WELCOME…
December 15 2010 Issue 190 Under 4s - Under 16s
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... to Soccer Coach Weekly. Well, Christmas is here, and with it, the chance of a few days off from the training pitches. Of course, that doesn’t mean you can’t still enjoy our latest offering of football coaching expertise. We’ve even asked World Cup winner Ossie Ardiles for some insight into what has kept his interest in the professional game for over four decades. Merry Christmas...
A CHRISTMAS CRACKER!
A Christmas two-team competition gift-wrapped for goalscorers and goalkeepers...
BEAT THE GRINCH! It’s freezing outside and training on hard pitches is probably the last thing your players want to do, but it’s important to keep them fresh, and no doubt they’ll have a few excess calories to work off over the coming weeks as well! So why not make your festive training sessions themed, injecting a bit of Christmas cheer into proceedings? If you’ve got a couple of Father Christmas beards or hats that you can use, your players will really see the fun side.
BEAT THE GRINCH! 1
Two Father Christmases start in the middle with team-mates (reindeer) positioned in the corners
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While the white team play a onetwo to free a reindeer, the grey team have already released theirs
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The two Father Christmases are the last players to try to beat the Grinch
And having fun means, in this case, players moving around quickly and thinking on their feet. ‘Beat The Grinch’ also requires top goalscoring and goalkeeping ability, and the best thing about it is that it’s all in the name of saving Christmas!
How to set it up: •
Create a playing area measuring 50x30 yards, with a 7x7 yard square in each corner. • Place a goal in the middle of each shorter touchline. • You will also need to create a box just off the pitch on each of the longer touchlines. Place a good quantity of balls in here. • There are two teams, each comprised of one release player (Father Christmas), four goalscorers (reindeer) and one keeper (the so-called Grinch). • The Grinch’s job is to prevent the other team getting the presents (footballs) onto the sleigh (represented by scoring a goal). • Two reindeer – one per team – are placed in each of the four corner squares. • The two Father Christmases – one per team – begin in the centre with a ball at their feet. • The grey team attacks the goal on the left, the white team attacks the goal on the right. • The winning team is the one that gets all their presents onto the sleigh first.
Getting started: •
On your whistle, each Father Christmas dribbles the ball to a corner square. To release his reindeer, he must play a quick one-two with his teammate, keeping the ball under control. • Once released, the reindeer runs to the square containing the balls, retrieves one and tries to score past the Grinch in the goal. • If the shot is successful, the reindeer waits on the side of the pitch for his team-mates to join him. • Father Christmas can get in play as many reindeer as he likes at once, but if the shot is missed or saved, the reindeer must return to his corner square and wait for Father Christmas to release him again by playing another one-two. • When all reindeer have put their presents on the sleigh, Father Christmas must score the final goal to win the game and save Christmas!
Why this works: Not only is this a themed game, but there’s plenty going on, with quick passing leading players to break out and shoot at a small target. There are potentially lots of bodies in the area at any one time, so good awareness of what is around each player is needed. Players must also stay calm under pressure, both in confronting the keeper in a 1v1, and in knowing they need to score a goal to potentially save their team.
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COACHING COLLECTION SAID LIKE A PRO
We’ve laid on a Said Like A Pro Special this week having been granted an exclusive interview with a true football legend. Ossie Ardiles became one of the first overseas players to stamp his mark on English football, and was an integral part of Argentina’s 1978 World Cup-winning team. He also managed and coached at a string of clubs including Tottenham Hotspur and Newcastle United, and still lives in the UK. Here he shares some of the experience gained from over 40 years in the professional game... “It’s interesting to predict how football coaching will develop over the coming years. I’ve always viewed coaches as the lifeline of any team. It doesn’t matter who you are - you can be Barcelona, Manchester United, or a non-league side with no money and limited resources, but the coach and the Academy form the basis for any club. “Right now, Barcelona are proving that, both domestically and in the Champions League. They have eight or nine players in their first-team who have come through the ranks from the youth system. United have been prolific in that sense too... not so much recently, but in the mid-1990s there was a whole batch of homegrown players being promoted into the first XI. “Naturally, the more players a professional club brings through, the less they will have to spend on transfer fees, but of equal importance is the fact that youngsters who come through already appreciate the true fabric of the club, and that’s vital.
