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The complete soccer coaching experience

SOCCERCOACHING 23 October/November 2007

International

Leo Beenhakker, Polish national team coach

Ernie Brandts,

Alex Stival,

Dragan Vasic,

coach NAC Breda

Botafogo head coach

Serbian U21 goalkeeper coach

WWW.SOCCER COACHINGINTERNATIONAL.COM

Contents 4

LEO BEENHAKKER, POLISH NATIONAL TEAM COACH “You cannot make it without good people management anymore”

From the Editor

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ERNIE BRANDTS, COACH NAC BREDA

Welcome to SoccerCoachingInternational’s 23rd issue!

“A defender has several options”

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RAY HALL, ACADEMY MANAGER EVERTON FOOTBALL CLUB:

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ALEX STIVAL, BOTAFOGO HEAD COACH:

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BRAZILIAN CORNER

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TRAINING SESSIONS FROM AROUND THE WORLD

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DRAGAN VASIC: SERBIAN U21 GOALKEEPER COACH:

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COLUMN PAUL COOPER

"Our U11s coach wants to be the best U11s coach in the World”

“Betting on the mobility of his athletes”

“There is a new wave of top quality goalkeepers on the scene”

Last issue we dove into the U21 world, featuring coaches and training sessions from the UEFA U21 championship. This time around we have somewhat of a, what we call Top Coaches theme, starting with one of my personal favorites; Leo Beenhakker. This charismatic veteran coach talked to SoccerCoachingInternational about his impressive career, people management and his current job as Polish national team coach.

From Poland to Holland where we talked to Ernie Brandts, NAC Breda’s head coach, about defending.

Our Brazilian friends from Cidade do futbol interviewed Cuca, former Botafogo head coach who talked to us about how to assume different forms during games, depending on the circumstances.

Based on the idea that it is more difficult to face the unknown, this coach decided to bet on the mobility of his athletes. We talked to Cuca about his vision, his strategies and systems he uses to accomplish this. The last of our four top coaches is Dragan Vasic who is responsible for the goalkeepers of the Serbia U-21 National team, FK Vojvodina, and Novi Sad. SCI talked Vasic, who is one of the best Eastern European goalkeeping coaches, about his training methods and football philosophy he is one of the best goalkeeper coaches.

Of course we never forget about the stars of tomorrow as we talked to Ray Hall, the Academy Manager of Ever ton Football Club about The Ever ton way of developing players: an unique approach for the development of elite young players. Furthermore our Training Sessions from around the World offers a good mix of youth, coer ver and attacking exercises. This issue would however not be complete without the infamous column by Paul Cooper. He once again tackles the topic of children and football.

I hope you enjoy another great issue of SoccerCoachingInternational, and please do not forget to visit our website where you will find 100s of exercises, our very own editor, video exercises and our latest addition: the members area!

I wish you lots of reading and surfing pleasure!

Yours in soccer, Maaike Denkers

Photo: Pics United

Leo Beenhakker, Polish national team

“You cannot make without good peo management any 4

No. 23 October/November 2007

Leo Beenhakker has an impressive CV. He started as a coach in 1965 at SV Epe and later coached clubs such as Ajax, Real Zaragoza, Real Madrid and Feyenoord. He was also the Dutch national team coach and during the last World Cup he brought Trinidad and Tobago to a new level. Now he is doing the same in Poland. He has been successful as a coach for 42 years.

What is his secret? SoccerCoachingInternational spoke with Leo Beenhakker about his impressive career. His message to other coaches is clear: you cannot make it without good people in management anymore.

By: Paul van Veen

“Throughout the years football has obviously changed, especially at the top. When I began, you only coached and did not have to worry about the other things. Nowadays you are much more a manager and that is the big difference. Furthermore, in spite of the fact that football is still just a game, the consequences of winning and losing have becomes much bigger.

There is a huge amount of money in football and you have a whole host of people involved with the club, who all have their interests, particularly the sponsors,. They all have interests based on the performance on the field.

coach

e it ople in more”

Media “I do not need to point out that the media has also gained more interest in football. Back in my early days you had a couple of specialists who reported the sport for their newspaper, then a radio channel was added, later a camera for the television and just look at it now. Everything and everyone is concerned with football, whether you are the Cosmopolitan or People magazine, you must do something with football, a footballer or a coach, because football is high profile. Those are all influences which you as the technical leader of a team must manage. And I can tell you, it is not easy.”

Umfeld “You now have a generation of ex-top footballers who are rapidly thrown into the deep end and are experiencing a lot of problems with the `Umfeld’. These young coaches know what football is.

They can also frequently translate it (some better than others) to the players. But there is pressure to such an extent and there are so many interests involved that they are unable to manage it. It isn’t difficult to guess the names of the victimized coaches here.”

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Generations “Football itself has changed as well. It is not measurable, but it is clearly visible.

You cannot say like with speed skating: `It has become ten times faster than in the past’. But those who understand the game can see that it has changed. The players have also changed. As a coach you must be very alert, because when you are five years older, then the players are five years younger. Therefore you must be very alert to the new generation.

How do they think, how do they feel?

That does not mean that you should always agree and go along with them, but you must realize that with every generation the society and culture changes.

That is logical. The current generation thinks and lives very differently than the generation of 10 or 15 years ago. And if you add the fact that you have to deal with players from several different cultures to this, you have your hands full.”

Management

Photo: Pics United

In the United Kingdom they recognized this very quickly. As a coach you have to deal with two forms, now more than ever: the pure football management and the people management. In that week at Feyenoord I also noticed the importance of this. It is an enormous task to keep everyone together. Of course they don’t all have to be the same. I think every player must keep his own individuality and his own character. He should not make any concessions, he comes from his own culture and we must preserve all our cultures. If a player goes abroad, I always say: be yourself. In your social life, your family life, in your religious life, etc. but there is one important thing, are you able from your own culture, make the step to the football culture? That football culture, at least if you want to be successful, is everywhere the same. That is simple. A Japanese club must, to be successful, play the same principles and ideas as a Polish club. There is one way to have success, but it is perhaps made up of 100,000 small things all put together. That starts with simple things like being on time. That football culture is for the time you are at the club and the rest is for at home.”

Hiddink “This is how Guus Hiddink did it with South-Korea. He had the advantage that he had a year and a half to work with those guys, but in that culture it is very normal that young people are subservient to the elderly. They don’t talk back and do what they are told, without bringing their personal thoughts and beliefs into it.

But this can’t happen in football. Young players also have to get involved in the complete coaching process. That was a huge breakthrough for those people. They saw a 20 year old who was able to carry the team. This can be accredited to Guus Hiddink.

He was able to fit the national team into that football culture.”

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No. 23 October/November 2007

Conditions “As a coach you must ensure all these conditions are in place, before you can start thinking about football. It starts with finding good staff. Staff, whether it is medical staff, technical staff, the material man or the press chief, must all be on the same line.

How can we prepare those players in the best possible manner for that game? Because that’s what it is all about! There sometimes may be another approach for a Brazilian then for a Dutchman or an African. Everyone experiences it in a different way. Because that is not simple, it is important to have staff who has sufficient knowhow and who all speak the same football language. And here too it is your task as a coach to manage the staff.”

Local “Within the staff I think it is important to also work with local people. They can help you with the way of thinking and the mental aspect of the players. This way they can provide me with a lot of valuable information. But they must be able to work at the same level and from the same perspective as me. I always want someone on my staff who comes from the Dutch culture. Someone who speaks the same football language. It is impossible for me to de-

portant. Then you can regularly distance yourself and circle around like a helicopter to observe from a distance.

That’s what I frequently do in the beginning. I let them train in certain exercises, purely to train and I don’t intervene too much. I watch, listen, observe. From there you are able to gain a lot of information on the personalities and the individuality of the players and you will gain insight in their qualities.”

Healthy

velop 20 boys in a short time. When you, for example, work with Wim Rijsbergen in Trinidad, then it does not matter whether Wim or I talk with that player. For the players it is also clear, whether they are talking to Wim or me, they will hear the same ideas.”

“Thinking about the main point: ‘how do I get that player in optimal shape for the game on Sunday. It is not only a question of standing open or passing well or making the correct choices. In the first place he must be positioned well in the game based on his talent and qualities. Then I say: ‘that player is in order, he is healthy’. Healthy in the sense of functioning within the team, being ambitious and pursuing objectives. From there you will start fine-tuning. Things like, when he does that, you do that. This will eventually take you to football management matters. It is now a minimum of 50% people management and 50%s football management. Those two things cannot be detached. A good example of this is Feyenoord. The problem there was not a football problem. There are probably 1 or 2 teams in the Netherlands who have more quality with regard to organization but that is not the problem. That can be taken care of with a different playing style, or another organization.

You can compensate a lot to make it work for you. Of course not everything, but a lot can be compensated. The problem at Feyenoord was people management, an area in which they totally failed.”

Fantastic

Problem

“But you’ll have to be on top of it. Formerly it was friends amongst each other, playing cards and drinking a beer after the game, but nowadays the situation is different. The players also experience it differently now. This doesn’t mean it is better or worse, its just different and whether you are working in Trinidad or Poland, it is also different. But eventually you must ensure that you get them at the same level in your football vision. Eventually there is just one objective, but the basis is always different.

This is why I like about working abroad. Ever y time it’s a hell of a job, but it is fantastic to see this developing. Absolutely fantastic!”

“You cannot solve that problem in a week, you do not have enough time. The Sunday before I started at Feyenoord we spent the whole afternoon with the technical staff, and we talked about all the players, we discussed everything. We then trained on Monday and then you start observing.

On Tuesday you must start with game-oriented training because we had a game on Thursday. But that was not our emphasis.

There were so many misunderstandings, antagonism and irritations, which is impossible to solve in such a short time. The only thing we could do is emphasize to those players that we should put all those problems aside for one week. They didn’t need to forget, just put it aside. When a new coach comes, he can start the new season and he’ll have enough time to tackle the problems in a structured manner, but for now, put it aside and don’t take it onto the field with you.”

Watch “How do you get them there? You open your eyes and need people skills. Watching and observing. This is why good staff is so im-

No. 23 October/November 2007

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thing is going according to plan and how we agreed and then suddenly you are one man down. There you are, not only as a coach, but also as a team. The moment we scored to make it 10 I told Metgod: We are going to win this game. Everything was going as planned and all of a sudden things change. The same thing can happen in life. We have so much arrogance in life and we frequently think that we have everything under control, but as soon as one guy presses a button and all the electricity is cut off for 24 hours, you realize you are not in control at all.

That’s why there is no place for arrogance, just do it when you win, but also when you lose.”

