WELCOME…
November 3 2010 Issue 184 Under 4s - Under 16s
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...to Soccer Coach Weekly. The clocks have gone back, so more and more now football takes on a wintry feel. With that in mind we’ve got an all-action issue for you in order to keep out the cold; with movement, pace and energy a key feature in our training ground moves. Enjoy the issue, and we’ll see you again next week...
THROW FOR BROKE How to take advantage of one of football’s most underrated weapons...
DEADLY DELAP’S DELIVERY
DEADLY DELAP’S DELIVERY
Over the last couple of seasons, the long throw has become a supply line that can be every bit as effective as a free-kick or corner – indeed some English Premier League defenders have been known to put the ball behind for a corner rather than face a throw-in from the likes of Stoke City’s Rory Delap and others.
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Ensure your players use a dry ball, and watch that their hands are well positioned
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The ball is held in front on run-up, and the momentum comes from swinging off the planted leg
Arsenal suffered more than most from Delap’s aerial bombardment the first time the two sides met in the Premier League, with his deliveries setting up both goals in a 2-1 win. From being an almost forgotten tactic that Tony Pulis’s Stoke side used to create a unique advantage, the merits and appreciation of the throw-in have really now filtered back into the consciousness of football coaches throughout the game. If you take the time to pick out a couple of designated long throw specialists in your team, you’ll be creating a unique advantage over the opposition, and your team will most likely revel in the ensuing chaos that a ball delivered at low trajectory can provide! This is a simple drill that aims to perfect technique and you’ll soon notice the players whose skills can be fine-tuned.
How to set it up: •
Ensure your players have performed a thorough upper body warm-up. • Set up a line of players along the touchline of the pitch. • Each player has a ball. • Players should dry the ball with their shirt if it’s wet.
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Getting started: •
The player’s hands should be spread out wide on either side of the ball, slightly behind the centre. • Players should take a short run-up holding the ball in front of them, then plant a firm leg and quickly whip the ball behind their head and throw by swivelling over the planted leg. • Remember to make sure your players stay within the rules for a throw-in – namely that when they plant their front foot it must be behind or touching part of the line, with their back foot on the floor (something which is made easier if they drag their toe). • Get your players to aim at certain targets, and remember that Delap’s success is as much based on direction as it is length.
Why this works: Even professional footballers produce foul throws, so technique is everything. This move is designed to reinforce that, whilst introducing the idea that a throw-in is not just a vehicle for getting the ball back into play, more a positive attacking option. Youth teams in particular can benefit a great deal from good long throws, especially into the penalty area, where the ball is coming in at a much flatter angle than it does from a free-kick or corner.
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Set up a 4v4 game in a 40x30 yard area, with two floating players on the sides, two goals, and two goalkeepers.
Y THIS! NOW TR
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Players can only score via a throw from a floating player.
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COACHING COLLECTION
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WARM-UP
1v1 CONTINUOUS GAME
Attack and defence in constant combat...
How to set it up:
1v1 CONTINUOUS ATTACK
KEY ELEMENTS
• Dribbling Use a penalty box and goal. • Defending Mark an additional area that measures a few yards in from each side of the box, • Attacking whilst extending 10 yards outside the area • Positioning lengthways. • Players start from the line outside the box. • Arrange your players into two groups: one starting from the left, the other from the right.
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The attacker must dribble past the defender and shoot
Getting started: • • • •
Both teams compete aiming to score and defend in a 10-minute period. Assign a defending player to take up a measured position around the box. An attacker approaches to form a 1v1 situation. If the attacker manages to get a shot on goal the defender must remain in position. Therefore, he must learn quickly to pressure the forward and stop them scoring. • If the defender succeeds, the attacker now takes his role, while the defender joins one of the queues, and will have a turn at attacking.
