SoccerCoachWeeklyIssue 255 Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Take control of the box

1SoccerCoachWeekly Essential tools for your team

Defending and attacking transition in a tight space

It’s important to try to get players taking control of their actions when inside the penalty area. Team work is important but individual skills are really crucial – in both attacking and defending. So give your players the challenge of quick changes of direction, flicks, and feints, increasing space where it really matters.

How to play it• Set up as shown in the first diagram, dividing players into three equal teams.• One team plays on the outside of the area as neutrals – a player on each side. This team acts as support players for the team on the attack, but players are one touch and cannot shoot.• The other two teams operate inside the area – one attacking the goal, the other defending it.• Start the game with the keeper passing to a neutral player who decides which team he passes to. Players must organise quickly into offensive or defensive roles.• Attackers can combine with each other and the neutrals in attempting to score.• If a defender wins the ball he passes to a neutral. Upon receiving it back, his team becomes attackers, with their opponents now defenders.• Play for five minutes then change the neutral team.

Technique and tactics• Neutrals require good close control with an accurate pass to match. See how many different ways they can pass in from the edge of the box.• Can the attacking team make quick use of the ball? You could time the attacks to see which team is the quickest.• Defenders must work together to close down the area in front of goal. They should press when the ball isn’t in front of the goal, and look to tackle or intercept when it is.

A neutral player receives from the keeper, then passes in to either team, who attack

Defenders winning the ball must pass out to a neutral to become attackers

After five minutes, teams swap roles

TOOLS, TIPS AND TECHNIQUES

player movement ball movementshot

David Clarke Head Coach, Soccer Coach Weekly

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SoccerCoachWeekly WARM UP

One-two link-upsHow to play it• Mark out two lines which are 10 yards apart, and split players into two groups.

• On each side, players wait in rows, facing the other group.

• The player at the front of group A passes the ball to his opposite man in group B.

• He then follows his pass, joining the back of group B.

• The receiving player takes a touch to control the ball, then passes long to the new player who has moved to the front of the other queue.

• He too follows his pass and the move continues.

Technique and tactics• Each player must focus on a good first touch, an accurate pass and then an immediate sprint to the back of the opposite group.

• After a while, limit the move to one-touch, then gradually close the gap between groups until it is just one yard apart.

Players at the front of group A lines pass to the men at the front of group B lines

They follow their passes, as the men at the front of group B control and pass back, enabling the move to continue

A handy tip Getting your players to use their

hands instead of their feet in training ground moves is a way of focusing their concentration on positional play, movement and space. Almost straight away, you’ll find them moving, communicating and having fun, and the pace will be electric.

Giving them the chance to take on board some key ideas about working for position will mean that, when you progress to the ball being at their feet, they’ll apply what they’ve learnt and will be more confident in technical and positional play.

SoccerCoachWeekly Essential tools for your team

Soccer Coach Weekly is published by Green Star Media Ltd, Meadow View, Tannery Lane, Bramley, Guildford, GU5 0AB, UK. Email: david.clarke@coach-soccer.com Tel: +44 (0)1483 892894 Head Coach: David Clarke Editor: James Evans Publisher: Kevin Barrow Managing Director: Andrew Griffiths

Customer Service: Duncan Heard Designer: Steve Southern Contributors: Michael Beale, Alan Cavish, Phil Davies, Troy Farris, David Lewis, Nolan Pawson, Steve Watson © Green Star Media Ltd. All rights reserved.

Phil Davies Coach, Total Soccer Fitness

10yds

15yds

player movement ball movement

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Michael Beale Premier League Academy soccer coach

Playing with the hands means players can concentrate on movement and space rather than ball control

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SoccerCoachWeekly FOOTY4KIDS

Switch and scoreHow to play it• This game, for players aged eight and upwards, really improves players’ ability to switch play and make game-defining decisions.• There is one rule: players can’t score in a goal if there is someone standing behind it. • Set up as shown in the first diagram, with three coned goals – each five yards wide – on both sides. I’ve used four players per team in the example given, but you can use five or even three on each side.• Each team attacks and defends three of the goals.• You stand at one end of the pitch behind the goals and an assistant stands at the other end. You need to block off whichever goal you think will be targeted next. • If the ball goes out of play on the long sides, restart with a throw-in. If a shot misses the target at the ends, the coach or assistant restarts.• The first team to score five goals wins the game.