Organization

Photo: Pics United

“For years I have been seen as someone who always plays the same organization. I explicitly say organization, because a system of play is a completely different story. In the organization I play with two midfielders beside each other, numbers 9 and 10 play behind each other and never beside each other, four people at the back and then numbers 7 and 11 on the sides. You can then go in any direction. You can play with a 4-5-1, it depends on your choice. At the beginning I like to choose a clear organization and say ‘this is how it is, this is how we will play’. The difference arises in how you are going to fill these positions.

With Poland against Portugal I played with two defending midfielders who always played from behind the ball. Against Azerbeidzjan you don’t need two of these players, so I organize the team in the same way, but on one position you put a player who can attack and your number 10 can be a midfielder who comes on the ball, but also a striker who falls back. Then you suddenly have a completely different team.”

House Fighting “The result was a team fighting for two play-off games, who due to certain factors still missed the boat. Whether these factors are a red card in the away game against FC Groningen or an individual mistake from a player, these things can happen and I don’t dwell on them. These type of things happens, a coach cannot do anything about that. And then you will see how vulnerably a coach is. In the game against Groningen the players were focussed and worked for each other. You are winning 1-0, every-

Negative

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“You frequently watch you players, you try to pick up information on them in all kinds of ways and you watch them play in several positions. The moment I think I have enough knowledge about the players, I make a choice. But this is always from the organization. That organization is our house and this is the way we will play. Whatever happens, we play this way. I don’t like to adapt to the opponent. I don’t mind adapting, but exclusively in the choice and the qualities of my players. I don’t think it is good to play one time with three defenders and the next time with five. I do not believe in this.”

No. 23 October/November 2007

The moment I started at Poland, they had just had a dramatic World Cup and there was a terribly negative atmosphere both with the public and the press. Nobody wanted to have anything to do with it. As a result, the players weren’t very enthusiastic either. Then you must bring in a clear organization to the players and train from there and you will create a certain steadiness and a certain belief in the group. When you are then aided by one or two good results, the players will start to grow into their roles. Recently I chose to play with one defending and one running midfielder in a game. Then I sit down with the other defending midfielder. But he immediately said: ‘I understand it, you don’t need me today, right?’ He also saw the opponents on DVD and understood that he would start on the bench and that is a fantastic process. Exactly the same happened with my captain.

Against Belgium we played this way, against Portugal this way and against Azerbeidzjan this way for that and that reason, they all get it all. Because they know that they will be needed again

against another opponent the next game. This depends on qualities, but also whether you are in form or not. When I choose a certain player, I always explain my reasoning. You now see them thinking along and in order to accomplish that you need people management.”

Culture “This is very striking for their culture. You frequently see very authoritarian, snarling coaches at the clubs. We are very different.

I believe the players want to achieve the same as me. They want to play, play well and win. And if they do not want that, then they should play in a recreational team. That’s why I always say: if you do not want this, then please leave. Just leave me alone. I will not be angry with you, but just leave. But in Poland the coach is above the players. Never an objection, never some form of discussion, never. Also they never want to explain the reasoning for certain choices. I want that a player understands why we do something, for which I make choices. Before a game I need to cut four players out of the 22, that must take place in the stands. I therefore always start with those players, never with the starting line-up. Afterwards we go to the 7 players who sit on the bench, what is their role and in which positions can they be substituted, so that they can prepare themselves for this. Last I name the 11 starting players.”

“I do this to give everyone the feeling that they are important to the team. Because they are. You must treat them for this reason as valuable and involve them entirely. Take the training as an example. Players are not stupid, so when you start throwing bibs around they know what’s going on. The red team is the starting team that I have in mind. Then we will play 8 against 8 or 11 against 11. The B-team will be playing as if their lives depend on it and the A-team will regularly lose. That is fantastic, because that B-team will improve the A-team. I play in short periods of 6 or 8 minutes and then correct a bit here and there, possibly modify the teams, but it is great to see how the A-team improves. Eventually it will turn out that their quality is (frequently) better, as long as they put everything into it. That is then a learning moment because if they play against Azerbeidzjan, they frequently think completely differently than when they play against Portugal.”

come back themselves, I do not have to do that as a coach. Obviously the players play in a position which they also occupy in the game.”

Refinement “You can of course refine this in every detail. That depends on your choices. Where do you defend, how do you defend? Do you defend to gain possession or to prevent the opponent from scoring? How important do you make ball possession? Is it your basis or do you opt for the ball forward, the long ball? This also depends on the qualities in your team. If you have good, running players up front, then you tend to play the ball behind the defence. If you do not have those running players, then you will opt for the build-up and may choose to build up down the flanks more often. It is simply a question of assessing and exploiting qualities.”

National “At a national team it is another story. We are together for 10 days, the first two days are completely individual. They all bring their own baggage from the club. One player was lost another was sick, the other one won, the fourth was benched, the fifth was injured. Some players consider it as a trip to see their friends and family. Therefore each time the first two days are used to get the right mindset and mainstream the way of thinking. At this level, especially when you have little time, then you spend attention to the playing together part. That there is a balance, that the team functions as a team and that everyone knows what he must do, especially because they come from

Together “Your role as a coach is of course different. Training a club is clearly a question of making a team better. As a result, you must automatically make the players better and/or make the players function better. But I believe that currently in football and then I mean professional football – you must especially learn how to play together. That the player on the right knows what the player on the left does. This takes you to the Dutch football school. Trained in hundreds of thousands of exercises, but always related to the organization in which you play. I frequently choose positional games, but once again, always related to the organization. I therefore tell the player, you play on 6, you on 8 and you on 10. A number is a position. That usage of the numbers comes from my Ajax-past, but it gives so much clarity. When I tell someone: you play in this position, number 7.

Do you know what 7 does? Then it is immediately clear. That is another advantage of a fixed organization, they also know what each other must do. They know that as a 6 you must remain behind the ball. If he does not do that, the players will make him

Photo: Pics United

No. 23 October/November 2007

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Photo: Pics United several football cultures. At Celtic they play differently than at Auxerre or Dortmund.”

Rational “What I learned through the years is that I can now rationally examine a game. If you are a young coach, then the emotions can sometimes have the upper hand. Of course I sometimes react to the referee or the linesman, just to try something, but I can now rationally focus on the problem and what I can do help the team. That is now, whereas I also had a phase where I was led by my emotions and where I was too busy with myself and lost the overview. I learned this when I went abroad. Of course you keep your emotions as a coach, but you learn to rapidly switch to control these. The consequence was however that after a game I was completely exhausted. You have so many emotions and you can’t let them go, because you control them. From that

moment on I learned to focus on where the problem is, where you can help, what is going well and what can be improved. This is pure experience you acquire throughout the years. Of course it also has to do with your character.”

Forty “For me it is unbelievable that I had to teach a 28 year old midfielder, which foot to pass to when the striker comes for the ball with an opponent at his back. When I watch a game here in the Polish league, then I think that they suffer unnecessary loss of possession about 40 times per team per game, because they don’t pass the ball well (too slow) or that they pass the ball to the wrong foot. Just imagine when you take those 40 bad passes away (because that is trainable!) how much better they would play! When you see how frequently players get in trouble because they receive a ball wrongly, with their back to goal, so receiving defensively. Whereas they have plenty of space. Simple things like that, we teach 12 year olds in Holland.”

Ball possession “Here in Poland I was confronted with the fact that they do not pay any attention to ball possession. The consequence of it is, that when they lose the ball, they all have to run back into defence. In the Netherlands we reason very differently: if we have the ball for 60 minutes, then we won’t have any problems during those 60 minutes. That’s why I always say: ‘don’t run back, stay there’, but that is also a question of trust and uncertainty. We will defend to recover the ball! Because when we have the ball, it is our game, we determine the pace, we decide whether to play the long pass or the short pass or if we go or not. But this is also a beautiful process, more so when you see that you play

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No. 23 October/November 2007

well and win. For us the breakthrough came against Portugal.

We didn’t just win that game, but we have played extremely well.

You cannot train against this result, because they have been persuaded that it works and then it goes fast.”

Bad “Of course you can also play a bad game sometimes and that has also happened, but there is now a basis in which everyone knows what he must do, everyone knows what he wants and everyone also knows: if we do that, then we are good enough to participate. You must never wonder whether you are good enough. That is very difficult to say. The question is whether we are good enough to play at that level and have success. And now they know that they are able to beat the number 3 or 4 of the world. With Ronaldo, Deco, Nuno Gomez, Simao, they were all on board. When they beat those guys, you can imagine how they walk in next time around. Of course you must then make sure they return back to earth as a coach, but that is people management.”

stayed in their own period. That is not good, you must continuously develop as a coach. You must stay on top of all those new developments, whether you like it or not is simply not important.

You must know it and you must give it a place in your football work. This way I consider dining, for example, as a team activity.

During diner you mobile phone is turned off and you are not sitting with it held to your ear. Diner for me is a team building thing, having fun together and talking.”

Hat “How I handle the fact that I become five years older and they get five years younger? I stand there in the middle and I follow it. There are a lot of things that I do not understand and I don’t need to understand. If I compare my youth with this youth, then it is ready.

You grow with them, but you must keep your eyes open, not only with regard to age, but also with regard to culture. That was also one of the discussions at Feyenoord. Some guys came in wearing a hat. Same thing applies to clothing, music, the social forms, the interests. A couple of years ago we all of a sudden had mobile phones and now the iPod. I do not want to prohibit all of this. Their music choice is not my music choice, but that is logical. I cannot start playing an oldy by Frank Sinatra. Whereas I would much rather hear that but also with use of language, I want to stay up-to-date.

I have always said: if I have the feeling that I have lost touch with a next generation, then I would stop immediately as you cannot function anymore. But the way it is now I can still laugh, play and talk seriously with them.”

Cool “Sometimes they think I am a cool guy and sometimes I think they are extremely cool. But I see that some old top footballers

Concessions “But once again, you go along, but without doing concessions to your own football culture. That remains intact whether your name is Beckham, Castelen or De Mul that has nothing to so with it.

If you want to be successful, you will have to do that and that and leave that and that. Wherever you play and whoever you are, the big players understand that. That is why they are big players because you also have players who have problems with rules and who think that they are big, but they aren’t.

They have another culture at home, which they take with them to the field and they do not want to adapt to football culture. Those players won’t be able to make that step. That is the reason that you see a lot of talented players fail.“

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Ernie Brandts, coach NAC Breda

We talked to Ernie Brandts at the end of the 2006/2007 season. A period in which NAC was doing well, and when the team is performing coach Ernie Brandts is happy. Enthusiastic, fanatical and animated about football he tries to explain why his team was performing so well. It all starts with points, when you are gaining points, there is a certain tranquillity within the team and that is when you can start to work on playing good football, says Enie Brandts. Football starts with good defending, hard work, trust and then success will follow. During his interview Brandts comes out with many anecdotes from his playing days, which have relevance to the knowledge and experience of this ambitious coach. As a player at among others, Roda JC, Germinal Ekeren and PSV he reached a total of 28 caps.

