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The complete soccer coaching experience

SOCCERCOACHING No. 25 February/March 2008

International

Fred Rutten, FC Twente

Ravenna Calcio

Why the likes of Ronaldinho do not rise in our game

Milan Djuricic, FK Zemun

WWW.SOCCER COACHINGINTERNATIONAL.COM

Contents 4

FRED RUTTEN, FC TWENTE HEAD COACH: “Organization is communication and communication is organization”

From the Editor

10

RAVENNA CALCIO:

16

MICHAEL DOBER, HERTHA BSC BERLIN U11 COACH:

20

CORINTHIANS USE TENNIS BALLS TO IMPROVE TECHNIQUE

22

BRAZILIAN CORNER

Preparing young players for the physical challenge

“No goal kicks in Germany”

24

TRAINING SESSIONS FROM AROUND THE WORLD

32

MILAN DJURICIC, FK ZEMUN AND SERBIAN FOOTBALL FEDERATION “Vision without strategy is little more than a dead dream”

36

TED DUMITRU: “Why the likes of Ronaldinho do not rise in our game”

40 42

ROAD TO EURO 2008: AUSTRIA

COLUMN PAUL COOPER

Last month SoccerCoachingInternational exhibited at the NSCAA convention and it was another great experience for me. For both our chief editor Paul van Veen and our copy editor Paul Cooper it was a first time, and from what I could tell they had a great time. Personally I enjoyed talking to our subscribers the most, getting feedback from them or whenever one of you just dropped in to say how much you enjoy our magazine and website. This gave me plenty of fuel and inspiration for another year of soccer coaching fun!

Of course the convention also brings great networking opportunities and I am proud to announce we have extended our partnership with the NSCAA and Reedswain. And have partnered up with NorCal Premier League and Eurotech Soccer Camps. Of course we were able to meet plenty of other new people, who we may in the future introduce as new partners as well. You can find more information about our partners on the website.

The convention was also a chance for us to demonstrate a great new feature on the website: the player tracking system. We receive a lot of great input and comments on this new feature, and ask you to continue to do this in the future as well.

All in all our trip to Baltimore was a great opportunity and a great time for all of us!

Back in Holland there were 48 blank pages waiting to be filled and it was straight back to work. This years first issue features an interview with Fred Rutten, FC Twente head coach on (defensive) organization and communication; an article on Ravenna Calcio’s fitness training; an interview with Hertha BSC Berlin U11 coach Michael Dober; The Brazilian corner featuring a short article on using a tennis ball for technique training at Corinthians; An interview with Milan Djuricic, Serbian first division club FK Zemun head coach; Ted Dumutri’s analysis on why the likes of Ronaldinho’s do not rise in our game and of course our regular feature, Training Sessions from around the world. Once again another great issue with a wide variety of topics providing plenty of food for thought.

Please do not forget to visit our website: www.soccercoachinginternational.com, where you will find 100s of exercises; our exercise editor; video exercises; the members’ area and now also The Player Tracking System!

I wish you all lots of reading and surfing pleasure!

Yours in soccer, Maaike Denkers Managing Editor

FC Twente was the surprise package in the Dutch first division last year and is again doing extremely well this season. Twente was especially noted for their team play, and because of this ended with a fourth place spot at the end of the 2006/2007 season. This was a very good reason for SoccerCoachingInternational to visit the Twente training grounds for a chat with their head coach Fred Rutten. When asked about the recent successes, he said:

“I think very few players slacked on the defensive organization. And that is very important when playing offensive soccer.”

By: Paul van Veen

Fred Rutten, FC Twente head coach:

“The most important thing is being a real team, a team that has a collective goal. In the past few years we have grown tremendously in this area. It has happened so quickly that we have sometimes even skipped certain steps. Another notable aspect was that the team’s level of accepting that this was the right way to go. I am a strong believer in putting the team before the individual in team sports. Nobody should play outside of the team, and nobody should be above the team. Always play for the team, talking about the players’ qualities with them individually.

This is a process of thinking that some people at Twente had a hard time adapting to when I first got there. But it leads to great results and appreciation from fans and beyond.”

Roles “Of course there is a role for the coach in this, but it is the players on the field and in the dressing room who make it happen.

You need a certain level of maturity, which we as the technical and medical staff guide and everyone has there own role in this.

Everything is about the team and the team performance.”

Looking ahead

“Organization is communication and communication is organization” 4

No. 25 February/March 2008

“In order to realize this you have to repeat certain moments. In the training sessions, the game evaluation, the match analyses, etc. You spend a lot of time on it and you have to make people aware ‘why’. Besides that it is always a game of waiting and seeing how players deal with winning and losing. I believe we have grown a lot in this area. When a match has finished, it is gone and we have to focus on the next one. When you want to be a top club in the Dutch first division, you are dealing with a Saturday-Wednesday-Saturday-Wednesday rhythm and you cannot stay focused on the previous game for too long. Whether it was a good or bad result, that match is gone and the next one is already on us. Just like last season, when we ended fourth: that does not give us any guarantees for this season or the future.

Every team starts the season on zero points again. You cannot take any points or goals from last season, it’s in the past.”

No. 25 February/March 2008

5

Pressing?

Fred Rutten Date of Birth: December 5, 1962 Nationality: Dutch Playing career: 1979-1992

“Everything is about the team and the team performance”

Assistant coach FC Twente

2000-2001

Coach FC Twente

2001-2002

Youth academy director PSV

2002-2006

Assistant coach PSV

2006

Coach FC Twente

System “When you play a certain way one year it doesn’t mean you have to play like that again the next year. We try to play from a 4-3-3 basis, but when the team does not function within that system you have to change it, to say a 4-4-2.

AZ Alkmaar is a good example of that. They play an offensive game and vary the amount of attackers they use. For the spectacle of the match it doesn’t really matter, which system you play, whether it is a 4-3-3, 4-4-2 or 4-4-1-1. It is about how you play within that system.”

“Our preparation is all about having a full dressing room at the start of the season and having all players on board. It is not good to start a season with 3 or 4 problem cases.”

Different level

“Maybe the results are hard to measure up to, but if we say that to each other all the time we will actually start to believe it and it just may become impossible. People sometimes say that young players will always have a bad season after a good season. But where’s the proof of that? There are enough examples of it being the other way around. Players like Afellay and Aissati prove otherwise.”

“When I walked in here, the first thing I did was observe the level of play. I had just spent five years with PSV competing with the best in European. You try to prepare yourself for the transition, but the difference in levels was huge. I really had to get used to this in the beginning. Luckily I have great assistants who slow me down whenever it is needed. I sometimes thing some things are obvious, while they are not. Things such as the quality of passing, but also the fact that whenever you do an exercise there is a reason for doing it and I expect to see that when the player is executing the exercise.”

“Twente’s strongest asset is that very few people slack on the defensive organization” Defensive organization “Twente’s strongest asset is that very few people slack on the defensive organization. Everybody feels responsible for it. This is important, because when you want to play offensive you also need defensive responsibility. A coach can influence this. It has to do with certain basic tasks and the most important of these is defensive responsibility. Every line should maintain this. Especially at the top of European football, you will notice that teams are organized in such a way that they concede very few goals against. In international matches it is usually about 1 or 2 chances that you have to take advantage of. But this also means you should make sure you do not give away chances at the other end either. This, however, does not mean you are playing defensively.”

No. 25 February/March 2008

Full name: F.C. Twente 1965 Nickname: The Reds Founded: July 1, 1965

“In my opinion it is impossible to have an overload situation in your last line when you have possession. There are always some players who are guarding your defense. You must have good positioning or else you will get one counter attack after the other and that must never happen, especially not in an away match.”

Preparation

Measure up to

6

FC Twente

Organization FC Twente

Coaching career:

1993-2000

“We try to keep the team as compact as possible. In Holland they quickly talk about pressing, but maybe it is good to allow the opponent to play a bit. This obviously depends on the type of match you are playing and who you are playing. Regardless of how you do it is the intention always to regain possession as soon as possible.”

Stadium: Capacity: President: Coach: Competition:

Arke Stadion, Enschede 13.250 Joop Munsterman Fred Rutten Dutch First Division

Honours 11 v 11 “We do a lot of 11v11 during training sessions. That is also the most recognizable for the players, as it is closest to the match. We tr y to work in blocks during these exercises. We play a different game or put the organization differently, but we always ask for the same tactical discipline.”

National: First Division Champions:

1926 (then Sportclub Enschede)

First Division Runners-up: KNVB Cup Champions: KNVB CUP Runners-up: Johan Cruijff Shield Runners-up:

1974 1977, 2001 1975, 1979, 2004 2001

International: UEFA Cup Runners-up: UEFA Intertoto Cup Champions:

1975 2006

Alternation “You can also do this in a 6:6 or 7:7. The training sessions are always based on the match, as the players have to have some level of recognition. This depends on which phase of the season we are in. When the players have a need for a detailed explanation, I prefer to give it in the dressing room. I want the flexibility as a coach not to interfere with the groundwork, because the players already know what we are going to do and how we are going to do it. I do pinpoint the same main points during the training sessions; I just tweak it slightly differently. As you have to ensure that nobody gets bored, regardless of the level you are coaching.

You have to guard this very carefully.”

“Our preparation was all about having a full dressing room”

Pieces “I always keep my eyes open for new ideas, including the development on player personalities. Soccer is developing very quickly and you can’t be behind on this.

Whatever I can use, I will use, especially when it heightens team performance. We also engage in strength training and I do believe in its importance, but it is a small piece of the pie to get to the top. They are all small pieces.”

No. 25 February/March 2008

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“I always keep my eyes open for new ideas” Communication “I also want to experiment during training sessions. I enjoy trying something new and measure its effects. I do try to make the players part of that. In other countries they are quite far ahead on this. They will use a training session to try something out, and to us Dutch folk this may seem very unorganized, but it should be defined as organized chaos. These trials can be very good for the development of the team. I also say: organization is communication and communication is organization. I communicate through my organization. It is, after all possible to setup a training session whereby you do not say anything and it will automatically go as you had planned. A great aspect of this is: repetition, repetition and more repetition.”

