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The complete soccer coaching experience

SOCCERCOACHING No. 24 December 2007/January 2008

International

Arsene Wenger, Arsenal coach since 1996

Wil Coort, goalkeeping coach FC Porto

ACF Fiorentina

Stefan Billborn, U-16 coach Brommapojkarnach

WWW.SOCCER COACHINGINTERNATIONAL.COM

Contents 4

ARSENE WENGER, ARSENAL COACH SINCE 1996: “I try to make the player enjoy what he does”

From the Editor

ACF FIORENTINA:

STEFAN BILLBORN, U-16 COACH BROMMAPOJKARNA

A football Renaissance with an emphasis on youth

“The players are like sponges”

RODRIGO LEITÃO, U17 COACH FC PAULISTA: “Diminish their resistance to understanding”

TRAINING SESSIONS FROM AROUND THE WORLD

ZARKO SOLDO FC HAJDUK COACH:

“Good team organization for good results”

WIL COORT, GOALKEEPING COACH FC PORTO: “The higher level you play, the less shots you get”

COLUMN PAUL COOPER

Winter is slowly creeping around the corner here in Holland, but this 24th issue gives me a warm feeling as this issue marks the end of our fourth year! An anniversary issue we celebrate by featuring one of the World’s most renowned coaches; Arsene Wenger, who needs no further introduction. Besides Wenger we talked to two other top European coaches: Zarko Soldo. FC Hajduk coach talked to our Serbian correspondent Dusan Petrovic about team organization and results, while we visited Wil Coort at FC Porto to chat about their goalkeeping program. However, this somewhat festive issue also features plenty of youth coaches from football nations across the world. Frank Dunne visited ACF Fiorentina youth academy in Italy, while our friends from Cidade do Futbol visited FC Paulista coach Rodrigo Leitão. To the north in Sweden, our correspondent Niklas Velander visited the U16 coach of Brommapojkarna, maybe not the most well known club around the globe, but a very interesting article to say the least. As requested by our readers we expanded our ‘Training Sessions from around the World’ section, which is now 10 pages, featuring 30 exercises divided into 5 zones: the ‘Positioning Zone’, ‘Passing & Shooting Zone’, ‘U11 Zone’, ‘Finishing Zone’ and ‘Mixed Zone’. I also want to take this opportunity to inform all our readers that we will be exhibiting at the NSCAA convention next January. I will be there along with our chief editor Paul van Veen and our UK agent and copy editor Paul Cooper. Please visit us at our booth (#2425), we would love to meet you. In a meantime you can also visit our website: www.soccercoachinginternational.com, where you will find 100s of exercises; our exercise editor; video exercises and the members’ area! I wish you all a very merry Christmas and a happy new year! Yours in soccer, Maaike Denkers Managing Editor

Photo: Orange Pictures

Arsene Wenger is the most successful coach in the history of Arsenal. He won the double in 1998 and 2002 and in 2004 he won the premiership without losing a single match. SoccerCoachingInternational went to visit the successful French coach and spoke to him about his ideas on coaching football. By: Paul van Veen

Photo: Orange Pictures

“Why do I think I am so successful? That is a difficult question. I think, first of all, because I am passionate about football. I like the players and I like to do what I do well. So, for me it is quite an obsession to always try and improve. Just like players, you need to improve every day and you have to be humble enough to always question yourself. So I think it is a mixture of wanting to be better, always trying to improve and humble enough to ask yourself what you can do to improve yourself. Also, it is very important to love the players. As a coach you need to help them. Help them to improve and to do that you need to have a philosophy of the game you want to play. Then, at this level, you try to find the players who can adjust to that philosophy.”

Arsene Wenger, Arsenal coach since 1996:

“I try to make the player enjoy what he does” 4

No. 24 December 2007/January 2008

Pleasure “My philosophy is always to get as close as possible to the pleasure of the game. I try to talk to the part of the player that makes him come to love the game, the child in the player. I try not to make the game only a job. That is the part that interests me the least. But I try to make him enjoy what he does. That is the part I like to work with.”

Passion “I make all the contracts myself and of course I always try to let the players earn as much money as they can. But that is not the

part that has my interest. When I talk to a player, my interest is the passion that is inside a player. His passion for the game and how much he wants to gain and try to develop that. To develop the dream that is inside every individual. The passion that was initially in every player when he was still a boy. That is the part of the player I am interested in and want to talk about. Then it does not interest me if a player makes 2, 5 or 10 million. If the club can afford it and the player is good enough to earn it, than I am ok with that.”

Good attitude “So I am looking for intrinsic motivation. I believe this is related to the character of that player. The attitude a players shows inside the game is the real attitude of the player, there he shows who he really is. When you come out of the game, you can disguise your personality. But you really are who you are when you play. We want players at Arsenal who have a good attitude. I have worked for 20 years with motivational people about the attitude, we study our players, we give them tests and I have a good analysis of the players. In our youth development, we think that is also very important. Our youth teams have tests on their motivational level, their mental attitude, of their competitiveness and their team attitude. We try to keep these tests as objective as possible.”

No. 24 December 2007/January 2008

Van Persie

is at a very high speed you have a great chance to win the game.”

“I know we signed van Persie when he had big problems in Holland. First of all, I think he was not respected in Holland. He did not get the respect he expected. He was still very young, and he was not really mature at that time and he was mentally a bit fragile. He was damaged by it, but not destroyed. When I talked to him I felt he would be fine. Van Persie had a deep love for the game and the human aspect was very positive. He was somewhat unlucky in the way things went but on the other hand the way he behaved was a mixture between strength, a bit of arrogance (which you need as a big player) and sensitivity as well. He is a very sensitive person, but with strength that makes him a top class player. When we signed him, we knew he was a player that could have gone either way and in our case it went the right way.”

Good football “What is good in football? Every way you play is good. You can play a long ball and you can play a short ball. Both ways can be very efficient. The most important thing is that you translate it well into your practice session and you play it with the right players. If you have the players who can play the long ball, you can do that. I am not for that, because most players at our club want to express their talent.”

Six months “It takes six months for players to get used to the way we want to play. We give players that amount of time, because we have a stability on the technical side (the staff) and secondly we have stability on the player’s side. Instead of a player leaving after 2 or 3 years, we have players play for our team for 8 years. So the stability is there, we do not sell our players and we take time to integrate new players. We don’t judge them before.”

Genius “He could have become a player that is not worth wasting your time on, but sometimes geniuses are like that. He has developed very well. He now has a good girl friend as well, his environment is good and the club was always there for him. The club showed enough patience. He had come to a club with big players and we have the time. Furthermore, I am used to working with young players. I know you have to be patient and we gave him a little time, but the biggest part came from him.”

Individual “For some people it is physical, because the intensity of the game in England is very high. Sometimes it is tactically because of the changes in the system, because we play zonal. Some are used to play a zonal system, but it was never really explained well. Sometimes we play a different tactical organization. For example, when Overmars came to us he was more used to a winger system and we played 4-4-2, so he needed to adjust to a new tactical approach. So it depends on the player, but most of the time it takes 6 months to work on the things they are missing.”

“Van Persie turned out well, but of course I have been wrong in the past too. In such a situation, you make a calculation, you look at it and you take a gamble. And when it turns out wrong, you can always try to learn from your mistake. I think a good coach is always capable of saying: I was wrong in this situation. A good coach (or player) is capable of saying: today we won five nil, but I made two big mistakes. This job teaches you humility, because you face human beings and human beings can always surprise you and prove you wrong and you have to accept that.”

Photo: Orange Pictures

Getting it wrong

Decisions “You the coach has the weight to make decisions and also big decisions. But you are only a human being and you have to accept you make mistakes. I also made mistakes when I was really convinced of my decision. But I am not sorry about the players who I believed in and he didn’t make it. Because I believed in him and gave him the chance. I am more worried about the players who deserved the chance and I didn’t give them that chance and I must say: we are very successful in our choices.

Questioned

The percentage of success we now have in our team is unbelievable. That means that the way we scout players is the right way to go, the way we work with players is right, but of course we also have a few who don’t make it and maybe I missed a few because I didn’t give them the right chance and therefore didn’t make it. That is what worries you as a coach.”

The team “Football is a team sport. When a player begins to play he is more worried about his individual pleasure and individual performance. When you can get to your players that they can get a

No. 24 December 2007/January 2008

team pleasure out of the game that is ten times stronger than they can get for an individual performance or movement. When everybody accepts that I can get to the point where I feel that the team understands what a team sport is all about, that is a big part of my job. If you have achieved this, you can say you have done your job as a coach. Everybody wants to win the game, but it is how we get there. You need to come to a way where they are capable of expressing themselves as a team. Therefore you need to have a connection within the team and that connection is – for me – the communication. The ball communicates from one player to the next and if the communication

“When I just started at Arsenal, I was questioned a lot. I was questioned about everything I did, but you have to accept that as a coach. Do not transform radically what you want to do, but you have to do it step by step. The charisma and convincing power of the coach comes in as well, because you need to convince the players to do it like that, it’s a mixture of adaptation, be faithful to your ideas and you need to have a bit of luck as well. Because if you lose every game, everybody will say: we like your ideas very much, you work very well, but thank you very much and bye bye.”

Long term “I am not a coach for the short term, but a coach for the long term. I always felt that a coach has the responsibility on three different levels. The first level is the way you think in football

No. 24 December 2007/January 2008

and the results. The second level is the individual influence on the career of every individual player. You have some coaches, who can’t win trophies because they work in smaller or average clubs, but they still develop players. They deserve a lot of respect because they have a great impact on the individual career of a player. And then you have the third level, which in my opinion many coaches do not participate enough in. That is the influence you have on the structure of the club. How much bigger do you want to make the club? What kind of influence do you have to develop the level of the youth teams? How much influence do you have on the stadium, the training grounds, the facilities, the quality of the training facilities? Because it is not all just about me, my results and my ego, it is about what you leave behind when you go. What kind of potential does the guy that comes after you have? I agree that not many have the chance to do that, but it must be your ambition.”