By: Hans Slender

“A defender has sever “NAC is club that is allowed to lose games, as long as we put up a fight. This is the way the supporters experience football here. We must win two games a year, against Willem II and Feyenoord and the remainder of the games must be played with a fighting spirit. If we lose, but give everything, then we get a standing ovation. That is therefore also the philosophy of the club. During the past two years NAC experienced a difficult period, because there were too many players who did not fit within this philosophy. In the Netherlands everyone always wants to play offensive football. Outsiders look at this in an odd way. In

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No. 23 October/November 2007

Germany they have respect for the way we play, but they also find it foolish, because the result should count the most.

In the Netherlands we nevertheless enjoy watching polished football, with good positioning, individual actions and offensive play. But ultimately it has been proven that more result can be achieved with counter football than with offensive football. That is a fact. I think it is important to obtain points first and then to look at whether this is possible with offensive and beautiful football.”

like Penders and Zonneveld. We had the team complete just one week before the first league game. On top of that our first game was in the new AZ Alkmaar stadium. So we were somewhat prepared for a heavy loss. This came at a time when the team needed team spirit and faith. The players, as a team, had to organize their game-play on each other. We had to start working on good organization. We wanted something to fall back on, starting with a good defensive organization. This automatically meant playing closer to our own goal. As playing on the opponent’s half and defending there is riskier and more difficult. You must first win some points and then work on the build-up little by little.”

A certainty The start of the season was difficult. A slightly flattering 8-1 defeat at AZ and afterwards a defeat against Ajax. Two games, zero points and all at a time where the team needed to gain confidence. “We then had an away game against ADO The Hague.

There you must win some points. In this situation you do not choose to play an offensive strategy, but for certainty in the build up. We paid a lot of attention to the defensive organization. When the opponent has possession the forwards will drop to just over the half way line, playing close together, the defending line thirty meters from each other, shifting well over to the side of the ball, winning duels and from there rapidly looking for depth with ours fast strikers (diagram 1). When you are able to win some points you will start creating some stability. We won two games in a row and were able to start playing forward a bit more.”

ral options” Diagram 1: defensive organization

A new beginning

Opponents mistakes

“For two years NAC was flirted with relegation from the Dutch first division, ending the season in fifteenth and sixteenth place respectfully. We started this season with a new group and a new coach. You will first have to get to know and get used to each other. The football that was being played was somewhat incoherent. Someone received the ball and then had to figure out what to do with it. The first thing that needed to happen was to create a good team spirit. The players must go through fire for each other. There were players who returned from long-term injuries,

“When the results began to come in and the players gained some confidence, we were able to start work on football matters. It quickly became apparent that we had a pretty good team. Because we had players with speed and good running capacity such as De Graaf, Leonardo and Diba, we were able to take advantage of the opponent’s mistakes. Whenever an opponent made a mistake we were able to quickly take advantage and create chances. This is how we began to get into the competition more and more with every game and were able to work

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“The further you play from your own goal, the more space you leave in your back”

on the football aspects. Taking the ball out of defence by means of one of the two central defenders and build from there, working on the offensive strategies. As the central defender takes the ball out of defence, one of the opponents’ midfielders will automatically step out, in turn releasing one of our midfielders.

When you know how to play well, you can take advantage of this.

But everything starts with points, trust and a good defensive organization.”

Resting defense “The further you play from your own goal, the more space you leave behind you. Resting defense becomes an important term in this situation. I used to be a defender myself. A defender is inclined to play the ball and then sit back like a supporter to wait to see what the midfielder and attackers will do with it. The opponents striker is frequently positioned three or four meters back waiting to see what happens from there. What frequently happens in this situation is that whenever we suffer a loss of possession the opponent will immediately pass to their striker.

He then has that 3 or 4 meters he needs to receive and control the ball and they can initiate the counter attack. Resting defense is therefore important here. I always tell my defence that the moment they have given a pass they must already be thinking about what can happen if we lose the ball. This is repeated often in my training sessions. When the opponent’s striker falls back during the game and we suffer loss of possession, I immediately stop the game. You will often see that both central defenders have allowed sufficient space to the opponent’s striker to receive a pass. The agreement is that one of the two central defender marks the striker and that the other central defender provides back cover.”

Red card “When you are covering the striker tightly at the loss of possession you won’t be given a red card. I have experienced it myself when Huub Stevens and I formed the central duo in PSV’s defense. Whenever we were standing 30 meters apart to build up

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Diagram 2: covering after a through pass

from the back, the opponent’s striker was positioned in between us, waiting for the loss of possession. When he gains possession from the midfield after a mistake from our side, he can simply run in between us. We were frequently able to tackle him just in time, but the risk of a red card is very high in this situation.

Being positioned correctly in these situations is often an underestimated area of attention (diagram 2).”

Connecting “A second important point of interest during ball possession is that the last line connects well. The moment we pass the ball to the striker during the build up, I want my team to move up the first 10 or 15 meters as soon as possible. This is also important when we suffer loss of possession. If you are positioned compactly in this situation you can immediately execute pressure together. At the beginning of the season this space in our team was about sixty meters, so our midfielders had to run a lot. If the spaces are smaller, then you can trap the opponent easier and do not have to fall back with the entire team immediately. You must always ensure that you can form a block whenever you lose possession, to chase away the opponent from there. That is hard to get through.”

Help “Another problem we were confronted with frequently was that the players tended to help each other whenever the opponent had possession. In itself of course a good intention, but it worked against us. When Slot is defending his opponent, De Graaf was tempted to help him. What you then nearly always see is that De Graaf’s direct opponent would be unmarked and the ball would be passed to him. When you play compactly there will always be someone to provide cover. When you play with a lot of space, everyone must closely guard their direct opponent to prevent them from passing the ball behind our last line. If need be you can commit a foul. When that long pass over the defence is played, then the last man must make sure that he covers the side where the opponent’s fastest striker is running.

For example, when we play against Excelsior and lose of possession, then one of our central defenders must cover the opponent’s central striker and the other central defender must cover Slory’s (Excelsior’s fastest striker) side (diagram 3).”

Diagram 3: covering by the central defenders

Trapping “Another important aspect during the opponent’s ball possession is correct positioning when the opponents goalkeeper has the ball. Our attackers must position themselves correctly between their defenders. The point of reference here is the front of the middle circle. The striker pressures in between the two central defenders. Many teams have a right-footed left central defender. We allow this defender to retain possession. Our striker Salmon must then press from the other central defender to the left central defender. As a result he will not be able to pass the ball wide to the other central defender (diagram 4). Because this player is right-footed he will have difficulty to open up on the right-hand side. He will often be unable to give a cross-pass with his weaker foot. He will have to choose a wide pass to the left wingback or a pass straight ahead. We can anticipate this. Our left side can shift a little to the right to make the spaces smaller, because they will already know that play will not be moved easily to their side. Because we are shifting, the space will be so small that there is always sufficient cover. For example our left wingback can shift a little more to cover the centre, because that cross-pass to his direct opponent won’t come. If the central defender gets through, then Slot will have to cover, so he is guarding the passing lane to the centre. Everyone on the side of the ball must be positioned well to cover. This must be done exactly. Shifting two meters too little or too much at this level can be decisive. It is all a question of good planning and dare.”

Diagram 4: destroy the opponent’s build up

Covering “The moment the opponent’s striker moves to the ball, I want one of our central defenders to cover. There are coaches who allow him to run into midfield. I, however, do not want the striker to get the space to play. I want one of our central defenders to cover and that both wingbacks shift slightly inside to prevent the spaces from becoming too big (diagram 5). The shortest way to the goal should always be screened. You then have a three-man last line left. Dutch players are known for having the ability to run between the lines. This creates situations in which defenders will have to choose who will pick them up.

Who will cover the striker when he falls back? I believe you have to make a choice in this type of situation. It is better to make a bad choice than no choice at all. If we agreed on covering, then

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you must cover through, no matter who does it. You constantly have to pay attention to these kinds of agreements in your training sessions. Coaching to build up every time and executing pressure correctly. I then coach on connecting, on covering through, pay attention to all agreements. Repetition, repetition, repetition.”

Pressure

Diagram 5: covering through and squeeze in

“You can execute pressure in several ways. You can put pressure on to force the opponent in a certain direction and you can put pressure on to win the ball effectively. Not all players master this way of pressing. Diba is not the type of player who presses nor will he actually steal the ball. Edwin de Graaf is the type of player who can win a ball. With players such as Diba it is difficult to defend forward and steal the ball as soon as possible. If we know that, for example, the opponent’s right wingback is weak in the build up, then we press accordingly. We position our team in a way where it is easy for this player to receive the ball.

Then we pressure him, Salmon will cover the way back and our right winger will move in (diagram 6). This way you force their weakest player to play deep. It therefore depends on the opponent who we force to build up. You frequently see that weaker players who build up, will start to dribble followed by a bad pass. If we intercept this pass we can immediately pass to the forward who is supposed to be marked by this player. The first half of the season we could often take advantage with Leonardo, who is very fast. Now we have Glen Salmon and that changes the situation. That is the fun part of football, you must anticipate each time a situation changes.”

4-3-3 against 4-4-2

Diagram 6: Leaving the opponents wingback uncovered

“There is of course a substantial difference in the way you defend against several different styles of play. The first game against AZ, we didn’t get a chance in the first sixty minutes. We played with a 4 player zone defense against their two strikers.

We played in a 4-3-3 games, but ensured that we shifted a lot.

They played with two strikers and a diamond in midfield. The controlling midfielder is then frequently left uncovered, as we play with the point to the back to be able defend their number 10. You are therefore often one player short somewhere and that is frequently the opponents controlling midfielder. One of our wing backs will have to step-in towards the opponents controlling midfielder at the right moment and our back on that side will also have to step through. But where do you do that? On the opponents half or right in front of your own goal? The other side must shift really far to provide cover. You will be positioned each time with three men against the opponents strikers and one wingback will cover through on the opponents winger (diagram 7). When the opponent then has fast ball circulation, then this demands a lot from the team, because you must constantly shift across all those meters. Against AZ we managed to do this for 60 minutes, then we broke down. AZ got five chances and scored all five.”

3-4-3 against 4-4-2

Diagram 7: 4-3-3 against 4-4-2 in the zone

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No. 23 October/November 2007

“Now we have made another choice. Against teams with two forwards we now play with three defenders against two strikers. In the midfield we create a diamond to play against their diamond.

