it is perceived, and how action emerges from it. We discuss key ideas such as perception–action coupling and action fidelity, and why even small differences in timing, spacing, or pressure can completely change player behaviour. Through practical examples, from finishing and pressing to rondos and positional games, we reflect on why some exercises transfer to the game, while others only appear to. Representative design is about identifying the essential elements of football situations and bringing those into training in a meaningful way. Articles mentioned in the episode: Pinder, R. A., Davids, K., Renshaw, I., & Araújo, D. (2011). Representative learning design and functionality of research and practice in sport. Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 33(1), 146–155. Full article Headrick, J., Renshaw, I., Davids, K., Pinder, R. A., & Araújo, D. (2015). The dynamics of expertise acquisition in sport: The role of affective learning design. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 16(Part 1), 83–90. Full article 🌍 More at progressao.fi 🐦 Follow us on X and Instagram: @progressaofi

    14 min

  2. MAY 5

    #190 Beyond small-sided games: train the situation

    Welcome to the Progressão podcast. In our previous episode, we questioned the common debate around drills versus games and explored whether this is the right way to understand training in football. This week, we take the discussion further and focus on small-sided games and situation-based exercises. Small-sided games are widely used in modern coaching and are often seen as an ideal way to train the game. But are they always representative of what actually happens in matches? In this episode, we explore some of the limitations of small-sided games, from differences in distances and timing to how pressure is experienced in real situations. From there, we introduce another approach that may complement small-sided games: situation-based exercises. Football is not just a continuous flow, it is made up of recurring situations. Build up under pressure, press releases, lateral penetration, defending crosses. These moments appear again and again, and becoming skilful means learning to act effectively within them. Through concrete examples, we discuss how training can be designed to reflect these situations more closely, connecting players to meaningful information in the game environment. 🌍 More at progressao.fi 🐦 Follow us on X and Instagram: @progressaofi

    15 min

  3. APR 28

    #189 Drills vs games: a false debate?

    Welcome to the Progressão podcast. In this episode, we take on one of the most common debates in football coaching: drills versus games. Should players first learn technique through repetition, and then apply it in the game? Or should learning take place directly through game-like situations? These questions are often discussed as if they represent two separate methods. But in this episode, we suggest that this might be the wrong way to look at training altogether. Building on our earlier discussions around ecological dynamics and skill, we explore how different theoretical perspectives — especially information-processing and ecological approaches — shape the way coaches design training. We discuss why the distinction between drills and games can be misleading, how the same exercise can be understood in very different ways, and why learning in football may be better understood as a holistic, relational process rather than a collection of isolated parts. 🌍 More at progressao.fi 🐦 Follow us on X and Instagram: @progressaofi

    12 min

  4. APR 21

    #188 Game intelligence: back to nature

    Welcome to the Progressão podcast. In Episode 187, we opened the discussion around game intelligence by revisiting the more traditional definitions of the concept — a view where game intelligence is often treated as a separate cognitive component involving perception, anticipation, and decision-making.  This week, we take the discussion further. Or perhaps more accurately, we take it back to nature. What if game intelligence is not something that sits inside the player as a separate mental component? What if skilful action is better understood through the relationship between the player and the environment? In this episode, we use examples from nature — plants, box jellyfish, and wolves — to challenge the idea that intelligence must always be brain-based. From there, we move into the ecological view of football, where perception and action are inseparable, and where skill emerges through attunement to meaningful information in the environment.  Drawing especially from two key propositions, we argue that game intelligence is the ability to establish a meaningful connection with the environment, and that skill learning is the process of becoming attuned to ecological information and organising action within an information-rich world.  From Jari Litmanen to affordances, direct perception, and the human–environment system, this episode continues our journey toward understanding football as a living, relational, and deeply ecological phenomenon. Further reading from the ideas discussed in this episode: Bielecki, J., Dam Nielsen, S. K., Nachman, G., & Garm, A. (2023). Associative learning in the box jellyfish Tripedalia cystophora. Current Biology. Gable, T. D., Homkes, A. T., Johnson-Bice, S. M., Windels, S. K., & Bump, J. K. (2021). Wolves choose ambushing locations to counter and capitalize on the sensory abilities of their prey. Behavioral Ecology, 32(2), 339–348. Mech, L. D., Smith, D. W., & MacNulty, D. R. (2015). Wolves on the Hunt. University of Chicago Press. Segundo‐Ortin, M., & Calvo, P. (2022). Consciousness and cognition in plants. WIREs Cognitive Science, 13(2). 🌍 More at progressao.fi 🐦 Follow us on X and Instagram: @progressaofi

