CRYING SHAME HOW TO DEAL WITH TEARS AFTER TACKLES
WEEKLY
SOCCER COACH COACH LIKE Learn • Train • Develop • Enjoy
FERGIE
May 15, 2013 Issue 316 • $4.99/£2.99 < SIR ALEX
FERGUSON SIMPLY THE BEST
DRILLS TO PLAY LIKE MAN UNITED WHAT CAN WE LEARN FROM FERGIE? MAKE PLAYERS FEEL SPECIAL
SAVE LONG SHOTS
TEACH KEEPERS TO TURN THE BALL TO SAFETY
25
THINGS TO REMEMBER FOR THE CLOSE SEASON
SHOULD YOUR PLAYERS RUN OUT TO A TEAM SONG?
PROVEN COACHING TIPS FOR YOUR TEAM
EVERY WEEK
Contents
In Praise Of Fergie CRYING SHAME HOW TO DEAL WITH TEARS AFTER TACKLES
SOCCER COACH
Can a new coach make Rooney feel this wanted?
WEEKLY
COACH LIKE Learn • Train • Develop • Enjoy
May 15, 2013 Issue 316 • $4.99/£2.99
FERGIE
< SIR ALEX FERGUSON SIMPLY THE BEST
DRILLS TO PLAY LIKE MAN UNITED WHAT CAN WE LEARN FROM FERGIE? MAKE PLAYERS FEEL SPECIAL
SAVE LONG SHOTS
TEACH KEEPERS TO TURN THE BALL TO SAFETY
25
THINGS TO REMEMBER FOR THE CLOSE SEASON
SHOULD YOUR PLAYERS RUN OUT TO A TEAM SONG?
PROVEN COACHING TIPS FOR YOUR TEAM
EVERY WEEK
Soccer Coach Weekly Issue 316
Soccer Coach Weekly is published by Green Star Media Ltd, Meadow View, Tannery Lane, Bramley, Guildford GU5 0AB, UK.
Telephone
+44 (0)1483 892894
Editor Chris Hunt chris.hunt@greenstarmedia.net
Head Coach David Clarke david.clarke@coach-soccer.com
Contributors Dan Abrahams, James Evans, Mike Pattenden Illustrations Mike Ronald Pictures Action Images, Nick Webster Production ATG Media Production Designer Jamie Leeson Publisher Kevin Barrow kevin.barrow@ bettersoccercoaching.com
Customer Services Duncan Heard duncanh@greenstarmedia.net
Managing Director Andrew Griffiths
If there’s one thing I’ve learnt from Fergie, it’s that the way your players feel about playing for you is vital to the success of your team. One of Fergie’s greatest strengths is to make every single one of his players feel special. Listen to the guys who came through Manchester United’s youth team. David Beckham talks about how Fergie was a father figure to him from the first day he arrived at the club aged 11 and helped him progress to the player he is today. Gary Neville remembers the “traditional values and family atmosphere” that made the club so successful. And according to Ryan Giggs: “When you have a bad game or even a good game, he doesn’t overreact too strongly with too much praise or too much criticism.” These three were young players arriving at a huge club and they thrived and enjoyed their time there because of the way the manager looked after them and because of the way they were coached. It is these values that enrich a club, from the very youngest right through to the adult first team. For all the talk of fire and brimstone, Fergie managed to inspire his players to want to go on and play to the best of their abilities under his guidance. These are values that can be instilled in your own players. Last summer my old club had a reunion and I got to see some of the
In this issue...
3
THE FERGIE FACTOR
How has Sir Alex Ferguson created such dominant teams?
(c) Green Star Media Ltd. All rights reserved.
4
TACTICAL GENIUS
Teach players to press high up the pitch to win the ball near the goal
Click here to read the full disclaimer.