Luck “When I talk to other coaches I say I was lucky, because I had seventeen years at two clubs in my career and if I had not come to Arsenal, I probably would still be working in Japan, because they wanted to give me a very long contract. I was lucky because I went to clubs who gave me a chance to develop my ideas. I am conscious of that and I am conscious of many people trying to have an influence and did not receive a chance to do it.”

Staff “I try to find staff that know how I want to work. I support them very well, I delegate a lot, but if they don’t do what they are asked, I don’t keep them. I always try to get one local guy who knows the club and has been a long time inside the club. For example a player or former captain of the club. When I am looking for someone to add to the staff I always look to see if people are intelligent, passionate and want to develop. We all need somebody who gives us a chance. Just like when I was young, you needed someone who gave you the chance. Arsenal gave me that chance and I will never forget that.”

Transition “The transition in football is vital. But it is always linked with the technical qualities of the players, the vision and the physical qualities of the players. Especially the physical qualities have become more important nowadays. They have improved, so the transition has become shorter especially when your opponent let’s you play the game it is very short. Furthermore, when you are at a big club like Arsenal the teams don’t really get out against you, that way they try to cancel this transition because they don’t come out of their position. So the transition period is only important when a team comes out and tries to play against you. When you are a big club you first have to put your opponent in a position that they have to be in a transition period when you win the ball. For example, that they have to be 1-0 down to start to get out and try to equalize.” Photo: Orange Pictures

Transition (2) “But in a Champions League game, the transition is very, very important. Because both teams usually play, both teams are used to taking the game, so then it becomes very important. But to take that advantage you need to be physically very strong. It is a very interesting and important period, but because it is so important you see that most teams neglect it a bit – and I am

No. 24 December 2007/January 2008

personally sorry for that – how to create space when they have the ball and the other team is in position. They refuse to take their responsibility.”

Love “It is always the same: you have to love people. A coach like Louis van Gaal is a bit different. He is more rigid, but that is his personality and that is the only secret rule: you can only be successful if you are who you are. Van Gaal is who he is and he will never change. He will be successful because he is faithful to who he is and doesn’t cheat.”

Young coaches “Any advise for younger coaches? Always try to have a line of contact and be faithful to it. Don’t give it up, but as a coach you need to be open to new ideas, because football is constantly in evolution. You have to be mentally very strong, be ready for a fight in life, because it is a very hard job. It is an obsessionable job and you have to be ready to suffer. You have to be conscious that your environment suffers a lot as well. I always say it is a job for single people, because also your family suffers. That is really something you have to take into account when you are going to do this job. Most of the time that is something you don’t consider when you are passionate. You have to be able to cope with disappointments. Because you see many people with very nice ideas and when they start their career and then they are under pressure and exposed to disappointments, they drop out. You have to walk like a soldier and therefore you need exceptional strengths or you know you will have no chance to be successful and if you fail, fail with your own philosophy.”

Style “You know what I like about Brazil? They say: we respect you for your success, but we love you for your style. I think that is the complete picture. But first, you have to be respected for your success and then on top of that you can be loved for your style. They had for a long time a history of results and success, so at the start they were just happy with winning, but after that the demands always become higher. People want to be entertained, that is the responsibility of a big club. People come to the stadium with an expectation. You can’t charge 100 euros per game and say to a guy: sorry we have not more to show you, our only ambition is to win a corner kick in the 87th minute and you should be happy to spend 100 euro on that. It just doesn’t work that way.” Photo: Orange Pictures

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Corvino lands in Florence Pantaleo Corvino had made a name for himself by producing incredible results in the youth sector at the small southern club, Lecce, and by discovering a whole string of young players who have gone on to be stars in Italian football. These include: Fabrizio Miccoli, Christian Ledesma, Mirko Vucinic and Javier Ernesto Chevanton. After seven years at Lecce, from 1998 to 2005, Corvino took up the post at Fiorentina. “My job at Fiorentina is to bring players through the youth system who will be ready for the first team and who will have value at national and international level. This was my job at Lecce, where we won seven national league titles, and at Casarano (in Serie C1 and B) where we won the U20s championship and where I brought through players like Paolo Orlandoni, who’s now with Inter.”

ACF Fiorentina:

A football Renaissance with an emphasis on youth From 1926, when ACF Fiorentina was founded, through to the turn of the century, the club from Florence was one of the big names in Italian football, one of the so-called “seven sisters” – those clubs who every year had a reasonable chance of competing for the title. The ‘Viola’ – the nickname comes from the unmistakable purple strip – won the league in 1956 and 1969, won the Italian cup six times and also won the Uefa Cup Winners’ Cup. In 2002 the club went bust and was kicked out of the league, having to start again from Serie C2 – the fourth division. Fiorentina was bought by the Della Valle family whose investments and shrewd choice of personnel had helped bring the club back up to Serie A by 2004. This season the club is keeping pace with champions Inter Milan at the top of the table and powering through its Uefa Cup group. In 2005, owners Diego and Andrea Della Valle made two inspired choices: former Parma coach, Cesare Prandelli, was appointed to coach the first team and Pantaleo Corvino was recruited from Lecce to be sporting director.

Corvino outlined his duties as sporting director at Fiorentina: “As the person responsible for the technical side at the club, I am called upon to marry the technical requirements of the first team with the technical development of the youth sector. The technical resources of a team cannot be only measured in terms of what you go out and buy but by what you produce internally, within the club, starting from the youth teams. This is what I have done wherever I have worked, for over 30 years.”

Philosophy: professional football demands results “There are two types of football: football as fun, where you just play to enjoy yourself, and professional football, where there are huge economic interests. At this level, football is not primarily a lucid activity. Professional football makes intense technical demands and requires results. I am in one of Italy’s biggest clubs and have to ensure that the sporting results are linked to economic results. To achieve these results you need time and high quality work.”

who was there already, because you don’t always need to throw things away to make improvements, but I also put in lots of new people, especially in areas like recruitment and youth coaching.” “With the first team, you have to trust the coach to take care of the technical side. At club level we have owners – the Della Valle family – who are industrialists, bringing a managerial mentality into football. One of the things which characterises this club is the attempt to marry sporting success with an ethical approach. This is part of our philosophy and is due to the Della Valle family.”

Developing young players To explain the secret of discovering talented young players, Corvino makes a distinction in Italian. It’s about the difference, he says, between vedere (to see) and intravedere, which the dictionary gives as “catching a glimpse of”. Corvino is talking about something halfway between observation and intuition. “Almost anybody can see a decent player but understanding that player’s potential is the work of a specialist. What happens on the pitch will ultimately be the test of whether you can make that call.” Once the basic talent and potential has been identified, the rest is down to the quality of the work done by and with the player. “You could talk about what it takes from the player to make it to the top level but the most important thing is having good instructors. The first thing is not to ruin a young player of potential, then to have people who can add something to the player through the quality of their work.”

“You have to make a distinction between the work with the first team and the work of the youth sector. In the youth sector the starting point is to create a structure in which you have the right man in the right job, to appoint a co-ordinator for very area: health, logistics, organisation, technical work and recruitment. Then within each area you have sub-areas with the right people who follow the club line. In every area I tried to save the best of

By: Frank Dunne 10

No. 24 December 2007/January 2008

Carobbi, who is a Category 1 Professional Coach of the Italian Football Federation, spent five years coaching in the Soccer School of Pistoia Nord before joining Fiorentina in 2003. He has worked with the U11s and the U13s and this season was asked by Corvino to take over the U15s. SoccerCoachingInternational observed one of Carobbi’s sessions with the U15s in November 2007. The session lasted about 80 minutes and was structured around four elements: technical work, a possession game, tactical work, and a final match.

3.50pm Technique and warm-up The first technical activity, lasting 10 minutes, served also as a warm-up. The 22 players were divided into five groups of four with one pair. Two players in each group took up fixed positions with another two, opposite, about 2-3 metres away, swapping positions. At the moment, there are no players from Fiorentina’s youth sector in the first team squad. This may seem at odds with Corvino’s philosophy, but as he explains, it is still too early in the cycle to see the fruits of the revamped youth sector’s work: “This club has just come through a very turbulent period, which had a profound effect on the youth sector. When you have to start again from the fourth division, it’s not easy to convince a talented young player to come to Fiorentina, even though it’s still a big name. The process of overhauling the youth sector only really began just over two years ago, so we are still putting down the roots, the foundations of what we hope will be a beautiful building. You need a cycle of at least five years to put things in place, after which everything runs automatically.”

Recruitment and care Fiorentina’s youth set-up has around 180 players, beginning with the “Pulcini” category of children born either in 1998 (U10s) or 1997 (U11s) but the club doesn’t have its own soccer school. There are three teams of U10s and three of U11s, all of whom have to pass a selection procedure to join the club. The key aspect in the selection is technical skill. But not all the boys will make it beyond the first level. “We try to make a quick decision about which of these boys ought to carry on through the other age groups. For me, it’s vital to let them know early whether it is worth them continuing to make a sacrifice or not. It’s something I feel as a big responsibility having to say to a boy of 13 or 14, ‘you should push yourself hard to make it’ or ‘football is not for you, you should leave it’. I have to have answers for their families as soon as possible.” The club runs a project called “Promessa Viola” for the 26 boys who have joined the club from outside the Tuscany region and therefore live in special accommodation provided by the club. “This is an innovative project which even Uefa has expressed interest in. We follow these boys step by step, monitoring the development of their character and ethical behaviour. We have five tutors, who have a very important role in looking after the boys, helping them to solve their problems and reassure the parents that their children are being properly looked after.” “The Della Valle family wants to create the best possible situa-

tion for the children and to make sure that there is a proper substitute for their normal family life.” For all the boys of the youth sector, there are also members of staff who maintain continuous contact with school and with the families. “When you take boys as young as nine, you have to make sure they are looked after,” Corvino says.