Decisions “In the coaching meetings I sometimes have wild ideas and this is the best test for them. My ideas will receive a reaction and based on those we will decide whether to do it or not. I listen very carefully to my colleagues and take their opinions with me to make my decisions. Ultimately I am responsible and the core remains the same. That is the soccer we play. That comes back in every exercise we do. Another thing that comes back in every exercise is passing and shooting, because being careful with the ball during possession is important. We cannot lose possession at an early stage, because it will make playing harder. And it can create unrest.”

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No. 25 February/March 2008

Freedom “Of course soccer that is completely without risk is impossible, but you need certain certainties. We think players should deal with their freedom in a responsible manner and whenever the team suffers from it we are very alert. It must remain within the functionality and some players naturally take more risks in their game than others, so as a coach you do accept that. Whenever a player is not creative, he should not pretend he is, because he will then have a problem with the team.”

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“How do you play attractive soccer? Attractive soccer is often recognizable soccer. I love watching teams who do not have the capacity to have the ball, but are able to be really effective in the transition. It is not in my nature, but I do enjoy watching it. It can be very attractive for me as a professional, but also to the general public. At the World Cup in 1982, the Romanian team would counter so quickly, a quality that was later also seen in the game play of Dynamo Kiev. Whenever this is balanced right, it is great to watch. The transition moments are especially important internationally. A lot of goals are scored from these situations and from set plays.”

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˚“I worked for 10 years at Faenza, which is a small club. We had four years in Serie C2 with a bunch of local lads. Ravenna is a bigger club and has to build a youth set-up which is going to pay dividends in four to five years time. There’s no point just looking for boys of 15 or 16, we have to start looking at boys of eight, nine and 10.”

“We don’t have our own Soccer School but we work closely with a number of clubs. A lot of small local clubs rely on income from their Soccer Schools and if we set one up here we would kill them. Clearly if there is a talented young kid out there sooner or later he is going to come to Ravenna. However, in this area we have to compete for the best young players with Cesena who have a great youth tradition which has been going for years. They have continuity on their side and we will have to work hard to catch up with them but we are not frightened of hard work.”

Limitations of the Italian system “I like the English system with a team manager, because he gets to understand the real situation at the club, what money there is to spend and so on. In England, a manager follows all aspects of the club and that includes keeping a close eye on the development of the youth set-up. Here in Italy the coach just coaches the team. Then you have the sporting director and a director general.”

“In Italy it’s rare that you have a great relationship between the first team coach and the coaches of the youth set-up. The first team coach is focused on obtaining immediate results, because this is what the fans demand, not on the long-term development of young players. The ideal situation is where the youth team coaches and the first team coach are part of a common programme. Look at Ajax: they work with the youngest players in a way that follows right through to the first team. They learn the same systems of play, so that when they get to the first team they have nothing to learn. In Italy, the coach at each level uses whatever methodology he deems fit.”

Ravenna Calcio:

Preparing young players for the physical challenge Ravenna Calcio has its origins in a multi-sport club called Unione Sportiva Ravennate, which was founded in 1875. After a series of mergers with other sports clubs in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, the club began to take on something of its modern identity in 1928 with the foundation of AC Ravenna.

The club has spent most of its life playing in the third division of Serie C, but in 1995-96 made the great leap into Serie B. The club collapsed in 2001 and had to begin life again, as Ravenna

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No. 25 February/March 2008

Calcio, in a regional league. Within six years, the team had climbed back into Serie B, where it remains, battling to avoid relegation once again.

At the beginning of the current season, the club appointed former professional player Oscar Tacchi as sporting director, with responsibility for the youth set-up. Tacchi was recruited from local club Faenza.

By: Frank Dunne

“I’m not saying that a coach should not have some autonomy but it should be within limits. Professional coaches, even in the youth set-up, have to remember that they are company men.

This is a business not just a sporting club. There are big investments and as in any business you have to set yourself objectives and map out a way to achieve them. We give them a course, a direction, and the coaches have to adapt to this even though it’s obvious that they must have some freedom in the management of their squad. A club, and its youth set-up, must have a philosophy and a soul. If they give me time I will inculcate the right mentality.”

build a new sports centre which would make our work much more efficient. We need four or five high quality pitches with one or two all-weather surfaces. But it’s all blocked at a political level.”

“All our plans depend on Ravenna staying in Serie B. The economy of any club is dependent on the results of the first team and if a club has to cut back, the first area it cuts is the youth set-up. If we go down to the third division it will knock the youth sector back a couple of years.”

“I would like to employ a psychologist. When you have so many youngsters you can’t know what’s going on with every one of them, who has problems at school, who has problems at home and so on. We don’t have a dedicated skills coach either. It’s not easy to find someone who knows how to teach skills but we are looking for one. My plans are quite grand but it is something which takes time. We’re growing slowly but we’ll get there.

For the moment, our top priority is to improve technique with good coaching. You also need good fitness coaches who understand how to develop players physically without doing them any damage.”

Fitness coaching: working in stages

Daily routine

Massimo Catalfamo was hired as fitness coach at the outset of the 2006-07 season and at present works with the U20s and the U17s. “These are two age groups where the level of work increases dramatically compared to what came before, up to the U15s. It is now that fitness training, in addition to the technical and tactical work of the first team coach, becomes fundamental,” he says.

“I work at my desk every morning on organisation and spend the afternoon going around the various pitches to speak to the coaches and see if they have any problems. We talk about what has to be done next week. We programme the work coming up in a way that wasn’t really done before my arrival. Unfortunately, we have some obsolete facilities and some poor pitches – some of them in bad weather are like potato fields – but we are getting there on the organisational front. We are getting the sanitary and logistics side in order. The president wants to

“When you’re developing a young footballer you have to work in stages. These must be related to the chronological age but, more importantly, to the biological age of the players. Usually, the physical development of a youngster doesn’t coincide with his chronological age. With small kids, a group will always be heterogeneous – some will be very well developed physically, others a bit behind, either for purely physical reasons or because their motor experiences are more limited. Often they will

No. 25 February/March 2008

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have started later, and will have less experience of sporting activity. You have to take this into account when planning your work with 6-12 year olds. Everyone has to play, not just as a principle of fair play, but to give everyone as much motor experience as possible.”

controlling, running with the ball, passing – are all interrelated in a match situation: the ball arrives, you control it and then move with it before passing it. It is a chain of actions. If you do a situational activity where the player is just standing around waiting for the ball to arrive, it is less like a real game situation.”

“A scrupulous didactic progression is required from 6-8s, to 8-9s to 10-12s. For example, with the smallest kids in the Soccer School, all activities have to be presented in the form of fun and games, a ludic activity. These games have to be geared towards developing the basic motor skills: running, throwing, catching and jumping – all the basic movements which will operate as a support for the later activities and stages. If a young kid doesn’t know how to run in various ways – forwards, backwards, sideways, etc – he will later struggle to do other things. You also have to train their coordinative abilities. These must be worked on right through from 8-14 years, especially around 12 years.”

“Work on coordination skills has to be done right through the youth teams, especially with the U15s when there is a growth spurt which can unbalance the youngster. Up to this point, the player has absorbed and consolidated certain abilities but increasing in height, for example, can dismantle everything. The youngster once again has to adapt to the changes in his body.

So he has to revise and improve these skills. This carries on to the U17s and U20s, where you bring in work on agility, varying as much as possible the situations.”

Coordination and technique in the early years “When working with younger players, I like to marry coordination work with technical work. For example, within the same exercise I use a circuit based on coordination skills, before passing directly on to a 2v1 situation, so the player concentrates on the coordination exercise before he gets to the ball. The skills of the game –

“If youngsters always do the same thing, they will lose their enthusiasm for coming to training. You need imagination, especially with the little ones. You have to vary the input, the games and activities as much as possible. If a game lasts 18 minutes, every 4-5 minutes you need to vary the game, provide a new input by adding some fun new rules. This is less important with older players, but variation can still help motivate players at higher levels.”

“When working with younger players, I like to marry coordination work with technical work.”

The U17s: a typical week of fitness work

A typical U17s fitness session: Wednesday 17 January 2008.

The U17s play in a national league with a match every Sunday.

The athletic preparation is spread out during the week as follows:

Today’s fitness work, with 14 players, is based on strength.

Monday

Rest

Tuesday

Intermittent aerobic work: gradual build-up of speed to a high intensity over a distance of 75-85m; recovery periods, either active or passive, e.g, 15 seconds slow, 15 seconds fast, 30 seconds slow, 30 fast. Blocks of two series of 8-9 repetitions, lasting 6-8 minutes in total.

Then 5 minutes with the ball, as recovery.

3.15 Warm up: light jog, with a variety of movements for upper and lower limbs 3.25 Circuit 1: players split into three groups, two work with different rope ladders laid out on the ground, the third with wooden balancing blocks and plastic discs. Each circuit requires a different length of stride. Each group performs each stage six times then switches to next.

3.40 Circuit 2 and Circuit 3: two groups split between two circuits. The group performs the circuit four times then switches to the other.

Wednesday Strength work (see below) 3.55 Elastic rope exercises Thursday

A friendly match. After strength work, I avoid a competitive match, as the risk of injury is higher be cause the neuromuscular proprioception [the perception of information from signals from within the body] is altered.

4.00 Transformation on rope ladders 4.05 Match with first team coach, Cristian Minguzzi 4.55 Cool down

Friday

Work on rapidity, reactivity and speed.

Sunday

Match

Warm up

The methodology The warm up You have to plan the warm-up for a session based on strength work in a very detailed manner. It lasts slightly longer than other warm-ups. The muscle has to be ready to deal with a greater workload. We do 15-20 minutes without the ball.