Why this works: This is a good warm-up to practise because, in effect, it offers a forfeit for not succeeding, namely that the defender then has to face another attacker. Also, by making attackers approach from both sides, it means that players gain equal use of right and left feet.
player movement shot player movement shot
SAID LIKE A PRO This week Burnley goalkeeper Lee Grant talks us through his training ground heaven and hell... “They say that the life of a goalkeeper can be a lonely one, and it’s true! Even in training, so much of what we do is away from the rest of the squad – that is, until the gaffer orders some shooting practise and we get pelted by shots from all angles! “But the majority of time is spent with the goalkeeping coach, as you would expect. It is really specialised stuff and it’s always important to get on well with your coach and other keepers in the squad, because you spend so much time with them.
the margins of error are now less and less. It’s a worry for keepers and coaches alike, and I hope this trend of manufacturing balls that swerve and turn in the air so much is coming to a close. “They might produce more exciting football, but they are making the game dangerously random at the same time.”
“It’s a worry for keepers and coaches alike...”
dribble dribble
FOOTBALL PHILOSOPHIES... SAY WHAT?
Majestically mad football quotes from the game’s biggest names... “If you’d have offered me that result in the morning I’d have taken it all day long” - Ian Holloway, Blackpool manager, following his side’s 2-1 Premier League win over West Brom on November 1. “We didn’t think he would play on Sunday because he was suspended - that makes me think he has all the qualities to join Arsenal” - Arsene Wenger in 2004, talking about new signing Jose Antonio Reyes.
“Goalkeepers are definitely a unique breed. Most will enjoy putting in a lot of extra work, and it’s common for them to be the first ones in and the last ones out. It must be said though, quite a few of the squad here at Burnley hold that same ethic and are committed to putting the hours in.
“For John Terry, to die on the pitch would be glory. You would need to kill him and maybe even then he’d still play” - former Chelsea manager Phil Scolari.
“A goalkeeper’s training routine is always technique heavy, and more so over the last few years given that the football continues to become lighter with every passing season. Catching, parrying and kicking well are essential elements because
“I am in a good position at the moment because no-one is running the club. I am hoping there is nobody out there to sack me” - Stuart Murdoch, former MK Dons manager. (He was sacked four months later).
“The first 90 minutes of the match are the most important” - Sir Bobby Robson, former England manager.
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COACHING COLLECTION DAVID CLARKE’S TOUCHLINE TALES
This is a great game for angles of defence and changing roles in attack.
CHANGE OF POSITION, CHANGE OF FORTUNE During a victory last week for my Under-10s side, one of my defenders got injured. This was not too much of a problem as I had another player who could move from midfield to fill that role. The solution worked fine for a while until he too limped out of the action, leaving me struggling to solve the problem. We got to half-time without too much trouble and were winning 1-0, and at that point I managed to persuade another lad to change positions and slot back into defence. He halfheartedly accepted the offer, even creeping forward into his regular attacking role at times, thus leaving holes and gaps behind him. I was therefore relieved when my left winger came across and said to me that he would play in defence because he’d operated there for his previous team. I was surprised because I had never considered him to be a natural defender - he is, after all, a strong attacking winger, and it
had never even crossed my mind to use him in defence. But he was an absolute revelation, with excellent positioning, plus strong support and marking skills. At one point he took the ball off the toes of the opposition attacker and ran the whole length of the pitch, unleashing a brilliant shot at the end of it.
“He was a bit of a revelation in defence, with excellent positioning, support and marking skills.” I am still reluctant to play him at the back because we have some good defenders, and he is a valuable left winger, but I know now he makes a great back-up if we ever need someone to fill the role.
around nine or 10 years of age. And yet many will play for another few years before actually discovering where they are best. What we should be doing as coaches is constantly experimenting with their roles - maybe hiding inside a player who has been labeled a ‘defender’ is a strong attacking force just waiting to be unleashed on an unsuspecting opponent. It’s rare when it happens, but on the occasions that it does, it’s always a pleasant and useful surprise.