Common objectives, different approaches Corvino says that while all levels of the club share common objectives, each coach has autonomy in running his section. “You have to treat coaches the same way you treat players. Not very player is the same – each one has his own ideas, his own creativity. We get together every week, with the coaches and fitness coaches from every level and we exchange ideas but also try to ensure that we are faithful to the club’s objectives. In the youth categories the main job is to develop the players technically, rather than tactically. The tactics – things like team formation – are always dictated by the players you have available, so you can’t have a common tactical approach at all levels. It has to be based on the characteristics of the individuals.” In just over two years, Fiorentina has had good results at many levels, losing the national title at U17 and U20 levels only in the final. “Results at youth level are important in as far as they can provide a guide to whether you’re going in the direction but they are not the absolute priority. Good results don’t come by chance or by themselves, they are the result of the right kind of work. But the real result for us will be when we bring a player through to the first team, which hopefully will happen in two to three years.”

Coaching the U15s: Stefano Carobbi One of Corvino’s “right men in the right job” is Stefano Carobbi, coach of the “Giovanissimi” level, equivalent to the U15s. Carobbi had a highly successful career as a player. He was a defender in the great Milan side coached by Arrigo Sacchi in the late 1980s, playing alongside the likes of Marco van Basten, Ruud Gullit, Frankie Rijkaard and Franco Baresi. Around this time he also played for the national team. After Milan, he played two seasons for Fiorentina before ending his playing career at Lecce.

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The fixed player would serve the ball to his opposite number who would return it in a variety of ways – on the volley, on the half-volley, with a control on the chest then a volley, on the thigh, with a header and so on. After each return, the player who has played the ball swaps position with the other “mobile” player. When he moves to the left of the square he returns the ball with his left foot, and with his right when he moves to the right. Every two minutes the couples switch position. Carobbi walks up and down the line of players looking closely at each group, shouting key words like “precision”. On the volleyed return he demands that the kicking leg is opened out wide, away from the body to get the right line of return when kicking through the ball, and the arms are used on either side for balance. Carobbi gives continuous encouragement to the players when the skill is correctly executed. On the headed return he demands quick movement of the feet in the cross-over move once the header has been made.

4.05pm Possession, man-marking and warm-up The players then play an 11-a-side possession game in an area about 40m x 30m with two goals made from poles on each side. The players pass the ball by hand and have to finish the move with a header into one of the two goals. Every player is man-marked. The club believes that defenders have lost the ability to mark and that this is a fundamental defensive skill. Carobbi wants to produce Italian-style defenders. Defending players have to intercept the ball by reading its trajectory, rather than ripping the ball from the hands of the opponent in possession. Every couple of minutes the game is stopped for a minute of stretching. The game is designed to be fun but with technical requirements.

4.15pm Tactics: 8v4 and 6v4 The group is divided into two: half the boys go off for fitness work, the other half remain with Carobbi for two tactical exercises. In the first exercise, the players are split into attackers and defenders with a goalkeeper on one half of a full-sized pitch. The defensive line is organised in a flat back four. They face four attackers and four midfielders, both starting off playing in a straight line.

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Carobbi stops the play after one minute to point out that with a two against one advantage the attackers should already have scored. Although, ostensibly, the purpose of this is to put pressure on the forwards to speed up the play, there is a hidden psychological agenda: he is trying to boost the confidence of the back four. The back four tries to push up whenever possible to compress the play but the offside rule is not used. This is also for psychological reasons: if the defence were to get their timing wrong several times in a training session they would be inhibited from pushing up during a match. Much of Carobbi’s focus is on the positioning and movement of the defenders. He wants them to keep the right distance apart, with the players pulling right and left in a chain, not squeezing up too closely together so as to leave space for a switch of play out to the other win, and not getting pulled so far apart that they invite a quick through ball for one of the attackers to move on to. Carobbi calls for more communication between the players saying that there is no place on a football pitch for silent people.

He wants the attackers, when taking on an opponent in a 1v1 to get up close to the defender before making his move. After 10 minutes he stops the session for some more stretching.

portunity to suddenly come short for the ball from the playmaker. When he makes his forward move beyond the back line, he should attack the space between the two central defenders.

The second activity is a 6v4, plus a goalkeeper. The attackers are organised into a 2-3-1 formation, which matches the formation used by the team in competitive matches. The move begins from one of the two “holding” players who play it forward, usually to the middle of the three more advanced players who is operating as a kind of playmaker. He either knocks the ball out wide and moves in for a return pass or looks for a one-two with the centre forward. Once he has received the ball back, he looks for the ball which will get a team mate into a dangerous position, either through the middle or around the back of the defence.

The timing of the players’ movement off the ball is critical. Carobbi stops the play several times when a forward goes either too early, which would risk getting him into an offside position, or too late, giving the defender the chance to close him down. However, Carobbi leaves it up to the player where to move, which space to attack. He doesn’t want the players to memorise schematic attacking moves and then to repeat them, like footballing robots, but to have a repertoire of possible solutions and to use their own initiative according to the situation.

When there is no obvious forward ball, the playmaker has to keep position, passing sideways or backwards, looking for onetwos, before attacking again. The striker should look to pull the central defenders back towards the goal while looking for the op-

Technical work

He tells the defenders not to double up on the wide attacking player. They are already outnumbered, if they put an extra man on one forward they will be exposed elsewhere. Carobbi wants the forward players to move the ball around quickly. After a few minutes he imposes a two-touch rule to speed up the passing.

4.50pm Match A match with two full teams in just over half of a full-sized pitch for 20 minutes. The game is played two-touch. Due to the restrictions on space and time, the match is played at a fast pace. Carobbi wants the players to play with courage, holding up the ball even when under intense pressure, and wants a high level of aggression but without getting carried away in the tackles and risking injuring a team mate.

Tactics: 8v4 plus keeper Organisation:

Organisation:

Players split into groups of four, with two opposite pairs. One pair is fixed the other mobile, with the two players switching positions right and left. Each fixed player serves the ball to his opposite number who returns it.

Four defenders, lined up in a flat back four, plus a keeper, take on eight attackers.

Progression: Progression:

The defenders must keep the right distance between themselves, moving right to left as a unit and compressing play where possible. They must not double up on wide attacking players. The attackers must move the ball around quickly, looking for spaces through the middle or around the back of the defence.

The ball is returned in a variety of ways, changing every minute or so, from a half volley, a full volley, a header, a ball played off the lower thigh, and so on. The couples switch roles every couple of minutes, so everybody serves and everybody returns.

Possession warm-up game

Tactics: 6v4 plus keeper Organisation:

Organisation:

The players are split into two teams in a space about 40m wide by 30 long, with four small goals made from poles.

Four defenders, lined up in a flat back four, plus a keeper, take on six attacking players who are in a 2-3-1 formation.

Progression:

The ball is passed by hand and the move must finish with a header on goal. Every player man-marks his opponent.

One of the two deep midfielders plays the ball to the middle of the three forwards who then looks for a way to get a ball through the defence, either for the wide players to attack or for the striker to run on to. The central striker should look to attack the space between the two central defenders.

No. 24 December 2007/January 2008

Stefan Billborn,

Player development It is easy to recognize that Billborn has great knowledge on how to develop soccer players. He has coached several players that have been slected for the youth national teams throughout the years, as well as bringing one team to the World Cup Finals for U-16 club teams in Hong Kong. What is the secret behind youth development? Billborn explains what he believes makes players develop beyond their capabilities.

U-16 coach Brommapojkarna

“The basic for each player is to win the 1 vs. 1 duel. As a coach I want a technical and creative player with a positive mind set. The technical skills we coach are collected in what we call a “skills toolbox”. Passing, receiving, feinting, dribbling, heading, shooting etc. When a coach gets the players to acquire the skills needed, you have to put the players in game situations where they can use the skills from their toolbox under pressure from an opponent. This type of training makes the players refine their skills with pace in small spaces. When the skills later on are being used in a game situation, the players has to recognize where (place) and when (time) to use them.”

“The players are like sponges” Brommapojkarna, are a club in Sweden which has an extraordinary youth development program and has a philosophy of recruiting young talented coaches. The reason why they recruit young coaches is that youth players think it’s easier to identify with a younger coach. Stefan Billborn, who has a very good reputation as a youth coach throughout Stockholm didn’t hesitate when he received an offer to join the clubs youth academy full-time. Billborn ended his playing career early in the lower divisions to become a coach as he loves teaching the game of soccer. Billborn coaches the U-16 team at Brommapojkarna as well as players in the school program. “Brommapojkarna is the top club in Sweden when it comes to development of young soccer players. It’s fantastic to coach youths at such a high level. The players are like sponges, taking in every little detail during the training sessions. My job as a coach is to make their everyday life run smoothly as possible, such as school, nutrition, time management and friendship. To become a good soccer player all these individual parts have to be in place.” In other words, the social environment, psychological factors, physical status and technical/tactical skills are all areas Stefan works on when it comes to the development of his players. By: Niklas Velander

No. 24 December 2007/January 2008

It’s common for coaches to say that you coach in a certain way, but do the drills really refer back to a real game situation? “When I watch a youth training session I should clearly be able to relate to the game situation. I want the players to recognize which situations on the field, the techniques are going to be used.” By looking at a specific game situation the skill is used in, the coach can transfer the situation back into the training session. As a coach you should think about how is the skills acquired by the players. Are you replicating a real game situation where the skill is used in a game? Are you using realistic distances in small sided games and drills? Do the players relate to the match situation during practice?

“As a coach I always try to ask questions to my players, which is an important part of their development. I try to stimulate them to use their mind and be aware of why they are training on certain specific situations during training. It’s the coach’s responsibility to make the players alert and use their minds, otherwise it’s hard to reach that extra mile. That’s possibly the hardest task as a soccer coach, to challenge the players mind. I want the players to ask “What am I doing and why?”.