Technique and tactics• Players will love making the coaches scamper along the line, trying to stop them shooting! • Players need to play with their heads up at all times.• They must work the ball around quickly and cleverly in order to find the empty goal.• Communication is key – both with their own team mates and the coach/assistant behind the goal.

Teams set up looking to attack the three opposition goals… whilst defending their own!

The team in possession switches the ball to the left and scores in the unguarded goal

SoccerCoachWeekly Essential tools for your team

Here the defending team protects all three goals at once, and a blocked shot enables them to counter-attack

Steve Watson Editor, Footy4kids.co.uk

A GREAT PHYSICAL

WORK-OUT!

30yds

40yds

player movement ball movementshot

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

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SoccerCoachWeekly TOUCHLINE TALES

A long ball isn’t always a bad ball

SoccerCoachWeekly Essential tools for your team

Watching my Under-11s play at the weekend reminded me that a long ball can be really effective when it comes to creating space in midfield. Sound silly? Let me explain...

We were playing against a tough-tackling midfield-heavy outfit. It was near half-time and we hadn’t even produced a meaningful shot on goal. The opposition had been pressing us hard in midfield and our fast passing game was hitting a brick wall.

I could see my players were getting frustrated with being unable to get the ball through the midfield – that was, until one of my centre-backs decided to take the game into his own hands, and punted a ball over the midfield and behind the opposition defence. One of my forwards eagerly took it in his stride and found the back of the net – fantastic!

The opposition then had a problem in deciding how to defend against the type of ball that had caught them out. After a couple more lobs over the top, they had to pull players out of midfield. Reacting to that, we quickly reverted back to our fast passing game, and the success we know that brings.

The long ball isn’t pretty, but used tactically it can be very effective. And I have to admit I had nothing to do with instigating it – it was my players’ frustation that led to them formulating their own instinctive solution, and that’s something a coach always likes to see.

Players need to be aware of all sorts of things in matches and space is a certainly one of them. If they are struggling to find space then they need to do something to create it – individually, by losing markers, or as a unit, by stretching play.

After all, if you watch passing teams like Barcelona or Brazil you will see them pinging long passes forwards or sideways to lose the predictability of their set-up play. So even for the best in the world, a long ball maybe isn’t such a bad thing!

Try it for your team when you feel they can profit from switching things about.

And when they’ve mastered that approach, encourage them to switch back and forth between methods of play – the opposition will find it really hard to keep up.

“The long ball isn’t pretty, but used tactically it can

be very effective.”

Sussing out successThere are good reasons for not

measuring a youth soccer coach’s success in terms of a win/loss ratio. For instance, a coach can prepare his team perfectly, they can outplay the opposition, but still lose.

Alternatively, a coach who has a squad of naturally gifted players may do nothing with them, and his team will still win matches.

It might be better to define success by remembering these essential points:

Fun - do your players smile? If you ask them ‘did you have fun today at training?’ do they say ‘yes’?

Work ethic - do you encourage and reward players who try hard, regardless of the result of their efforts? Does your team always play to the best of its ability?

Fair play - do your players understand the difference between fair and unfair play? Can you honestly say they never try to cheat?

Fitness - is your training designed to make your players as fit as they can be? Do you encourage your players to eat healthily?

Friendship - are your players friendly with each other? Have they made new friends through playing soccer?

Skills - have your players learned new skills?

Retention - do your players stay with the team year after year, regardless of results?

Responsibility taking - do your players take responsibility for their own actions?

No fear - do your players take risks without worrying that they might be criticised?

If you answered ‘yes’ to all or most of these, I suggest you can consider yourself to be a successful soccer coach. If you can answer ‘yes’ to only a few, don’t worry. Decide on the coaching methods you need to change and implement them.

David Clarke Head Coach, Soccer Coach Weekly

Steve Watson Editor, Footy4kids.co.uk

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Is kids’ happiness

the ultimate measure of

a coach’s success?

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SoccerCoachWeekly SMALL-SIDED GAME

Four goals, 10 attacksHow to play it• In a 30x20-yard area, set up as shown in the diagram – a middle start zone and attacking zones on either side, with goals at the end.

• One team of four works as the attackers. The other team – split into pairs – works as defenders.

• The ball is served into the attackers who attack using a 4v2 overload.

• When an attack finishes, they move back to the middle zone, receive a new ball, then attack the other goal.

• The attacking team has 10 consecutive attacks - five at each end.

• When the 10 attacks are completed, the score is counted and the roles are reversed.