When I came here, the task was to play 4-3-3, with the point forward or the point backwards in the midfield. That was the main point. In the past they have had bad experiences playing too

many systems. My task was therefore to play that one system, but we also have the players to play with three men against two strikers and with a diamond in midfield. In this zone you must wait to shift at the right moment and to let your player go. You must also be able to move in between two players, so that you can cover the passing lane to the other player. If you play too far apart this is impossible. This demands a lot of training. On the other hand it is also not easy to play with three defenders. The field during the build up, for example, is very wide with three players, therefore you must pass well. If you do not and you loose possession, the opponent will walk straight through your defence. We therefore choose to have our right midfielder, Edwin de Graaf fall back to support in the build up (diagram 8). This may also create problems for the opponent, because if they cover through on de Graaf, then they will create space for our number 10, our right winger or our striker to come in the ball. I always tell my players that it is very important to recognize situations and that returns each training session and each game. It is also very important to take responsibility and to make choices.”

3 against 2 “I always draw three defenders against two forwards with their backs to the outside of forwards (diagram 9). One of the strikers will always start to run into space. When you are then a meter ahead, they will pass the ball straight into your feet. When they pass the ball inside, the central defender will provide cover.

When they pass the ball across, then the other back is still there to provide cover. I experienced this as a player at Germinal against Standaard Luik with Henk Vos. Vos moved into the space on the side every time. At a given moment I figured it out and I simply positioned myself on the outside. We won that game 0-2. Players should be able to find these kinds of solutions themselves.”

Diagram 8: 3-4-3 against 4-4-2 during ball possession

Duels “In the end football stands or falls with winning duels. This is for a large part based on individual quality, but also partly a players

Diagram 9: 3 defenders against 2 strikers

“You need players on the field who find their own solutions”

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mentality. You can start a duel for the sake of a duel, but you can have to enter with the conviction to win it. When you put your foot down you have to put it all the way down, never halfway. When you cover it should be with the intention that he will never get passed you. When you have a large striker in front of you, he will want to lean on you. If you lean back as a defender, then he will know where you are and he will turn away from you. When he feels you right, then he turn away left. You must be smart. When you know his first touch isn’t very good, you can give him some space and go for it right after the first touch. It is however important take into account where you are on the field. Near your own goal you must keep some distance, because he can turn you. If you give him some space and he turns you can still block him. You must then however always take small steps, because you must be able to block him at any given moment and he cannot shoot the ball through your legs either. As a defender you can also cooperate in these situations with your goalkeeper. I had an agreement with Hans van Breukelen that I covered the short angle and the long angle was for him. I had to ensure that the player didn’t shoot through my legs and if he curled it around me, then it was for Van Breukelen. Furthermore you must enter the heading duels to win. It is then a bonus if you can head the ball to a team mate.”

Training “We also sometimes make time to train individually with the defenders. Train the defensive headers, also with a goalkeeper.

The defenders must not have any misunderstandings with the goalkeeper. You then throw a number of crosses in and the defenders must solve it with the goalkeeper. Throw the cross in from the front, the side and the back. It is also good for jumping strength. I will never forget that I played as a young boy at PSV against Go Ahead Eagles, with the large muscular Kees van Kooten. The cross came and I thought: `I am going to head that ball away’. He gave me a slight push and headed the ball into the back of the net. He was the first striker who scored against me that year. Then I knew that this could never happen again. You must watch the man and the ball. If you are pushed you must at least ensure that the opponent cannot head the ball either.”

Signal “I also believe that a player must give a signal. There are coaches who believe that when the striker falls back to the midfield, the central defender can let him go, because the striker will not be dangerous there. I believe that the central defender in the game must cover through and must chase him, because then the striker will play differently whenever he falls back. The same thing applies to a winger. If he wants to receive the ball at his feet, then he must go deep first two times and then that ball must also be passed into his feet. The defender will position himself differently and the winger will be able to ask for the ball in his feet more simply. You must enter the first couple of duels in a game with full conviction. Then an attacker will not get a chance to come into the game. Even if it means committing a foul.”

Outnumbered “If you get a fast counter against and the defence is not well organized, then you can be outnumbered. It is then of course important where it happens. But also what kind of outnumbering situation. Two against three is already a completely different story than three against four. If you train with four defenders and a keeper against five attackers with attacking waves (exercise 1), then the attackers won’t score. As long as you are correctly positioned, force the opponent to the side, bend your knees, make fake moves each time. In any case you should not allow them to play the attack out. Shift well to the side of the ball and move back and forth as a block. Two against three is a completely different story. The spaces to defend then become significantly larger. You must then be very strong in the 1v1.

When you initiate a tackle you must ensure you have him.”

Options in to defend “A defender has several options if he wants to defend against his direct opponent. The first option is to intercept. That is the best solution, because you immediately gain ball possession. The second solution is to tackle. The third option is to move with the opponent and intervene at the right moment. The last option, which is also the worst, is to let him play and allow him to dribble towards you. It is dependant on where on the field the situation occurs. When you can foresee what is about to happen, you can anticipate and try to

5v4 with attacking waves Organization: - 5v4 with goalkeeper - The defenders can score in the small goals - When the ball goes out of play, a new 5 start

Coaching defenders (blue) - Stay close together, shift well - Do not step out too fast - When stepping out centrally, the wingbacks must come in to close centre - Good positioning close to the goal, so that shots can always be blocked

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intercept the ball. If the striker asks for the ball at his feet 1. To intercept and he doesn’t re2. To tackle ceive it well, then you 3. To follow can tackle him. If the 4. Allow to receive and slow down opponent goes deep, then you must follow him and kick the ball away at the correct moment or use a sliding tackle. And in a situation where your team is outnumbered you must allow him to receive the ball and let him come to you. Then you must try to slow down the opponent and initiate the duel at the right moment.”

Four defending option

Diagram 10: Create additional passing options

Create passing options “A lot depends on the creativity of the players. You can practice according to templates, but the players must assess possibilities in the game. If we play with our three strikers and our midfield against four defenders, they must do something to create passing options. Of course we want to pass to our strikers, but that is not always possible. When our right midfielder protrudes a bit, he will create an open line to the winger. The winger comes in a bit further and you have created an additional passing option (diagram 10). Another interesting situation is when Edwin de Graaf does not protrude, but chooses depth. He has the quality to go deep at the right moment. The opponents wingback must then choose to either close down the center and leave the winger unguarded, or to cover the winger which will leave de Graaf with the opportunity to go through (diagram 11). These aspects are coachable and this way you can create extra passing options.

Because you these aspects attacking trains, also the defenders learn handle. Because defensively you must make choices, whenever the opponent tests you in these situations.”

Solutions “When you play against Excelsior, you know that whenever Bruins gets the ball he will pass it deep to Slory, who will have started to go deep. When you know this as a defender you must position more to the inside and leave some more space. Slory can then only ask for the ball to his feet, which is not his strength. The moment a player like Slory receive a pass to his feet, you must cover

Diagram 11: Force wingback to make choices

short. A lot of players do not have a perfect first touch. Our left wingback Mtiliga is extremely fast, but uses this speed too scarcely to cover the opponent. I try to point this out to him frequently and sometimes it just doesn’t happen. I at one point played a game at Dundee United and I started the game with heavy legs. These things can happen, it is then simply not your day. On days like those covering short simply won’t work. Then you must find other ways to solve it. Also when things aren’t going your way, the players must take responsibility and choose the best possible solutions.

You can’t teach or preach this. You need players on the field who can find their own solutions.”

11v11 defending Organization: - 11 v 11 game - Opponents will play like the next real opponent (for example 4-4-2) - Start with the build up of the opponent a couple of times

Coaching defenders (blue) - Running direction of the striker to force the weakest player to gain possession/build up - Cover short on the side of the ball - Back and cover space by players on the other side - Go through tactical problems, such as when and where to cover, how far to shift and forcing the opponent to a certain side

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Ray Hall, Academy Manager Everton Football Club:

"Our U11s coach wants to be the best U11s coach in the World” "The Everton way of developing players is an unique approach for the development of elite young players. We believe it is unique because in our part of the world we have a certain type of young player. Furthermore, our approach is developed especially for elite players, it is not for grassroots players, it is for boys who have the potential to become top players.” SoccerCoachingInternational talks to Ray Hall, the Academy Manager of Everton Football Club

philosophy. I think the place should be like a greenhouse, where plants can grow and flourish in an environment that helps them grow and flourish. That is the same for the development of young players. If the environment helps the development they will get better and better. Additionally, we have a code of discipline that the boys have to follow. They know that they need to meet certain standards to progress.”

Habits By: Paul van Veen “Our approach is based around the four P’s. The first P is People.

This is the most important one, because young players need to like the people they work with, otherwise they won’t learn. And you can see from the staff we have here, in this tournament that our young players trust the players they are working with.

They trust them to look after them, they trust them to educate and develop them into top players.”

Place “The next important P is the Place. We need to create a safe, learning environment for our young players where they can develop. I believe the place isn’t just about buildings, it is about a

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“Yes, we won the tournament, that is a bonus, an absolute bonus, because we didn’t think we would, but people around our hotel are making comments about how well behaved, how disciplined the boys are. And that means as much to me as the cup, the trophy. Because in 5 to 10 years time the people will forget about this trophy. But if these boys have learned the correct habits, they might be first team players.”

Program “The third is the Program. We have some outstanding young players and they need to follow a program that is suitable for their age and for their development. So at 6 years of age for example, it is all about fun. At 18, it is more about the competitive nature of the game.”

Pathway “And the fourth is the Pathway. The boys need to know – when they join our football club – that there is a pathway to the first team. They know what standards they need to reach at each age group in order to progress to the next stage. And that is a pathway. In our football club there is one club policy. From the first team manager downwards, we understand what the demands are for players in the first team. So anybody that joins our football club knows, and his parents know that if the player reaches the standard, he will be given the opportunity, because our pathway allows that.”

Developing “This means our head coach has to be picked very carefully too.

But that is the Everton Way. That is something we are proud of.

That is something that has evolved over many years and it seems to work because we seem to be developing players every year. Our first team manager would obviously like to have even more players, but we aim to get a minimum of one player into first team a year. Since our academy began we have succeeded in 7 out of 9 years, and in some years we even had 2 or 3.”

Value “We develop players for the first team, but we have also sold many players. This has netted us more that 50 million pounds in 9 years. One of the things we have to do as an academy is to give value to the club. And I think with those 50 million pounds in 9 years we can see we have give value to the club with our youth program.”