Strategy “We want to take initiatives and play soccer on the opponents half of the field. In attack, we are always looking for 2 v 1 situations to get the most out of our skilled 1 v 1 players. The players get more out of their 1 v 1 skills if you can both pass to a teammate or dribble past an opponent. We have no certain tactics in our attacking play, although coaches at other clubs believe so, our players read the situations and use their creativity to solve them. We play a great deal of small-sided games during training sessions where the aim is to create 2 v 1 situations.” Stefan Billborn’s team play a lot of 3 v 3, with two goals on each side during practice. In this game, there is always an option of utilizing a 2 v 1 situation. The players are always looking for which side of the field there is only one defender, and take the opportunity of utilizing a 2 v1. A wall pass and overlap are just some of the combinations that make it hard for the defender to intercept the ball. “We often break down game situations into small-sided games during training. We play a lot of possession games where there is no specific direction toward end lines or goals. This is to create more situations for the players to solve.” “Everybody asks themselves how much you have to train to become a world champion; I ask myself how little you have to train to become a world champion”

Consistency is one of the keywords for Stefan when he talks about the way he wants his team to play. “When playing an easy game it’s easy for every player to perform, but what happens when you’re playing a tough game? Do the players still try to play as usual or do they just kick the ball up field? As a coach you have to be consistent and put faith in your players. If the players feel comfortable they will take initiatives on the field and dare to make mistakes. We don’t change our style of play just because the field is of bad quality or we play against a specific opponent.” It’s not just about learning the different techniques, it’s about how to acquire them. Stefan Billborn always tries to activate the minds of the players by asking questions during practices and games. “Which foot do you want to receive the ball with in this situation?” or “When is it better to pass than to dribble?” These are questions that can be used. The players then get their minds stimulated and have a deeper understanding of the concepts in soccer. The players are not robots, they are human begins. One way to learn is to find out the answer yourself, not always be told what to do by the coach. This is also referred to as the “Socratic method”, asking questions instead of giving the answer straight away. “It’s the coach’s responsibility to make the players use their minds.”

No. 24 December 2007/January 2008

Quality v Pace

Game Intelligence

“Everybody asks themselves how much do you have to train to become a world champion, I ask myself how little you have to train to become a world champion. This is a quote I took from our mental coach who works with our players”

To Stefan it’s all about getting the players to reach an understanding of the game. “Young players should be encouraged to dribble a lot. Later on in their development the coach tries to get the players to adopt the basics of offensive and defensive soccer. After that the players are ready to learn the strategies and responsibilities for defenders, midfielders and forwards. ” For the younger players I use a pedagogic model called “traffic lights” when I explain the different skills and mentalities to use on different parts of the field.

There are many teams who always go full speed ahead when they execute all their drills during practice. Stefan believes that you can go at a slower pace for one part of the training to allow the players to learn the technique correctly and then increase the pace further into the practice. “All the training and games are tiring for the players, so what you have to do is concentrate on the quality. Sometimes during training sessions you can relax a little, to have the power to perform with quality. This can give you time to spend longer coaching a specific technique at a lower pace, while increasing the pace during small sided games and possession games.”

First third of the field(own half) Red light – play the ball forward and use your passing skills Middle third of the field Yellow light – turn, pass, dribble and shoot Last third of the field Green light – go for goal, dribble and shoot The next step is to take all the skills and produce an end product.

“We want the players to answer a couple of questions. Q: Which position on the pitch do I have? Q: What are my responsibilities? (Awareness) Q: Why am I playing in this specific position? (Understanding)

The end product can be described as “The players understanding of their roles and responsibilities on the field.” This is the final development goal for every individual player at Brommapojkarna, to reach a complete understanding of the game.”

Final thought “After all, practice is about improving individual skills. As a coach you never think you have enough training sessions during the week.”

1-2 Combination

Double turns Organization:

A passes to B B passes the ball to C B executes passive pressure on C C plays a wallpass with A C dribbles to position D Same thing on the other side with E and F

Coaching -

Organization: B

Coaching -

Constant movement Players should be able to play with 1 touch Keep distance between the players React - Put pressure after ”lost ball”

Overlap Combination

Combinations with 1-2, overlap, dribbling, turning etc. Combine long short pass ie. If ball in first zone – lofted pass Play with one, two touches, volley header Use different turns

Pass – combination – shoot

Defender keeps distance before he executes defensive pressure Player with the ball should feel the presence of the defender Protect the ball with your body React to the attackers decision Read the situation quickly

Variation

Organization:

A passes C C dribbles the ball A executes passive pressure on C C turns with the ball (away from pressure) B executes passive pressure on C C turns with the ball (away from pressure) C dribbles to position D

A passes C C passes B C overlaps behind B B passes to A A passes to C C dribbles to position D

Organization: A

A passes B B passes A A passes C C passes D D passes B C overlaps D and get a pass from B B shoots on goal

Coaching -

Constant movement Players should be able to play with 1 touch Keep distance between the players React - Put pressure after ”lost ball” Pass to the correct foot > Second pass play in front of teammate to create angle for overlaping teammate

No. 24 December 2007/January 2008

Coaching

- Encourage the players to be pro-active and creative!

Variation C

- Combine with wallpass, overlap, passes on the ground, lofted passes, dribble, turn, backpass, 1 vs 1 etc.

No. 24 December 2007/January 2008

Rodrigo Leitão, U17 coach FC Paulista: The Brazilian players are recognized internationally for their display of technique and creativity. However, they are also frequently criticized for their lack of devotion or tactical understanding. The FC Paulista U17 team, who compete in the Brazilian second division, is trained by Rodrigo Leitão, a coach who is trying to change this perspective on Brazilian players by tackling the areas that need improvement. By: Cidade do Futebol

“Diminish their resistance to understanding” Rodrigo works with the U17 team and has adopted a different methodology, based on the understanding of the game. His methodology has not been fully adopted by the club, but he hopes this will change as of 2008. The activities, which Leitão believes will improve the understanding of what happens on the field are equally divided between training session and other activities such as films, books or other forms of interaction. Moreover, his work opposes in many aspects the methodology adopted by the professional teams in Brazilian soccer. Instead of simulation of movements and attacks, he created training sessions based on playful games and a gradual evolution of knowledge of the game.

solely prepare them for these games. What we want is that the athletes understand what happens in the field and that they are prepared for their career. The game must be a part of the learning process. Professional players must train for a specific game, because at that level it is about winning, but we have a different focus.” “The U17s are an age group with a huge necessity to learn different systems of play and ways to act within these systems. We therefore try to focus on more than just one system, preparing players to the best of our ability for each systems and the players’ role within those systems.”

Theory of the games The FC Paulista U17 team has more variations in their system of play and strategies of game the any other team within the club, so that the athletes develop a bigger understanding of all the possibilities. Rodrigo pays close attention to the development of this understanding and tries to broaden the opportunities the players have in the field. All his sessions are based on a gradual evolution from less complex activities.

Difference in preparation "The central idea of our work is that the players are not only prepared for the game. Usually they work from Monday to Friday and play on Saturday, but our practices cannot merely be based on these games, or to

The U17 training session at FC Paulista are based on playful activities, which are geared towards modifying the athletes’ way of thinking about the game and we use this to develop new concepts about the soccer. This happens from cooperation between Leitão’s work and that of the other staff members. "The objective of the training session is a theme which forms a red line throughout the entire session. The players will work on activities that are geared towards this theme from the beginning of the session to the end. All the exercises will have elements of what the practice intends to develop. When I say games, I’m not referring to the

No. 24 December 2007/January 2008

global context. The game is formal, 11 against 11 with the objective to score. We create adapted situations, with different rules directed to a specific learning. This creates a learning environment which allows the players to diminish their resistance to understanding."

Soccer and child "Something we try to value is that our players come from the street. When they are on the field, they exceed the real world. The boys play in the streets of Brazil all the time. The only time they stop playing is when their mother asks them to get something from the store. But when they come back, they are never tired to play another game. Soccer stimulates a series of things that the real world does not allow them to do and it is our job to create activities that in turn stimulate this. The boys have a certain freedom on the field and they can make decisions with autonomy. Therefore, the environment and experience of playing the game must be the base for all the activities the technical staff creates.”

in different regions of the field and create a numerical superiority. I start with games of three against three, with the goalkeeper free to leave his area. Later, the defending team will have, for example, a numerical disadvantage in the defensive region, but I don’t say how they can deal with this. So they need to solve this problem on their own. Once they start to understand how two players can stop three opponents, I gradually increase the numbers up until the 11 against 11 variation. At the end of the activity we create suitable games for the situation we are training. In the case above, we create a game which includes 8 small goals, four lined up on the edge of the penalty area and four 15 meters in front of that. The team who is attacking receives three points when they score in the large goal and 1 point if they score in one of the small goals. This way the teams learn how to work close to the opponent and at the same time protect their goal. After a few minutes you will notice they will naturally arrange themselves in two lines of four players (and in the 11v11 variation in a 4-4-2).”

Structuring the game To establish this development of understanding the game, Leitão needed to surpass some conflicts. The boys were accustomed to a philosophy of training session catered to the upcoming game, without any concern for the overall development of their understanding of the game. The arrival of a new trainer initiated a process of change in this methodology. Since June 2007, he works to develop players with different characteristics and uses the training to support this process. "If I want to work on playing in smaller spaces, for example, I start with a playful activity. Within such an activity I start with a small sided game with few players in each team and a reduced field, and I will eventually finish with a 11v11 variation on a full field. Within the full game I, for example, have them play 4-4-2 with zone marking in a line and give to the opposing team five seconds to recover the ball. If this happens, team B receives 1 point, and if they score a goal they will receive a total of 3 points for the entire play. Besides forcing the reduction of spaces, I improve their offensive transition.” “When working with the 4-4-2 with zone marking in a line, I have a very different non-individual focus. The players need to mark their zones so that the ball arrives

Activities after the training After each activity, Leitão and his staff have a meeting with the players to discuss what they learned in the training. Each situation is argued until they decide which strategy is best to defend against with two lines of four men. After some time of working with the little goals, Leitão tests the learning in a 11v11 game. This process usually takes four to five weeks, passing through various degrees of complexity until reaching the 11v11 stage.