It is a combination of a slow jog with work for the mobility of the joints, dynamic stretching (kicking out the legs etc) and then some static stretching. Between the stretches we work on gait and stride, with a high skip or kicking up the heels behind, using double-impulse jumps and so on.

Circuit 1

CIRCUIT 1 Before moving onto strength exercises, there are some preparatory exercises, which help create the base for the necessary adaptation to the strength work. I link proprioceptive exercises (on the wooden balance) with progressions (e.g. 4 x 60-70m at 70 per cent of maximum output), or progressions in limited spaces, such as with the ladders on the ground, as we did today. The proprioceptive exercises prepare the muscles for what they will do later on. With exercises on progressive speed, where the stride length increases, the ideal number of repetitions is from 4 to 6. I want maximum intensity in the exercise, with an active recovery such as a slower return. Then there is a pause of 30 seconds before the next run. This gives an overall ratio of 1:10 between exercise and recovery time. Between one station and another there is a further two-minute rest.

On a very cold day, it would be less.

Circuit 1

In the recovery periods there are sometimes stretches, mostly for the flexor muscles. There is always an imbalance between strong quadriceps, which are called into action a lot during football, and the flexor, which is a delicate muscle. They are the muscles which are first into action and therefore first to experience trauma. I pay almost maniacal attention to looking after the flexor muscles in the legs. The stretching is also related to the type of stretching done earlier, in the warm up. When you do strength work, the burden on the muscle has the effect of shortening the muscle by 3-4 per cent. So you need to give the muscle back its elasticity.

5.00 Ends

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Circuit 1

No. 25 February/March 2008

No. 25 February/March 2008

CIRCUIT 2 I used the Cometti method, based on a combination of types of muscle contraction. During a match, a muscle works in three ways: in an isometric manner (the same muscle length), a concentric manner (shortening and lengthening) and eccentric manner (lengthening). In this circuit I combine isometric, concentric and plyometric exercises.

Stage 1: player seated with back against the post with legs bent at 90 degrees, for 15 seconds (isometric).

Stage 2: jumps on the benches with knee bends (concentric).

Stage 3: jump the hurdles and sprint (plyometric).

Stage 1

With the U17s I don’t go beyond this.

With the U20s, or adults, you can also do work based on eccentric muscle activity.

When a muscle expands, it expands eccentrically. This is the point at which most injuries take place. There aregroups of muscles which are simultaneously linked to two joints and so are working in different ways in the same time. These muscles tend to suffer traumas and lesions. The flexor is one of these.

Another is the rectus femoris muscle.

The first stage works the quadriceps.

Then we do the jumps on the benches – three on left side, three on right side – followed by jumps with legs together over the hurdles. The final part – the high skip and the 3-metre sprint is the ‘transformation’. The transformation in any activity is the part which converts the strength acquired by the exercise into speed, which helps them to achieve greater explosive force.

Stage 2

CIRCUIT 3 This one is for the calves. We start with an isometric position of the calves, with the player stretching on his toes, while held down by a team mate applying pressure on the shoulders. Then there are 56 dynamic, explosive movements of the calves while balanced on the edge of the wooden block, held by a team mate or coach. This is followed by the jumps over low hurdles, and then the transformation: a double-impulse jump followed by 3-4 metres of sprint.

Stage 3

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No. 25 February/March 2008

Elastic rope exercises The players are divided into pairs, each pair with an elastic rope.

Here there are four types of movement: • a high skip against the resistance of the elastic for 10 seconds. One working, one pulling, then swap.

• see-saw movements in different directions, towards the right, towards the left, followed by the transformation (the same movements without the elastic) • a run with kicking movements against the resistance of the elastic for 10 seconds • see-saw movement, forward and backwards Transformation After this final bit of strength work, there is a final period of transformation, based on agility and speed, on the rope ladders.

This requires rapid footwork and rapid changes of direction.

Cool down In the strength sessions you have to finish off with a few minutes of posture work to relieve the pressure on the spinal column. We have 6-7 basic exercises. These include: • getting down on all fours and arcing the back upwards; • on all fours and lowering the back, flattening the lumbar area; • sitting with the buttocks on the heels, trunk straight, arms outstretched; • the back flat on the ground, knees brought up to the chest;

• back on the ground, one leg stretched out, the other brought up to the chest, then switch legs; • the ‘Greek position’, crossed legs, arms open at 180 degrees; • leaning on the fence and sitting on their heels (this allows for a lengthening of the spinal column).

PASSPORT Massimo Catalfamo A former player with Serie D team US Milazzo in Sicily, Catalfamo gained his Diploma in Physical Education (ISEF) in 2000.

He transferred to Bologna, to specialise in sports science. He worked as a PE teacher in state schools, working as a fitness coach with local teams.

In 2006-07, he started working at Ravenna Calcio as a fitness coach, initially working with the U11s, U15s and U17s.

In 2007, he qualified as an Italian Football Association (FIGC) fitness coach at Coverciano, the FA’s technical centre.

No. 25 February/March 2008

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Michael Dober, Hertha BSC Berlin U11 coach:

“In the Hertha BSC Berlin youth academy all U11 players must be able to play in all positions, in defense, midfield and in attack. This way they will automatically learn all aspects of soccer. This also means we do not bother with tactics at this age group. We do give them tips once in a while, but overall they have to discover it for themselves, simply by doing.”

“No goal kicks in Ger many” Complex exercises The German national team was praised for their playful and enthusiastic game play during the 2006 World Cup on home soil. A characteristic that you will also notice at their youth academies. In the past you would hear terms like ‘Ausdauer’ on the German pitches, (negative comments) now you will hear positive and creative comments.

Michael Dober works at the youth academy of German professional team Her tha BSC Berlin. “We want to build up from the back. In a lot of German districts games now, the goalkeeper is not even allowed to kick the ball passed the halfway line in the U11 age group.”

By: Paul van Veen

“We try to educate players in the broader sense of the word, which is why we train with complex exercises. We call them complex exercises, because they cover every aspect of soccer. The following elements always have to be in every exercise: passing, receiving, running with the ball, fake moves and shooting on goal. All these elements have to be a in every exercise. You can also have 2 players across from each other shooting the ball back and forth, and they will also learn from that approach, but it is very boring and the players will be less motivated to execute it correctly (and therefore also to learn). Having fun is a huge part of the training sessions, but you have to make sure there are always enough repetitions.”

No goal kicks “We, under no circumstance, want to play ‘kick and rush’ soccer. We want to build up from the back. Not just with the U11s, but throughout the entire academy. A lot of districts have already reinforced this rule in Germany. The goalkeeper is not allowed to kick the ball across the halfway line whenever he has it in his hands.

This way they are forced to pass it to a teammate who is close and will build up from the back.”

Over the ground “With the U11s we prefer to play in a 3:1:2:1 formation, so that we play with 2 diamonds in midfield. Whenever the goalkeeper has the ball, one of the defender always has to be available to receive the ball. If need be a forward can also come to the ball. Whatever happens you have to build up from the back and are not allowed to kick the ball long.

At Hertha we have an extra rule that the goalkeeper must always pass the ball along the ground. From there on we try to play combination soccer with fast short passes to get the ball to the strikers.”

Ronaldinho “I think this is an excellent rule. We also don’t allow goalkeepers to pick up the back pass. This way all teams are being forced to play, which will pay off in the end. What’s the fun in kicking the ball up the pitch anyway? Players want to play attractive soccer, they all want to be like Ronaldinho. We recently played a team where the goalkeeper threw the ball off to the side to kick it forward, in order to bypass the rule. But that’s just silly and totally pointless, because players won’t learn this way.”

Improving “During matches and training sessions I always pay close attention to the techniques that are being used. Aspects such as passing the ball correctly, receiving the ball, etc. I also pay attention to the movement to the ball and movement off the ball. Furthermore players should never pass the ball from a standing position, they should always be moving. Even when shooting on goal.

They have to react within seconds, so the handling speed should be high.

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No. 25 February/March 2008

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17

Whenever something goes wrong I interrupt the game, because every player on the team should be able to act faster and more efficient. At the end of the season a coach has to be able to say ‘he improved in this aspect, he reached that goal and he made steps in that area’ about every single player. The next coach taking over the team will then know what they can and cannot do. I also ensure that they execute every exercise with the will to win. I believe that is important.”

Endurance?

“In the past endurance was probably the most important aspect in German training sessions.

This has changed. The players spend enough time running during training sessions, so I don’t bother with additional conditioning exercises. The German mentality has changed from educating powerful and enduring players to educating creative players.”

Confidence “I told my boys not to look up to the bigger international teams, but simply play them like they play against Bayer Leverkusen or Borussia Dortmund. They know these teams and therefore also know they can beat them. When they play at home, you see real competition, but at these tournaments it is new and they have to play against foreign teams. In their mind this plays a role, which was apparent in a game we played again Inter Milan. We were trailing 2-0 after 30 seconds.

Afterwards they realized they could have won, but they were nervous. Eventually we were the only team to beat the tournament champions Everton and we also beat Ajax 5-1.”

Dribbling and passing Organization: - Player A dribbles with the ball to the middle of the circle and passes to players B - Player A follow his pass and pressures player B - Player B initiates a give and go with player C on the left side (could also be on the right with player C1) and dribbles the ball along - Player B looks for a new player (in this case D) and passes the ball, after which he executed pressure - Player D initiates a give and go with player E and dribbles along

C1 B

E1

C

D

E

Coaching points -

A

Learning “After the tournament I asked the players what they learned from the experience.

They all said that they learned that they were able to compete against the bigger international teams. That those teams aren’t much better than they are and that we were able to play good soccer, with a solid build up and organization against these teams.”

