Tools, Tips & Techniques
23 September 2009 issue 126
Under 4s - Under 16s
Delivering the mail with direct shots At all levels and ages groups there is one ball that is always going to be hard to defend against: one hit hard from the edge of the penalty area directly at goal, with poachers waiting to pounce, says David Clarke
Dead ball situations Free-kicks around the edge of the penalty area give teams the opportunity to create a goal-scoring situation. This is the time when all the practice you have taken on your training ground comes into play.
Go for goal with free-kicks
It is no coincidence that set-plays are a major factor in scoring goals. You can capitalise on free-kicks because: l Your best kicker of the ball is able to take the free-kick. l The ball is stationary and there is no player pressure on the free-kick taker. l You can put your key players in key positions. l The ball into the penalty area can cause the opposition to panic and allow your players to take advantage. When players are taking free-kicks in these areas they should be looking to hit them hard and flat at the goal. This puts pressure on the opposition goalkeeper and defenders because controlling a ball hit at speed takes a lot of skill.
shot
Your best kickers can fire shots at the goal from free-kicks outside the area looking for a direct hit or a rebound.
How to play it
When the kick is taken you need to have players running into the penalty area to take advantage of any rebounds from the goalkeeper or defenders. They need to be quick to react to the situation that develops from the free-kick – a parry by the goalkeeper, a ball headed up into the air by a defender or coming back off the post or crossbar of the goal.
l Put three players with a few balls each on the edge of the penalty area. They take it in turn to shoot. l They should be hitting the areas shown in the diagram. l Put a goalkeeper in goal and add a couple of defenders. l Use a couple of attackers to run into the penalty area.
This means all your attacking players need to be aware of the free-kick taker, and react immediately the player moves to kick the ball. Slow off the mark and they will miss the rebound.
l Add attacking midfield players on the edge of the box. l Introduce opposition midfield players. l Construct walls with the defending team.
How to advance it
“When you are the man in goal you realise how hard it is to stop. He can become one of the all-time free-kick greats” Iker Casillas after officials in Madrid timed Ronaldo’s latest free-kick at 64mph
Coach development
weekly ~
Under 4s - Under 16s
Laws of of thecoaching game made easy The art children
Are coaches, players or parents at your club struggling with the laws of the game? This series will break them down into easy to digest chunks.
Law 7: The duration of the match
11-a-side – recommended match times
HA LF TIM E
The match lasts two equal periods. Times for different age l Under 11 and 12 years of age: 2 x 30 minutes groups differ. Time changes must be mutually agreed between l Under 13 and 14 years of age: 2 x 35 minutes the referee and the two teams. Any agreement to alter the l Under 15 and 16 years of age: 2 x 40 minutes Law 7: (half-time The duration of 10 theminutes match for each age). duration of the periods of play (for example because of break insufficient light) must be made before the start of play. Players are entitled to an interval at half-time. The half-time Allowance is made for time interval must not exceed 15 minutes. lost through: l Substitutions. Local rules may apply to both timing of matches and the halfl Injury. time interval. Check tournament competition rules. l Wasting time. The allowance for Small-sided games – recommended match times time lost is at the l Under Under 6 years of age: 2 x 15 minutes discretion of the (half-time break 5 minutes). referee. l Under 7 and 8 years of age: 2 x 20 minutes The only event that (half-time break 5 minutes). can extend a half once l Under 9 and 10 years of age: 2 x 25 minutes time (and extra time) (half-time break 5 minutes). is up is if a penalty l Under 11 and 12 years of age: 2 x 30 minutes kick has to be taken or (half-time break 7.5 minutes). retaken.
David Clarke’s touchline tales When being the B team sometimes is better than the A team I’ve had my arm twisted and said yes to helping out with the school U9s team – in my spare time!
than theirs. Immediately they start moaning. I picked them up on that and told them to concentrate on passing and playing as a team. And to tightly mark the players they knew would run the game.