The contact between trainer and athlete "When I arrived, none of the players of FC Paulista wanted to know about tactical reflection. They wanted to play, so that they could use their talent in the field. This generated a series of initial conflicts that had to be strategically resolved. I never felt a lack of will or understanding from the players. What I saw was a prejudice from the professional coaches, who think that athletes are donkeys. This is not lack of ability of the player, but of those people who are developing the youth programs and who do not have enough resources to stimulate player development."

No. 24 December 2007/January 2008

Diagram 4

Diagram 6

Diagram 5

4 vs. 3 + Sweeper + Goalkeeper

5 vs. 4 + Sweeper + Goalkeeper

6 vs. 4 + 2 sweepers + Goalkeeper

Diagram 7

Diagram 8

7 vs. 4 + 3 sweepers + Goalkeeper

8 vs. 4 + 4 sweepers + Goalkeeper GK

Diagram 1

Diagram 2

Diagram 9

Diagram 3

Diagram 10

Diagram 11

3 vs. 2 + Goalkeeper

3 vs. 3 + Goalkeeper

3 vs. 2 + Sweeper + Goalkeeper

8 vs. 8 + Goalkeeper

8 + Goalkeeper vs. 8 + Goalkeeper

10 + Goalkeeper vs. 10 + Goalkeeper

No. 24 December 2007/January 2008

Training sessions from around the world This regular section will in this edition feature 5 zones: the ‘Positioning Zone’, ‘Passing & shooting Zone’, ‘U11 Zone’, ‘Finishing Zone’ and ‘Mixed Zone’.

Positioning 6:5

POSITIONING ZONE Positioning 8:4

Organization:

Organization

Progression

- Position game 6:5 whereby the team of 6 may score on one of the small goals. The team of 5 may score in the large goal. - The team of 6 can score by moving one player up into the attacking zone in order to create a 2v2 situation - Whenever the team of 5 steals the ball they have one chance to score. When the ball is out of play the build up starts with the goalkeeper again.

- Square of 35 by 35 meters - 3 groups of 4 players - Play 8v4 every time

Coaching -

Ball speed, receiving Moment of moving up and creating space Contact with the midfielder Midfielder has to ‘read’ the build up at the right moment

Positioning 7:7

Positioning 5:3 / 8:6 Organization:

Organization

- Position game 7:7 including keepers on 2 large goals - The objective is to play the defender free in the axis of the field through the midfielder - Build up always starts with the keeper

- Defense plays 5:3 with a keeper building up from the back, constantly looking for the free player - Whenever a player has the space they shift the play to midfield - The midfielders have to create space for themselves or their team mates by movement off the ball. They can score on 2 goals - Whenever the defending opponent (strikers) gains possession they can score on the large goal with the goalkeeper.

Coaching -

Ball speed, receiving Moment of moving up and creating space Contact with the midfielder Midfielder and striker have to ‘read’ the build up and ask/stay away at the right moment

Positioning 9:9

Good field positioning Quick ball circulation Create space for each other Not always wanting to have the ball

Free play Maximum 2 touches Wall passers 1 touch Pass to third man Never pass back to the player you received the ball from - Decrease spaces

Positioning 7:7 Organization:

Organization

- Position game 9:9 including keepers on 2 large goals - The objective is to play the defender free in the axis of the field through the midfielder - Build up always starts with the keeper

- Start from a set position every time (for example left wingback; 5) - The midfielders and attackers move and receive the ball. All players move and help the attack

Coaching

- Accent on movement (on and off the ball) and all positions being occupied. Players therefore have to react to the movements of their teammates. - Make a couple of set running lanes, for example when the striker comes for the ball, he will then turn to the center position

Ball speed, receiving Moment of moving up and creating space Contact with the midfielder Midfielder and striker have to ‘read’ the build up and ask/stay away at the right moment

No. 24 December 2007/January 2008

PASSING AND SHOOTING ZONE

PASSING AND SHOOTING ZONE Passing and shooting: from build up to finish

Passing and shooting: general Organization -

Central defender passes to the back (interchange left and right) The back passes to the central striker The striker drops the ball to the incoming midfielder He passes deep to the starting midfielder Midfielder finishes on goal

Organization: 3

- Field: 25x 30 meters - Right and left side simultaneously - 1 becomes 2, 2 becomes 3 and 3 becomes 1 on the other side

Coaching:

Coaching -

Play with the correct foot Correct ball speed Timing of runs Good wall pass by the striker

Ball in front of you Correct standing foot Maximum 2 touches Use both feet

Progression - Add defenders

Passing and shooting: improve functional technique

Passing and shooting: with a wall pass Organization:

Organization - The player at the bottom cone passes to the inside foot of the player at the second cone, this player wall passes back in a 45 degree angle. - Open diagonally to the outside foot of the player at that cone, passing from the left diagonally to the right and vice versa. The player at the top receives the ball on the run and passes to the outside foot of the player at the cone next to him, he receives the ball on the run and shoots on goal.

- Field: 25x 30 meters - Right and left side simultaneously - 1 becomes 2, 2 becomes 3 and 3 becomes 1 on the other side

Coaching: -

Ball in front of you Correct standing foot Maximum 2 touches Use both feet

Passing and shooting: with a finish on goal

Passing and shooting: with a double wall pass Organization:

Organization: - Half a field, 16 players and 10 balls - The ball is passed from the corner to the incoming player, who wall passes it back - This player opens to the middle who passes it with 1 touch to the incoming player to the side of him - This player passes to the incoming striker who drops it to the side of the advancing midfielder, who finishes on goal - Execute from both sides

- Field: 25x 30 meters - Right and left side simultaneously - 1 becomes 2, 2 becomes 3 and 3 becomes 1 on the other side

Coaching: 2

Ball in front of you Correct standing foot Maximum 2 touches Use both feet

Coaching: - Moment to ask for the ball - Correct ball speed - Good finishing

No. 24 December 2007/January 2008

U11 ZONE

U11 ZONE 1v1

Passing moves Organization:

Organization:

- Player 1 passes deep to player 2 - Player 2 receives the ball and looks for the opponent - Player 2 tries to pass the opponent and score

Coaching

- Player begins to dribble from the middle line to the goal - Player make a move at every cone - Another player or the coach is positioned at the edge of the penalty area for the wall pass - The incoming player finishes on goal

- Passing with left and right - Receiving with left and right

Variation: - After a while the cones can be substituted by players, these players start with passive defense, then active.

Passing

Look for opponent Organization:

Organization:

- Player 1 passes to player 2 - Player 2 receives the ball and look for player 1 - Player 2 has to pass player 1 by means of a passing move

Player 1 passes to player 2 Player 2 drops the ball wide to player 3 Player 3 passes to the striker The striker turns away and finishes on goal Everyone rotates through 1 position

Details: - Player 1 may only defend when player 2 has controlled the ball

Wall pass

Turn open Organization:

Organization:

- Player 1 passes to player 2 and runs forward - Player 2 wall passes back to player 1, who passes to the right winger - The right winger passes to the incoming player on the left, who finishes on goal

Player 1 passes to player 2 Player 2 turns open and passes to player 3 Player 3 dribbles to player 4 and passes the ball to him Player 4 does the same as player 1

Coaching: Coaching - Vary left and right - Players have to choose the right moment to move in

No. 24 December 2007/January 2008

- Pay attention when passing: the player has to turn open in such a way that the ball is directly in front of him, ready to pass

No. 24 December 2007/January 2008

FINISHING ZONE

FINISHING ZONE Attack along the flanks

Build up from the back with a finish on goal Organization:

Organization:

- Keeper A passes the ball to player B - Player B receives the ball turned open and passes to player C, who drops the ball to player D - Player D passes to player E, who passes to C - C wall passes with E and finishes on goal - Execute on both sides

Central player (4) passes to midfielder (ball line 1) Midfielder wall passes to player 4 (line 2) Central player opens man to right winger (player 7, line 3) Right winger drops the ball to the right half winger (player 6, line 4) - Right wingback (2) overlaps and receives the ball deep - He crosses to the two crossing strikers - Wingers change positions

6 5 4

3 7 2

Coaching

- Make a pre-move, correct moment to start/sprint, ask for the ball, look at what the 2 strikers are doing, Pay attention to quality of continuation, strikers have to occupy far and near posts.

Attack through the center

Finishing by making your own choices Organization:

Organization:

- Right wingback (2) passes to right half-winger (6) - Wall pass back to right wingback, who opens to the central midfielder (3) - Central midfielder wall pass to incoming player (4), who looks for the deep striker (9) - Striker receives the ball and pass to the incoming right half-winger (6) - Right half-winger finishes on goal

- Come to a finish via four players - The players can think of several patterns - No matter how the play progresses everybody rotates 1 position

Coaching - Ask player why they make certain choices - When necessary help with finding solutions - There has to be a lot of movement in the exercise

Progression - Striker is being actively defended (100%) - 2 central player rotate: passing and wall passing interchangeably - Execute left and right

Coaching - Movement off the ball right wing half, passes to correct foot, correct ball speed, movement off the ball striker to get away from his direct opponent, passing speed

Attack through the center (5:2)

Attack along the flanks with pressure from a defender Organization:

Organization:

- Player 6 dribbles the ball up and opens with a straight pass to the other side - Player 8 receives the ball and immediately passes to the incoming player 4 - One of the strikers (9) comes into the ball - Striker wall passes back to the incoming player 4 - Player 4 opens to the midfielder who is going deep - Progression 5v2 with a finish on goal - Objective is to score - All parts of the exercise are played from the position the players would play in a game.

Coaching - Pass to correct foot - Pass ball on the run - B chooses position

Progression - Progress with a 6v3, with an additional striker and an additional defender - Strikers opens on incoming half winger

Coaching - Straight cross pass, movements off the ball, pass to correct foot, correct ball speed, movement off the ball striker to get away from his direct opponent, passing speed 32

No. 24 December 2007/January 2008

Half a field, 10 to 12 players and a goalkeeper A passes to B, B passes back B opens to C under pressure from D C crosses and B finishes on goal Player A and B rotate through, players B and D stay in their position

Variations

D A

- Along other flank - Add a set striker - Add a set defender No. 24 December 2007/January 2008

MIXED ZONE

MIXED ZONE ?