Technique and tactics• Attackers should always score with a 4v2 overload, use good running, overlaps and show awareness of space.

• As attacks progress, defenders should gain a better idea of their opponents’ moves. Attackers will also begin to tire given the non-stop nature of the game.

• Defenders should look to move attackers to the sides and away from goal.

To begin, the ball is passed into the attacking team who start in the middle zone

They must immediately attack one of the goals, using their numerical advantage to create chances

SoccerCoachWeekly Essential tools for your team

At the end of the move, they restart, now attacking the opposite goal

Michael Beale Premier League Academy soccer coach

30yds

30yds

ball movementrun with ball shot

A GREAT GAME FOR

IMPROVING STAMINA

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

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SoccerCoachWeekly YOUR SAYWednesday, March 14, 2012

TACKLED: Who’s your captain?

SoccerCoachWeekly Essential tools for your team

Nolan PawsonBrigg, Under-10s

Until Academy level, the role of the captain in a game isn’t hugely important, because most of the instructions come direct from the touchline. It’s a time when coaches can and should experiment because there’s not too much riding on the appointment of the captain.

Empowering kids so they understand the notion of responsibility is a great idea. It enables them to assert themselves, feel a core part of the team’s performance, and offers them the opportunity to develop their own thinking and decision-making.

Spreading the captaincy around means that all players feel equal, which is important for ensuring resentment or cliques in the squad don’t develop.

It’s important to push players into new situations, and the captaincy is one such situation. You wouldn’t allow a schoolchild to swerve the task of standing up in front of a classroom, so why should it be any different on the soccer pitch?

The captaincy can be used as a great reward for a player who goes ‘the extra yard’ in the previous game. That reward wouldn’t exist with a set captain.

The armband is good for ensuring players behave as they should. Captains don’t want to let the armband down, so players will keep their behaviour in check, as well as putting in extra physical effort too.

Should you spread the team captaincy around?

“Empowering kids to understand what responsibility

is all about is a great idea.”

Alan CavishCobras FC, London, Under-12s

Every team needs a leader and there’s nothing wrong with assigning one. Players have a set coach, set positions, set tactical instructions, so why not a set captain?

In tough matches, players will always want to look to a forceful figure to take the team forward. This is often either the most skilful player or the most vociferous – both representing perfect captain material.

Having a set captain doesn’t mean that every other player sinks into his shell. Players still have opinions and still make match-defining contributions. Not having the captaincy doesn’t prevent them from doing that.

Captaining a side is no easy task, and it’s a role that needs to be learned and mastered over a series of matches – in everything from understanding the positions and responsibilities of team mates to knowing how to speak to the referee. To chop and change around players means no-one will ever master what is quite an important role.

I work with my captain closely throughout the week, so having a set captain means establishing a firm link between training ground ideas and the real action on a match day.

Letting players nominate their captain ensures that it’s the rest of the squad who are ultimately in control because they are the ones who have elected him. He answers to them in much the same way as they answer to him.

“Every team needs a leader and there’s nothing wrong with

assigning one.”

YES NO

PUT IT TO THE VOTE: Which of our guest coaches do you agree with? Visit our Facebook page and log your vote.

This week Troy FarrisCoach,Chicago Blackhawks

Q One of my Under-14s plays truant at school frequently,

yet never misses a training session or match. His parents have asked me to talk to him about sticking it out at school, but it has put me in a difficult position where I feel pressured to produce results. Tony Smith, Barnsley

A You shouldn’t feel pressured. Be clear what your main role

is here – to coach soccer to kids. We all know a lot is said about youth coaches having an important influence on the development and progression of the young people they oversee, with all that stuff about life skills, application and respect. But the reality is you’re teaching soccer, and you shouldn’t feel as if it’s anything more than that, (unless you want it to be).

I can understand why his parents have asked for your support - they are obviously frustrated by their child. If this was an Academy, he wouldn’t be allowed to play soccer unless he’d studied properly – are they hoping you lay down similar rules?

At the end of the day all you can do is put in a quiet word of encouragement. Do that, report back to the parents, and leave the rest to the lad.

Q I’m thinking of arranging an overseas trip but don’t

know where to get started. Any advice? Simon Stack, Norwich

A Why not check out the Footy4kids forum? (at

www.soccercoachingforums.com) Speak to other coaches who can recommend locations, matches, schedules, and all the other bits of planning that go with a relatively intensive trip.

Email us your questions: david.clarke@coach-soccer.com

SCW Surgery