Trust “How does a coach gets the trust of a young player? I think it is a combination of everything, the environment that is created,

the manner of which the coaches speak to the players. The way they educate and develop the players, everything. Just look at this tournament. Yes, we have won it, but we didn’t set out in the beginning of the week that we had to win the tournament.

We wanted to get to know the players better, we wanted them to play good football and we wanted to give them an experience that they might need in the future when they are first team players. I think we got better as the tournament progressed and with the help of the coaches we actually won it.

Now, these youngsters would do anything for the coaches. The parents are happy too, they trust us, because when all is said and done, we are borrowing their children for a short period of time. It might be one year, it might be 15 years, but we are borrowing their children.”

Understanding “When I said that the people were important, you need to realize that the most important people are the players. We will never loose sight of that. Those boys who are in front of us now, are the most important part of the whole scheme and don’t underestimate the importance of the parents too because we have to educate and build up an understanding with them so that they understand what we are trying to do for their children. So, if we substitue their son, that they understand why he is substituted. It might be done because the boy is small or it might be because he is tired and needs to rest. We understand that as educators and developers.”

Staff “And the third and most important part of the People are the staff. We will have coaches and staff that are working with age groups that they are best suited for working with. So we have Ian working with the young players. He wants to be the best in

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the world with working with those young players. He has no ambition to take over our first team and we don’t expect our first team manager to be working with the U6’s. You have to understand the age group you are working with, you need to have an understanding of the way those young players develop. It is different as adults and it never goes in straight lines. There are ups and there are downs. The reason for that can be many things; maybe a player in this tournament does not play well because he misses his family. So if they are playing and they have a poor 5 or 10 minutes and they feel upset, you need to know when to be kind to them and you need to know when to be firm with them.”

Ambition “It is not hard to find coaches who want to be the best in coaching U11s. Because what happened with our academy, is that we have given status to the coaches of the junior teams. So you are finding coaches which are working with the younger age groups and they want to get better at that. They are ambitious, but they are ambitious to become the best in the world at the level they are at. Not all coaches have played for Everton or at a high level, but they are ideally suited for the age group they work with. Everybody understands that all coaches are only as good as the players they get. There is no area in the academy that is more important that the other.”

Scouts “Our scouts are always looking for players who are better than the players we currently have in our academy. So the boys know they have to be at the front of the race all the time, because if they slip they get changed and go out and a new one comes in.”

Learning “What they should learn? That is subjective, we don’t have technical tests. We do have physical tests, we know what kind of scores the boys should have on speed tests, on endurance tests, we know what we expect in their life style. Also, we do a lot of work on mental training. As far as I know we are the only academy in England who has a full time sports psychologist working with our young players, because in many occasions it is between your ears that makes you the player you are, not what is in your feet.”

Lifestyle “We work very hard on improving the players’ life styles. Everton FC comes from an industrial area: Liverpool. Many or our boys come from backgrounds that are not the most affluent and I don’t mean that disrespectfully. So they have to know that when they leave our training centre that they live their life in the way we would hope to live their lives. I believe that is the most difficult, because that is a change of culture, because while they are with us, we can direct their development. When they are not with us, we have to hope that their own environment assists their development and that is important when I said we need to have a strong relationship with the parents so they understand the need to feed the boys properly, that the boys needs to get the correct rest, the right exercise and so on. So it is a whole kind of family of things that go into the mixture.”

Mental training “It is difficult for me to say what our sports psychologist are

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doing, but she works on things like goal setting. A simple example: if we have an 11-year-old boy and his goal is to play in the first team, he may never do that. But if his goal is to remain in the U11s squad and to play in the U12s and his next goal is to improve his quality of short passing and if his next goal is to make sure he only eats the right food, he sets short term goals and objectives. These goals the boys can achieve and take them to the next age and before you know it, you have an 18, 19 year old boy who is in the first team and when you are my age that really goes in 5 minutes, that seems to go in no time at all.

I remember Wayne Rooney joining our football club when he was 8 years of age. Now he is 21 and it seems like yesterday. But the mental side is so important, but I am not the expert. As the academy manager I don’t have to know everything, I expect the people I employ to know.”

Time “What I would like to achieve? I would like our players to become more technical and to accomplish that; I would like to increase the time we can spend with our boys. Currently our boys go to state schools and then come to us in the evening. I think that soon we will have access to the boys during the day, be-

cause I don’t believe it is rocket science that the longer time you have with the boys, the better they become.”

Philosophy “The club philosophy evolves and everybody thinks along the same lines, from the board of directors to the first team manager. Our role is to provide players to our first team and that is not easy, because the Premier League is arguably the best league in the world and the standard is becoming higher and higher each year. In the last 9 years we’ve had 19 players make debuts in the first team and in the current first team squad of 16 players we have four. So it saves a lot of money and also the spectators enjoy seeing the local players coming through because every player has his tale. For example, we have the youngest goal scorer in the Premier League now, James Burn.

He is not 18 and the supporters say that they remember him when he was 12. Everybody has a story to tell and that is nice, because you don’t have those stories when they come from other parts of the world. But what it does also is that the young players who are here see them as role models, that they have achieved their dream. So it gives them the desire, the enthusiasm, to achieve that dream also.”

Everton wins Mallorca Tournament The Everton U11s team won the international tournament in Cala Millor, Mallorca, Spain. In this international tournament, organised by Arno Buitenweg, boasted an impressive line up with teams such as Inter Milan, Ajax Amsterdam, Valencia CF, Sevilla, Arsenal and Hertha.

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Alex Stival, Botafogo head coach:

“Betting on the m of his athletes”

The amount of professional observers doing match analysis and the influx of recording equipment has drastically diminished the surprise element in soccer. Strategies or a system that explores different qualities and makes the work of the opponent harder is an every day challenge for any trainer. In Brazil, there’s one man who uses all kinds of strategies to improve the quality of his team. Cuca, which is what they call Alex Stival, head coach of Brazilian Top Team Botafogo, has created a team that can assume different forms during games, depending on the circumstances. Based on the idea that it is more difficult to face the unknown, this coach decided to bet on the mobility of his athletes. SoccerCoachingInternational talked to Cuca about his vision, his strategies and systems he uses to accomplish this.

Cuca began as head coach to Botafogo at the beginning of 2006 and counted on the support of the club executives to create a team. Cuca has created a game standard that enchanted the country and won the 2007 Brazilian Championship.

By: Cidade do Futbol

The creation of the system

"We play beautiful and flowing soccer, which is what the supporters want to see. We were even called the “Dutch Carousel” in reference to the glorious Dutch national team of the 1974 World Cup, who captivated the world with its movement. That team had an intense and fluid rotation and their opponents were unable to follow it. At the same time, they occupied the spaces very well. You never saw all the players at the same side of the field to deter counter plays. Despite our limitation and without comparing us to this team, we are also looking for ways to make the lives of our opponents difficult", says Cuca.

The idea Cuca has in his mind is not new to the coach. It stems from an old project of his, which he tried to carry out at Santa Catarina Team, Avaí in 2000 and at São Paulo in 2004. In these two situations, Cuca considers that the work he did to carry this out did not work due to lack of time.

obility

"I have only been able to have success with this system at Botafogo because here I can repeatedly coach it until the players understand the movement." As well as the time he explains he also has to have the right type of players. "We have players that adapt to the situation, and this is also basic to the success of the experiment".

The work for the formation of the current system at Botafogo started with game simulation exercises without opponents.

Later, Cuca proceeded by coaching with the reserves as opponents and sometimes, using reduced field sizes to increase the speed of reaction and the marking of his players.

"In the start you have to use a close simulation of the game.

With that, they can improve the quality of movement with the ball and in the marking system. Today I do not need to make any kind of speech before the game; they know what we intend and how the team needs to accomplish this."

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Dodo

Jorge Henrique Ze Roberto

Lucio Flavio

Switch

Variations

The left back moves forward with the ball, and the first midfielder goes to the defense. The left back, Luciano Almeida, becomes a winger and the midfielder Túlio goes to the defense

Botafogo normally starts a game with a 3-5-2 formation, where the wingers have freedom to attack in diagonal lines and the second striker joins the midfield when the team doesn’t have the ball.

However, in accordance with necessity, Cuca worked out some ways to create new formations.

Joilson Leandro Guerreiro

Tulio

Luciano Almeida Alex Juninho

3-5-2 turns to 4-4-2 Dodo Jorge Henrique

Ze Roberto

Joílson leaves the midfield and becomes a right winger. Luciano Almeida becomes a left winger and Jorge Henrique becomes the second striker.

Lucio Flavio

Exchanges of position Leandro Guerreiro

Tulio

Luciano Almeida

Joilson

Alex Juninho

3-5-2 turns to 3-4-3 Jorge Henrique and Joílson become strikers, Zé Roberto goes back to midfield and Leandro Guerreiro goes to a defensive position in the midfield.

Dodo

Joilson Jorge Henrique

Ze Roberto

Lucio Flavio Leandro Guerreiro

Tulio

Alex

Luciano Almeida

Juninho

Defense system The players have a compact system in the midfield with the strikers pressing to win the ball

Dodo

Ze Roberto

Lucio Flavio Jorge Henrique

Joilson Leandro Guerreiro

Tulio

Luciano Almeida

Alex Juninho

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"Our left back is originally a wingback. He is a defender, but has a lot of freedom in offense as well. If the opponent plays with four defenders, I advance my lines and create a 3-4-3 with the same defensive players, two defensive midfielders, two offensive midfielder and three strikers - two who are good at keeping the field wide and who have a great capacity to initiate plays.

No. 23 October/November 2007

Beyond the changes of the tactical system in accordance with the opponents positioning, Cuca stimulates the players to change their positions during the game. "I used one player in three different functions during a game." In order to coach this Cuca divides the players into two teams of 11 and creates a game simulation. During the activity, all the players are allowed to change position, as long as there is no gap in the defensive system. If this happens, the coach stops the game and re-organizes the team.

"With this, the players start to understand the tactical system in all functions.

This is difficult to do in Brazil as you are not able to keep your team in tact for a very long time. The best player are often scouted often and you can usually only keep them for about three months. The players are sold as soon as they become famous. When you have time to work with a group, you can really make things happen."

Marking The freedom of movement for the players does not mean an absence of rules. The defenders at Botafogo, for example, cannot mark behind the opponent. "If the opponent only plays with two forwards, my defenders always need to try to anticipate. That’s the only way to create a numerical advantage to win the long balls. If you are marking behind the attackers you advance the goalkeeper to cover the incoming high ball."