Conditioning: 6v6 Organization:

Organization:

- 2 groups - Group 1 start on the end line and group 2 on the middle line - Group 1: start from the cone and jump over hurdles (15cm). Then sprint from cone to cone, after last cone sprint to the end line, cross the ball into the penalty area and return to the starting point - Group 2: start from the middle line, jump across (so called walking jumps with large step and short ground contact). Sprint around the cones, whereby the last two cones meant for correct positioning in the penalty area - Finish the cross on goal and return to the starting point

- 6v6 with 2 keepers - Formation: 1:3:3

The Carrousel

Coaching - Movements off the ball

Variation - Form couples (increase experience) - After 10 minutes everyone should be across the imaginary middle line before the team in possession can score - The team that scores retains possession

Conditioning: 2v2 Organization:

Organization:

- 2v2 on 2 large goals - The team that scores stays on the field and retains possession. Keeper quickly brings the ball back into play. The other pair is quickly substituted - 12 minutes

8 pairs divided amongst 8 cones around 1 central point Cones are positioned 20m from the central cone 1 ball per pair Player dribble to the cone, cut the ball and pass to the other player

Coaching

- Handling speed - Pre-move while asking for the ball

- Coach enthusiastically to motivate player to score as quickly as possible and to transition

Variation - Different ways to cut the ball

The windmill

Conditioning: 2v2 Organization:

Organization:

8 pairs divided amongst 8 cones around 1 central point Cones are positioned 20m from the central cone 1 ball per pair Player dribble to the cone, cut the ball and pass to the player at the next cone

Player A1 passes to the left foot of player B1 B1 receives the ball with left and shoots with right Player A2 passes to the left foot of player B2 B2 receives the ball with left and shoots with right

Coaching - Handling speed - Pre-move while asking for the ball

Variation - Different ways to cut the ball

No. 24 December 2007/January 2008

Zarko Soldo

Excellent results in the Serbian football championship last season and with the chance to show the quality of the FK “Hajduk” team in the UEFA INTERTOTO CUP are all good reasons to visit Mr. Zarko Soldo and talk about football.

FC Hajduk coach:

By: Dusan Petrovic

System

“Good team organization for good results”

When I arrived the FC Hajduk team played a 1:4:4:2 system, but in the winter break we were without some of our best attackers. I had found a way to solve that problem and use those players, which I had at that moment. We used two systems, 1:4:4:2 and 1:4:3:1 in seeking which is the best for the team. A good system for us was also a1:4:2:3:1 system. The key part of this system is 5 players in the middle, which had very good characteristics for that system; speed, good sense for play, very good technique and good team spirit. They were also very good in defense with very fast transition in attacking formation. We played very well in the last 16 games of the championship and we did not change the system in all 16 games. I made lines on the field, the distance from the line of defense up to the line of attack is 35 meters, which help us to make all transitions very quickly.

Alternative systems As a football I had a lot of luck by play in different positions in the team. I started my football career as an attacker and then I was a central midfielder and finally sweeper. In that time 1968 – 1986 the most preferred system in Yugoslavia were 1:4:3:3, 1:4:4:2, 1:3:5:2 with a “sweeper” in defense. Football is a team sport in which every player must show his individual quality and also work for the rest of the group. I like attractive players, like most of us, but in football a team must orchestrate like one musical instrument and individualism sometimes is not good when the priority is the team and group success. The basis of my football philosophy is: selection, discipline, and the relations between players in the team.

The alternative system, which I mostly using is a 1:4:4:2 system with two classic strikers. It’s good if one striker is tall and strong and the second fast, who can run a lot. In the middle it is good to have two wingers and two central midfielders, with one central midfielder very good in defense and the other good for offensive reactions and passing in attack. This system I usually use when my team has had a negative result, but sometimes in situations when we must defend our own goal.

The most important aspects in work with FC Hajduk I tried to build a system and playing style, which would be the best for the team. We had very hard training sessions during the preparation period with many hours in which we cover all the tactical problems. As a result of this we had very good prepared players with knowledge about their task on the pitch. Most of the time in training we concentrate also on passing, fast running with lot of exercises in style, one touch passing and fast running into space, changing positions and rhythm and 1v1s. We spent all our trainings during the winter like that. The result of this was a much better and faster Hajduk in the second part of the championship.

Selection The selection of players for the team is my priority. Only with good players in each position can a team produce good result. Body condition, speed, feel for play, intelligence and psychological characteristics are basic aspects for good selection.

Discipline Every player is different with his desires and wishes; this is what we must accept. In team organization it only takes one player with a bad attitude to ruin the team harmony. My task is finding that kind of player quickly and separating them from the rest of the team.

During my work with players from FC Hajduk I always try to explain to them that they have a lot of empty space to learn more and be much better players than at this moment, to develop team spirit and try to solve all the problems on and off the field together. We achieved much better result only with very hard work and team spirit and if that team stays together for the next period we can do more on that field and show our quality at International level.

Team relations Every player must have target a in his head. The target must be the same for all players in the team; “work very hard and give your maximum in every game”. Only with the same target and spirit can we achieve the best results. Players must speak together about that target and how to reach that target, also where could there be problems and how to solve those problems together. This is team spirit.

Psychological preparation Psychological preparation for the next competition (on National or International level) is a very important part of the preparation period. It’s good to discuss with players what could happen in that period and what is our priority during the preparations. A very long preparation period, like this time, is not good for players and because of that I must speak with them often to keep their attention at a high level. The surroundings also have a very important influence on the psychological stability of players and the team. I do not support the long isolation period of the team, but sometimes this is the only way to keep them from bad influence and psychological pressures in their hometown.

The trainer is the main person in team organization and the trainer must help them to find a target and what every player have to do to reach that target. The trainer must know his players and use only exercises and games which are best for most of players in his team. Modern football is very aggressive with high intensity for 90 minutes and only well prepared players in all aspects, with high team spirit can make get results. Photo by: Dragutin Savic

No. 24 December 2007/January 2008

Micro cycles Because we were playing in the UEFA INTERTOTO CUP this summer, FK “Hajduk” started their preparations earlier than usual. The total duration of preparation is 8 weeks before starting the Serbian league, but this time we had to start with International competition only after 3 weeks preparations. We started with preparation on 14.06.2007., for the first INTERTOTO Cup game

7 day micro cycle Here is a 7 day micro cycle, which I’ve used in the third week of preparation.

Monday Morning training 9:30 Task: Work on speed and coordination - Exercises for technique and tactic with group and individually, - Maximum intensity – 180-190 heart beats per minute, - Duration of working in one circle 6-8 minutes, - Rest between circles 4-5 minutes, - Repetition – 6-8x. Afternoon training 17:30 Task: Working on technical perfection on small space in situations: 1v1, 2v2, 3v3, field 25x15m and 40x20m. - Maximum intensity – 180 heart beats per minute, - Duration of working in one circle 6-8 minutes, - Rest between circles 4-5 minutes, - Repetition – 6 + game between two teams on standard field 20 minutes. Tuesday Morning training 09:30 Task: Task on speed and durability with work on technique and tactic. - Tactical and technical exercises with group and individual, - Maximum intensity – 180 heart beats per minute, - Duration of working in one circle 8 minutes, - Rest between circles 3 minutes, - Repetition – 6-8 x. Afternoon training 17:30 Task: Tactical – technical elements in exercise on small space in situations: 1v1, 2v2, 4v4, field 25x20m and 40x20m. - Maximum intensity - 170-180 heart beats per minute, - Duration of working in one circle 6 minutes, - Rest between circles 3 minutes, - Repetition – 6x. Wednesday Morning training 9:30 Task: Tactical-technical preparation for afternoon game. - Tactical-technical exercises for attack and defense organization, - Maximum intensity – 180-190 heart beats per minute,

we’ve played on 07.07.2007., and the first Serbian league game we’ve played on 11.08.2007. Before the start of preparations we’ve had medical examinations and physical tesst. Basic tasks of good preparations are: - Good physical preparation, - Tactical preparation. -

1v1 Organization: -

Duration of working in one circle 4 minutes, Rest between circles 4 minutes, Repetition – 4x. Preparation of free kicks, corner kicks offensive and defensive reactions,

Field size: 15 x 20 and 15 x 30m Two goals with goalkeepers In the field 2 players play a game of 1v1 2 neutral players are positioned on the sidelines Players in the field can combine with the neutral players outside If an neutral player receive the ball on defending part of the field then players must change positions, if outside player receive the ball on attacking part of the field a 1 touch combination applies

Duration:

Afternoon training – friendly game - Friendly game 2 x 45 minutes, - Training of tactical model and system.

3 – 8 minutes

Thursday Training at 17,30 h. (in the morning, swimming pool and massage)

Task: Keeping durability and intensity on high level - Group tactical-technical exercises, - Maximum intensity – 170 heart beats per minute, - Duration of working in one circle 6 minutes, - Rest between circles 5 minutes, - Repetition – 6x.

1v1 to 5v5 Organization: -

Friday Morning training 09:30 Task: Speed and durability. - Tactical-technical group exercise with or without opponent, - Maximum intensity – 180 heart beats per minute, - Duration of working in one circle 6-8 minutes, - Rest between circles 3 minutes, - Repetition – 8x

Duration: 5 v 5 – 5 minutes 4 v 4 – 4 minutes 3 v 3 – 3 minutes 2 v 2 – 2 minutes 1 v 1 – 1 minute

Afternoon training – 17:30 Task: Tactical-technical exercises on field 40x20m in relation to 4v4. - Maximum intensity – 170-180 heart beats per minute, - Duration of one exercise 5 minutes, - Rest between exercises 3 minutes, - Repetition – 5x. Saturday Morning training 9:30 Task: Tactical-technical preparation for afternoon game. - Tactical exercises, - Medium intensity 150-160 heart beats per minute, - Duration of exercises 2-3 minutes, - Repetition – 10x.