Passing combination Organization: - Player A1 passs to player B1 - Player B1 wall passes to player A1 and continues to position C, A1 passes directly to player C1 and continues to position B - Player C1 passes to the ball directly to player D1 and follows his pass - Player D1 receives the ball and dribbles to the starting position, where he passes the ball to A2 and walks the other way

C1 C2

Coaching points

B

- Play at once - Continuously switch between the left and right side - Execute with both feet - Keep high pace

Little tactics

Mental guidance “I do not coach mentally. Although I probably shouldn’t say never, indirectly you are doing it. Whenever a player has problems in school or at home you have to help them, but we don’t do it separately. You are also tr ying to prepare the boys for international youth tournaments, where we play teams like Inter Milan, Arsenal and Ajax. These are all big teams and my boys look up to them. A club like Her tha may be known in Germany, but it does not have the international fame like some of these clubs.”

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No. 25 February/March 2008

High pace Straight passing Quick ball circulation All players have to actively participate

“Like I said before we don’t really spend a lot of time on tactics and I don’t bother with complex tactical talks. We want to play combination soccer, with good passes and we want to play forward and I try to make this clear with as little words as possible. Less is more. They don’t hear it anyways, they just want to play soccer and I allow them to do that. We want players to show their qualities. Of course we explain to them that they have to play structured in defense and that they shouldn’t execute fake moves or actions (in the red zone), but rather do that in the attack. We also motivate them to do it in the opponents half. During a match I try to coach in a composed manner and stay positive. For example tell them to receive the ball, or when a player is dribbling towards the opponents goal and is not sure whether to shoot, I will them him ‘go ahead shoot, try it’. He shouldn’t pass the ball in those situations, but simply go for it.”

D2

A

D1

Passing combination with finish Organization: - Player A dribbles to the cone and passes to player B, who receives the ball to the side and passes to player C - Player C drops the ball directly to player D - Player D receives the ball, takes it along and diagonally passes to asking player E - Player E receives the ball turning towards the goal and finishes - All players rotate 1 position - Execute on both the right and left side

E

Coaching points C

B

A

-

Play at once Receiving and taking the ball (sideways and forward) Execute with both feet (passing and shooting) Keep high pace

D

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The way to control the ball and offensive movements have always been the two major differentials of Brazilian soccer.

To intensify this, the staff of Corinthians, Serie B Brazilian team, decided to develop a new type of training. The team created a circuit with different types of balls in order to improve the technical resources of its players.

By: Guilherme Costa

"Being positive and happy to play are important for the preparation of athletes. This creates a very positive feeling and gives a boost in training", explained Mano Menezes, head coach of Corinthians.

The first stage of the training is done with tennis balls. The players are arranged in line and take turns to perform the activity.

Each of them needs to drive the ball from one point to another on the field without letting the ball drop.

Those who complete the circuit with tennis balls then do the same exercise with a rubber ball, with the same momentum Those who can manage the exercise with the rubber ball do the same with a normal football.

This fun approach from Corinthians technical committee refers to the process of learning football in Brazil. The development of player’s motor skills happens in childhood, in constant contact with the ball and the nuances of the sport.

When controlling or playing with the ball, boys have no intention of scoring goals or beating opponents. They just want purely for pleasure to keep the ball in the air or perform a skill. They are withdrawn from the context of the game and the tactics and techniques. This activity of just controlling the ball develops the link between the player and the ball.

This logic was the basis for the design of the training at Corinthians. The club’s staff thought that first they must rekindle the pleasure players have in simply having contact with the ball – This comes after the team was shaken by having been recently relegated to the Second Division of the Brazilian Championship.

Moreover, Corinthians has in his professional squad a number of boys under the age of 18. Most of them failed to complete the process of training in the basic categories and have technical deficiencies that may be completed with the ball control exercises

Corinthians Tennis Ball Organization: - Two cones should be marked at each end of the playing area and play-

© Daniel Augusto Jr/Ag. Corinthians

Corinthians use tennis balls to improve technique

ers should be placed in a line between the cones - Each player must receive a tennis ball, and control it (in the air – juggling) - If they fail a point is rewarded to the players on the other side - After they have completed this, the player joins the back of the line - Those who manage to complete the task replace it with a rubber ball (those who do not have to do it again with the tennis ball - Players who complete the task with the rubber ball go to the back of the line and do the exercise with a normal football - The exercise ends only when all the players of the team (line) have completed the activity with the football

Progression: - The training is focused on the development of ball control and the improvement of technique - The circuit generates a competition and encourages the players to complete the exercise faster - The challenge of not letting the ball drop refers to the need for the players to have fun and make it a game

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The Brazilian Corner has the collaboration of Cidade do Futebol.

Brazilian Corner High temperature reduces time interval training The Brazilian Serie A clube Atletico Mineiro had to change the times they did interval training exercises.

The reason is the weather at Uberlandia City where the team are doing their pre-season.

The high temperature (nearly 30°C at 4 pm) made the technical staff reduce the intervals between one activity and another.

"We already knew that this is the characteristic of the region, with strong heat all the time and base our schedule on this. A second round of training starts a little later and reduced the intervals between one activity and another or between groups, "sayd Carlos Alberto, supervisor of football.

Game simulations Adílson Batista, contracted in 2008 to work at Cruzeiro, decided to change the routine of activities of the team.

He finished with the practical of simulate the games during training sessions.

The idea of the coach is to have more time to work the physical condition and the positioning of the players, things that he cannot do with as much attention during the simulations.

The simulations of games are a practical very common in the majority of the Brazilian teams, but Adílson prefer to make separate training sessions for each necessity of the players. “We need to work the characteristics of the players and this demands other types of activities”, informed.

The players train in two different groups, split by the initial physical assessments.

Only the first activities with the ball where done by all the players.

Brazil will have centers to adapt to high altitude levels On a visit to La Paz, capital of Bolivia, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva showed solidarity with his South American neighbor in the fight against the limit of high altitude level in international football matches.

The government of Brazil have decided to strengthen this position and will create centers to adapt to high altitude levels.

Five centres for training will be built in Brazil. Two of them will be in Rio de Janeiro (Agulhas Negras and Petrópolis), one in Sao Paulo (Campos do Jordao), one in Santa Catarina (Urubici) and another in Minas Gerais (Itamonte).

Defense in disadvantage To train the defense, Cruzeiro has used confrontations between teams with different numbers of players.

The aggressors leave in direction to the goal and must use the numerical superiority to find spaces.

The defenders need to make right the covering and to hinder this.

The objective of Adílson Batista is that the work against more players helps the defense of Cruzeiro to improve. In the passed year, the team took 58 goals in 38 games of the Brazilian Championship.

The structure of Itamonte, incidentally, will be the first. The city, which is 2.400 meters above sea level, will begin to be built this year.

Emotional work Relegated to the second division of the Brazilian Championship, Corinthians has used a new methodology in the training sessions. The team adopted an emotional work with the players to reduce the pressure for the bad results.

Ricardo Izecson Dos Santos Leite, better known as Kaka, is World Soccer’s World Player of the Year for 2007.

The Milan and Brazil star was the clear winner in our 26th annual poll, with Barcelona’s Lionel Messi second and Cristiano Ronaldo of Manchester United third.

Corinthians decided not to contract a psychologist to make these activities. That have been carried through directly for the coach Mano Menezes and the physical trainer Flávio Trevisan. During the training sessions, they use a lot of phrases to motivate the players and to show confidence in their performance.

Other Brazilian Top 10 qualification - World Team of the Year: 6th place - 3 Young Player of the year Top 10 awards: - 6th place Alexandre Pato (Internacional/Milan & Brazil) - 9th place Robinho (Real Madrid & Brazil) - 10th place Anderson (Porto/Manchester United & Brazil)

Clubs use regional championship to improve the team The Regional championship begun again in January, giving clubs the chance to compete with other clubs from their state. The lack of time to prepare the players has led the coaches to use the regional competition as an opportunity to prepare the team for the forthcoming season.

Ceará, a team from the state of Fortaleza, played in the second division of the Brazilian championship last season. The players were granted a short vacation and resumed work in early 2008. The opening of the Regional Championship started on January 5, less than a week after the return the players resumed work. The lack of preparation was reflected in their first match of the season, when Ceará faced Horizonte and were defeated 5-1.

The lack of time for pre-season also affects São Paulo, the Brazilian Champions. "A pre-season ideally must have a minimum of 30 days, but the reality of Brazilian soccer is different. We have to think of strategies to alleviate the lack of time for the preparation of players, "said Turíbio Leite de Barros, physiologist at Sao Paulo.

The current National champions, are an example of how the lack of time for pre-season can be damaging. The most obvious effect of this must be the decrease in the technical level at the Regional Championship. "Unfortunately, we can not play in the competition at our ideal level. We will use the competition as a way to complement our preparation”.

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Kaka wins World Player of the Year award

No. 25 February/March 2008

Valinhos to coach Zimbabwe Veteran Brazilian coach Jose Claudinei has been handed the task of steering Zimbabwe to the finals of the 2010 FIFA World Cup in neighbouring South Africa.

Claudinei, 60, commonly known as Valinhos, was unveiled at a ceremony in the capital Harare by Zimbabwe Football Association (ZIFA) patron vice-president Joseph Msika, before signing his contract.

The former coach of Brazil's U-20 team replaces Charles Mhlauri, who was sacked after the Warriors failed to qualify for the CAF Africa Cup of Nations due to start in Ghana next week.

Valinhos has also coached in the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Morocco as well as his native Brazil.

Zimbabwe, who have never qualified for the FIFA World Cup finals, have been drawn against Guinea, Namibia and Kenya in the qualifying rounds for the 2010 tournament.

Claudinei adds to the Brazilian flavour in the region with the FIFA World Cup-winning coach Carlos Alberto Parreira now in charge of South Africa.

No. 25 February/March 2008

23

Training sessions from around the world This time this regular feature will consist of 4 zones: the ‘Top Zone’, ‘Agility Zone’, ‘U13 Zone’, and the ‘Goalkeeper Zone’.