5
ATTACK WITH STYLE
To advertise contact Peter Coltart on +44 (0)1483 892894 Download media pack & contact here To subscribe to Soccer Coach Weekly call Duncan Heard on +44 (0)1483 892894 or subscribe online here
A game to help you create a stylish attacker in the mould of Eric Cantona or Ruud van Nistelrooy
6
LEARN FROM FERGIE
An expert opinion on what we can learn from Sir Alex Ferguson
7
SAVING LONG SHOTS
Few goalkeepers can save long shots as well as Gianluigi Buffon
“One of Fergie’s greatest strengths was to make every one of his players feel special” boys I had coached quite a time ago. One of them came over and we started talking about how it had been when he played in my team. He made me realise the power you hold as a coach and how important it is to make young players feel like you are interested and make them feel they belong to the team. He said he couldn’t remember the things I had told them during training or in the half-time team talk, but he could remember clearly how I had made him feel. “We always felt that we were the best team and the best players in the world,” he told me. “Whatever you said always made us play better and know we could
8 NOT A SNIFF
An effective training activity that will encourage your keeper to push the ball to safety
9 WATCH YOUR ANGLES
10 END OF SEASON LIST
win the game. I loved playing in those games because we always had such a good time – I can’t remember ever feeling like we had lost.” And that is how Fergie is remembered by Beckham and his team-mates, who played hundreds of games for him. They lost some important fixtures along the way but they don’t remember those, they just remember the winning feeling that he gave them and how great it was to be a member of the Fergie family.
David Clarke
TIP OF THE WEEK
Teach your keeper where to stand in order to save shots from distance
Take note of our checklist before you break for the close season
11 SOCCER SURGERY
Coaching problems solved, including advice for a coach on how to handle a player who cries in training
12 THE BIG DEBATE
Two coaches debate whether they would let their team run onto the pitch to a club song
Make Sure You’re Upbeat It is essential to be upbeat and energetic when speaking to young players. Try and use your hands and facial expressions to accentuate important points. Children focus on these and it helps them engage with what you’re saying.
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the fergie factor Fergie got to lift the trophy this time
Made By Fergie At Manchester United Sir Alex Ferguson has enjoyed a career that is unprecedented in British footballing history. But what has made him such a successful coach?
T
here is no doubting that Sir Alex Ferguson is an emotional man but he is also a very intelligent footballing man. And the genius of his coaching has been his ability to use both his emotion and his intelligence to create a succession of teams that are instantly recognisable as being ‘made by Fergie’. He has successfully managed to couple the traditional values of the best coaches of the Sixties and Seventies with modern football techniques and psychological skills, a process that has helped to keep him ahead of the game and ahead of his rivals. In his 26 years at Manchester United he has won 38 trophies, including 13 Premier League titles, two Champions League titles, five FA Cups and four League Cups. He has built four winning teams, one seamlessly following on from another – and each one of them has been fashioned in his own image, with that unshakeable will to be successful. Losing is just not part of his vocabulary. Time and again his teams have turned losing positions into crucial wins in the last 10 minutes of a match. More than that, they are famous for those injury time goals scored so late in the game that it has come to be known as ‘Fergie time’. But he has instilled in his teams a never say die attitude that has been
present throughout every minute of every match they have contested. The mix of emotion and modern coaching has resulted in repeat success. Think of the rich seam of creativity that has run through his teams, from Fergie’s earliest days in charge right up until today – Cantona, Beckham, Ronaldo and now van Persie. Fergie’s ability to accommodate players with a supreme level of creativity has been key to the number of goals scored in his time in charge – 2,762 of them. And that is when his players have the ball. But as we’ve seen in recent seasons, Fergie has been capable of adopting modern tactics and his current team press opponents high and never let
them settle, mirroring the advanced play of teams like Barcelona and Bayern. The pressing players in his team of today include Wayne Rooney and Phil Jones, who never stop running and force opponents backwards. Think also of how Fergie uses the attacker Javier Hernandez, who is often brought on late when opponents show signs of tiring. He can hunt down the ball by pressing high up the pitch to win it in dangerous areas, helping the team to create goals. Try the exercises on the following pages to give your players two of the attributes that make up a Fergie team – that creative desire to score goals, and the ability, when they haven’t got the ball, to work hard to win it back.
WHAT MAKES A TOP COACH LIKE FERGIE
Words by:
David Clarke Activities by:
David Clarke
What a record
Sir Alex Ferguson has four of the main characteristics that make for a good coach… > Good Observation – it is a good idea to stand back sometimes and watch someone else coach, while you observe the players > Perseverance – after defeat you have to come back full of confidence for the next game > Imagination – think up creative ways of coaching to inspire your players > Focused Communication – the players want to get on with it, so don’t ramble on Issue 316
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the fergie factor
Tactical Genius As a coach Alex Ferguson has moved with the times and he now instructs players to press opponents high up the pitch. This session will give your team a modern Fergie tactic
WHY USE IT
Fergie has kept pace with modern coaching trends and today has players like Rooney and Welbeck who will go in search of the ball high up the pitch. By pressing quickly, attackers will win the ball nearer to the opponentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s goal.