Field size: 40 x 33 m Number of players: 10 players + 2 goalkeepers Two goals with 2 goalkeepers Play starts with 1 v 1 up to 5 v 5 2 touches in defensive zone When ball is out of play, the game will resume with the opponent’s goalkeeper

8v8 Organization: - Half a field - 8v8

Duration: 4 times 20 minutes, which is together 80 minutes

Afternoon – friendly game Sunday - free Photo by: Dragutin Savic

News: Zarko Soldo has signed with FC "Banat" Zrenjanin at the end of October, becoming head coach of the club where he has started his professional football career (at that time going by the name of FC Proleter, Zrenjanin). The new coach of FC Hajduk, Kula is Mr. Miroslav Vukasinovic.

No. 24 December 2007/January 2008

which type of training belonged to which goalkeeper. That’s unacceptable at such a big club as FC Porto. I am going to teach them the way we are working with the first team and that’s the basis to work with youth goalkeepers. From the management I’ve got full cooperation. The goalkeepers should be working in this style and it’s my responsibility to manage this process.”

Wil Coort, goalkeeping coach FC Porto:

Teacher In The Netherlands Wil Coort was the goalkeeper coach at FC Den Bosch for eight years followed by eight years at AFC Ajax. Two years ago he wanted another challenge and chose to move to FC Porto. This is his third year at FC Porto and his aim this year is to put together a solid youth goalkeeping program. “Here they teach you to be a good reaction keeper. But since Baia, around twenty years ago, a top class Portuguese goalkeeper has not broken through.”

“For Many years I have learnt from Frans Hoek. That is a big advantage for me. For years I have been giving courses for Frans Hoek and the KNVB (Dutch soccer association). I have learnt a lot from this period. Besides that I was assisted by Vitor Baia, because my Portuguese is not that good, but also because it is someone with a lot of earned respect. Baia is also positive about my way of working and he also wants us to start working this way. This is also a big advantage. I think it’s a big challenge for me to manage this process.”

By: Paul van Veen

Basic technique “I’ve started to name and discuss all the basic techniques of goalkeeping: the pass, 1 vs 1 pressure, back pass and so on. I presented my thoughts and what I think a goalkeeper should do and how to react. I’ve also presented this to a couple of youth goalkeepers and players. What became apparent during these presentations is that youth goalkeepers have a lot of trouble with these basis techniques, while they thought at FC Porto they had really great finished goalkeepers. Now they realize that really wasn’t the case.”

Complete

“The higher level you play, the less shots you get” “After Co Adriaanse left there was a new trainer, but for me personally nothing changed. I spoke to the new trainer. I told him my vision and my way of working and he thought that was a good idea, so nothing really changed for me. His way of working obviously is different than what I was used to in The Netherlands, and especially the way of thinking about soccer. In The Netherlands we are used to playing offensive soccer, but in Portugal they have a more defensive playing style. That was a big change, but for me as a goalkeeper coach I got the space to work the way I wanted to. Furthermore I often get the opportunity to do exercises with players. During these exercises I can coach the goalkeepers in relation to the last line. Something I was always used to do.”

Space “When I explained how I thought a goalkeeper should work, the new head coach told me he never thought about goalkeepers that way. I explained to him that a team like FC Porto, from the 30 matches they play, 26 of these matches are played on the opponents half. When you are that much stronger than your opponent it’s self-evident you have a lot of space behind your defense. A keeper like Helton can play this style very well. The new trainer found this really interesting.”

No. 24 December 2007/January 2008

Split up “The first period for example I’ve got half an hour with the keepers. Whatever I did during this half hour, he didn’t interfere with me at all. If the exercises during this time didn’t link to the rest of the training we took that for granted. But with the start of the new season it was different. At least once a week I want the group to split up. I start working with one part of the group and the goalkeepers. This means we could also do exercises for the strikers.”

“It seems all those years they’ve educated goalkeepers to become line/react goalkeepers. The ‘normal’ coaches also saw their goalkeepers were far from complete. Before the course the coaches were very skeptical. A Dutch goalkeeper coach is going to tell us what we’ve done wrong all these years. But that wasn’t my intention at all and I explained that to them. I just wanted to tell them about what I think of goalkeeping and about how a goalkeeper should function within a team at FC Porto. Because all youth teams of FC Porto also play on the opponents half, they are all much stronger then their rivals. This demands a different type of goalkeeper than just a line goalkeeper.”

Management “But I’ve also had to present this to the management team of FC Porto. Because in Portugal not just the trainer decides which player or goalkeeper will be bought. So if there’s a goalkeeper who is about to transfer to Porto it should be a goalkeeper who

Youth ”But it doesn’t stop with the first team. I am going to educate youth goalkeepers at FC Porto as well. Last summer I delivered a course to several youth coaches from FC Porto. I’ve made a youth plan, with which we will be working this season. This means that every youth goalkeeper from the age of ten will be coached individually. The older they get, the more focused we will be coaching the players.”

Type ”I started this because we had three different youth goalkeepers coaches who all had their own style of working. They didn’t know what each other what they were doing. They also didn’t know

No. 24 December 2007/January 2008

Type of players ”You have to deal with several kinds of players. A type like Adriano is not very fast, but you can pass him a ball which he can hold. Quaresma and Tarik are fast wingers, a goalkeeper should pass them the ball long. As a goalkeeper you should know the specific qualities of the players in your team. You work with them on a daily basis so you should know what their strong points and what their weak points are. That is something essential to playing soccer on this level.

Confidence ”There are still some situations where he isn’t 100% confidence of himself. These situations are something we can only repeat in train sessions. For example; Helton gets a ball from our right defender, he controls the ball with his left foot and passes to the left defender. That is something what we can train individually. The goalkeeper receives a ball and passes it with a certain speed to the other side in a goal. After this you say: after receiving the ball there is some kind of pressure which should increase the handling speed. You could place a player in between, the goalkeeper should pass the ball over this player. Finally he should do this exercise under the highest pressure from the left and right side. “

Basis

“This is also the challenge for me and why I went back to FC Porto”

fits in with FC Porto. They should understand the thinking behind it. They should not just get a goalkeeper because he played a good match or tournament, this goalkeeper should also fit into the club. After all it’s also for the interest of the club. If they still want a new goalkeeper, fine, I will work with him. That’s up to them, but now they know the consequences. But I really believe they understand my vision.”

Four years “Within the education it should also improve, off course. After Baia nobody had been educated here. If you can educate a new goalkeeper every four years, you should always have three goalkeepers for the first team. Of course there will always be times where you have problems, but then you always have the option to buy a new goalkeeper. This is also the challenge for me and why I went back to FC Porto. Of course you have your responsibility working with the first team, but I also wanted to develop the youth department of FC Porto, work in which I have full freedom now.”

Principles ”Despite the fact we have a new trainer with a different playing style the principles for the goalkeepers remain the same. We still play most of the time on the opponents half and perhaps there are fewer situations where the ball falls behind our defense because we play with one additional player in the defense, but still a goalkeeper has to intervene. Perhaps it’s now two instead of four times per match, but the situation remains the same. So the way you work as a goalkeeper coach doesn’t have to change. For a goalkeeper it means you have to be even sharper in those one or two situations per match where you must intervene.”

Less “The higher level you play, the less shots you get as a goalkeeper. If you see what Helton has to do in some matches it is really incredible. Sometimes it’s absolutely nothing. I analyse every match with our three other goalkeepers using sportvas, an

No. 24 December 2007/January 2008

analyse system. So I can see exactly how many balls Helton has got in ball possession, opponent ball possession, transition and set plays. Usually it’s around three or four back passes from defenders, three or four actions and that’s about it. And that’s not just one match, it happens on a daily basis. Because there are, with all due respect, several very weak teams that adhere to a defensive playing style, it’s really incredible. Sometimes they play with eight players just outside their own penalty area. That was also the problem when Adriaanse coached here, because you can handle an offensive and dominant playing style, but defending is something that the Portuguese are really good at. Adriaanse showed how to play these kinds of matches, something they still talk about here with a lot of respect.”

“This season a talented teenager has come through our youth. With him I am going to work on the basics. Playing 1 to 1, the depth, but also of course the playing along part. He is a good line goalkeeper but it isn’t a finished goalkeeper. The basics I want to train with him and players but there are also a lot of points where we can work individually on. Besides that we also have a 31-year old goalkeeper. I told him I will try to make him a completely different goalkeeper. You are who you are, but we will work on things that are relatively easy to learn such as 1 to 1, kicking (left and right foot) and his positional game. I am not going to tell him when to kick the ball left of right. Once he got this under control the two years which are left of his contract will be over. He has to make sure that when the team needs his qualities he’s there to help the team.

Concentration “Important for a goalkeeper at FC Porto is concentration. But concentration is something difficult to coach. The only thing I can do when I see a goalkeeper loses his concentration is talking about it. What exercise should you do to improve concentration? Goalkeepers who have not seen one ball for 60 minutes and then suddenly a shot at goal? So the only thing you can do is talk about it. The advantage for me is I can view all footage using the analyse system and discuss this with the goalkeepers. But often you cannot observe when a goalkeeper is losing concentration. That’s why it’s so important to make sure you have goalkeepers with as much as quality as you can get.”

Playing along ”I have worked with Helton for two years now. We have been busy particularly with the playing along part, so what to do with back passes and finding the answer the moment your team is in trouble. In these kinds of situations you should know to who you should pass the ball. At every training session we were practicing kicking the ball with the left and right foot. To develop the handling speed in these situations I want to train with players, because that’s the only way to make Helton even better. So what is the best way to reach the players and how should you pass the ball to them?”

Intensive “The first half year Helton played here, he was second choice after Baia. Especially during this period we were able to train with him intensively, because you can let people think about certain things. When someone plays, you should not let them think too much, because then he might be too late in certain moments in the match. But with Helton I was able to work this way. In the beginning he had a lot of problems with that, because he wasn’t used to work this way. But Baia supported me also, in my way of working he recognized Frans Hoek at FC Barcelona. After a year Helton said: in the beginning you drove me crazy, but now I’m glad you trained me this way, because after all it left him a selection to the national Brazilian team.”

