Extra Article 1

Technique/tactics“I train a lot with positioning and match drills. With a lot ofdifferent position drills I want to train the things that went wrongduring the last match. This can differ from week to week. Half thetraining is based on technique the other half on tactics. Thesethings can’t be separated. When you know where to put the ball,but you don’t have the technique to put it there, you won’t getanywhere. When you turn it around it won’t work. When you havethe skill to put the ball anywhere you want, but you don’t knowwhere, you won’t achieve anything. That’s why I’ve started thisseason focusing on technique and during the season I’veswitched to focus more on tactics. During my match preparationtalk it’s the other way around. At the start of the season I wasusing my board a lot, now I don’t use it that often. During halftime I use my board a lot to visualize some match situations.”

40 year old Sander Strik has, after coaching several U17 andU15 teams at different clubs, now for the first time taken con-trol of the U15 team from Oss’20, a Dutch amateur club. Strik,who has coached various age groups for the last 15 years (atthe age of 15 he was already training the youth keepers), hasdeveloped a good outlook of the problems and the possibilitiesthat each age group has. “Typical problems you have to copewith at U15 are laziness, stubbornness, attitude and a lack ofdiscipline. They are willing to talk about football, but not on thepitch. Most of the time they are spoiled, but when they arriveat the club they have to do things. They must take turns to pre-pare the pitch and wash the shirts. They want to train and to betrained. They should do something to accomplish that. That’swhy I think the U15 is a very hard age group to coach, but onthe other hand it’s a great challenge to work with such a group.We focus on this. I keep on pointing out their failures and try tochange their behavior. It’s not easy, but they are showing pro-gress. I have noticed that there has been a change since the be-ginning of the season. It’s disappointing that we’ve started theseason with 17 players as three players have decided to quitplaying due to disciplinary actions.

By: Rob Robben

“U15’s are a very difficult age group to coach”

Sander Strik, U15 coach Oss’20:

“To enjoy playing soccer,

you’ve got to take risks”

WEB SPECIAL

Extra Article

Christmas tree“When I have a strong and good striker in my team, my favoriteway of playing would be the so-called “Christmas Tree”. Thisway of playing is very hard to notice for the opponent. The backsof the opponent should sag. When they refuse to do that a lotof space will be available up front. The problem for the opponentwill be: who is covering who. This way I will be playing with oneforward, two attacking midfielders, three midfielders and fourdefenders on a line. The forward should get possession andplay the ball to the attacking midfielders. The attackingmidfielders have to pass the ball to the outside midfielders.When this system is played like it should be its very effective.

Quality soccer“Because I don’t have a strong striker in my team, I usuallyplay with my other favorite playing style: 1:4:3:3. I use a solidway of playing. I want to build up from the back. I also focus onkeeping the ball on the ground. I’m very keen on good qualitysoccer. With a good individual move or good passing play inmidfield and up front we should get a numerical advantage.When my defense has the ball, the midfielders should be closeto the strikers. I want to create some space between thedefense and the midfield. That way my central midfielder cancome into the ball. When his opponent doesn’t follow him hecan control the ball, turn and pass the ball to the striker. Whenhis opponent follows him their will be space available for thestriker who should try to become available to receive the ball.”

Playing the ball to the central striker“When trying to get free to receive the ball only two things canhappen: your opponent follows you and you won’t get free toreceive the ball but their will be space available for the otherplayers, or your opponent won’t follow you and you get the freespace to receive the ball. And that’s the problem with our strikers.They just won’t get it. Our forwards have to get into action whenour midfielders have possession of the ball. Before that they justhave to pay attention. They shouldn’t move too fast, that way theywill close down all the space. It’s all about running and looking.You have to look at what you’re fellow players are doing and reactto it. The central striker should be the first person who gets in topossession when we are building up. It sounds a bit strange,

because most of the time in that area the space is limited, but I wantthat to happen because then there will be space available on the wings.When my wingers get inside their opponents follow them, my midfieldershould use the space available on the wings. When my winger’sopponent doesn’t follow him, he will be free to receive the ball.”

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Diagram 1: The Christmas Tree

Diagram 2: Way of playing

Extra Article

Wingers start on the sideline“The problem with our team is the attack. They all can play quietwell, but they just don’t know how to run and create space. Theirsoccer intelligence is not high. Defending and building up isn’t theproblem, but as mentioned our forwards keep making the wrongdecisions. You should say that 1:4:3:3 is more predictable than1:4:4:2 because you have more players running, but I don’t wantmy wingers to stay on the sidelines. They have to start at thesideline. From that position they have to start playing. I train thisby playing 6 v 6 on a half pitch. I divide the pitch into 2 areas; mywingers should always start outside these areas. There are, whenthey receive the ball, two possibilities. They can control the balland give a cross or they can start to dribble towards the inside ofthe pitch. When the last option is used, the player who passedthe ball will become the winger. That way they will change a lot.That’s what I think is important, because each player should knowwhat is asked of them (See exercise 1). Another drill I use toimprove our attacking play is playing 7 v 5. I play with 3 forwards,3 midfielders and my captain against 3 defenders and 2midfielders. I interrupt a lot during this drill to point out when thewinger should have received the ball orwhen he should have given a cross. I’mdoing this, because my striker is moreaware of these moments and is going tolook for solutions and make decisions.”