Passport Alexi Stival Nickname: Cuca Date of birth: June/7/1963 Place of birth: Curitiba, Brazil

Career as a player 1984 – Santa Cruz 1985/1986 – Juventude 1987/1990 – Grêmio 1991 – Internacional (from Porto Alegre) 1992 – Palmeiras 1993 – Santos 1994 – Portuguesa 1994 – Remo 1995 – Juventude 1996 - Chapecoense

Career as a coach 1998 – Uberlândia 1999 – Avaí 1999 – Brasil de Pelotas 2000 – Avaí 2000 – Internacional (from São Paulo) 2001 – Remo 2001 – Internacional (from Porto Alegre) 2002 – Gama 2002 – Criciúma 2003 – Paraná Clube 2003 – Goiás 2004 – São Paulo 2004 – Grêmio 2005 – Flamengo 2005 – Coritiba 2005 – São Caetano 2006/2007 – Botafogo

The marking at Botafogo, however, starts in the offense. When you win the ball closer to the opponent’s goal you increase the possibility of the opponent to be unprepared for an attack. "When you try to reach the goal from your own side of the field, you’ll need 10 or 12 passes before you reach the goal. When the ball is on the opponent’s side you can reach the goal much faster. We therefore reduce the field by starting to pressure them on their own half, giving their defenders no freedom. We then start to close in more and try to force errors. I

Best moments As a player: Cuca is one of the most important players in Grêmio’s history. He scored the last goal when the team won Brazilian Cup in 1989. His coach at this moment was Luiz Felipe Scolari, nowadays working with Portugal’s national team.

As a coach: In 2003, his first year as a coach at first division of the Brazilian Championship, Cuca started to work with Goiás when the team was in the last position. Under Cuca, Goiás did great and finished the tournament as the 6th. After that he went to São Paulo, and became a first class coach in Brazil.

don’t give my strikers the tasks to mark the opponent’s defenders, but they need to try and win the ball ", says Cuca.

"Marking is a game of cat and mouse. It is a territorial dispute on the field, and when the opponent feels he is in danger he will position himself more to the front.

It is important to mark, but you must put into the opponent’s mind that if he leaves his position you can occupy his space.

When it’s necessary, whenever the opponent has a lot of offensive power, you can call another player to help and to

strengthen the covering."

Ownership of the ball The tactics to force the opponent to make a mistake and the positional rotation are part of a strategy to gain possession of the ball in the opponents half of the field, passing laterally until you find the spaces to play. This season, the patience and the quality in the passing has been the main characteristics in Botafogo’s game. The team directed by Cuca usually plays short passes, circulating the ball from one side of the field to the other.

No. 23 October/November 2007

27

"When you have a team like ours, who doesn’t have tall players up front; you can’t play too many long balls. Our game is a way to draw the play and to wait for spaces. Our attack needs to be more technical than physical. With these passes, the idea is to keep the ball in the opponents half of the field. To pass in defense is easy, but the great teams are the ones that can pass the ball well on the opponent’s half of the field and they don’t allow counter attacks because they don’t make mistakes."

On a day-to-day basis, this idea of ball ownership is coached in two forms with the players of Botafogo: in training with reduced space and also in activities when the players must do 15 to 20 passes before they can shoot on goal. "The reduced field is important, but this cannot be done alone, or the players lose the notion of the dimension of the pitch. But this type of training works on compacting the other team, the

constant movement and pressure marking.

Triangulations When the team has the ball, one way to attack is quick passes on one side of the field. However, Cuca says that this kind of strategy is only effective while the opponent is not strong enough in defense.

When it happens, the solution is to get the ball back to the defenders and switch it to the other wing.

“We do that because the triangulation makes the team play too much in the middle of the field. Then, when this kind of thing happens, we try to move the ball to the other side of the field to open the opponents defense”, says Cuca.

Deep play Despite the mobility and the exchanges of positions, Botafogo started to be called by some a slow team and without effi-

ciency. The change from this happened from working on long ball passes developed by Cuca. "We have to like the long ball, but this is a delayed process because the sequence of departures in Brazil is very complicated. We have many players who like to play short, pass and move, but also we ask them to try long passes during practice to try another kind of play".

Cuca, however, says that it is a different kind of process to reach the goal. "This is a more delayed process, and needs the individual to work at it. We finish the collective activities and we split the group to make specific activities for each one. The defenders anticipate balls and defend high crosses, the wingers go to the deep and cross, the midfielders play long passes and dominate the second ball and the strikers work on finishing. This type of work is important to develop the players, but it’s clear that it demands time."

News update: Cuca leaves and then returns again Botafogo has named Mario Sergio its new coach to replace Cuca, who quit after the team lost 42 to Argentina's River Plate and was eliminated from the Copa Sudamericana. Mario Sergio, a former all-star striker with Internacional, had coached Figueirense this season in Brazil's first division.

Cuca reportedly said goodbye to his players in the dressing room after Thursday's game, and called his situation "unsustainable" in a radio interview. Cuca, a former star of Gremio, led Botafogo to an unbeaten start in its first seven games with five victories, but the team has won only six of its last 20 and has slumped to seventh with 42 points, 18 behind league-leading Sao Paulo. Thursday night's collapse apparently was the deciding moment.

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Botafogo won the first leg 1-0 last week, and took a 2-1 lead in the second leg with 25 minutes remaining. But Radamel Falcao scored the last two of his three goals in the final 16 minutes, to rally River and oust Botafogo. "I know the situation is difficult, but I played for Botafogo and I know the potential of this team," Mario Sergio was quoted as saying by Rio sporting daily Lance on Saturday. "I believe we can recoup."

After 3 losses in a row Mario Sergio was let go and the club re-instated Cuca as their head coach!

Cidade do Futebol and SoccerCoachingInternational will keep you posted on the team’s development in future issues and on our websites.

No. 23 October/November 2007

Article in collaboration with Cidade do Futebol www.cidadedofutebol.com.br

Practice on half a field Organization: - The players are distributed as in a game, with two teams of 11 players - Half a field - The team must play 15 to 20 passes before they can shoot - The marking needs to be strong and players must try and intercept the ball - The coach stops the activity to correct wrong positioning of a player

Variations - The practice must be combined with field activities to make the players comfortable with working in a small space - The players can try to do different kinds of orientation and try to reach a free space to receive the ball

Individual work Organization: - Team is distributed in accordance with their positions - Wingers run down the wing and cross the ball into the area (see diagram) - Defenders practice anticipating and heading away crosses (not illustrated) - Midfielders play long passes, receive the ball in return and shoot from various distances (not illustrated) - Strikers practice finishing

Variations - The individual activities can be combined so that players for two or more different positions work together, creating small games

Training movement Organization: - The players are put into two teams of 11 and simulate a game - During the activity, they can change position - The position exchanges generate space on the field, the trainer must interrupt the activity and correct the positioning of some players to give the team consistency in all the sectors of the field

Variation - It must be played against different systems of marking (pressure, zone and man to man) to force the team to create alternatives

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Brazilian Corner Training by sector The Brazilian Second Division team Vitória is copying the American sports model of training. As in basketball or American football, the club from Bahia is working with specific training exercises for each half of the soccer field. There is a specific trainer for the offensive sector, and another one for the defense system. Flávio Tanajura, former player from Vitória, was hired to be the new trainer for the defense. He started with the youth players, and within a few months was promoted to work with the professional team.

The players have many different functions on the field, and there’s nobody better to work with that than someone who is an expert is this field – said Edinho Nazareth, former Brazilian National team defender and manager of Vitória.

With Tanajura, Vitória made his second step at the segmentation training process. Before he had joined, the club hired one professional in charge of teaching how to pass, manipulating the ball and shoot. Now, the club is doing research to see how the new practice will effect the behavior of the team. If this tactic is a success, another person just to take care of the strikers will be hired. This new philosophy will not take away the function of the head coach. Like in other sports, there will be one person in charge of all the technical staff. That will be the function of the head coach in the future – said Nazareth.

Strong team The good results from the Brazilian National team with new head coach Dunga can be attributed to changes in training and also the tactics of the team. Dunga decided to ally another defense tactic to the standard defenseive play. Now, there will be always be a defensive player with an eye to look after the opponent’s best player. It was similar to what we have already done, but now the guy who is closer to the opponent who gets the ball has to tackle him – said Mineiro, from Hertha Berlin and the Brazilian team that won the Copa América last July. At the training section, Dunga asked the second team to work like the opponent. At the same time, the head coach practices with the defense a mix of man-to-man and zonal defending.

Volleyball helps Guarani At the former Brazilian National Champion’s, Guarani they decided to bring a new training aid to the team who is currently playing at the third level in the Brazilian Championship. To improve team work, they were split in four volleyball teams during practice. The unusual practice was devised because of the bad weather in Campinas, the Guarani’s city. The rainy weather meant the players went to a gymnasium to train. During the practice, there was only one different rule.

Every serve of the game must be given to a different player. This makes sure all the players are part of the volleyball game.

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No. 23 October/November 2007

Brazil starts partnership with Honduras The Brazilian Sports Ministry has started a project to help head coaches in Honduras. Brazil will offer its help in developing the foreign coaches.

Special emphasis will be put on the Youth Levels. The partnership intends to upgrade the level of the players and soccer in Honduras.

Germany Nรกutico Nรกutico, Brazilian Serie A team, decided to use the German methodology to help players recover after a game. Roberto Fernandes, coach of the professional team, started training sections with a smaller field. The goal is to get a faster response from players during a game. The practice is with three teams on the field. While two play on the same side of the field the other one plays in defense. When one team scores a goal, they will keep the offensive side.

Statistic practice The Brazilian Serie A Team Botafogo decided to use numbers to make the practice program during the week. Auxiliary coach, Eudes Pedro does the analysis of the numbers of the players during the game and also of the day-to-day activities.

With the numbers consolidated, Pedro makes a list with the training goals. A few weeks ago, the professional saw that the team was making 80 to 90 tackles a game. The week after, the head coach Cuca started a practice to increase the number to 130 tackles per game.

Cruzeiro builds artificial grass pitch Cruzeiro, the Brazilian Championship Team in 2003, decided to build an artificial grass pitch at their Center of Practice. The investment by the club for the new pitch was about half a million dollars. The field will be used by the Youth Level team, which today has near 160 players.

The Brazilian Corner has the collaboration of Cidade do Futebol.

No. 23 October/November 2007

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Training sessions from ar This re-occurring section will once again feature 3 so called zones: the ‘Coerver Zone’, ‘Youth Zone’ and ‘Attacking Zone’. Starting with an example training session in the ‘Coerver Zone’ below:

Warming-Up Organization: - Tripling, skipping, heel kick and accelerations - First introduce every exercise and later interchange them on a verbal sigh from the coach

Passing moves Organization: - More than one player at each of the outside corner cones - Two players diagonally across from each other dribble towards each other and make a passing move at the middle cone - Then the other two players who are diagonally across from each other start the same exercise - For example scissor move, dragging move, etc.