Complex “This year is going to be a complex year. With Helton I have to make some next steps, with the youth goalkeeper I have to start at the basis and finally I have to make sure the experienced goalkeeper stays focused and motivated. That means a lot of different things during the training sessions, but on the other hand that’s just my challenge.”

No. 24 December 2007/January 2008

Wil Coort (1) Organization

- the coach passes the ball to K1 - K1 passes the ball directly inside foot through the air into the area of K2 - K2 has to handle the ball before it has reached the ground and without leaving his area - K1 passes to K1 with his right foot and to K3 with his left foot - After 10 balls change position.

12 meter

Details K3

- The size of the field depends on the quality of the goalkeepers and can be made bigger or smaller

10 meter

Wil Coort (2) Organization - K1 passes to K2 with his left or right foot - K2 controls the ball and tries to kick or throw the ball over K3 - K3 runs backwards to save the ball - Position of K3 depends on his qualities (length, jumping power, technique, etc.). Position between the 11 and 16 meter. - After 6 balls change position

Details K1

- K3 must control the area behind him

Wil Coort (3) Organization

- Coach passes the ball to K2, who controls the ball and passes the ball over the goalpost to K3 - From the moment the coach passes the ball to K2, K1 start pressuring K2 - After 8 balls change position - Now from the other side

No. 24 December 2007/January 2008

“Football has many billion different situations but there are some analogical ones. When a player makes a mistake he tells his brain: “I have made a mistake – why?” He works out what he should have done instead and stores it in his memory. So if he meets an almost identical situation his memory opens the door and tells him: “You have met this situation before and you lost the ball, so this time you have to change it.” It’s basically called experience, and using it is the sign of a big player.” As he spells it out, the intellectual thrill of the theory animates him so much he is almost up and out of his cosy chair. Amy Lawrence (The French Evolutionary – Le Foot)

Why 4v4 In the fun day sessions we play predominantly 4v4 but also sometimes 3v3 and 5v5 for variety as it poses different problem solving skills. The Dutch introduced 4v4 as a training tool in the mid 1980s. It is the simplest version of the game where you have options forward, backwards, to the left and to the right.

‘4 v 4 generates many match situations, involves all the players, with small numbers guaranteeing repetition of opportunity to problem-solve and learn (i.e. see it, make a decision, execute a skill).’ John Allpress – National Player Development Coach The FA

“In the early years, after training with the team, I’d go and play on the streets with my mates, using rubbish sacks as goal posts; I didn’t want to miss that. It’s a way of playing without rules – much more fun………On the street, you play in a small space with few players and that changes your approach, with no rules and little space, you become cleverer, more flexible. We risk loosing that”. Fabio Cannavaro

The co-founder of GUBOG, Rick Fenoglio from Manchester Metropolitan University compiled a year long study of Manchester United’s 4v4 pilot programme (U9s). When comparing it to the 8v8 game he came up with the following findings. – – – –

By Paul Cooper

135% - more passes 260% - more attempts on goal 225% - more 1 on 1 encounters 280% - more ‘tricks’ attempted

Martin Diggle, a development coach at Bolton Wanderers has talked to many coaches and academics around the world and did his own study on decision making in small sided games. GAME SIZE 3V3 4V4 5V5 6V6

A GAMES APPROACH

MINIMUM 17 18 8 9

MAXIMUM 27 27 24 20

AVERAGE 22.5 23.5 16.2 13.4

These figures were based on 10 minute line soccer games with the player in possession. Kids at all levels of the game need this game therapy for their enjoyment, their football development and for the sheer celebration of being a child.

Let Them Play I have been lucky that I have been able to observe many fun days over the last six months with children playing 4v4 and other SSGs. Ten minute games with the kids refereeing themselves and no coaching from the side. I learn something new about how children play this wonderful game every time I watch. At a recent event with kids from 10-13 years old, I watched a lad who was doing the same two or three moves all the time. It looked as if these moves were coached, and in several cases did not work as they were the wrong solution for the problem he had to solve.

By the second game he was only using them a couple of times and by the third game and beyond, not at all. He then began to make it up as he went along and found many better solutions when trying a move or trick. This was not coached and he was certainly not conscious of the change, he just did it. I watched another of the teams who for the first couple of games (10 minutes each) were very vocal, calling for the ball, before playing in almost total silence. They all seemed to be playing in the zone and any calling would have broken their deep concentration. They knew what the other was thinking and what they were going to do and they played the best football of the morning during

No. 24 December 2007/January 2008

that spell. These are not elite players but kids in grass roots football being allowed to use their imagination and be creative.

Arsene Wenger The Arsenal manager talks about this when describing how elite players learn, but in my experience, this works at grass roots level as well.

After two decades as a professional coach, Wenger has come to the conclusion that the greatest coach in the world is the game itself. His reasons are mind-bogglingly scientific.

From my own personal observations, from the research above (and this is just a small section) and from the hundreds of email I have received from coaches now using these games, the transformation and enjoyment of players has been nothing short of staggering.

Keep them ‘playing’! “We have to be faithful to the way we want to play the game” Arsene Wenger.

No. 24 December 2007/January 2008

Various Ruud Gullit Appointed LA Galaxy Coach The Hollywood celebs are given a run for their money as the Major League Soccer adds a touch of “sexiness” and glamour. Nothing to do with the Beckham’s this time. The touch of sexiness is to come from Dutch glamour coach Ruud Gullit - the new head coach of Los Angeles Galaxy in place of Frank Yallop. It is not surprising to see Yallop replaced as he failed to lead Galaxy to the playoffs for two consecutive seasons. Galaxy president and general manager Alexi Lalas told reporters his club was looking for a “sexy” coach. He said: “We would certainly look to use this opportunity to bring in somebody who is going to have an impact on the Galaxy but also on the league and the sport in many of the same ways that David Beckham did.” Lalas and Gullit made for ideal bedfellows as the term “sexy,” in a reference to football, was in fact coined by Gullit while commentating for the BBC during the 1996 European Championship. David Beckham’s arrival hasn’t led to great achievements as he played a season total of eight matches (includes 5 league games), scored one goal and had three total assists. The rest of his time was spent in the treatment room and rubbing shoulders with the who’s who in Hollywood. Let’s hope Lalas’ is not referring to these ‘achievements’ that Beckham had on the team, but rather to rise in the profile of the club. By signing the highest profile player (Beckham) and coach (Gullit), every football fan knows of the presence of LA Galaxy while the rest of the MLS teams remain virtually unknown. As a player, Gullit is no stranger to success. He joined his compatriots Frank Rijkaard and Marco van Basten at AC Milan in 1987

and won the European Cup in 1989 and 1990. Crowned European Footballer of the Year in 1987, the flamboyant Dutchman symbolized the principles of ‘total football’ as the complete player with allround skills in several positions. He moved on to Sampdoria and Chelsea as age caught up with him. Chelsea proved to be his last stop as a player and he was appointed player-manager when Glenn Hoddle left Chelsea to become England’s manager. As a coach, he won the FA Cup for Chelsea in 1997, the club’s first major trophy in 26 years. The Blues also finished at a credible sixth place in the Premiership. The following season, with Chelsea gunning for the Premiership in second place and reaching the quarter-finals in two cup competitions, he was sacked, allegedly for disagreements with the board over compensation. He was named manager of Newcastle United in 1998, and had a promising start, proceeding to the FA Cup final in his first year. Unfortunately, the tide turned against him after a poor run of results and public spates with the untouchable legend Alan Shearer. He went to Feyenoord in the 2004/2005 season, quitting without winning any trophies. The club finished a disappointing 4th behind Ajax, PSV and AZ. If track record is anything to go by, and in a less competitive MLS, Ruud Gullit is actually in a good position to bring some honors to LA Galaxy. He has a wealth of international experience as a player, having competed at the highest level, and seen the best and worst of the Dutch, Italian and English leagues. As a manager, he has won Cup competitions but he is inadequate in imparting a killer instinct to all the teams he has managed while they are in the final push for league titles. SoccerCoachingInternational will follow Gullit and his Galaxy’s progress and only time will tell what impact the glamour coach and his glamour wife will have on the club, the town and MLS soccer.

That defeat capped a miserable qualifying campaign which saw McClaren's side slip to third in the qualifying group behind Croatia and Russia. Chairman Geoff Thompson admitted that an immediate search would begin to find the man to replace the former Middlesbrough boss, but insisted they would not rush into an appointment. 48

they remember. They may not be aware they are learning, but they sure are aware

FA examine England failure The Football Association have sacked Steve McClaren and promised to conduct a 'root and branch' examination into England's failure to qualify for Euro 2008. The FA board unanimously agreed that McClaren and his assistant Terry Venables would have their contracts terminated in the wake of England's 3-2 defeat by Croatia at Wembley.

“When kids play,

Terminated Thompson told Sky Sports News: "At a meeting of a board this morning, the FA board unanimously decided to terminate the contract of the England head coach Steve McClaren with immediate effect. The board also terminated the contract of the assistant coach Terry Venables. "The board have agreed there will now be a full root and branch examination of the whole England senior team set-up, which will begin with immediate effect.

they are having fun." Rebecca Krook

"This will be led by Brian Barwick, reporting to me, the chairman, who will update the board. "The chief executive has been given the authority to identify the new head coach and will report back to the board with his recommendation. There is no definite time-frame for the recruitment of the new head coach."

No. 24 December 2007/January 2008

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SCI WEBSITE NEW IN THE MEMBERS AREA! - Nol Hornix, Revalidatie -en conditietrainer VVV Venlo (part 1) - Michel Hordijk, technique training FC Utrecht (part 1 and 2) - Jan van Grinsven, FC Den Bosch U18 - Terminology article: tasks and functions - Training sessions from around the world - And more to come …

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EDITORIAL

No. 24 – December 2007/January 2008 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 Tania Dimitrova Editorial Staff Erich Beting, Paul Cooper, Guilherme Costa, Maaike Denkers, Tania Dimitrova, Anton Gouverneur, Tom van den Heiligenberg, Dušan Petrović, Paul van Veen, Niklas Velander, 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.

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