Goalkeeping (US Men’s National team)

TOP ZONE 4v4 (Chelsea FC)

Organization:

Organization:

-

-

Goalkeeper (GK) 1 starts in between the vertically positioned cones (A and B) GK 2 and GK 3 (can also be players or coaches) positioned at discs 1 and 2 2 balls Total of 6 cones

GK

Start with a 4v4 Pitch size: 40m (width) x 50m (length) Offense vs. defense With goalkeepers

B GK1

C

D

E

F

GK3

GK2

1

Progression:

Progression:

A

2

- Play a regular game of 4v4 - Every time the offensive team finishes an attack with a shot on goal they receive an additional player (these players are positioned on the sidelines), creating a 4v5 situation - The game proceeds with possession for the defensive team, who try to finish on goal as well - Offense needs to stop the attack as soon as possible and quickly transition to a counterattack - When they finish their attack again they will get another player, creating a 6v4

- GK 1 starts and runs from his starting position to in between cones C and D, where he receives a shot from GK 2 (positioned at disc 1) - GK 1 saves the shot and throws the ball back to GK 2 - He runs through cones A and B to the other side (between cones E and F) where he receives a shot from GK 3 (positioned at disc 2) - He saves the shot and throws the ball back - 10x then change positions GK

Hula Hoop Warm-up (Bayern Munich)

3v1 (Hanover 96) Organization:

3

Organization:

- 3 sets of 3 hula hoops positioned across the width of the pitch (small spaces between the 3 hula hoops within a set – illustration only shows 1 set) - 3 sets of cones (2 per set of hula hoop) each 5m meters behind the first and last hula hoops - 3 groups of players (1 groups per set of hula hoops)

- 3v1 - 4 groups of 4 players each - 1 touch passing

Progression: - player in the middle tries to steal the ball, while the other players pass it around

Progression: - Players sprint from the right cone to the first hula hoop (on the right) - They move sideways through the hula hoops stepping in each hula hoop with their left foot first followed by their right foot and then jog back to the cone on the left - When the last player finishes his run from right to left, the first player will start the same run through the hula hoop from left to right - 3x

Variation: - Same setup only now the 3 players have to head the ball - Player in the middle can steal by catching it - You can also do this with goalkeepers in the middle

Variation: - Same setup only now after the third hoop the player will go back to the second hoop where he has to touch the ground with both feet before sprinting to cone 3.

Pole Race (Schalke 04)

Combination finish (Chelsea FC) Organization:

Organization:

- 3 mini circuits starting from the middle line to the edge of the penalty area - cones mark the start and the end of the circuit - 4 poles in between - Divide the players equally amongst the 3 circuits

- 2 cones with 2 players at each cone at the corners of the penalty areas - 2 more cones with the remainder of the players just outside the penalty arc - With goalkeeper

Progression: Progression: - Players start by sprinting from the 1st cone to the 1st pole - They circle around the pole (360°) and sprint to the next cone - After the 4th pole they print the 2nd cone

-

A

B D

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No. 25 February/March 2008

A crosses the ball into the penalty area and C runs to the ball C heads it to the incoming player D D finishes on goal All players join the back of their queue and the game proceeds with a cross from player D

C

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AGILITY ZONE

AGILITY ZONE Zig-Pass-Zag

Hurdle heading

COACH

Organization:

Organization:

- 6 poles in a line about 1m apart - coach positioned 5m away from line with poles

- 2 hurdles - 3 players in line per hurdle - 1 players approx. 5m in front of hurdle

Progression: - Player 1 starts at the cone - Coach throws the ball (about knee height) to the player - Player passes it back to the coach (hip height) and runs around the 1st pole to receive the next throw for the coach - They continue the same way through all the poles (7 touches in total) and back - Then the next player starts

Progression: 1

1 4

3

2

4

3

2

- Players 1 in line start by jump with both feet at the same time over the hurdle and back - Players 1 then receive a throw from player 2 in front of them and head it back - They jump over the hurdle again and take player 2’s position - Player 2 joins the back of the line behind the hurdle

Coaching points: - Passing - Movement through the poles - Speed

Cone runs

Hurdle circuit 1 Organization: - 12 cones are positioned in pairs in the selected area (as illustrated) - Space between all cones is the same (1m) - Limited amount of players (so they don’t have to wait too long – 2-4 is a good amount) - 1 coach (you can also use another player)

Progression: - Player A starts at cone 1 and moves laterally to cone 2 and back to cone 1 - Coach throws the ball knee height and player passes it back hip height - Player A then moves down to cone 3 and moves laterally to cone 4 and back to cone 3 - Coach throws the ball knee height and player passes it back hip height - Etc., all the way down to the last cones

Player 2

Player 1 A

2 in 1 cone circuit

1 2 C D

Player 3

- Player 1 starts with his back to the 1st hurdle (A) - Player 2 throws the ball, player 1 heads it back, turns and moves laterally across hurdles A and B - At cone 1 he fakes right (with his back to the cone, step-turning right), runs pass cone 2 to the second set of hurdles - He jumps over these hurdles (C and D) with both feet at the same time - After the last hurdle he receives a throw from player 3 and heads it back - He then moves laterally across hurdles C and D - At cone 2 he fakes right (with his back to the cone, step-turning right) and runs pass cone 1 to hurdles A and B - He jumps over these hurdles with both feet at the same time - After hurdle A he receives a throw from player 2 and heads it back - Next player starts

Hurdle circuit 2 Organization: - 2 sets of 3 cones positioned in a line with 1 cone (2) in between the lines (as illustrated) - At the end of each line of cones is a disc (10m away from the last cones) - Cones positioned 5m apart - 1 player is positioned at cone 4 of each set (players 3 and 4) - All other players line up at first cones

Progression: - Players 1 and 2 start simultaneous at the first cone of their own set and run to cone 2, then to cone 3 where they receive a high throw from players 3 and 4 - They head the ball back to the player they receive the thrown from, run passed cone 4 to the discs, go around the disc and run back to cone 4 (which is their new position) - Players 3 and 4 receive the header back from players 1 and 2 put it on the ground next to the cone and run to the end of line at cone 1 26

- A circuit is setup with 4 hurdles, 2 cones and 2 players at each end • Player – Hurdle – Hurdle – Cone – Cone – Hurdle – Hurdle – Player - 1 player at a time - Other players rest - Limited amount of players, so they are not waiting too long

Progression:

B

Variation: - Heading the ball - Increase the distance between the cones

Organization:

No. 25 February/March 2008

Player 2

Player 1 A B 1 2 C D

Organization: - A circuit is setup with 4 hurdles, 2 cones and 2 players at each end • Player – Hurdle – Hurdle – Cone – Cone – Hurdle – Hurdle – Player - 1 player at a time - Other players rest - Limited amount of players, so they are not waiting too long

Progression: - Player 1 starts with his back to the 1st hurdle - Player 2 throws the ball, player 1 kicks it back, turns and jumps over hurdles A and B with both feet at the same time - He then zigzags through the cones and steps over hurdles C and D - After the last hurdle he receives a throw from player 3 and heads it back - He then returns by jumping over hurdles C and D with both feet at the same time - He then zigzags through the cones again and steps over hurdle A and B - After hurdle A he receives a throw from player 2 and kicks it back - Every player does this 2 times

Player 3

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27

U13 ZONE

U13 ZONE U13 dribble and shoot

2v1 & 1v1 Possession Organization:

Organization:

A

- Players line up at the cone, each with a ball - 4 poles positioned as illustrated - A small goal without a goalkeeper in front

- Pitch size: 20 x 20m with a halfway line - 2v1 on one side (A) and 1v1 on the other side (B) - 3 red players, 2 blue players

Progression:

Progression:

- Players dribble through the poles - After the last poles they shoot on goal - Next player starts when 1st player is at the second pole

- The two red players play on side A and pass the ball around and try to retain possession - The blue player tries to win the ball - After a predetermined number of passes (can be anything from 3-5 depending on the level of players) the two red players try to find their teammate on the other side who makes runs to get open while the blue player tries to prevent this pass from being played successfully.

- When the red player on the other side has received the ball, one of the red teammates may join them on that side and they then begin playing 2 v 1 again.

- Do this for two minutes and then rotate the players so everyone gets to play offense and defense

Coaching points: -

Dribbling Shooting Ball control Speed

B U13 receive-turn-shoot

3v3 in the penalty area Organization:

Organization:

- 3 players per game (other players may line up behind these players) - Player 1 is positioned at cone 1 at the top of the penalty arc - Players 2 and 3 are positioned at cones 2 and 3 (5m from the corner of the penalty area) - Goal with goalkeeper

- 2 teams: red and blue - 3v3 inside the penalty area with a goalkeeper in the goal - The remaining players play outside the penalty area in alternating colours

Progression: Progression: 1

3

2

- Players play a 3v3 and have to take any chance they have to shoot at goal - The team in possession must play the ball through an outside player before that team is active to shoot on goal

- Player 2 passes the ball to the left of player 1, who comes in for the ball, receives it, turns and shoots on goal and start his runs past cone 1 to his right - Player 3 passes the ball to the incoming player 1, who receives it, turns and shoots on goal

U13 Combination mini circuit

1v1v1 game Organization:

Organization:

- 2 cones on the halfway line (as illustrated) with players in a line-up (each with a ball) - 3 poles lined-up in front of every cone - 1 cone with players at the top of the penalty arc

- 3 goals, 1 at each corner of a triangular playing area (goals made out of cones, approx 1m apart) - 3 players, each defending a goal - They can score on any of the other two goals

2

Progression: 3

28

Player 1 start by dribbling through the poles and pass to player 2 Player 2 receives the ball, turns and shoots on goal Player 1 joins the back of his line Player 2 joins the back of his line Player 3 starts at the other end

Progression: - Players can score by dribbling through the goals - No passing - This creates 1v1 duels

1

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GOALKEEPER ZONE

Match warm up Arthur Boruc

Crosses Organization: 1

Goalkeeper Polish National Team and Celtic FC

- Coaches cross from the side - Goalkeeper saves the ball and opens to the goalkeeper on the other side - 5x right

For this zone Frans Hoek has outlined the game warm up for Arthur Boruc. Frans Hoek: “This warm up has been designed by Arthur Boruc himself, he feels good about it and feels it prepares him for the game.

