Last weekend one of my teams traveled to Omaha for NPL (National Premier League) games. They only play one game a day so I only had two games all weekend; one Saturday and one Sunday. It’s the first time I’ve traveled with a soccer team since last fall and it was really different. I talk about all of the differences at the start of this week’s episode.

This weekend is my last really busy fall league weekend. I have eight games spread out over the three days. That’s what I get for coaching four teams! (Who am I kidding..I love it!)

Finishing up the fall league season will leave me with a couple of tournaments including State Cup for my 2005’s. Then it’s indoor for Futsal!

Today’s question comes from Steve. He’s asking about training high school age teams to play out of the back.

Steve says,

“I wonder what kind of priority if any you place on teaching / training your HS age group teams to play from the back, with distribution by the goalie?

This has become something of an item of faith at professional levels and I’ve heard youth club coaches discuss how it’s a way to teach possession, come way may during a game. I’ve also seen, however, teams that were very faithful to this during a game but exhibited basic defensive vulnerabilities in goal and along their back line, which seemed to me more fundamental to the game. How do you rate this, emphasize it?”

Thanks for your question Steve!

One of the first things I do with teams of every age is working on building up in our own half. That usually starts from a goal kick or from a ball I shoot to the goalkeeper. Correcting defensive vulnerabilities would be something we work on in transition; when possession is lost and we need to get pressure on the ball and close the openings with covering players. When you train in game-like environments (6v5 starting with a goal kick) the players are going to have to react in those moments when possession is lost.

I prioritize building from the back because I agree that it’s a great way to teach a possession-based style of play. The fact that spreading out in this way in our own half of the field leaves you open to counter attacks is something that the players can learn how to deal with.

since last winter so I’m looking forward to it but also a bit apprehensive. We’ll see how it goes.

In this Episode

The Holding Midfielder, often referred to as the #6, is one of the most demanding and important positions on the field. Today I’ll share some of the methods and activities that I’ve used teach my players the roles and responsibilities of this vital link in your team.

Future Episodes

Thanks to a great suggestion from a parent of one of my players who is also a coach, next week I’m going to share my thoughts on how to encourage creativity and confidence in your players. Thanks Dario!

I go through a description of a couple of other game situations in this week’s episode as well. There are some situations that I discuss that I’m sure you’ll be familiar with.

On Monday I was interviewed for the, Efficient Coach Podcast. The host, Marcus Walfridson, and I had a great conversation. We talked about the history of this podcast as well as general coaching and management topics.

This week’s question comes from Jason and Don. They’re coaches in the SBV Recreational program but their question is a common one so I thought I’d share the answer here. They’re asking about ways to train the players to keep their shape during the game.

Jason says,

“When our girls start the game they are able to get in their positions. We have three defenders three midfielders and two forwards however shortly after the game begins and especially after substitutions the girls are all bunched up on the field. Do you have a suggestion for us to work on at practice to help the girls maintain their shape and stay in their designated positions?”

Thanks for your question Jason!

Maintaining the team shape and spacing is the most difficult thing for young players to understand. Here’s a link to a video I did explaining a way that I’ve used in the past. It was made back when we played 8v8 instead of 9v9 but you’ll get the idea.

In this Episode

It’s been awhile since I shared a training session. Now that many areas of the US are getting back on the field I thought this would be a good time. This training session will help you turn your group of individual players into a team that understands that they can achieve more together than they can individually.

Here’s a link to the video that shows a version of the 3 v 1 transition activity that I talked about in this episode.

Future Episodes

Next week I’ll share a session that compliments this one. The focus is on recognizing and creating 2 v 1 situations on the field.

That gave us the opportunity to bring in some guest players from the teams below ours. The players we brought up did a great job and fit in really well with our team.

I also spent last weekend putting the Rec League schedule together for our club. That’s always a challenging process but one that I enjoy. It’s like putting together a big puzzle but there are no pictures on the pieces. You just have to find the best way to stick them all together.

As we get ready to start the Rec League season it’s also time to organize our RecConnect program. I talked about this back in episode #116. You can check that out for details on that program.

Today’s question comes from Phil. He’s asking about agility training for young players.
Phil says,

“I coach a u9 team turning u10 this year. I’d love to hear your thoughts on agility training and when to start, and how much do you think agility training helps with ball mastery?