- First pass left, then right

Explanation: A lot of people still only think about cutting and turning when they refer to Coerver, but there is more to it. Coaches forget to specifically train on passing, which is an essential part of Coerver. With passing exercises you should keep the distance relatively short, as it limits mistakes and player will get more repetitions. Timing will also be easier, which is preferable for younger players. For older or more advanced players you can start with combinations of movements and with details such as a fake move before the cutting move.

Cutting and turning in a square Organization: -

2 players are every cone, numbered 1 and 2 each with a ball The numbers 1 dribble along the edges of the square When they are finished the numbers 2 start A cutting move is executed at every cone, such as the inside cutting move, the step-over or the toe-turn

Explanation: A lot of Coerver exercises are well know, especially the different cutting and turning moves. A cutting and turning move you, however, rarely see is the dribble exercise in a square. With this exercise you train the cutting move in a 90 degree angle with pace. A fun and useful exercise.

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No. 23 October/November 2007

round the world COERVER ZONE Passing and shooting Organization: - 2 players at every cone - The 2 players pass to the players diagonally across from them one by one - Passing and receiving from stance and with the inside of the foot

Explanation: Improving technique is not only about cutting, turning and passing.

It also concerns passing and shooting, both from stance and subsequently with movement. In the beginning this proves to e a problem for most players. It is however important for players to be able to give a good pass after a good action, such as a cutting or turning move.

Cutting and turning with a shot on goal Organization: - The players must zigzag through the cones with a cutting move at every cone - Use inside foot cutting moves, step-over and toe-turns - After the last cutting move shoot the ball as hard as possible in the middle of the goal

Explanation: A good action after a cut or turn can also be a shot on goal. This can first be done without goalkeepers, whereby players should shoot as hard as possible in the middle of the goal (about 1,5m high). With this task players learn how to aim their shots. Subsequently you can start adding goalkeeper to make it more exciting.

Small Sided Game 5v5 Organization: - Small sided game on small goal - Minimum 4v4 or 5v5 - Give the players the freedom to execute their own ideas

Explanation: The technical training has to be interchanged with small sided games, where players can apply their learned techniques.

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YOUTH ZONE U9: ball feeling Organization: - The players start on long side of a rectangle and dribble across to the other side - Dribble starts on coach’s sign - While dribbling the execute ball feeling exercises, such as dribbling with their weaker foot

Coaching: - Give the players confidence, also when they are not doing so well

Variation: - Use various different exercises

U11: Fast footwork Organization: - Every player is positioned in between 2 cones - Between these cones the players will execute the move on the coach’s sign

Coaching: - Execute the exercise well - Coach fast footwork

Variation: - Different exercises to improve fast footwork

U13: Turning exercise in zigzag circuit Organization: - Players dribble from cone to cone and execute turning move at every cone

Coaching: - Execution of turning move - Retain speed of execution

Variation: - Variation in the types of turning moves (inside /outside of foot)

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No. 23 October/November 2007

YOUTH ZONE U15: 1v1 in passing exercise Organization: - 2 players are located across from each other - A passes to B and follows his pass to execute pressure on B, B receives the ball and dribbles towards A and beat him in the dribble - A runs to cone B and B dribbles to cone A - Exercise starts again

B

Coaching: - Quickly execute beating move

Variation: - Continuously execute beating move until the other ball steals the ball A

U17: Receive sideways and turn Organization: - 3 players per group - Players B passes to player A, A receives the ball sideways and dribbles, B executes pressure on A, A turns and dribbles further, B takes A’s position, A passes to C and the exercise start again

C

Coaching: B

- Receiving - Turning

Variation: - Same exercise with weaker foot

A

U19: Fake move in dribbling exercise Organization:

D

- 4 players per group - A and B and D and C dribble toe ach other and execute a right fake move in front of each other and continue dribbling - B and C make a ½ turn at the ‘sideline’, A and D will meet each other and make a fake move or passing move to the right - B and C dribble toe ach other after the ½ turn, etc.

C

Coaching: - Dribble straight towards each other and look over the ball - High handling speed and good execution of the fake move (or passing move)

B

Variation: A

- Execute exercise on both sides (going both ways) - Various passing moves

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ATTACKING ZONE Build up from behind with finishing on goal Organization: - Goalkeeper A passes to player B - Player B receives the ball (turned open) and passes to C, who drops the ball to D - Player D passes to E, who passes to C - C initiates a give-and-go with player E and finishes on goal - Execute on both sides

Progression - Limited amount of time - Passive defense in penalty area

2v2 finishing exercise Organization: - 2 attacking against 2 defenders who each defend their own area behind each other. They are not allowed to leave this area - Defenders score by stealing the ball or by kicking the ball outside of their area - Attackers score by finishing on goal

Coaching: - Free yourself from defender and be available to receive the pass - Dare to pass - Come to a shot as quickly as possible

Passing and shooting with a finish on goal Organization: - Half a field, 16 players and 10 balls - The ball is being passed from the corner into the playing area, wall pass to the incoming player.

- This player opens to the half-way line, striker receives a pass and after a wall pass the attacking finishes with a shot on goal - Execute on both sides

Coaching: - Ask for the ball at the right time - Correct ball speed - Clean finishing on goal

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No. 23 October/November 2007

ATTACKING ZONE Attack from the flanks Organization: -

Half a field, 10 or 12 players and a goalkeeper The positions on the flanks have 2 or 3 players each The defenders passes to the midfielder (10) Midfielder passes back to the defender, defender opens to the striker Striker passes wide to the incoming midfielder, midfielder finishes on goal Everyone remain in their positions Work in 2 colors Which color scores the most goals?

Coaching -

Midfielder (10) creates spaces for the pass to the striker Pass to correct foot Striker and midfielder execute the pre-move Passing along the field (no high passes)

Attacking along the flanks resulting in a cross Organization: - Half a field, 10 or 12 players and a goalkeeper - The defender (4) passes to the midfielder (10) - Midfielder passes back to the defender, defender (4) opens to the incoming midfielder (7) - Midfielder (7) dribbles along the flanks to the end line and crosses - Striker (9) and midfielder (10) take position in front of the goal in order to finish from the cross. Striker (11) provides resistance - Execute on both flanks - Which color scores the most goals?

Coaching -

Good communication First 2 passes straight across the field on the correct foot Timing midfielder (7) – start run (Fake) running action from both strikers

Attacking along the flank with resistance from a defender Organization: -

Half a field, 10 or 12 players and a goalkeeper A passes to B, B wall passes B opens on C under resistance from D C crosses and B finishes on goal The players at positions A and B rotate through, the players at B and D remain in their positions

Coaching - Passing to correct foot - Ball into the run - B chooses the correct position

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Dragan Vasic: Serbian U21 goalkeeper

“There is a new wav goalkeepers on the

Serbian football always had very good goalkeepers with special goalkeeping styles. A new wave of quality goalkeepers are again being seen on Serbian football grounds. Dragan Vasic is the goalkeeping coach of the Serbia U-21 National team and FK Vojvodina, and Novi Sad. With his training methods and football philosophy he is one of the best goalkeeper coaches. We should point out that 3 goalkeepers from the Serbian U-21 National Team come from FK Vojvodina, Novi Sad: Damir Kahriman, Zeljko Brkic and Aleksandar Kesic.

By: Dusan Petrovic

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No. 23 October/November 2007

coach:

ve of top quality scene” Goalkeeping philosophy “My entire football career I have spent on goalkeeping, and I think that it is the most responsible position in a team. The goalkeeper is the last player in the tactical organization of a team; and his mistakes in most situations could be fatal for the team and for the result of the game. Good quality preparation of goalkeepers and their role in modern football is one of the main tasks for team success. The role of a goalkeeper is not only to keep goal and to do cover the defense. He is also the first player in the organization for the next attacking action, and to be able to start an attack he must know many football techniques: foot-skills, heading skills, dribbling and of course, catching. To complete all the tasks of modern football the goalkeeper must be tall, strong, elastic, intelligent and brave. Also he must have fast reactions to every situation during a game. A modern goalkeeper is not only goal-keeping, it is also defense play as well. “ “I work for FC Vojvodina with the best young Serbian goalkeepers, who are also National U-21 goalkeepers: Damir Kahriman (the best GK in U-21 Euro in Holland 2007), Aleksandar Kesic and Zeljko Brkic. Kahriman and Kesic were in the European Championship for U-21, 2007 in Holland and Brkic is the goalkeeper for the new Serbian U-21 National Team. They are all very talented young goalkeepers with a bright future in the game.

“During the U21 European Championship in Holland, I trained Damir Kahriman, Aleksandar Kesic and Igor Stefanovic. Damir Kahriman was in the best eleven of the championship, which is both a great success for him and me. This is only the beginning for that young goalkeeper and he must work very hard in the future to stay at the top in his career.”

Psychological preparation “Psychological preparation for goalkeepers plays a very important part in preparing for the game, especially for young goalkeepers.

First, I must warm up the goalkeeper and prepare him for all task and reactions. He must concentrate for the full 90 minutes, because every goalkeeping action must be successful and without any mistake. Goalkeeper must be carefully selected: strong personality, well-balanced and very good physically, prepared to cope on everything that is happening during the game.”

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“Here is the seven-day training cycle that I used with the Serbian goalkeepers before the U21s European Championship for in Holland.

Day 1 Warming up in a square 3:1 (three goalkeepers and the coach). One touch - running out of the square and then one touch with the hand. In the main part of the training the goalkeeper runs between the sticks, jumping and catching low balls, after that jumping over an obstacle and catching middle high and high balls. After the training - stretching.

Day 2 Warming up – pass give the ball with the foot between goalkeepers. In the main part of the training we do exercises where the goalkeeper receives a low ball from the trainer with one foot, then a highball with his hands.

Second exercise; Distribution after a cross from a corner position by the trainer, the goalkeeper catches the ball with his hands while jumping then kicks the ball to the second goalkeeper, who stays on the half way line of the pitch. After the training stretching.

Day 3 After the warming goalkeeper is staying on the goal – trainer is with two balls; first ball is low shoot to goalkeeper to catch the ball, second ball is half high shoot on left or right side of the goal keeper. Second exercise is low shoot on left side of the goalkeeper then high shoot on right side with task to catch the ball. After the training – stretching.

Day 4 After the warm up – reaction exercises with the ball from different positions. Sitting position – eyes on the trainer, lying on his stomach – eyes on the trainer, lying on the right and left sides – eyes on the trainer and sitting position – After the training – stretching.

Day 5 Day off – travel to Holland

Day 6 Preparation - training for the next day’s game. Warming up, exercises for fast reaction, exercise for reaction from shots and stretching. Checking the pitch where we are playing and after training a meeting with information on the opponent team.