The speed and the tempo of the exercises are also determined by Arthur. He decides whether he wants the balls to come quicker or slower and how many repetitions he wants.�

The warm up has been split into 2 sections.

Section A and B, outlined below:

- 5x left

Section A. Without a ball (5 minutes): -

Jogging and loosening up Loosening up the joints Stretching Jumping Accelerating in different directions

Save and fast break Section B. With a ball (16 minutes) Arthur Boruc

1.Sitting down a. Coach throws the ball from left to right b. Goalkeeper catches the ball and throws it back

Organization: 1

- The coach shoots at the goalkeeper, both back passes as well as shots - The goalkeeper receives (or saves) and opens on the other goalkeeper who is constantly changing position

2.Lying down on his side a. Coaches shoot the ball along the ground b. Goalkeeper gets up, saves and throws it back c. 6x on each side Goalkeeper profile: Nationality: Polish Age: 27 Date of birth: February 20, 1980 Height: 1,93m Current club: Celtic FC

- Goalkeeper chooses way to continue play - Approx. 20 balls

3.Sitting on knees a. Coaches shoot the ball along the ground b. Goalkeeper gets up, saves and throws it back c. 6x

Volleys

Shots from 20 meters Organization:

Organization: 1

1

- Coaches shoot about 20 simple volleys

- The coach and the other goalkeepers shoot from approx.

20 meters on goal

- Aimed at the body, at chest height and above the head - Variation of shots - Approx. 20 balls

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31

Milan Djuricic,

“A coaching philosophy is a very important part of a trainer’s personality, which gives a personal touch to a secific trainer’s work and which is what makes him different.. Personally as a coach, I prefere 'play' and this is a base of my football philosophy. How do you use 'play' in competition, and still obtain a good result?

When I say 'play', I am thinking of play with the ball and with ball posession and of course goals. If one football team whants to play with the ball and to keep and control it, they must find the balance between tactical moves in play, organization and fast, one touch play. They must play with quality on the opponents half of the field and look to score goals. The tactical organization of the team play is very difficult to build and this is my first task and which is the difference between good team players and top class team players. To realize this philosophy we need strategies, and with good strategy we can develop a vision. When we talk about vision, the question is which method is the best to develop 11 players into a good team with excellent organization. The basis of my vision has three parts and phases: the team building phase, how to lead the team; and how to build team spirit and relations between the players. Those questions are the basis of my vision and they are directly connected with my deep inner feelings.

Vision without strategy is little more than a dead dream. The progress of one team is connected with good and bad results.

Bad results are also part of the process of a team, and coaches must use them to explain to players how to avoid them in the future and how to learn from them.”

FK Zemun and Serbian Football Federation

System “I have a no real preferable system, but I guess the system which has worked well for me is the 4-3-3, because is based on the most important components in modern football. This system gives the best in covering all of pitch space and saves time in the organization of defensive and offensive reactions.

Alternative system

“Vision without strategy is little more than a dead dream” “We have practical, theoretical and stimulative Milan Djuricic is a well known football coach in Serbia. He is very good at finding extra talented young players.

In the last few years he became the first professional coach to find lots of young talents, which he promoted into the senior team and made very important step for these players to get to the very top of the international scene.

Many of them are now famous players and the best Serbian young players: Ivanovic (Chelsea – London and Serbia National Team), Kacar (Vojvodina - Novi Sad and Serbia National Team), Despotovic (Rapid – Bucharest and Serbia National Team), Brkic (Vojvodina – Novi Sad and Serbia U-21 National Team), Djukic (Brugge – Belgium and Serbia National Team), Cirkovic (Partizan – Belgrade and Serbia National Team), Kizito (Vojvodina-Novi Sad and Uganda National Team), Stepanov (Porto – Portugal and Serbia National Team) and many others.

As a lecturer and demonstrator on UEFA coaching license programmes in Serbian Football Federation, he is trying to share some of his talent and professional knowledge to young colleagues, with the desire to further increase the quality of football in Serbia.

motivation .When I say practical, I think about

“My alternative system is 4-2-3-1. In that system all defenders in line stay behind the ball, but also can move very fast from defense to an attacking formation and quickly get into the opponents half and threaten their goal. Very fast transition is very important in modern football.”

The most important aspects in working with players “This is without any question your personality working on the pitch. But, one coach can have and show personality on the pitch, but you must also have a good education and knowledge.

The work on the football pitch must be the priority of every coach and it is a big part of the success.”

work on the football pitch. When I say theoretical, I think about communication in relation to the coach – player. When I say stimulative, I think of MONEY. My opinion is that practical motivation is more important and the best motivation, but without theoretical and financial motivation this is one more dead dream.”

System for next game “I like to use one system. But sometimes I must change the system because of varying reasons. Mostly, these come during the game, when situation on the field push me to do something (score or injury of one or two players). Sometimes I change the system before the game because of problems with players (injuries, red or yellow cards), and in situations when I don’t have other players which are good enough to replace them in the team. This is also a very important aspect for success – having lot of quality and more universal players in the team”

By: Dusan Petrovic

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No. 25 February/March 2008

No. 25 February/March 2008

33

PASSPORT

Education:

10 v 10 on 6 small and 2 normal goals

- High Training School, Belgrade, UEFA “B” License, UEFA “A” License, UEFA “PRO” License

Organization: Experience:

- Task: Maintaining possession; space creation, opening, timing, scoring - Number of players: 20+2 Goalkeepers - Small goals size: 3-4 m.

1993 - 1995

Radnicki Nova Pazova (youth coach)

1995 - 1996

Radnicki Nova Pazova (first place – Fourth division)

1996 - 1997

Radnicki Nova Pazova (fifth place – Third division)

1997 - 1998

Radnicki Nova Pazova (Fourth place – Third division)

Progression:

1998 - 1999

F.C. Dinamo Pancevo (Second place – Second division)

1999 - 2000

F.C. Cement Beocin (Sixth place – Second division)

Milan Djuricic

2000 - 2001

F.C.Cement Beocin (Ninth place – Second division)

- The team who is in possession can only pass the assisting ball to a teammate by passing through one of small goals - The player who receives the ball and finishes the attack cannot enter the offensive zone before the ball

2001 - 2002

F.C.Dinamo Pancevo (Fourth place – Second division)

Date of birth: 31 October, 1961

2002 - 2003

F.C. Srem Sremska Mitrovica (Third place – Second division)

Place of birth: Zemun

2003 - 2004

F.C.Srem Sremska Mitrovica (Third Place – second division)

2003 - 2004

F.C. Beograd (Sixth place – second division)

2004 - 2005

Macva Sabac (Ninth place – Second division)

2004 - 2005

Vojvodina Novi Sad (Eight place – First division)

2005 - 2006

Vojvodina Novi Sad (First division)

2007 - 2008

FC Zemun (First division)

State: Serbia

Milan Djuricic is also a lecturer/clinician for the UEFA coaching license program in the Serbian Football Federation

“The individual characteristics of players are a very important factor in choosing the system for the next game, but much more important then systems is the style of playing. I am trying to teach players to play attacking football with fast moves, a lot of running and changing positions during the game. Scoring goals and simple play, this is our main task in every game and my religion.”

Tasks for players “This goal is very delicate, if we know that only 20% players listen to their coach and only 12% listen to him in an active way. The information means a lot and giving suggestions to what they must do in training and devise both individual and team training with exercises which cover all possible tasks and situations, which we could experience during the game. I also try to talk with every player before the game and convince them that he must do his job in the same way have worked on in training. Every player must have precise directions for his task during the game, but these tasks have to be part of system and team play.”

Special tasks “As I have already explained, every player has his own task in the game, which is just one part of the team task, team function and main goal. In the situation where my team have the ball and are attacking I always have one player with the special task to win the ball back if we lose it in the opponents half. If the opponent’s team has one or two players who have extra quality it’s normal to find the best players to cover them all the time. A zonal defense is preferred for stopping and neutralizing all the opponent’s attacks, but anyway, sometimes, I must give special tasks to some players. In defense my team must all try to get behind the ball. For this task every player must be prepared well as this is a very difficult task. Because of this I give special tasks, but coaches must always be careful with special tasks and try not to lose team integrity because of them.” “In modern football special task are usually reserved for midfielders. In some situations also attackers must keep and cover defenders on the opponent’s team. Finding the best player for a special task is very delicate because that position carries a lot of obligations and responsibility.”

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No. 25 February/March 2008

10v7 – team building Organization:

Tasks for coaching staff

- Pitch size: 70 x 60m - Number of players: 17 + 2 Goalkeepers, - Attacking team always has 10 (versus 7 defenders)

“In one part of coaching, Serbia lags behind a lot of clubs from EU countries. This is because of financial reasons. My coaching personnel are a small group of experts who are working together for the same goal. From my coaching staff I ask for knowledge, hard and creative work and loyalty, Loyalty is not in first place. It’s very dangerous to ask only loyalty, because it can sometimes stop individual work. Conflict between colleagues can also, sometimes, be positive. My coaching staff is engaged during training, in game analysis, statistics, on physical and psychological care of players, game preparation and on the bench during the games.”