“People worry that the latest generation of footballers don’t buy into the true values of the game, particularly in light of England’s dismal showing at the World Cup in South Africa. Those top players will deny they are out of touch, but it does raise the point of how important it is to drum into youngsters the sport’s core values, because the next generation really need to display that passion. “In playing terms, I hope the current breed of grass roots football coaches can have more of an impact than the generation just gone, because it’s clear we still have quite some way to go to catch up with our overseas rivals. Even in the professional game, players feel the need to watch the ball right onto their foot when receiving a pass. Compare that to players from the continent and South America especially they just receive the ball and they’re away. “It’s a mentality thing - in terms of control and feel of the ball, we need to instil the belief that the player controls the ball, not the other way round. Put that idea across to kids at an early age and it will stick, and later on, that will make the jobs of the senior coaches so much easier. “It’s clear England cannot go on playing the way they have been, and I actually think that the foreign players coming over to the Premier League will help the national team’s evolution. I don’t see how those imports can solely be blamed for stifling the development of young players, when the reality is they are bringing
over all the technical knowledge that we applaud and claim we need in England. “I think the bigger problem is that we have two very different governing organisations in the Football Association and the Premier League. They need to communicate better. Everyone in England wants the same thing – to win. But that will only come about if the foundations are strong from the bottom to the top, so there is actually more pressure on the coaches of junior sides up and down the country than the average Sunday morning team manager may imagine!”
OSSIE ARDILES FACTFILE •
Ossie Ardiles was born in the city of Bell Ville in Argentina, in 1952. • After winning the World Cup in his home country in 1978, he moved to Tottenham Hotspur. • He clinched the FA Cup with Spurs in 1981 and 1982. • He also played for PSG, Blackburn Rovers, QPR and Fort Lauderdale Strikers, and appeared for Argentina in two World Cups.
OSSIE’S FOOTBALL FOCUS TECHNIQUE
“The most important thing in any player’s game is technique. Players should always be looking to improve technique, no matter how old they are or in what position they play. The reason? Because everything that’s done on a football pitch is about showing good technique. You can label it as control, dribbling, first-touch, passing, shooting – whatever specialism it is, it always requires good technique. “Obviously other skills will come into play – a sweeper, for instance, will need a defensive brain, stamina and a certain amount of strength, but in any situation where that player is in direct contact with the ball, a quality touch is essential.
“I think there has been a school of thought recently implying that technique is all about close control, the like of which has made Lionel Messi the best player in the world. But it’s much more than that. David Beckham has excellent technique, but those two players have qualities and abilities that are extremely different. One can do things that the other cannot, and vice versa. “In short, it’s about applying a particular skill, quality or attribute, and from an early age - be that dribbling technique, curling the ball, having quick feet or maybe showing brilliant passing range. If you can find each of your players an area in which they concentrate on fine-tuning
one specific technique, they will become better players.”
EXPERIMENT
“There are many cases where a coach can spot that a player may be better suited in a different position, yet won’t put him there because he fears that, for a while, the player or the team may suffer. But it’s my opinion that if kids have free rein on the pitch when they are growing up, that will benefit them greatly in their development. “Don’t ever pigeon-hole players too early, as you never know what their full potential might be.”
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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.
MAKING THE MOST OF POSTPONEMENTS We turned up for a match this week and found that, while the ground was far from frozen, playing conditions were a bit tricky. However, there was a good covering of grass on the pitch so I hoped that the game might still go ahead. The manager of the opposition thought differently though and was concerned about tackles that might become dangerous. Of course once he raised his concerns I agreed with him because only with the full consent of both parties should a game go ahead if there are any concerns over player safety. I knew the pitch and he didn’t, but I wouldn’t have wanted to play with his players afraid to tackle. Also, if I had forced the issue and points had been at stake because I had disagreed with his opinion, that would hardly have been in the spirit of the game. He and his team departed amicably and I was left with a group of players raring to play a match.