It got me thinking about players and how they generally begin to ‘find’ their positions
SCW SURGERY THIS WEEK’S COACH: DARREN TIDY GROUP: ACADEMY Darren is an Level 2 coach who runs two Academy sides in Edinburgh
Q
A few of my lads have got into the habit of spitting a lot when on pitch. Is it really necessary? Peter Scott, Torquay
A
It’s a phase that many lads of Academy age go through, and unfortunately it’s not just restricted to the football pitch. Naturally, if your players are running around a lot they’re going to build up saliva, and it’s much better for them to get rid of it than swallow it, but you’ll see players trying to copy their idols in any way they can, and if it’s something that they want to do you’re probably not going to be able to stop them. On the whole I wouldn’t be too hard on your players – let them go through this point in their development and if they feel better prepared or a better player for doing it then fair enough, but spitting more than you need to never helped a player run faster or shoot more accurately!
Got a question for SCW Surgery? Email it in to us at james.evans@coach-soccer.com
Q
One of my players tells me he has Osgood-Schlatter disease and can’t play for up to a year. Do you know anything about this injury? Richard Hulbert, London
A
As a former sufferer of Osgood-Schlatter disease (or syndrome) I can empathise with your player entirely. It’s important you take him seriously, and don’t rush him back until he is absolutely sure he can play without pain. The syndrome is brought about due to growth spurts, and essentially is a rupture of the tibial growth plate around the knee joint. He needs to use the RICE technique – rest, ice, compression and elevation – though the first of those, ‘rest’, is really the only cure. I had Osgood-Schlatter for a solid two years as a teenager and it ruled me out of any physical activity that involved running, so take it seriously. Permanent damage to the knee can occur if he doesn’t rest – maybe for a year or even longer - and let the injury pass. It will be difficult for him, so offer support as much as you can and keep him involved in nonplaying aspects of the team if he wants to be.
Q
How can I get scouts along to watch my players? Art Canoville, Washington
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If your team are playing regularly in a domestic organised league, the chances are they are already being watched without even knowing it. In America especially, there is a fantastic network of amateur and professional scouts always on the lookout for the next generation of young players. After all, unearthing that next gem is big business. Of course, playing in tournaments can always provide a useful shop window, and if your players are keen to get seen, help them to sign-up for and attend local pro club trials. Your players will admire you for trying to help them further their careers, while in return you can assure yourself of 100% commitment from them in every game situation, because they’ll always have it in their minds that there could be someone important watching! But a player’s enjoyment of the game is always the most important thing, not the dream of getting spotted.
Soccer Coach Weekly is published by Green Star Media Ltd, Meadow View, Tannery Lane, Bramley, Guildford, GU5 0AB, UK. Email: james.evans@coach-soccer.com Tel: +44 (0)1483 892894 Fax: +44 (0)1483 894148 Editor: James Evans Publisher: Kevin Barrow Managing Director: Andrew Griffiths Customer Service: Duncan Heard Contributors: David Clarke, Paul Dargan, Chris Galea, Steve Southern © Green Star Media Ltd. All rights reserved.
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COACHING COLLECTION
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THE ART OF COACHING CHILDREN
PRACTICAL PLAY IS THE WAY FORWARD Instilling football wisdom in your players...
Gaining football wisdom requires players to be put in situations where they have to make decisions in real time. It also needs players to be taken out of their comfort zone and challenged in training. Small-sided games, situations from games and full-on games of football are where players gain wisdom while developing knowledge. Therefore you should aim to make your training gamerelated as much as possible. Players have to have the opportunity to experience different situations, to learn how to make the correct decisions, and experiment with their decisions to find out what works.
becoming complacent and making unforced errors. This can be as simple as changing the number of attackers or defenders or moving the position from where the defenders start. For example, starting one of the defenders out wide changes the decision making aspect of the whole game.
“The manner in which you give players feedback is critical to their ability to gain wisdom.”
SELF-EVALUATION
SMALL CHANGES FOR FRESH IDEAS
Self-evaluation is essential in order for wisdom to be gained. You can tell a player the same thing over and over, but until they can tell you that themselves, it will have little impact.
