SoccerCoachWeekly Issue 292 Wednesday, November 28, 2012
TOOLS, TIPS AND TECHNIQUES
Secrets of midfield Playing a midfield role can be confusing to young players because they’re not sure what they are supposed to do. So here’s a session that helps players understand the various roles of marking, chasing down, passing, and tackling, as well as creating and preventing goalscoring chances.
How to play it
David Clarke
Head Coach, Soccer Coach Weekly
3v2
2v2
Under pressure, the white midfielder runs into his team’s defensive zone to improve numbers and create a 4v2
3v2
40yds
• This game requires balls, bibs and
cones, in a 50x40-yard area, marked out as shown. I am playing 8v8 including keepers. • Set up so that each team has three players in its defending zone and two in each of the midfield and attacking zones. • Players in defending and attacking zones are locked in but midfielders can move anywhere on the pitch from their start positions, in the middle. • Goal kicks must be made into the defensive zone, encouraging opposition midfielders to push up and press, therefore creating a 4v3 overload. • If the ball goes out of play, restart with the keeper whose team was last out of possession. • Play for five minutes then rotate players into new zones.
50yds
Here, the red midfielder drops back, intercepts the ball, and sets up an attack
Technique and tactics
Now the white midfielders have joined their attacker to form a 5v3 overload, and a goal is scored
• Midfielders should always try to be in a position to see the ball, the goal and their opponents. • Each player should try to get close enough to his opponent to press him on receiving. He should also begin to understand when to mark the player, when to cover the space, and when to intercept. • And counter-attacks should be performed at pace.
player movement run with ball
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SoccerCoachWeekly WARM UP
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
Cone react
Michael Beale
Premier League Academy soccer coach
How to play it
Red is called and the players challenge to make it to the cone first
• Set up as shown – four cones
with five yards between each. • Your players should be about 15 yards in front of you in two rows. • A player from each row steps forward. They will go 1v1. • Get the players to continuously bounce around in random directions. • Call out a colour. The players must react, sprint, and try to be the first to touch the cone. • At the end of the move, each player rejoins the back of his queue. • You can advance the warm-up by calling out multiple colours, and by instructing a different end task such as “sit on the ground” or “run past me”.
Red
Now, white and blue are called
Technique and tactics • This is all about quick reactions,
so look for players to be alert to your call.
White and blue
T EXCELLEN OR F WARM-UP THAT A SESSION OSED’ USES ‘OPP LES PRINCIP
And for the next phase, the players complete it by visiting multiple colours before running past the coach
Red, yellow, blue and run past me
player movement 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 Head Coach: David Clarke Editor: James Evans Publisher: Kevin Barrow Managing Director: Andrew Griffiths Customer Service: Duncan Heard Designer: Steve Southern Contributors: Michael Beale, Naz Khan, David Lewis, Simon Morley, Neil Smith, Steve Watson © Green Star Media Ltd. All rights reserved.
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SoccerCoachWeekly FOOTY4KIDS
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
Thunderball
Steve Watson
Editor, Footy4kids.co.uk
Players begin by running a circuit of the centre circle
This is a great game for getting children to run at speed and shoot at a target. It can be used as a warm-up to a session on shooting and passing, or as a standalone game.
How to play it • The game uses your whole squad,
8yds
requiring seven large cones, balls, and two marker cones. • The seven large cones are placed in the centre circle as targets. • Divide your players into two or more teams. • Players run around the edge of the circle, with alternating team members. They enter at the bottom where they fire a ball at the target cones, which are at least eight yards away. (You’ll require a helper to retrieve the loose balls.) • Teams are awarded five points for each cone they knock down. The first team to score 20 points is the winner.
Entering at the bottom of the circle
Advancing the game • You can advance the game by
telling players to run around the circle with the ball, or by instructing that each player must shoot with his weaker foot.
Techniques and tactics • Players have been on the move
around the circle, so must steady themselves before shooting. • Shots must be fired with enough pace to dislodge a cone, but not too much so that shots lack accuracy. Get players to brush up on their shooting technique by reading ‘Six ways to improve your players’ kicking’ on page 4.