‘I think they were scared of us’, said one of the boys to a cacophony of cheers. Thinking on my feet then, I decided to turn the morning into a fun event – starting with hot chocolate for all the boys from the pitchside café. The conditions were freezing cold, but the skies were clear and the sun was warming. We played a small-sided game on the half of the pitch that the sun had thawed out.
“‘I think they were scared of us,’ said one of the boys to a cacophony of cheers.” What was great was seeing the laughter and camaraderie between the players. Sure, they were disappointed that the match had been called off, but they all had red cheeks and were running around with such vigour it was difficult not raise a smile. Every so
often we had a hot chocolate break along with a chat about the small-sided game, plus speculated on whether matches in the Premier League would suffer the same fate as ours. We ended up creating an impromptu kickaround, interspersing a few other games and exercises, all out of a morning that could have been a real letdown. The pressure was off the players and they responded brilliantly, plus the café was a few pounds better off by the end of it too!
SCW SURGERY THIS WEEK’S COACH: MAREK SAHEY GROUP: 5 TO 9-YEAR-OLDS Marek is a Juniors coach based in Nottingham...
My team is brilliant on the training pitch, but the players can’t seem to reproduce what they learn during match situations. Why is that? Steve Coughlin, Barnsley.
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Obviously, it is difficult to know definitely why this is without seeing your team in action, but this could just be a case of players forgetting what elements they need to concentrate on. Maybe on the morning of a game reiterate exactly what was so good about training, and what it is that you require of the players in the match. To aid this, why not prepare a short game in the hour or so before kick-off? Arrange short scenarios, encouraging punchy, sharp passing movements, ensuring that the ball doesn’t leave the ground, and incorporating any other elements that you want your team to repeat from training. Boost their confidence with activities like this before kick-off, and they’ll be more likely to play creatively in the same way that they do in training.
My Under-9s side struggle when defending corner kicks – the keeper is afraid of being clattered while some of the other players panic. Please help! John Stafford, Oldham. This is a familiar problem as youngsters will have seen other players (or their heroes on TV) getting injured or hurt in similar situations. The main thing to do is build confidence in your keeper, because he will spread that belief throughout his defence. Tell him he doesn’t need to catch the ball at first – just punching it clear will do, and if he leads with his hands, he is protecting himself from any nasty collisions anyway. Make sure he understands that the ball needs to be cleared at the earliest opportunity. Unfortunately, this is one of these true football scenarios where practice really does make perfect, so invest time and energy into the situation and you’ll begin to see the rewards.
Got a question for SCW Surgery? Email it in to us at james.evans@coach-soccer.com
My team is losing every week and I’m worried the players are going to become disillusioned. Their parents may even suggest that I am harming the kids’ confidence for later life. How can I improve things? Tim Saint, Frenchtown, US Well, for a start, there is nothing wrong with losing, or making mistakes, as long as you are all learning lessons along the way. I think you actually underestimate the spirit of kids anyway. I’ve coached youth sides who have regularly suffered quite heavy defeats, but at this age most players just love to be out there with a ball at their feet. Sure, as players get older, defeats may prompt annoyance, anger or frustration, as they have greater expectations and a stronger desire to win. However those under the age of nine are generally doing it for the love of the game and I’d be surprised if they were getting disillusioned because of results. And for those who might, convince them that this is a team game, and that together you are all building a project, even if the improvement is only gradual. Tell them that everyone needs to be in it as one, to achieve the victories that lie just around the corner.
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, Joe McQuoid, Steve Southern © Green Star Media Ltd. All rights reserved.