Progression: - 3 players/midfielders(yellow) are playing for the team in possession - Two teams (blue and red) are playing 4:3:3 - Always build up from the back and defenders need to get the ball to the midfielders within 2 touches - Midfielders try to score in cooperation with the attackers - Whenever the defensive team gains possession the midfielders will automatically play for that team

Psychological aspects “Psychological aspects are very important in game preparation, during the game and for the final result of the game. Last season, motivation has been such a very important part in the preparation of our players, that I can not imagine a serious football team without a psychologist. We (coaches) sometimes understand that like degradation of our professional knowledge, but we must understand, also, that nobody has universal knowledge about everything connected with football and the preparation of football players. Many years ago I asked myself a question: “Do I know everything and can I do everything alone? The answer was: NO.” “The coach must know how to motivate players, but young people are living in a modern world and we must use modern technology and science in all aspects of our work. This is simply logical.”

“The influence surrounding a team’s psychological stability is huge. It is easy when players are younger because the coach can work with him in silence and anonymity. But, from the moment when the player steps out from anonymity he is a public person and accessible to everybody; football fans, friends, journalists, managers ... This is a huge problem in the football world. We must find solution to these problems in relation to; players – coach, coach – management, management – players.

There needs to be trust.”

3:3:3 – 3 colors Organization: - Task: Maintaining possession with one touch play, opening after passing - Number of players: 9 - Pitch size: 20 x 20 m ( 30 x 20 m)

Progression: -

One touch play 6v3 (2 colors against 1) After a pass the player must run around the pole and return to the game Play needs high concentration and speed at all times After defenders steal the ball from 1 color, the play together with the other color to maintain possession

No. 25 February/March 2008

35

Ted Dumitru Football at its best shows another dimension whenever Ronaldinho, Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Robinho and Kaka display their inspirational talent. They all have exquisite individuality that can influence, control and change the game so that, eventually, success can be achieved. Never before in the history of football have such impressive individual values been so convincing while similarly per formed by the young representative of creative football. Already reports and statistics show that their presence in matches brings along renewed exciting performances, larger attendance and enthusiastic media interest. A brief look at what actually makes these players so dominant and different brings up some fascinating aspects.

By: Ted Dumitru - The Football Institute

“Why the likes of Ronaldinho do not rise in our game” Technical perfection

Mental attributes

The high rate of such players’ successful executions of ball skills in match situations is not only the product of a perfected technique which they apply in almost every difficult play situation. The decisive difference, for example, in Ronaldinho’s actions, is that the ball skills are continually associated with subtle (refined, intricate) movements and supported by disguise and variations of pace. These combined attributes make it very difficult for the opponent(s) to apply any form of marking. The outcome is that Ronaldinho and the others remain tactically creative and deadly effective even under severe pressure. Their speed of execution and reaction is harmonized with their high level of playing intelligence. The quick foot-work, take-offs, rapid dribbling and turns are forcefully (aggressively) used to surprise and beat the opponents – sometimes creating panic in the entire opponents’ defence.

Although at the level of Ronaldinho and the others most of the technical and tactical response in less complicated play actions are delivered via automated responses, the brilliancy of their football brain in unfolding more complex creative/ surprising moves has to be admired. Here, several football specific mental processes of maximal efficiency are needed.

These fine capacities refer to accurate perception of space, distance, height, angles, timing, etc. All these, plus the quality of the peripheral vision, concentration, improvisation, emotioncontrol and determination will assist the decision-making process to deliver the best possible response to any play challenge. The most outstanding and much needed feature in today’s football is a player’s ability to provide excellent response to both simple play and sophisticated actions. In this respect, Ronaldinho and the rest in the group can be as effective and decisive when responding with a one-touch pass in a simple situation or when using 10-15 ball touches in a ver y complicated move. For example, in the game FC Barcelona played against Sundowns FC, Ronaldinho delivered the pass for the second goal after mixing several ball touches and body feints, all from a standing situation. The combined tactical disguise which resulted from this ver y complicated individual move, deceived Sundowns’ defenders and allowed the goal to be scored. The constant display of innovative play is one of the hall marks of the modern superstar.

What is not surprising is that the genetic type of a player who can match the likes of Ronaldinho’s nature can be found in many environments in the football world and most abundantly in Africa. The debate is actually about the factors and conditions which would make it possible for the thousands of youngsters of Ronaldinho’s genetic type to excel. It is evident that not all the game environments offer ideal solutions for nurturing exceptional talent. There are many parts of the football world where players are gifted with rich genetic traits for outstanding performance and yet that potential remains underdeveloped. Such cases are evident in most European countries, Asia, North and South America and, ironically, Africa - which provides players with the highest rate of innate qualities for high performance.

The analyses of those determinant factors and conditions that can boost natural talent to its full potential reveal the following interesting aspects:

Natural talent or hard work?

➢ Pertinent influences of a skilful-creative football local culture (watching live matches, TV football and role models)

The fact that over 60% of any high-performance is the result of an individual’s innate qualities and predispositions answers the question: Is it mainly the talent, plus the useful work.

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No. 25 February/March 2008

➢ Very early exposure to playing with a ball - from the age 3 – 4 years ➢ Parental encouragement and support in providing play opportunities ➢ Favourable climate which allows year-around outdoor play activities

➢ Strong interest for learning the game and self- improvement

➢ Considerable time dedicate to casual small games and individual practice ➢ Early development of all basic skills through varied training for technique ➢ Exposure to progressive and innovative coaching allowing game exploration, trial-and-error and improvisation ➢ Maximizing individuality (the fulfilment of a player’s technical attributes) before aiming at collective performances (team effort) ➢ Coaching mentality that stimulates creativity and play innovation

➢ Game concept that values individual contributions within high standards of collective play ➢ Targeting perfection while challenged by team-mates of superior quality and identical playing mentality or opponents of contrasting cultures ➢ Timely exposure to the diversity of international game concepts and styles of play ➢ Fans’ enthusiastic support for constructive, creative and attractive football ➢ Unreserved promotion of superior standards of football by the national football structures and the media

No. 25 February/March 2008

37

By contrast, there are mentalities and conditions that can obstruct and distort talent fulfilment. The case of many exceptional very young South African players is conclusive. Up to the age of 12-14 years and before their natural talent is less affected by obstructive game concepts and irrelevant training, they are among the best in the world. As the contrasting game mentality and distorting training are imposed upon them, the road to fulfilment closes. Some of such forceful factors and influences which could nullify even the greatest natural potential of a Ronaldinho’s trend include:

➢ Game environments influenced and characterised by disregard for the role of superior individuality in modern football – the ‘no superstars in our teams’ syndrome

➢ Lack of interest and programs for very early talent discovery ➢ Ignoring the importance of providing plenty opportunities for the very young ones to play with a ball

➢ Following wrong game models for the sake of financial gains offered by foreign clubs as demonstrated by the Europeanization of young African players

➢ Alien influences which discourage children’s play initiative, ball work exploration and tactical creativity, in the name of ‘play simple’, ‘don’t dribble’ or ‘one, two-touch football only’

➢ Ignorant media and football administrators who fail to recognize how decisive the local football specificity is in grooming talent

➢ Early exposure to contrasting football mentalities such as the simplistic, direct and physically dominant game approach which contradict the skilful, constructive and creative nature of the gifted youngsters ➢ The mentality of ‘no fancy tricks’ – the rejection of the need for ball mastery (as exposed, for example, in many overseas matches) ➢ Youth coaching concepts based on limited ball skill ability (basics only) ➢ Talent distorting coaching offered through youth academies which are controlled by foreign interests in Africa

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No. 25 February/March 2008

➢ Dogmatic training with oversimplified exercise for technique and tactics and failure to acknowledge the actual complexity of modern football ➢ Talent suppressive instructions and restrictive forms of team organization

It is correct to say that no player of Ronaldinho’s nature could reach full potential in the conditions and under the obstructing influences described above. This offers an unambiguous explanation why the current football environments in Africa and elsewhere are inapt to produce their own Ronaldinhos, Messis, Robinhos, Kakas, and so on. Again and ironically, this is despite having large numbers of very young players with exceptional genetic resources for superlative football.

Finally, the answer to those South African coaches who are faced with the dilemma on how to raise the many Ronaldinhos in the land is uncompromising. Talent is fulfilled, or lost, in the mechanism of upbringing. Until the game environment in South Africa is changed and adapted to maximize its immense reservoir of natural talent, the talking about talent discovery and international success, should be more cautious.

No. 25 February/March 2008

39

Road to Euro 2008

countr y's first appearance at a UEFA European Championship. Hickersberger has managed a transitional period, dropping senior players and adding some youngsters.

journalists' Player of the Year scoring 32 Bundesliga goals in a season and a half, Hickersberger is unlikely to turn his focus away from youth. "We decided to make the team younger and we will not be changing our opinion," he said.

Friendlies For players on the fringes of the squad, the friendly games begin against Germany on 6 February, followed by the Netherlands (26 March), Nigeria (27 May) and Malta (30 May), are their last chance to claim a spot in Hickersberger’s squad.

"The time for experiments is over," said the coach. "Nonetheless, the odd player could still force his way in with strong performances."

Defensive options One of the players who is desperate to impress is AEK Athens FC keeper Jürgen Macho, who was omitted from the team.

"He needs match practice, then he'll be back," said the coach. More fortunate is defender Emanuel Pogatetz. The Middlesbrough FC man, having settled outstanding differences with Hickersberger, has received an opportunity to restate his claim. "His ability was never in question.

The concern was whether he could fit into the team dynamic," explained the boss.

Scharner omission By contrast, Paul Scharner's chances of returning in time for the finals are fading, the Wigan Athletic FC midfielder having been overlooked once more. "He called me a few days ago and I will visit him in England for face-to-face talks. But a year ago he said he did not want to have anything to do with the team," Hickersberger said.

Austria: Great organization, low exp ectation!