GREAT PRACTICE TO GET S ER GOALSCOR! FIRING
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The first team to knock over four cones wins – here, greys triumph 4-3
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SoccerCoachWeekly TOUCHLINE TALES
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
A better coach on match days Driving to a match at the beginning of the season I got stuck in some roadworks that made the journey take twice the time it usually does. I made it to the game just in time for a quick chat with the players before they went on. There are two or three different ways to get to our home ground from where I live, and for years I’d gone the same way. But those roadworks were going nowhere fast - it would be months of holdups unless I changed the way I went. So I started taking a new route to the ground. Yes, one week I forgot and went the old way and got snarled up in traffic, but gradually I got used to the new route. I had a laugh to myself last weekend then when, even though the roadworks have gone, I set off the ‘new’ route, because I have become so used to going that way, and I trust it will deliver me to the
Head Coach, Soccer Coach Weekly
ground on time. Now there’s a thing – I’ve changed a habit. It’s something most people tell me is hard to do but I’ve done it. And when I think about why I want to get to the ground on time, it’s because of another habit I changed...
“Now there’s a thing – I’ve changed a habit. It’s something most people tell me is hard to do but I’ve done it.” When I first started coaching, I had no time for warm-ups or doing the right things before a game. I arrived seconds before kick-off and regarded warm-ups as being for wimps - my team didn’t need them! But gradually I learned more about young players and that they needed to
Six ways to improve your players’ kicking If your players try to kick the ball harder by going at it more violently they won’t actually achieve anything. Too much effort tends to make the kicking leg go stiff, and the stiffer the leg, the less power is transmitted from foot to ball. When I’m working on increasing power with my players this is what I look for instead:
A high backlift is essential for maximum power
stretch both mind and body in the leadup to a game. I learned how much better they would perform when they were 100% ready to play. The more I studied the game the more I had to admit I was hindering my players by not doing those other things. So just like forcing myself to drive a new way to the match, I forced myself to change. Along the way I had setbacks, but over time my players stopped letting in silly early goals and even started scoring early themselves. And there were no pulled muscles or players out of breath after a couple of minutes of running. I forced myself to be a better coach on match days. And that’s why I hate getting to the ground late, because it reminds me of my old habits. Preparing yourself and your players for a game is so important make sure you do it.
Steve Watson
Editor, Footy4kids.co.uk
1. The hop: In the last stride before the ball is struck, the player should hop onto his non-kicking leg. This gives the kicking leg extra flex and spring-loads the shot.
2. The backlift: Hopping on to the non-kicking foot in the final stride also results in the kicking foot coming down from a greater height - a high backlift is essential for maximum power.
3. The lock: The ankle of the kicking foot must be locked. The easiest way to do this is to scrunch the toes up really hard.
4. The whip: The kicking leg should whip through the shot in a smooth and controlled manner.
5. The follow-through: A good follow-through is essential. I tell my players to imagine that there is a big
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David Clarke
A good followthrough is important
pane of glass about a foot in front of the ball and their kicking leg should break the glass after the shot. And finally...
6. The action replay! Talking to players and demonstrating how to increase the power in their shot is only part of the answer. Taking video of them in action on the training pitch is a very useful way of showing them the flaws in their technique.
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SoccerCoachWeekly SMALL-SIDED GAME
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
Angled goals
Michael Beale
Premier League Academy soccer coach Play a normal 5-a-side game but with angled goals
Here’s a small-sided game that gets players thinking about attacking and defending angles
How to play it • Create a playing area measuring
30yds
30x20 yards with two goals placed at opposite corners of the pitch, as shown. • The game is played with two teams of four outfield players, plus keepers. • There are no offsides, and if the ball leaves play, pass a new one onto the pitch. • This practice is played as a normal 5-a-side game. • Play for 10 minutes then swap ends.
20yds
Can the defenders force the team in possession away from their goal?
Technique and tactics • Because of the angled goals, your
players will start to realise where they need to pressure and force their opponents when they are defending. • When attacking, the team in possession should look to switch the ball quickly, or use the wings to get into good crossing positions.