I’ve said yes to helping with the ‘B’ team because in my experience they are the ones that present much more of a challenge to my coaching skills. The first one being “why are What happened was that we ran the game, but lost 3-2. Unfortunately the winning goal was direct from a corner, we the B team?”. no one touched it – a good corner but a fluke. The ‘B’ team though played well, and played as a team. The ‘A’ team, I’ve had a couple of sessions with them and they are a sure that they would win, played as individuals. fantastic bunch of kids. It always takes me by surprise the difference between a club team and a school team. This I am looking forward to getting them playing ‘real’ matches team is picked from just two classes, which takes me back to when I first started coaching, but these boys are not even because I think I have made them aware that if they pass the ball and support each other they have the ability to beat the best in their year. anyone. After the game they were pleased with the scoreline, because they realised they could compete with the ‘A’ team. On Saturday we played a ‘friendly’ against the ‘A’ team. It’s I shall let you know how they get on during the season! hard playing against a team that your players feel is better 2
23 September 2009
Player development
weekly
Under 4s - Under 16s
Technique
Wake up to problems of passing when tired I wrote an article a couple of weeks ago in my Better Soccer Coaching newsletter about how players find it hard to pass and control the ball when they are tired late in a match. I’ve had a lot of coaches asking how to prepare for this. So, exclusively to SCW readers, here’s the answer, says David Clarke Over the past month I have been showing you how players can learn to pass the ball and control it while they are running. The addition of tiredness brings in another element. One excellent way to train for this is to use soccer specific shuttle runs. You can tailor them to be soccer specific by adding dribbling and passing to a normal set of runs.
Shuttle runs with dribbling and passing
Y axis
start
The shuttle run is a fitness training exercise that will help your players survive the vigours of match play. Because of the stop-start sprint-jog-sprint nature of soccer the shuttle run is a great fitness exercise to include in your coaching. X axis
It contains important soccer specific movements and is a great exercise to build speed, stamina, acceleration, and endurance. By adding a ball your players can practice controlling the ball at top speed, when their body becomes tired and they have that extra pressure on them.
How to play it Players work in pairs with one the working player and one the server. The server is basically a target for the working player to pass to and get the ball from.
Play moves up and down the Y axis and moves along one cone on the X axis each time. run after ball
Set up 10 cones 5 yards apart, forming a right angle, with 5 on the X axis and 5 on the Y axis. Each player completes the five cone runs then swaps with the server.
pass
dribble
should be repeated for each of the cones. The next pair of players can start once the first pair reach the third cone.
To begin the exercise the working player starts at the first cone on the X axis and dribbles full speed up one cone on the Y axis, turns quickly, passes to the return player and sprints back to the starting marker following the pass. The server should move along one cone and stop the ball where the working player can quickly gain possession and dribble with speed to the second cone on the Y axis. This pattern
How to advance it To add a little variation to the exercise, have the return player toss a ball to the working player as they are approaching the starting cone. The working player should quickly control the ball, finish their run to the starting line, and dribble to the next marker as before. 3
23 September 2009
Games workshop
weekly
Under 4s - Under 16s
Small-sided game
Two v two continuous
KEY BALL MOVEMENT
SHOT ON GOAL
PLAYER MOVEMENT
In matches all over the pitch there are 2v2s going on. This small-sided game helps your players to be better at 2v2 than their opponents.
Set up l Pitch size: 30 x 20 yards (minimum) up to 40 x 25 yards (maximum). l One goal, one goalkeeper. l A large number of balls.
1. The white players attack the defenders in a 2v2 situation.
Rules l The pairs of players take turns at attacking in a 2v2 situation and then immediately defending a 2v2 situation. l When the first pair attack they will either create a chance to shoot and score or the defenders will clear the ball. As soon as one of these two things happens then the attackers become the defenders and the defending pair go and join the queue to be attackers. l The game is played continuously for a set time period or until a set number of goals is scored. l Turn the game into a 4v4 match by adding a goal and a goalkeeper. Make sure you see players making use of 2v2 situations and creating goal scoring chances.
THE MATCH DAY PLANNER IS AVAILABLE TO DOWNLOAD AT: www.bettersoccercoaching.com/MDP.pdf
2. They must use their skill and vision to find a way to goal.
3. After the shot, the white players become the defenders.
Soccer Coach Weekly is published by Green Star Media Ltd, Meadow View, Tannery Lane, Bramley, Guildford, GU5 0AB, UK. Email: david.clarke@coach-soccer.com Tel: +44 (0)1483 892894 Fax: +44 (0)1483 894148 Editor David Clarke Publisher Kevin Barrow Managing Director Andrew Griffiths Customer Service Representative Duncan Heard Š Green Star Media Ltd. All rights reserved.
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23 September 2009