Given the precious amount of practice time we have and all the things we need to work on, right now I have been prioritizing ball skills over foot skills… but can see the need on my team for some agility training. I encourage my parents allow their kids to play multiple sports because I believe that helps as well. “

Thanks for the question Phil!

I believe that you can give young kids the basic agility work they need while using a ball.

I suggest that my players start a program called, “SoccerFIT” when they are U12 or U13. I’ve had Scott Moody from SoccerFIT on the podcast a few times.

As the players get older I think they can focus more on the athletic components of the game. As young players they need to spend as much of their time with a ball as possible.

In this Episode

Today I want to share an episode that I posted more than three years ago because I think it’s one of the most important ones I’ve done. It focuses on breaking down and teaching the five core skills of soccer.

In Future Episodes

With the players back from spring break next week I think we’ll finally start to get into a rhythm regular training and games. I’ll share how that is going in the coming weeks.

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 differences in the games.

I’ll talk more about how we’re approaching the Futsal season in the coming weeks.

Today’s question comes from a long time listener, Cory. His question is about playing against a kick and run style.

Cory says, “The U12 boys team I coach has improved quite a bit over last year. We have been working on possession style soccer with emphasis on speed of play. I am most proud of the “way” we are playing and don’t get too focused on the score. More and more, the kids are playing soccer as a beautiful game!

This being said, I notice that our team struggles against teams that play a “kick and run” style of play. Often these teams have bigger, athletic kids. The key characteristic of this style of play is for the team to boot the ball down the field and hope to get it to their teammate for a shot on net. Every goal kick is a lob down the field vs. an attempt to possess the ball by building out of the back. I’m not a fan of this style of play because it doesn’t do very much to help the players to develop but, regardless, it is effective sometimes in scoring goals and winning games
From your perspective, we are the key elements that we need to prepare our teams for when playing against a “kick and run” style of play? Are there specific exercises you suggest that help to counter this style of play?.”

Thanks for the question Cory!

Playing against a team that plays very direct is often difficult for teams that play a possession style. We are asking our players to have 5 or 10 good passes to work the ball up the field to create a chance to score while the team playing direct doesn’t really even have to connect a pass: they just need kick the ball forward and have our players make one mistake and they can win it back near our goal. If they don’t connect the ball far from their goal so there’s much less danger. If we don’t connect passes we often lose it in our defending third of the field.

My suggestion for preparing to play a team with a direct style is to work on bringing balls down out of the air. Start by working on the technique with out pressure then add pressuring players.

I like to play an attack vs defense game where the attacking team plays a long ball in behind out defense and then we try to gain possession build up to try and dribble across the half line or score in small goals just the other side of the half line. Since this is similar to the challenges created by a, “Kick and Run” team I think you’ll see a good transfer of training.

I also think that you prepare your players for the mental and physical challenge. Acknowledge the difficulty that the opponent presents but encourage the players to take it as a challenge. Have a parent count the number of passes your team is able to connect.

Good luck and realize that no matter what the score is that in the long term your players are much better off because of how you’re helping them develop into skillful, smart, confident soccer players.

In This Episode

Today I describe a change I’ve made to the movement pattern that I use for all of my technical training activities. I believe that it is going to make these activities more realistic, more engaging, more fun and create a better transfer from training to games.

Here’s a video that shows the way I’ve changed the movement patterns in my technical training activities.

Future Episodes

I’ll be taking next week off from the podcast while I celebrate Thanksgiving with my family. I’ll be back in two weeks with a new episode that will most likely focus on the work I’ve been doing with my team to prepare for the winter Futsal season.

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 situation in the future.  I won’t go into all of the detail hear but I discuss it on the podcast and I’d be interested to hear any feedback you have.

Today’s question comes from Jerry. He has a couple of questions about development versus winning.

Jerry says, “I like to think I’m more about development of the players. That said, this is a very complex issue, I’ll list some of the things I have been facing and which are causing me not to always give equal playing time.

– We have 3 players that aren’t nearly as good as the rest, big drop off…2 of them don’t put the time in at home (not asking a lot, just 20 minutes on days we don’t practice), and they miss a lot of practices. I just don’t feel its right to reward equal playing time to these 2 players. What would you do in this case?

– All clubs aren’t about putting the best players together on the same team like yours, where you promote deserving players up to higher level teams. Even though I coach the A team, there are some players on the B team that should be on the A team. Part of this is keeping friends together, something I get…at what point should a player move on to another club where they try to put the best players together on the same team? How does your club balance friendships and putting best teams possible together?