The game starts with a pass out from the keeper to one of his team-mates
s yd 30
SET UP
Set up an area of 40x30 yards, with normal goals at either end. Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve used 11 players. You need bibs, balls, cones and two goals.
HOW TO PLAY
You need three teams of three players: one team defends each end and the third team in the middle attacks both goals. Play starts at one end with the goalkeeper playing out to his team. The outfield players must make three passes before passing to the team at the opposite end. If they are successful, the team in the centre must turn and try to win the ball from the other team. If the centre team wins possession they must attack the goal they are playing towards. If they score they swap with the team they have scored against.
s 40yd
The team with the ball has to try to make three outfield passes before passing to the team at the opposite end, while the middle team presses and tries to win the ball back
The team receiving the ball at the other end has to make three passes before returning it
The team in the centre must turn and press the team with the ball
If the team in the centre wins the ball, they can try to score in the goal they are facing
TECHNIQUE
This is good for getting attackers working together to force opponents to make an error. By making it difficult to stop the forward pass, the opposition will be forced into a mistake and the pressing team will win the ball back quickly.
Player movement
Ball movement
Shot
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the fergie factor
Attack With Style Alex Ferguson has always liked to employ stylish attackers capable of collecting the ball with skill and weaving magic in the box. Use this game to turn players into Fergie legends
WHY USE IT
s 15yd
s yd 20
Key players from the Fergie era, such as Cantona, van Nistelrooy and van Persie, would have all excelled at this activity. It helps players understand the need to create and exploit space around the penalty area. It gets players turning and receiving the ball while facing the goal and taking it into dangerous positions.
The receiving player passes to one of the attackers in the cone zone but he must make it a one-touch pass so it needs good combination play between the two
The session starts with the players in the central zone – one serves the ball to his team-mate on the other side of the same area
s 10yd
5yds
s 10yd
s 15yd
SET UP
The attacker with the ball must dribble around one of the cones then the attacking pair go 2v1 against the defender
Set up an area of 55x20 yards, with a centre zone of five yards and 10-yard zones on either side. Place three cones in each 10-yard zone. Use normal goals at either end. We’ve used 12 players.
HOW TO PLAY
Put a keeper and a defender in each goal zone. Put two attackers in the 10-yard areas and two players from each team in the centre zone. The defender is locked into his zone. The central zone players must use a one-touch pass to play to a striker, who dribbles around a cone and attacks the defender 2v1. The second attacker can be used as a decoy but if the ball is passed to him he must shoot first time. Play one team off against the other to see who scores most in three minutes.
If the receiving attacker with the ball chooses to pass to his strike partner it must result in a one-touch shot at goal
The attacking pair must use the 2v1 to score – the two sides are against each other and must score as many as they can in three minutes before rotating players
TECHNIQUE
Players need quick feet and skill to unbalance defenders, creating space using changes of pace and direction, as well as dribbling with the ball.
Player movement
Ball movement
Shot
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THE ART OF COACHING
Stick to your philosophy Keep improving
Mindset is the key
Develop young talent
What Can We Really Learn From Fergie? The retirement of Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson marks the end of an era for British football. Sport psychologist Dan Abrahams offers grassroots coaches four lessons that can be learnt from the great man 01 OBSESS ABOUT IMPROVEMENT
02 MANAGE YOUNG TALENT WELL
03 DEVELOP A CLUB CULTURE
04 PLACE EMPHASIS ON THE MINDSET
Fergie separated himself from his peers with a tireless philosophy of learning. His education didn’t end with his coaching qualifications. Recently he commented that he would attend courses and workshops every summer in his formative years as a coach. No doubt this stretched well into the latter years of his career. Instead of thinking it’s impossible to be as good as Fergie, take action. A grassroots coach should obsess about improvement. Strive to go on as many courses as you can and read as much literature as possible. Incorporate new ideas into your own personal coaching system.
Even at grassroots level talent can be tough to manage. Young players who have technical ability can be lazy, stubborn and inattentive. This is no different to the challenges Fergie has faced on a daily basis. He has had to keep his talent motivated and focused. He does this through care and attention to the individual player. A correction here, a praise there and an insistence on discipline and constant improvement is what has helped Fergie keep his players developing and performing. Care about your individual players – communicate and help them no matter their ability or personality.