Day 7 First game of the championship

PASSPORT

Playing career:

Coaching career:

1981-1990

2000-2001

1990 1990-1992 1993-1994 1994-1995

Dragan Vasic (1963)

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1995-2000

FC Vojvodina, Novi Sad, Yugoslavia I league FC Becej, Becej, Yugoslavia II league FC Sloboda, Tuzla (Bosnia) Yugoslavia I league FC Becej, Becej, Yugoslavia I league FC Macva, Sabac, Yugoslavia II league FC Sartid, Smederevo, Yugoslavia I league

No. 23 October/November 2007

2001-2007 2007

FC Sartid, Smederevo, Yugoslavia I league- goalkeeper coach FC Vojvodina, Novi Sad, Serbia I league – goalkeeper coach Serbia U-21 National Team, goalkeeper coach on Euro 2007 in Holland.

Exercise for closing the angle Organization: -

Goalkeeper and trainer, Goal and 5 balls, Mixture of low and high balls, Trainer can combine, one ball low – one ball high,

Progression: - Goalkeeper moves from the goalpost and jumps on the ball after closing the angle - After catching the ball he goes back to his starting position - First a low ball, then the trainer kicks a highball - After 5 balls rest for 2 minutes, then change position to the other side of the goal

Exercise for fast reaction Organization: - From lying position the goalkeeper runs and jumps to the other side of the goal - The trainer shoots a low, hard shot into the opposite corner of the goal - Goalkeeper on the goal line and the trainer 8 meters from the goal - 5 balls - Main part of the training - 5 balls on one side, then 5 balls on the other side of the goal with 2 minutes rest between

Saving shots from the centre followed by a long kick drop kick up field Organization: -

2 Goalkeepers and trainer 6 balls Main part of the training Goalkeeper saves central shot, catches the ball, then with a long kick, hits it the other goalkeeper who is some 50 meters from the goal - Variations of this exercise are possible

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Why the game is so strong

“Please coach, when c Over the last four months I have seen dozens of games where the children play for fun on their own terms. These small sided games have been stripped of 3 points, leagues, cups, semi finals, medals, coaching from the sidelines and referees. Football is the winner as the children play for the sheer love of the game. They get so wrapped up in the play that a Martian Spaceship could land in the centre circle and they would simply dribble round it and shoot for goal.

By: Paul Cooper

The worldwide game

Fun days

The game of football is a simple one. All you need is a ball, some players a pitch and some goals. This could be the World Cup final or a children’s street game with a tin can for a ball and some bricks for goals. The beauty is its very simplicity and we must constantly remind ourselves of this and always put the game first.

We are in grave danger of clouding this simple game for children and focus far too much on the glitter and trappings that accompany children’s football today. With this in mind Give Us Back Our Game began 4v4 football fun days to celebrate ‘the game’ in its most simple, child and player centred form. The most important issues were: • Lots of fun • Lots of touches • Lots of goals • Everyone plays

These can be half a day or just for an hour or two and are very simple to run.

First of all you need a venue and players. This can be in house at a club or with a number of teams or just individual kids. We have come up with some very simple guidelines to follow to make it easy for coaches to set up.

• Pitches 30/40m x 20 m- these can be simply laid out with marker cones • Goals – mini soccer goals 12x6 or simply traffic cones (some even use jumpers for goal posts) • 4v4 or as near as possible (the most important issue is everyone plays so it could be 3v3 or 4v4 or 5v5) • NO SUBS! – every child plays for every minute (when it is very hot you may want to revise this) • 8-10 minute games on a round robin basis • Players can dribble, kick or throw the ball into play. They can decide this before the games • Keepers – again the children can decide if they want to have them or not before each game

That is children’s football, whether you are a child living in Derby, Denver, Durban or Deauville.

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No. 23 October/November 2007

• Kids referee their own matches – by the side of each pitch is a pitch organiser who is in charge of health and safety and time keeping (its is best to have all the games kicking off at the same time) • No coaching by adults from the side – parents take a physical and psychological step back from the sideline

Mixed Teams We have found the best and most competitive games are when the children are mixed and put into roughly equal teams. If you don’t already know the ability of the teams you may want to play in their club teams for the first couple of games. As the format is very flexible it is up to you what you do, but it is good for children to play with other children other than from their own team as they have to communicate and socially interact with each other. The same applies to the children refereeing their own games. They have to take responsibility for their game and communicate with the opposition over incidents. Children of all ages and abilities need to be able to play this kind of format for both fun and development. Many clubs now in the UK are pulling out of leagues at U7s/U8s and U9s to play this format. If you have say 25-30 children at one age group and only have one or two parents volunteering to take a team, this alternative match day programme makes a lot of sense.

But for teams not wanting to pull out of the league system this is also very easy to set up. Instead of a training session, once a month or in addition to training have a 4v4 fun match session; maybe include players from a neighbouring club.

Children voices The best thing reported from all the fun days is that for once children’s voices can be heard over everything else. Here are just a few quotes from people who have taken part;

“Just wanted to say thank you for such an enjoyable day. Both the kids and the parents had a great time. We appreciate being invited to participate and all of the effort that went into organising the event. Probably the most telling comment was made as we were walking back to the car park and one of the kids said "Why can't we play football like this all the time?"

“A quick word to say how much my boys enjoyed the football on Sunday. They loved the idea of being allowed to do anything they wanted and they certainly enjoyed trying out all their favourite tricks. I think the bit they enjoyed best was watching me having to be quiet on the sidelines. Looking forward to the next one.”

“I scored my first ever goal!”

“What a day! 50 children played football, being supported by their parents and no fewer than 262 goals in two hours.”

For information on how to get involved and do your own fun day sessions please email Paul Cooper on giveusbackourgame@gmail.com

an we have a match?”

No. 23 October/November 2007

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www.giveusbackourgame.co.uk

"Play is the universal language of children"

Various Defiant Mourinho believes he is still the 'Special One' Jose Mourinho insists he is still the 'Special One' despite his shock departure from Chelsea. The Portuguese coach first declared his 'special' status upon arriving in England and believes he lived up to that billing during his three-year stay. Chelsea enjoyed the most successful period in their history during Mourinho's tenure, winning backto-back Premiership titles in his first two seasons in charge. "I took a chance in saying that I was special, but I think there are now a lot of people who would sign up to that," Mourinho told Portuguese newspaper Maisfutebol. "I think I'm still special. I achieved good things and it was a fantastic period in my career. I'll try to forget the bad things and remember the good ones, which are endless." Mourinho admits he endured an emotional farewell when le left Stamford Bridge. "Yes, I cried," he said. "I tend to say that I have a family at home and another at work. I've always had a relationship of love with the players and fans. I won't forget them and they won't forget me."

"The fans never left Stamford Bridge crying, because we never lost. We beat the record and the day they lose a match at home they will remember they were three years without losing a single league game there. Here (England), the culture is not one of change. Sir Alex Ferguson was at Manchester United a lot of years without winning titles, I think it was three years in a row, and he continues in his job. (Arsene) Wenger's already in his third year without winning titles and continues in his work. If it were for the fans I'd have a contract for 20 years. Here the culture is different. People like me and there is an excellent relationship."

Ten Cate punishes his players Henk ten Cate punished the AFC Ajax selection after a cup match against amateur club, a dramatic match for Ajax to say the least.

Ten Cate made the players run around in circles for a half an hour and when the players thought they were done; he added another half an hour. On top of that he also fined the team; the players must buy a game ticket for all supporters that were present to witness this horrible match (Ajax did win in over-time 1-2) to Ajax next cup match at home against SC Heerenveen.

Allardyce critical of Benitez Newcastle manager Sam Allardyce has criticized Rafa Benitez suggesting the Liverpool boss is fortunate to be in his job. Allardyce believes Benitez has only kept his job because he has reached two Champions League finals with Liverpool. Liverpool have finished fifth, third and third in the Premiership under Benitez and Allardyce believes the former Valencia coach would have been sacked were it not for his success in European competition. Allardyce told Zoo magazine, said: "Rafa would be very lucky to be in a job if he hadn't got to two Champions League finals, because they have had some very, very poor finishes poor finishes in the Premier League. While they are a very good Champions League team, they are not a Premier League-winning team yet. They don't have that mentality to win that yet. Being a foreigner, Rafa doesn't understand it's supposed to be Premier League first and Champions League second."

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SCI WEBSITE NEW IN THE MEMBERS AREA! - Michel Hordijk, technique trainer FC Utrecht - Terminology article: tasks and functions - Training sessions from around the world - And more to come …

EDITORIAL

No. 23 – October/November 2007 SoccerCoachingInternational is a magazine for soccer coaches all over the world from the publisher of TrainersMagazine, the Dutch magazine for soccer coaches. The Magazine will be released six times a year.

Chief editor Paul van Veen Beatrixlaan 21, 2811 LZ REEUWIJK THE NETHERLANDS E-mail: paul@soccercoachinginternational.com Publisher Sportfacilities & Media BV Visiting address: Steynlaan 19 B-D ZEIST THE NETHERLANDS Postal address: P.O. Box 952, 3700 AZ ZEIST THE NETHERLANDS E-mail: info@soccercoachinginternational.com Phone: +31 (0)30 697 7710 Fax: +31 (0)30 697 7720 Project Manager Floris Schmitz f.schmitz@sportfacilities.com Managing Editor and Translations Maaike Denkers maaike@soccercoachinginternational.com Graphic Design Anton Gouverneur studio@sportfacilities.com

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Editorial Staff Erich Beting, Paul Cooper, Maaike Denkers, Tania Dimitrova, Anton Gouverneur, Tom van den Heiligenberg, Dušan Petrović, Hans Slender, Paul van Veen, Hidde van Wageningen Subscription Rates You can subscribe to this magazine through its website: www.soccercoachinginternational.com. The subscription rate are as follows: US and CND subscribers: $49,95 for the first year ($59,95 for years thereafter) UK subscribers: £28,50 for the first year (£33,95 for years thereafter) Subscribers from the rest of the world: € 49,95 for the first year (€ 59,90 for years thereafter) You will receive six magazines per year and access to all subscriber features on the website.

This publication is purchased with the understanding that information presented is from many sources for which there can be no warranty or responsibility by the publisher as to accuracy, originality or completeness. It is sold with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering product endorsements or providing instruction as a substitue for appropriate training by qualified sources. SoccerCoachingInternational assumes no responsibility for unsolicited material.

Copyright All rights reserved. Contents may not be reprinted or otherwise reproduced without written permission of the publisher.

ISSN 1571 - 8794

No. 23 October/November 2007

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