– I mentioned the 3 players above that aren’t nearly as good as my other players…they partly made the team due to politics at our club. How do you deal with that? I’ve heard politics affects all clubs even the top level ones (heard one parent said they would take their $20K donation away if their daughter didn’t make the team at a top level club in my area). What sort of politics have you faced and how do you deal with it?

– How do you balance parents desire to win versus development? I have some parents who really want to win, way too much. I get it in tournament championships if you make it that far or State Cup…but the rest shouldn’t matter.

How do you deal with these kind of parents.

Thanks for the question Jerry!

Below are the answers I shared in the comments section for Episode #162. I go into more detail on the podcast.

1) If they’re not good enough, I wouldn’t have placed them on my team. If they’re on my team, they play at lease 50% of each game.

2) Every parent has to do what’s best for their child. If playing with friends is the most important thing to the player then that’s what’s best for them. If they are driven to compete and develop then looking for a team with the best players is the right move.

3) We don’t place players with friends in our premier program. That’s what the recreational program is for.

4) I can honestly say that politics has nothing to do with our decisions at tryouts. Our Boy’s Director’s daughter was moved down two teams one year. We place players based on where they fit.

5) I don’t coach to the desires of the parents. There are times that the better players will get more playing time (everyone still gets 50%) but that’s a decision I make based on what I think is best for the team and players.

In This Episode

In this, the third of three episodes focused on training decision making, I describe how I approached my last training session focused on this topic. I’ll let you know how I planned it, how the session started and what adjustment I made as we went through it based on how the players performed.

Here’s the Diamond Shooting activity that I mentioned in this episode:

Future Episodes

I’m continuing to build my list of potential topics for the future. I haven’t decided on one for next week so if you have a suggestion I’d love to hear it.

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 to ‘Go For It’ and ‘Play Quicker’. We talked about the issue at halftime and we picked it up a bit but we were never firing on all cylinders.  We ended up winning the game 2-1 but could have easily given up a goal or two due to sloppy, unfocused play.

Our second game was played in cold and raining conditions. I’m talking COLD. It was about 45 degrees (F) and raining. I was miserable and I was wearing waterproof clothes!

Before the game I told the girls that they could play however they wanted in this game; the goalie could punt the ball, they could take goal kicks long, they could play long balls into the other team’s half and then play soccer there….whatever they wanted. I said, “The handcuffs are off, just go play, do your best and enjoy it as much as you can.”

There was a bit of ‘kickball’ in the game but most of the time they were looking to connect even if they were playing longer balls than we normally would. They were also really creative in and around the other team’s box. We ended up winning 3-1 and scored a couple of very nice goals.

Today’s question comes from Cesar. His question is about the difference between coaching boys and girls.

Cesar says, “My name is Cesar and I am a soccer coach for a girls 2006 team this year. I’ve coached for about 7 years now. Last year I had the opportunity to coach a 2006 boys club team, that was my first experience as a high competition coach and it was a great experience. Prior to that I have been coaching in recreation league around my area. This year I had the the great opportunity to coach girls. My question is, is coaching boys different than coaching girls?

I have been part of many teams but the majority have been just boys and this year I’ve giving myself the chance to coach all girls. I have found that coaching girls has been easier for me.

I’ve heard a saying from a great baseball coach not long ago. He said, “Girls need to feel great to play good and boys need to play great to feel good”.

I want to know your opinion in this topic. I found that theory to work for me when coaching. There are many sides to coaching but I found this theory interesting.

Thanks for the question Cesar!

I definitely think that there’s a difference. I also agree that coaching a good group of girls is easier than coaching a good group of boys. That’s not just my opinion but I’ve spoken with many coaches who feel the same way.

The quote I like about coaching boys and girls is from Anson Dorrance. He says, “You drive men and you lead women.” If you try to drive women you lose them because they don’t think you care about them.

I’m only coaching girls teams this year after coaching both boys and girls teams during the same season for many years. I’m enjoying it and the girls are developing from one week to the next. It sounds like your team is also doing well.

In This Episode

This is the second of three episodes focused on the 5 v 2 to Score game that I discussed last week. This is a game focused on decision making. I introduced it to the players last week but I didn’t feel like they completely grasped the concepts so I’ll let you know how it went this week along with the things that I changed and how they effected the session.