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COACHING COLLECTION THE ART OF COACHING CHILDREN
THE GREEDY PLAYER Younger players play very much for themselves. When they get the ball it’s as if they are in a bubble and the rest of their team is forgotten about. Often, they’ll want to run with it towards goal until they are stopped or forced to lay a pass off to a team-mate.
can increase the number of passes once players get used to this.
Breaking the mindset of greedy players is a tough task though, so here are five training ideas to encourage players to pass more:
Explain to them the benefit of moving passes across one side of the pitch so as to free up room on the other side.
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Use game-related practices to enhance the basic skills. Simple 2v2 or 3v3 games are ideal for developing awareness of passing. Use positive praise for good passes as much as for shots, goals, tackles or saves.
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Make it clear that you view passing as the most important skill for your players. Spend time developing their passing technique and variety of passing skills.
Construct games where players can only keep possession of the ball for four seconds before they have to pass.
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Psychologically put passing right up there as the ‘coolest’ skill in the game. Coach simple set-piece moves which showcase passing movement and ability, and you’ll quickly discover that players find these are more exciting than exercises where they just pass in a straight line.
“Make it clear that you view passing as the most important skill for your players.”
Condition games so that there has to be a minimum of three passes before a goal can be scored. You
If you put these principles in place you should quickly find that your players work better as a unit.
WARM-UP
DYNAMIC DODGEBALL
A warm-up involving accuracy and avoidance! How to set it up:
DYNAMIC DODGEBALL
KEY ELEMENTS
• Speed Create a playing square, the size of • Awareness which is determined by your number of players. As a rule, each man inside the • Vision area should have one or two yards of • Flexibility space around him. • Arrange players into two teams of equal or near-equal size. • One team acts as the runners and works inside the area. • The other team are the passers and are scattered around the outside of the square. Give this team a supply of balls.
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Getting started: •
The running players must be constantly on the move, trying to avoid being hit by a pass from the passers, whose job it is to thread balls across the square to team-mates on the other side. • If one of the running players is hit by a pass they are out of the game. • The passing players must play the ball below knee height or the pass does not count. • The game can be scored in two ways: 1. The last player running is the winner 2. The length of time is recorded. How long it takes the passers to get all the running players out?
Players in the square must constantly be on the move to avoid being hit
Why this works: This dodgeball-style game is great fun and superb for team spirit. Runners will relish the chance to prove their versatility by avoiding a flurry of balls coming in from either side, while passers can test their accuracy, no doubt intent on inflicting mild pain on their fellow club players! That said, ensure that only side-footed passes are made across the square, not shots!
pass
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GAME ON
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SMALL-SIDED GAME
ROTATE AND PLAY player movement
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Pitch size: 30x20 yards (min) up to 40x25 yards (max).
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Two teams of four players. Two keepers.
SKILLS
How to set it up:
The rules: • • • •
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player movement player movement
ROTATE AND PLAY
Positioning Concentration Teamwork
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The players begin a normal 4v4 game
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After three minutes the players rotate
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The game continues with each player in a new role
Versatility
This is a simple 4v4 small-sided game plus two keepers. Outfield players adopt a diamond formation. The game is played for 15 minutes.
This time is broken down into four three-minute periods with a oneminute break between each period.
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After each three-minute period players in both teams must randomly switch position with a team-mate.
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Over time, this will see players operating in all positions of the diamond (top, bottom, left and right), and should ensure that they face all four of the other team’s players.
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If the ball leaves play, you have a few restart options: 1. The coach passes a new ball onto the pitch 2. The players take a roll in 3. The players take a throw in 4. The players make a pass in 5. The players dribble in
Why this game works: Regularly rotating positions within a game means that players are kept on their toes, both in terms of their place in the formation, the opponent they face, and the skill-set that they will need to adopt in order to maintain a high level of performance. By switching around four different positions in this game, they’ll test attacking and defensive qualities, plus they will use right and left feet in equal measure.
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
player movement
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