Perhaps the single most important factor that has made Fergie the manager he is today has been his ability to develop a strong culture at Manchester United over the years. Why not do what Fergie does. Keep problems in-house and deal with them straight away. Have a club rule book, a training philosophy and a system of play and sell the benefits of these to your players and the parents of your players. These are your rod and staff and players must adhere to your rules and philosophy, no matter how much ability they have. Balance a passion to win with a passion to develop.
So often going into a really big game, Fergie would emphasise the importance of soft skills such as concentration and focus. As a coach, Fergie was a strong advocate of the importance of the mental side of the sport – to me he believed football is a game of mindset. This is the kind of message you should send to your players. Tell them that maintaining focus is more important than the number of keepie uppies they can do. Playing with a freedom and being a risk taker is as important as fitness and body strength. The soft skills are also the important skills in football.
Sport psychologist Dan Abrahams has worked with many leading footballers, including Scott Parker and Carlton Cole. He is the author of the book Soccer Tough: Simple Football Psychology Techniques To Improve Your Game Issue 316
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SAVING LONG SHOTS Buffon at full stretch for the Italians
The Shot Stopper Few goalkeepers in world soccer can save long shots as well as Gianluigi Buffon. But what makes him so good and how can your keeper emulate his skills?
S
hot stopping is one of the key skills for any goalkeeper and probably the first ability that coaches are able to identify in a young player. When looking for role models to hold up to developing keepers, there are few better exponents of this skill than Gianluigi Buffon, who has been one of the world’s top shot stoppers since his recordbreaking transfer to Juventus in 2001. Buffon has been Serie A Goalkeeper Of The Year on nine occasions and even the legendary former Juventus keeper Dino Zoff recently declared: “The number one of all Juventus’ history is Buffon”. Captain of both club and country, he boasts 126 caps for Italy. In a victorious 2006 World Cup campaign he kept a clean sheet extending 453 minutes and conceded just two goals during the tournament (one an own goal and the other a penalty). It’s no wonder he revels in the nickname ‘Superman’. “He has my admiration and maximum respect,” says Spain’s Iker Casillas, adding on another occasion, “other top keepers always change, but he is always among the best.” At 35, Buffon is entering the twilight of his career but he remains at a high level, never better demonstrated than in
the recent Champions League encounter with Celtic. With one of the saves of the season he diverted a long shot over the bar after it took a wicked late deflection. If you want to get your keepers stopping long shots like Buffon, first you have to understand that using just reflexes will only deliver limited returns. Becoming truly successful at dealing with shots from distance demands solid technique, which your players can learn using the following activities. Modern developments haven’t made it easy for keepers. Lighter footballs now mean the ball moves far more in the air, necessitating a different approach from
keepers. While it’s always preferable to gather the ball, it’s no longer that simple, meaning the keeper must concentrate on deflecting it away from danger to the left or right – or even, as we saw in Buffon’s save against Celtic, up and over. Key elements to the technique include strong hands and wrists but it’s also important to have the feet well planted, which allows a keeper to shift weight swiftly in either direction. Also key are good balance, core strength and the ability to get into line swiftly and watch the ball all the way. These are all skills that can be practised using the drills on the following pages.
Words by:
Mike Pattenden Activities by:
David Clarke
4 TOP PREMIER SHOT STOPPERS
David de Gea The United keeper has great awareness and his 77% save rate this season equals Joe Hart’s last.
Petr Cech With over 47 saves this season, he has shored up a Chelsea defence that has struggled without John Terry.
Tim Howard Blessed with acute reflexes, he passed 200 consecutive appearances for Everton in December.
Issue 316
Ben Foster The West Brom keeper has a higher save percentage than any other English keeper this season.
SOCCER COACH WEEKLY
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SAVING LONG SHOTS
Not A Sniff Long shots from outside the penalty area are hard to save. This training game will encourage your goalkeepers to push the ball to safety
WHY USE IT
This session is all about saving long shots and making sure any rebounds go safe. Long shots can cause problems if the goalkeeper drops the ball because lurking attackers only needs a sniff and it will be in the net.