    12 min

  5. APR 14

    #187 Game intelligence

    Welcome to the Progressão podcast. This week, we open a discussion around one of the most used, and perhaps least clearly understood, concepts in football: game intelligence. What do we actually mean when we say that a player has great game intelligence? Is it the ability to see passes others do not see? To position intelligently? To make the right decision at the right time? In football, terms such as game intelligence, game understanding, and decision making are used constantly, yet there is still no clear consensus on what they truly mean. In this episode, we explore both the traditional and the more contemporary ways of understanding the concept. We discuss older cognitive definitions that frame game intelligence as a separate mental component involving perception, anticipation, and decision-making, and contrast these with ecological perspectives that view skill as something emerging in the ongoing relationship between player and environment. From players like Jari Litmanen to deeper philosophical questions about perception and action, this episode asks what skill actually is in the game. Is game intelligence something inside the brain? Or is it better understood as skilful attunement to the game itself? A foundational episode in our ongoing series on football as a complex and ecological phenomenon. 🌍 More at progressao.fi 🐦 Follow us on X and Instagram: @progressaofi

    12 min

  6. APR 7

    #186 DISCUSSÃO MUNDO: Jarkko Tuomisto – skill, groove, and the game

    Welcome to Discussão, our monthly episode where we explore skill, learning, and human performance with leading voices from sport, science, and beyond. In this episode, we are joined by Jarkko Tuomisto, a top goalkeeper coach whose journey from Finland has taken him across continents, leagues, and football cultures, from Aspire Academy and Ajax Amsterdam to Independiente del Valle and İstanbul Başakşehir. Together, we explore Jarkko’s inspiring path to the international game, and how different football environments have shaped his understanding of skill and coaching. The conversation moves into the world of goalkeeping: how situations are constantly changing, how different contexts create different action possibilities, and why skill in goalkeeping cannot be reduced to technique alone. We also discuss representativeness and variability in training, the goalkeeper’s role in build up, and what skilful coaching really means in a complex, ever-changing environment. Along the way, we step outside football and into music. Through rhythm, groove, and the idea that skill lives in interaction rather than isolated technique, music offers a powerful lens for understanding learning and performance. At the heart of the episode is a simple but powerful idea: skill is not about technique in isolation, but about interacting with the environment. A rich conversation on coaching, music, perception, adaptation, and the lifelong pursuit of becoming more skilful. 🌍 More about Progressão at progressao.fi 🐦 Follow us on X and Instagram: @progressaofi

    44 min

  7. MAR 31

    #185 Pelada: naked football environments

    In this episode of the Progressão podcast, we continue our exploration of learning environments by turning to something simple, yet powerful: pelada. Pelada is informal football that is played in streets, beaches, backyards, wherever space allows. The word itself means “naked”, and that captures something essential. These are environments without structure, without coaches, without predefined systems. And yes, full of life. We explore what makes these environments so rich for becoming skilful. From variable surfaces and changing teams to improvised rules and shared responsibility, pelada offers a different kind of learning. It's the one where players adapt, explore, and grow within the game itself. We also connect this to wider football culture, looking at how environments shape creativity, decision-making, and the way players relate to the game. Let's play! 🌍 More about Progressão at progressao.fi 🐦 Follow us on X and Instagram: @progressaofi

    9 min

  8. MAR 24

    #184 Environment and culture in enskilment

    In this episode of the Progressão podcast, we continue our discussion on enskilment. This time we focus on the role of environment and culture in becoming skilful. What kind of environments do players grow in? And how do those environments shape the way they perceive and act? We explore skill as something that develops within a human–environment system, where surroundings, people, history, and culture are all deeply intertwined. From different football cultures around the world to everyday training environments, we look at how variation in context creates variation in skill. We also reflect on atmosphere, shared ways of playing, and how culture lives in the details — in how we move, what we value, and what we recognise as “good football”. At the centre of the episode is a simple but important idea: If we want better players, we need better environments. This episode continues our series on becoming skilful, where skill is understood as a relational, ecological, and cultural phenomenon. 🌍 More about Progressão at progressao.fi 🐦 Follow us on X and Instagram: @progressaofi

    9 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
    191
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Progressão
  • Show Website
    Progressão

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