Coaching Soccer Weekly

Coaching Soccer Weekly

A Podcast that Shares Training Sessions, Interviews and Commentary from WORLD CLASS COACHING

Coaching Soccer Weekly is a podcast that gives you an in-depth look at the methods, strategies and techniques used by a youth soccer coach working full time with players of every age and skill level. This includes training plans, team management and planning ideas, the latest trends in soccer coaching and education, as well as approaches to deal with challenges.

The podcast also includes interviews with other soccer coaches and trainers that are on the cutting edge of modern soccer development.

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#172 Functional Shooting Activities

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Last weekend I had just one game with each of my teams. Really not much to tell. The kids played well and are continuing to make steady progress in the areas we've focused on. Looking through my session plans I realized that I haven't done a shooting session in a while. Striking a Futsal ball is very unforgiving. If your technique is flawed in any way it's hard to generate any power. I decided this week was a good time to do a session that revolved around ball … [Read more...]

#171 Training the Key Elements of Attacking

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My teams had their first Futsal games last weekend. I love the change in to a different form of soccer during the winter. What's the old saying, "A change is as good as a rest."? We'll I had a rest over Thanksgiving and now a change to Futsal from outdoor soccer. I'm very happy with the way my teams started the season. I'm fortunate this year because almost all of my players have played Futsal in the past so it's really been easy for me to build on top of what … [Read more...]

#170 Training Defensive Compactness

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I really enjoyed my Thanksgiving holiday break this year. It was a great opportunity to recharge my batteries and get ready for the start of the winter Futsal season. The extra time I had gave me the opportunity to observed SPORTING KC Academy Sessions. The quality of the players is obviously very high but what struck me most was the attention to detail from the coaching staff and the high expectations they held the players to. It's easy to set up the … [Read more...]

#169 Don’t Just Follow Your Pass

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My teams didn't have any games this weekend fortunately because the weather in KC was more like winter than fall. I took the extra time I had to start my player evaluations. I spread them out over two weekends so that I can take the time to focus on each player. The way I plan the transition between the fall outdoor season and winter Futsal season indoor is to make sure that my teams don't play for the first week so that we have time to prepare for the … [Read more...]

#168 The Importance of Providing Player Evaluations

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I'm now officially finished with my fall season. Two of my teams played in a tournament last weekend to finish off the fall. I always put this tournament on my schedule but it's hard to know what to expect from the weather. We were really lucky last weekend as it was mostly dry and not as cold as it's been some years. Having a tournament at the end of the season is a great way to finish it off. It gives me a chance to see how far we've come and what we … [Read more...]

#167 Fall Season Recap

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I only had one team playing last weekend. My U17 girls competed in the Presidents Cup tournament. For those not familiar with how the state tournaments work in the U.S.; the top teams in each age group compete in the State Cup for a chance to win and go on to Regionals. The winners of Regionals move on to the National Championship. A few years ago US Youth Soccer created the Presidents Cup. The tournament gives teams that are not quite competitive enough for … [Read more...]

#166 Week 3 of Decision Making MicroCycle

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We had our last league games of the fall season last weekend. It was great to see so much of what we had been working on come together in those games. We still have a lot to improve but we're definitely headed in the right direction. I had an encounter with a parent from one of the teams we played against over the weekend. This kind of thing doesn't happen often but I thought I'd share it in hopes that it might help someone else that is faced with this … [Read more...]

#165 Week 2 of Playing the 5 v 2 Game to Score

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One of my teams had two interesting and very different challenges this week. During their first game of the weekend they played a team that they were clearly better than but were just coasting their way through the game. There was on urgency or intensity in their play. They knew they could get by on 50% effort so that's how they played. In the beginning I let them play and watched to see if they would pick it up. When they didn't I started to encourage them … [Read more...]

#164 Training Combination Play to Score

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Last weekend was another tournament weekend. It was local and it was nice to play a tournament close to home especially because the forecast was for rain all weekend. I had three teams in the tournament which may seem like a lot but it was manageable because it was spread out over three days. Friday was perfect, it was a great evening to play. The rain didn't start until overnight. Saturday morning was stormy. The earliest games were canceled and … [Read more...]

#163 Game Day

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I only had three games again last weekend; one Friday, one Saturday and one Sunday. The teams all played very well. It doesn't always work out that way so it's fun when it does. We’re at the point in the season where I’m seeing the results of what we’ve worked on in training. It's great to see them applying concept to games under pressure. Now it’s time to add on to that.  For me, that means spending more time in 1 v 1 and 2 v 2 environments to help the … [Read more...]