The game starts with a throw from one keeper to the other in the air – the game goes live when the second keeper has control of the ball
s yd 20
SET UP
Set up an area of 40x20 yards, with a normal sized goal at each end. It should also have a halfway line. We’ve used eight players in this session. You need bibs, balls, cones and two goals.
HOW TO PLAY
Play a 4v4 including keepers, starting with a throw from one goalkeeper to the other. The receiving keeper rolls the ball out to a player in his own half. Players can only shoot from their own half unless they pick up a rebound from the keeper, which means the other two players will be waiting for the goalkeeper to slip up.
TECHNIQUE
Goalkeepers need to think about their position in relation to the ball – they must be balanced and ready to either catch, deflect or parry the ball. You want them to push the ball to a safe area but they will often just save it or block it, so you need to encourage them to recover quickly to smoother the second shot.
Player movement
s 40yd
The keeper must distribute the ball to one of the players in his own half with a throw out
From a long shot the goalkeeper has deflected the ball to safety, buying his team time to get organised and stopping any lurking attackers scoring
Attackers can only shoot from their own half unless the ball has come from a rebound off the goalkeeper
Here the goalkeeper has not deflected the ball away and gives an easy tap in for the attacking team
Ball movement
Shot
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SAVING LONG SHOTS
Watch Your Angles This drill will give your goalkeeper a much better understanding of where to stand in order to save shots from different angles and distances
WHY USE IT
This session is all about movement around the goal so keepers have the best chance of reacting to danger. It forces shot stoppers to think about how they stand and the positions they adopt.
Start the session with server A kicking a half volley at the goalkeeper who is at the tip of the triangle
B
C
The keeper must be ready to move as soon as he has parried the ball, protecting his goal from a follow up shot from the rebound or a serve from player B
A
SET UP
Use your penalty area. Put two sets of gates around the edge of the 18-yard box at different angles to the goal on both sides of the area. We’ve used four players in this session – your goalkeeper and three servers. Put red cones on the six yard line opposite each post and two yellow cones to the sides of the goal, three yards into the six-yard box. You need balls, cones, and a goal.
Server A immediately passes a second ball, this time to server B who half volleys at the keeper
Make sure the servers give different angles from the two gates they are serving from to give the keeper a good test.
HOW TO PLAY
Server A shoots a half volley into the keeper. The keeper must push the ball to safety behind the yellow cone. If it goes to the red cone, one of the servers can follow up and score. After the first ball, server A then half volleys to server B. The keeper’s position must move with the flight of the ball to keep the correct position. Server B catches the ball and shoots at goal. Then server A passes to server C, who half volleys at the keeper.
The keeper must not be drawn out of the triangle if the ball is outside the post but should stay on the line of the triangle to improve the saving angle
TECHNIQUE
The session aims to reinforce an understanding of angles and distance from goal.
Player movement
Ball movement
Shot
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THE BUSINESS OF COACHING
End Of Season Checklist When the season comes to an end, a coach has more things to do than just say farewell to his players. Take note of our 25-point checklist before you break up for the close season… 4
01 Make sure you know when training ends and the new season begins.
02 Work out all individual player targets and challenges and see how well your players have progressed over the season. 4
03 Go over your coaching highs and lows and write them down while they are still fresh. 4
4
04 Check you filled in your coaching syllabus if you have one.
05 Are you staying with your 4 players next season and moving up to the next age group? 06 Are you going to be coaching a different age group with different sized balls and goals? Order the correct equipment in time for the new season. 4
07 Make sure all of the equipment that you use for soccer training is stacked away neatly, ready for the new season. 4
4
08 Check that the league you play in is aware you want to play next season.
09 If you have to change leagues make sure you have all the necessary information and apply at the right time. 4
10 Find out whether your league matches will be played on the same day next season.
18 Do you have a team sponsor already in place for next season? If not, start trying to find one now.
11 If your games are going to be played on a different day, have you checked that all your players are available to play matches on that day?
19 If you intend to play in any tournaments over the close season, get an idea of who is available and when, and plan how many tournaments you can realistically take part in.
4
4
12 Have you booked your training facility for next season? Can all the players make the evenings and times you have chosen? 4
13 Identify any coaching courses that you think you will benefit from over the summer. 4
14 If any soccer kit needs to be given to the team below for the next season, get it back from your players. 4
15 Has everyone paid up for the 4 season? Don’t leave it until later, when the player may have left the club. 16 Check you have up-to-date 4 details of all your players so you do not lose touch when you need to get organised for the new season. 17 Do you have any managerial or coaching vacancies to fill at your club? If so, now is the time to advertise.