Austria will be appearing at their first European Championship finals when they co-host the tournament with Switzerland next year. And while everybody in the country is convinced that the event organization will be perfect, the ex-

With only four warm-up matches for Austria before their UEFA EURO 2008™ opener against Croatia in June, the finishing touches are still to be applied to coach Josef Hickersberger's squad.

pectations for the team are very low. The Austrian team have hardly made an impact at the international level since Hans Krankl scored two late goals to secure a 3-2 win over West Germany at the 1978 World Cup. By: Maaike Denkers

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No. 25 February/March 2008

Transition Hickersberger has been working on putting a solid team together since January 2006, a team he hopes will be able to compete and put up a good fight at this summer's tournament, which is the

Still hoping Meanwhile, Roland Linz's prolific form for new club SC Braga has thrown the forward back into contention – he has nine goals in 16 Portuguese Liga outings.

"Performance at club level is not the only thing. His willingness to work hard in training has also put him in the frame," said Hickersberger. With FC Salzburg striker Marc Janko close to full fitness following a long lay-off, Linz will be anxious to make a quick impact.

No stars Although Hickersberger has a number of quality players, such as midfielder and skipper Andreas Ivanschitz of Panathinaikos, midfielder Rene Aufhauser of Austrian champions Salzburg and defender Martin Stranzl of Spartak Moscow, there are no real stars. And, according to Stranzl, the low level of the domestic league is the main reason for the lack of young talent. He says: “It is hard to really develop in our league. Talented youngsters should go abroad as soon as possible.”

Former Austria star Andreas Herzog, now Hickersberger’s assistant, agrees, saying: “Austria are good at junior level, but those lads never get to play in the league.

Low-class foreigners occupy their places.”

Herzog has also said the Austrian FA wants to learn from Jurgen Klinsmann.

He got to know the former Germany coach during a spell with Los Angeles Galaxy and will meet him again at the World Youth Cup in Canada this month.

“We won’t copy everything, but it would be silly not to pick up the good ideas,” Herzog asserts. “It will also provide us with the German players’ physical data, which we can take as a desirable standard.”

The Coach: Josef Hickersberger In his second spell at the helm, having been in charge between 1987 and 1990.

Led the side to Italia 90 but was sacked soon after, when his team lost 1-0 to the Faroe Islands. Won a surprise league title with Rapid Wien in 2005, when he showed his talent for developing youngsters.

Not enough Finally, although LASK Linz striker Ivica Vastić (38), was named Austrian sports

No. 25 February/March 2008

41

Later Tim joined Lisburn Distillery as youth coach before being appointed Academy Director at the club and a couple of years ago obtained his A-license. The young coach was very keen to do more football in the community and set up mini soccer centre across Northern Ireland through the coaching company he set called TWSports.org with the result that now hundreds of smiling boys and girls have the opportunity to play for fun.

East Belfast This was my first visit to Northern Ireland although I already felt as if I knew it, as while growing up it was never off our screens at tea - time. The early evening news was full of many familiar names and places, though sadly nearly all were linked to the troubles. I was staying with Tim, his partner and their children in East Belfast, only a few hundred yards from where George Best lived and where George’s father, Dickie still lives in the family home on Burren Way. Tim drove me around the Cregagh Estate, and to see the field and streets where the great man played as a child was inspiring. A couple of nights later Tim had organised a World Cup 4v4 on the estate with the local children. With the floodlights on the Astro pitch, lighting up the autumn sky and with George Best’s mural looming out from the side of an adjacent house, you felt that the spirit of the man was still living inside these local kids from the Cregagh, playing with smiles as wide as the River Lagan that flows through the city.

For several days I followed Tim and his coaches around Northern Ireland, to Belfast, Larne, Carrickfergus and Lisburn to name just a few places. We visited schools, play groups and leisure centres there with young kids from 5-13 playing football.

The ingredients were simple, lots of fun, lots of touches of the

ball and skills. Everywhere we went the children were hungry to play, trying moves and feints without a care in the world.

The environment was so positive and the children were encouraged to show what they could do and express themselves at all time. Every six weeks they have a Wold Cup competition which the children love. As well as these mini soccer centres Tim also runs Toddler Soccer sessions for the really young ones, where they learn to fall in love with the game.

For the more gifted players there is the opportunity to join the Lisburn Distillery Academy. Tim and the coaches at the club have been very careful to create a culture of skilful play and creativity at the Academy. Children are encouraged to play the game how it should be played. The training I saw was full of inventive play with players taking on opponents in many 1 v 1 situations and neat passages of passing play with good movement off the ball. I don’t remember ever visiting a club or district and see so many happy kids, but Tim’s love for the game is incredibly infectious.

Tim’s achievements in stimulating youth soccer in Northern Ireland are quite staggering and with the foundations being laid deep, the omens, (as long as he gets the support he deserves) look promising.

Belfast Boy Football in Northern Ireland has been on the up in recent years with the international side claiming some big scalps at Windsor Park. Spain, Sweden and of course England have all been beaten and they have been close to qualifying for a major event, something they have not achieved since the heady days of the 1982 and 1986 World Cups. David Healy, their prolific striker, also became the first player to score thirteen goals in a European Championship qualifying campaign. But what was happening at grassroots and in children’s football across Northern Ireland? Paul Cooper from SoccerCoachingInternational went on a four day fact finding mission.

By: Paul Cooper

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No. 25 February/March 2008

Tim Wareing I had met a young coach from Belfast called Tim Wareing who had made an immediate impact on me both in terms of a coach and person. When Tim invited me over to see the work he was doing at youth level, I was already on my way to the airport before the phone was set down. Tim played for Saintfield United before moving onto Agape to play under Sam Watterson. It was the late Watterson that got him involved in coaching and it was under his guidance that Tim set up Castlereagh Colts which was the youth development side at Agape. During this time Wareing got his UEFA B license and fixed up friendly fixtures with the like of Glasgow Rangers, Leeds and Fulham. Tim has always aimed high as he always wants the best for his charges.

Further information can be found at TWSports.org

No. 25 February/March 2008

43

Various

Kasperczak quits as Senegal coach

Senegal coach Henri Kasperczak has resigned 24 hours after his side's crushing 3-1 loss to Angola at the CAF Africa Cup of Nations.

Assistant coach Lamine Ndiaye will step in for the Pole as caretaker boss for Senegal's remaining Group D tie against South Africa in Tamale on Thursday. Kasperczak told a press conference that he hoped his resignation might serve to change the side's fortunes.

"After the defeat to Angola yesterday I presented my resignation to the president of the (Senegalese football) federation," he said. "It was accepted, so I am now no longer the national coach."

Kasperczak quits as Senegal face an early exit from Ghana, Sunday's defeat leaving them with a must-win game against South Africa and needing the result of the game between Angola and Tunisia to go their way.

"I take full responsibility for the level of our results. I'm disappointed for the Senegalese supporters," the 61-year-old added. "The disappointment is enormous, even if there's still a small chance of qualifying.

"I resigned in order to trigger something in the team, perhaps it will be the key for the rest of the competition. We're in a delicate situation, even if there's still a chance.

"My aim was to go the final. So we can consider”.

"He has enough international experience and results from tight spots, so we think we have found the right person to take the national team to the World Cup," said Pekka Hamalainen, FA chairman.

Englishman Baxter, 54, has previously coached the South Africa national team as well as a host of club sides in the Nordic countries.

The inaugural Give Us Back Our Game 4v4 Fun Day will take place on 4th-6th July 2008 world wide

Why take part?

Baxter named new Finland coach Finland appointed Briton Stuart Baxter as head coach on a two-year contract on Monday, the Finnish FA said.

Give Us Back Our Game

Finland have never qualified for the finals of a major tournament.

• Because you want a real voice for grassroots coaches and young players….a voice that is already strong and growing stronger by the day • Because you want to help send a strong message to youth football; administrators, misguided coaches and unruly parents; • Because you are concerned at the ‘win at all costs’ culture that is spreading across youth football; • Because you are interested in a game format that will improve your players skills, enjoyment and social skills;

Burley unveiled as Scotland coach George Burley was today named as the new head coach of Scotland, and tasked with qualifying them for the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa™. Burley, who was previously with English Championship club Southampton, beat off competition for the post from Motherwell manager Mark McGhee, Celtic assistant coach Tommy Burns and former Rangers and Liverpool boss Graeme Souness.

The position has been vacant since Alex McLeish resigned in late November to take

over at English Premier League side Birmingham City, having led Scotland to the brink of the UEFA EURO 2008 finals in a qualifying group that included both France and Italy.

The next target for the Scots is to progress to South Africa 2010, 12 years after their last appearance in the FIFA World Cup. Burley's first match in charge will be a friendly against Croatia on 26 March, with his first competitive fixture a trip to Macedonia in September.

• Because you are interested in a game that is more child-centered, player centered and FUN; • Because you are fed up with children mimicking bad player behaviour they see on TV; • Because you love the beautiful game!

How do I get involved?

Email us on giveusbackourgame@gmail.com

www.giveusbackourgame.co.uk 44

No. 25 February/March 2008

SCI WEBSITE PLAYER TRACKING SYSTEM

NEW! Our in-house R&D department is constantly working on new innovations.

One of these new innovations is the Player Tracking System. This system allows our subscribers to track training attendance, game data and evaluate their players.

What can you do with the Player Tracking System?

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Add a team Add a player Insert training data Add a game Add evaluation criteria Evaluate players View statistics

EDITORIAL

No. 25 – February/March 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

Graphic Design Anton Gouverneur / Tania Dimitrova studio@sportfacilities.com Editorial Staff Erich Beting, Paul Cooper, Guilherme Costa, Maaike Denkers, Tania Dimitrova, Ted Dumitru, Frank Dunne, Anton Gouverneur, Tom van den Heiligenberg, Dušan Petrović, Paul van Veen 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.

Project Manager Floris Schmitz f.schmitz@sportfacilities.com

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.

Managing Editor and Translations Maaike Denkers maaike@soccercoachinginternational.com

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

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