Risk in building up“We defend, in contrast to most of ouropponents, with a zone defense. I do thatbecause I want our defenders to enjoyplaying soccer. I think it isn’t exciting whenyou have to cover a player constantly. WhenI train the build up, I use a drill whichconsist of a 7 v 6 with one goalkeeper, infact it is an 8 v 6. The 8 defenders canscore a goal by putting the ball in one of thethree small goals placed on the half wayline. They are building up towards one of thethree goals. It is al about coaching thedefenders and midfielders (See exercise 2).

My backs should be placed forward in possession. This puts usat risk when we lose possession. By taking risks, you willcreate a lot of changes. To enjoy playing soccer you have totake some risks. We play very offensive football I would ratherwin 4-3 than 1-0. When you’re having fun and you take risks,the results will come eventually. Usually our best part of thecompetition is the second part.”

Combination taskStrik is very busy with his hobby. Besides his job and trainingthe U15 of Oss’20, he is also trains the selection squad ofthe Dutch fourth division team Nijnsel. Due to circumstanceshe has also taken the job of match secretary at Oss’20.Training two teams at the same time isn’t as tough as itseems, according to Strik. “Last year Nijnsel played most ofthe time with 9 players behind the ball. I’ve turned that around,now we are playing more like the U15s from Oss’20, becauseI wanted to bring more joy into the team. Off course we don’thave many points so far, but I’m cer tain that it will changeduring the remainder of the season. Because both teams playin the same way I can use almost every training session forboth of the teams. That way I save a lot of time.

Warming-up “I want my players to be ready for a game as late as possible.That’s why don’t start a warm-up with running and stretching, butwith a ball. When we were young and were playing soccer afterschool we didn’t have a warm-up at all. We got a ball and startedplaying, we never had injuries. During a warm-up I use the samedrill over and over again. Passing, controlling and passing andafter that using a third person. In training it is followed by a finishon goal exercise, in the warm-up we don’t do that. I want mygoalkeeper to do his own warm-up. When we finish on goal, thestriker shouldn’t get his own ball, but after shooting he becomesthe player to receive and pass the next ball. I want to accomplishthat our striker stays available after an attack breaks down. Inthis drill it’s very important to play the ball to the strong foot; thiswill improve the ball you will receive. It’s very difficult to teachthem this, because they keep doing it the wrong way. You have toplay to the side you want to receive it at. The player on thereceiving end than only has to play it back.”

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Extra Article 4

6 v 6 with two goalkeepers

Organization:- 7 (defender and midfielders) with a goalkeeper against 6

(attackers and midfielders) on half a field- The attacking team (of 6) scores on the large goal with the goalkeeper.

The defending team (of 7) scores on one of the 3 small goals on thehalfway line

Coaching:- Good build up from the back- Passing by the midfielder at the right moment - Defending on the ground (no high passes/clearing the ball) - Good runs off the ball by the defenders

7 v 6

Organization:- 10 (starting) players positioned as

illustrated - A passes to B, B receives the ball,

turns open and passes to C,continue like this to D, E and F

Coaching:- Concentration!- Good passing (straight) - Correct ball speed- Pass to strong foot- Work with both feet (receive with

the weaker foot, pass with thestronger foot)

Variations:- A passes to C, C drops the

ball to B, B passes to D, D dropsthe ball to C, C opens on E, E dropsthe ball to D, D opens to F, F dropsto the ball to E and E passes to Aagain. We are constantly seekingthe third man (rotating through 1position every time)

- A passes to C, C drops the ball toB, B passes to D, D drops the ballto C, C opens on E, E drops theball to D, D opens to F, F dropsthe ball wide to E, who finishes ongoal. F gets the ball and Ebecomes the new wall passer

- Work in both directions with bothvariations

Passing with the starting 10

Organization:- Half a field- 6 v 6 with two goalkeepers- The wingers start outside the lines - Scoring only after an action from one of the wingers- The wingers may only move between the halfway line (cone) and the end line- The wingers have the opportunity to receive a pass and cross or to come

inside with the ball and continue the attack from there. In this situation the player who passed the ball to the winger will take his position

Coaching:- Coach the winger to make the right decision (come inside or cross)

Variation:- Free scoring, when scored from a cross from the winger the goal

counts double

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