4
4
Above: Even Arsene Wenger has to remember to pack away all of his training equipment
20 Plan some get-togethers so players see each other during the close season – things like barbecues, or maybe playing different sports. It keeps the team together and helps with team spirit. 4
21 Urge your players to watch videos of as many soccer games as they can over the close season. This will help them better grasp the flow of the game. 4
22 Make sure that you get all of your player registration cards renewed for the new season. 4
23 Check that all of your training and match day helpers are available for the new season. 4
4
24 Are any players leaving? Will you have to recruit over the summer?
4
25 Set up a day for trials to find new players for your club.
4
Issue 316
Words by:
David Clarke
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Soccer Surgery
Coaching Problems Solved THIS WEEK: Advice for a player whose emotions get the better of him, and info for coaches looking to make the most of initiatives that could really benefit their club
Q “ How accessible is funding for youth teams and how do I find out what grants are available?
”
Like most funding initiatives, you’ll need to go out and do your research to see if you qualify. There are various incentives that come and go, so it’s about staying in touch with moves introduced by local authorities and governing bodies. Some coaches I meet treat this as getting something for nothing, but it’s actually much more important than that. For instance, at present the English FA is offering funding for youth sides requiring money towards new goalposts. The current window that enables sides to obtain funding as part of the Youth Football Goalposts Scheme is set to close on May 31 and offers 50 per cent funding for 16ft x 7ft and 12ft x 6ft goals. But this isn’t a bonus – instead, it all intertwines with the FA’s move towards 9v9, 7v7 and 5v5 team guidelines for Under-11s (from next season) and Under-12s from 2014-15 season. It’s going to be compulsory, so it’s time to act. Keeping up to speed with these sorts of initiatives is key for a coach, because failing to know what is developing in the wider youth football world may well impact on your future players. In the UK, the Football Foundation is a good place to start; in the US, head to the US Soccer Foundation website. In all countries though, you will find that local organisations and foundations also run initiatives, so research well. Answered by Scott Benjamin, a sports leader at London Metropolitan University
Picture: Nick Webster
A
Make sure players feel safe at training
Q “ I have a talented boy in my Under 8s who cries after the slightest physical contact. He’s starting to ‘hide’ on the pitch. What can I do?
A
It’s never easy to deal with a young player who cries in the tackle and then hides because he is afraid it will happen again. The first thing I would say is to make sure the environment he is playing in is safe and secure. Do any other players feel uneasy at training? Are there parents on the sidelines making the atmosphere unwelcoming? Also, talk to the player and explain that it’s okay to lose the ball in a tackle. One thing I often do in these situations is create a five-yard square in the practice area into which the player can go. Tell him it’s his area and no one else is allowed in it. Make the session rules that every attack must go through the square and no one can go to tackle him. This will give him the confidence to control
”
and pass the ball to the best of his ability, and he will take great comfort from being able to go into a square that no one else is allowed in. But you don’t want to make other players think he’s the special one, so make sure everyone gets to have a go once the player you are worried about has had a feel of what it’s like. Repetition is crucial in terms of this practice and any other exercises that empower players, just as it is vital that you continue to verbally coach the player so that, over time, he trusts and believes what you tell him… that he is safe, that it’s okay to lose the ball, and that no one is judging him. Answered by Soccer Coach Weekly’s Head Coach, David Clarke
GET YOUR SOCCER PROBLEMS SOLVED If you have a coaching problem or a training dilemma that you want the experts at Soccer Surgery to cure, send your queries to Soccer Coach Weekly… Do you need a new goal?
editor@soccercoachweekly.net
Issue 316
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THE BIG DEBATE
Should Your Team Run Out To A Song? THIS WEEK’S DEBATE: Some of your players have recorded a club song to run out to at the start of a match but a fellow coach recently asked if you’d spent more time recording the song than you had coaching them. Should you let them keep playing it?