Keep the games you use fresh by making small changes when you feel players are
With players who find this hard, use questions to get them to explain what they did and how they think it worked. Then ask them how they could improve it next time. Patience is needed as some players find self-evaluation incredibly difficult.
FEEDBACK The manner in which you give players feedback is critical to their ability to gain wisdom. Asking questions is a far more powerful tool than giving answers, as people remember (and believe) far more when they say it rather than when they hear it. Coaching is about assessing what you give to your players as well as what they give back to you, so by constantly judging where your players are mentally - as well as physically - you’ll be able to better judge where they are in the development process.
FORMATION FORUM THIS WEEK: MIDFIELD MASTERCLASS...THE STRENGTH OF 3-5-2
We delve once more under the surface of the tactical formations that famously make teams tick... As portrayed by: West Germany in their 1990 World Cup win, Brazil four years later, and Ajax throughout their most successful period in the 1970s.
BACKGROUND: •
Out-and-out wingers were becoming a forgotten breed in the game in the early 1980s and this new formation was brought in to minimise the effects of their loss. • It came at a time when the game’s superstars were midfielders as frequently as they were strikers.
KEY ELEMENTS: •
The defence consists (mainly) of three natural centre-backs. • The midfield utilises (in most cases) three central midfield players, one of whom needs to be a holding/sitting player – an ‘anchor man’ – to make this formation fully balanced. • The two wide players in the midfield five are required to get up and down the flanks, which is why full-backs are used in this role more often than not. • The two strikers need to work as a pair, and are often deemed more effective as a big and a small player working in tandem.
•
Although play can be controlled in midfield, the formation still requires tremendous energy and a good reading of the game, particularly given the cluttered central area.
MAIN STRENGTH: This formation was devised to conquer the concerns that the traditional winger role was becoming less effective, so the full-backs being utilised as wide midfield players solved that problem. And with three natural midfielders in the centre of the pitch, the set-up proved resilient against variations of the traditional 4-4-2 formation.
The standard 3-5-2 formation
KEY WEAKNESS: With more and more sides playing a lone forward, 3-5-2 more often meant an overload of defenders and potentially wasted resources. The formation also requires the two wide players to display incredible fitness given their constant movement between attacking and defending roles, or the need to come inside to support in the centre.
In game play, wingers are versatile, a holding midfielder drops back and strikers work as a pair
player movement when attacking player when attacking playermovement movement when attacking
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GAME ON
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SMALL-SIDED GAME
PLAY OUT, GO OUT pass pass pass
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Pitch size: 30x20 yards (min) up to 40x25 yards (max).
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The game requires two teams of four players.
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There are no goals.
SKILLS
How to set it up:
• • • •
PLAY OUT, GO OUT
Passing Awareness Dribbling
player movement with ball player movement with ball player movement with ball
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The white team are in possession in a simple 2v2 game
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A white player creates the opportunity to pass to his team-mate off the pitch
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A successful pass means the two players swap roles
Ball Retention
The rules: •
Both teams must have two players on the pitch and two players on the outside of the pitch.
• • •
If the ball leaves play, pass a new ball onto the pitch. The aim of the game is to make a pass out to a team-mate.
The passing player then goes to the outside while the receiving player dribbles into the playing area.
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A goal is awarded for each successful pass to an outside player.
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The game is played for a set time period.
Why this game works: Possession and awareness are key in this small-sided game. For those already in the playing area, the game helps them recognise the idea of not always passing to the nearest player. While for those along the outside, they can only free themselves up to receive the ball by moving left or right, so their efforts in finding position will need to be that much more considered. This is also a rapid fast-moving game with players coming and going, so awareness of others and the ability to think and move quickly is something that can really develop.
Let us know how you get on. Soccer Coach Weekly is always keen to hear your feedback, so email in to us at
james.evans@coach-soccer.com
pass
player movement with ball
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