When in attack, try to use the width of the pitch to stretch the defenders and create scoring opportunities
A GREAT G SWITCHIN E PRACTIC player movement run with ball
player movement run with ball
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SoccerCoachWeekly YOUR SAY
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
SCW Surgery This week
Do youth soccer players really replicate the actions of their Premier League idols? And should they?
Simon Morley Uckfield Colts
Q
I feel I do most things well as a coach, but a group of my players have been lured to another team “because it wins more matches”. What can I do? Terry Swann, Luton
A
You have to realise it’s not the players who are choosing to move on, it’s their parents. Some parents don’t realise that their son or daughter doesn’t play football primarily to win matches and, given the choice, they would prefer to stay with their friends than move to a strange new team. Even if the new team does win all its games! I’m not saying that kids don’t like to win but for most of them it is more important to be with their mates and enjoy themselves in a relatively unpressurised environment. But some mums and dads think that by moving their child to a more ‘successful’ team they are doing them a favour. What they are actually doing is placing them in a competitive, pressured environment where winning (not having fun) is the only thing that matters. Just keep praising the players you have for their effort, and keep focusing on improving them. And make sure you wish the defectors the best of luck with their new teams, making sure their parents know they can come back if it doesn’t work out, which, sadly, for some, it won’t.
TACKLED: Results Here’s the result of the poll we ran in Soccer Coach Weekly 290. We asked if you felt it was okay to join in with your players during soccer practice.
YES
TACKLED: Role model?
29%
YES
NO
Naz Khan
Neil Smith
Lewes Under-12s
Queensland Saints
“I think it’s great that young players do copy their idols. No matter what is said about pro players, they are role models and 99% of them are good role models.”
“Pro soccer players aren’t the kind of role models that I want my players to follow anyway.”
I see it every week – I only have to look at the goal celebrations or the new tricks on show to know that players are strongly influenced by what they see on the television. And I think it’s great that they do copy their idols. No matter what is said about pro players, they are role models and 99% of them are good role models. It’s no different to other influential faces, in music, film etc – most are excellent, yet the bad ones get the press, and that does everyone else an injustice. We get kids trying out moves and tricks, and this is something I will always encourage. Not only is it good that kids are learning by watching the game, but if they do get to pull off a move they’ve witnessed on the television, that will then give them a huge confidence boost because they’re able to emulate an idol. If kids didn’t follow the examples set by their idols they wouldn’t have aspirations of becoming pro players. It’s having that kind of ambition that harvests a passion for soccer and for sport in general, and that sort of passion means players will give the extra 10%. Role models are actually really important in any sport – if for nothing else than for the ongoing development of young players. It’s forgotten that a lot of community interaction comes through pro club incentives and directly involves pro players. There may be a mountain of money in the game, but there is at least community action that filters down.
The pro game is further away from the grass roots of the game than ever before, and that’s a sad reality. I really believe that anyone who thinks otherwise must be deluded. You can have all the community interaction in the world – from online chatrooms to Twitter feeds – but unless the interaction takes some physical framework, can we really say our players are being positively influenced? I’d say the bigger influences on them are from coaches, parents and their own team mates. A lot of my players would struggle to tell you who the current soccer World Champions are. There’s a perception that young players are all obsessed with the professional game – they’re not! The reality is that many just want to play soccer for their own enjoyment. When I was growing up soccer was a bigger part of our social lives, yet kids these days have so many other distractions that I don’t feel there is quite as much attention paid to the pro game – at least not as much as there was maybe 10 years ago. Kids have computer games, the internet, and play many more other sports than before. I’ve not yet been able to sit my 10-year-old son down to watch a 90-minute game of soccer where he hasn’t got up to go and do something else! Pro soccer players aren’t the kind of role models that I want my players to follow anyway. Poor sportsmanship is rife and those at the top level have a lot of work to do before they can match the kind of respect and recognition given to other players that is generally shown by my own lads.
NO 71% SoccerCoachWeekly
PUT IT TO THE VOTE: Which of our guest coaches do you agree with? Visit our Facebook page or email your thoughts to David Clarke at david.clarke@coach-soccer.com
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