NO, STOP PLAYING THE SONG
YES, KEEP PLAYING THE SONG
Robert Pearce Highgate, London
“It sounds like these players have the kind of unity that many coaches would dream of. A coach would be mad to stifle this”
“
Many times as a coach I’ve found myself reminding other coaches: ‘It’s not about you, it’s about them’ – and this is another instance where you just have to let boys be boys. If there is something that players find fun and it doesn’t negatively impact on their football, then why would you possibly want to stop them from doing it? It sounds like these players have the kind of unity that many coaches would dream of. A coach would be mad to stifle this – indeed, if they’re so close as a group that they get together and record their own track, imagine how else this closeness could be utilised to get the very best out of them in terms of their football. I wouldn’t use this music as the end result, instead the spark to build further.
With regard to the coaches questioning the application of your players – that sounds like a classic case of sour grapes, so I wouldn’t take any notice. Perhaps a few have been unsettled by the New World Haka-like impact of the song. If that’s the case, I’d play it even louder. As a general rule, I would never let another coach dictate to me how to manage my team – how dare they. And more fool anyone who takes any notice. Look at this question another way – if I stop my kids from playing this tune, how will that make them feel about their football? All of that wasted effort in creating a song, all of that unity ripped apart because I didn’t like the track or was worried others were going to take offence? Crazy.
HAVE YOUR SAY
”
Should Your Team Run Out To A Song? Visit our Facebook page and log your vote at www.facebook.com/SoccerCoachWeekly or email your thoughts to editor@soccercoachweekly.net
“
Don Brook Wrexham
“If there were a couple of kids who didn’t make it to the recording of the song, how does playing it make them feel? Not very unified would be my guess”
“
My first concern would be whether this is in the true spirit of youth soccer. I’m all for the idea of kids expressing themselves, but I would imagine your opposition may find the song a bit confrontational. And yes, you do have your reputation to protect in front of other coaches. There is a rivalry that goes on between coaches and I wouldn’t want my integrity brought into question like this. I want my kids to take what they do a bit more seriously than this. Playing a track when the team runs out all seems a bit too casual, and as much as some of us pretend otherwise, we do all care about winning matches (to different extents, I accept). What I want in the ears of my players as they run out is advice, tactical thinking and guidance,
not something resembling a poor man’s One Direction! No one is going to pretend that a homemade song is going to inspire a group of players in the same way that something like a national anthem might, so I don’t really buy into the argument of it uniting players. Sure, they may have come together to record the track, but it’s not as if that event alone will have any future effect on how the team plays. Indeed, if there were a couple of kids who didn’t make it to the recording, how does playing it make them feel? Not very unified would be my guess. Our matches kick off very early on Sunday mornings, so I’d rather have the peaceful sound of laughter and birds in the trees.
HOW YOU VOTED
”
Here are the results of a poll we ran in a previous issue of Soccer Coach Weekly, when we asked the question: Is equal playing time what we want?
70% said yes 25% said no 5% were undecided Issue 316
SOCCER COACH WEEKLY
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67 EASY TO COACH DRILLS FOR MARKING, TACKLING & BLOCKING Perfect Defending
Kids are brought up to think scoring is everything. That’s why the drills in Perfect Defending are written to make learning to defend fun!
– 67 easy to coa
ch drills for markin
g, tackling and blo
cking
Individual defendin
g
Front and back This drill forces the players to react to the two most frequent defending and attacking situatio ns.
The se
t up 67 Easy to Coach Drills for Marking, Tackling & Blocking Area: 30x30 yards Equipment: 3 cones, 2 balls, 1 goal
The steps
1. The goalkeeper passes to player 1 wh o attacks 1v1 against player 3. 2. Immediately afte r this attack, the coa ch passes to player 3.
Player 3 races out to
defend against player
1.
3. Player 2 must now run out and stop pla yer 3 from turning to sho ot. For the next attack, player 1 becomes pla yer 2 and player 2 becomes pla yer 3.
What to call out
• “Pressure” • “Force away from goa l” • “Stop the turn”
Premier League Academy Coach Michael Beale’s manual will help your team keep more clean sheets.
Player 3 now turns to
KEY
Player Movement
What they say:
“It’s just as simple as the stuff in the FA Level 1 handbook but more interesting and easier to understand too.” Des Clark, Reserve Team Manager, Surrey Athletic, UK
No risk
2.
Click here t conce o fewerde goals ! Player 2 is out quickly and makes a tackle to the attack. stop
SOCCER COACH
WEEKLY
WEEKLY
WEEKLY
SOCCER COACHSOCCER COACH
Ball Movement
attack against player
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