Future Episodes

Next week I’ll finish up the three part MicroCycle on 5 v 2 to score. I’ll describe how I’ll change the session to challenge the players and see how they adapt.

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 recorded as draws. That’s not great if it happened to your team but at least they didn’t make the teams sit around all morning waiting to see if it would clear up. The afternoon was drizzly when my teams were playing but nothing that the kids couldn’t handle. I was done by 6 pm so I wasn’t effected by the stormy evening.

Sunday stormy morning but the afternoon was decent. I got to meet Jacob and the guys from St. Louis Steamers when my U11’s were scheduled to play them. The game was called after 15 minutes because of lightning in the area. That was a shame because they have a good team and I was enjoying the matchup between two good teams that were playing good soccer. Hopefully they’ll bring their team back to town next spring or we find out way to St. Louis.

Today’s question comes from Charles. His question is about playing two games in a day.

Charles says, “I coach a u12 girls club team in Louisville Ky. Knowing that teams at that age play multiple games in a day, I find that the play during the 2nd game is usually at a much lower level(technically and tactically) We have talked about the right nutrition and rest between games, but it seems like a fitness issue. We have talked about focus and decision making when tired. I don’t want to focus on fitness at such a young age.

Any thoughts?

Thanks for the question Charles!

What you’re describing could be a combination of physical and mental fatigue.

My suggestion would be to have the players complete repetitive dribbling, passing or shooting activities that require the players to be in almost constant motion to challenge them physically before putting them in a series of small-sided games. End with a regular game or scrimmage with another team if possible to force the girls to compete when their already tired.

I would see how the girls react to this method of practice and decide if it’s more of a physical or mental issue.

In This Episode

The more closely matched the teams, the harder it is to generate good quality scoring chances. If the defense is solid and not giving much away then your players need to be able to pull the defense apart. There are a number of ways to do this. Today I’m going to describe a practice that I used this week to help teach my players different ways that they can combine to unlock a good defense and create goal scoring opportunities.

Here’s a video that shows how the 5 v 2 to Score activity works:

Future Episodes

Please keep the ideas for future episodes coming. Each week I receive one or two really good ideas that I add to my list.

During these games I was thinking about the way I change the positions that players are in during games. The way I used to do it was to have everyone play the same position for the first four games of league play and then rotate the attackers and defenders. This was far to long between changes for a kid that really didn’t want to play where I had him/her. In recent years I’ve rotated players much more frequently.

Earlier this year I was changing the position of the players at halftime. This was partially because I wasn’t quite sure how all of the pieces fit together since three out of my four teams are new ones for me this fall. Doing it this way ate up a far bit of the halftime interval leaving less time to talk to the players about their performance.

Now I’ve started to rotate the players through the various positions game-by-game. I want the players to experience different positions but I think giving them an entire game in one spot will help them begin to understand each role a little more deeply.

Today’s question comes from Chris. He’s having a problem with his team’s performance in the second half.

Chris says, “ I’m having an issue with my u13 boys team. So far we’ve played in one tournament, and have played 3 league games this season. In every single game we’ve played, we have a big drop off in the second half. Our past two league games have been 1-1 and 1-0 at HT, and we’ve given up a total of 7 goals and scored 2 in the second half of those two games.

I am a very new coach, but I believe the problem may be a combination of two issues. Fitness may be at the root of it, but there is most definitely and attitude problem within the team. We react poorly when we give up a goal, and usually another one isn’t too far off because of it.

After reading this back, I’m not too sure I know what I’m asking you. I’m an assistant coach on this team, and I’m really struggling and frustrated, myself, that I don’t have an answer for the issues, and I feel as if I’m letting the boys down. Of course I keep that frustration to myself and I react as positively as possible around the team.

I apologize for the long email. I know it’s impossible for you to diagnose this situation, but I guess what I can ask you is, have you ever been in a situation where you’ve had some issues you’ve struggled to correct?”

Thanks for the question Chris!

I’ve had that issue in the past and it’s usually come down to one key issue that we needed to solve in order take care of the other little things.

You’re very early into your season from the sound of it so fitness maybe that issue. If you’re U13 then this may be the first time they’ve played 11v11. A whole new level of fitness is required to manage the added space.
Make sure that you’re incorporating fitness into your small-sided games and technical activities. Make areas bigger and distances between cones farther to require more running while also achieving other technical and tactical objectives.

The attitude issue you describe is a tough one to overcome. My suggestion for that one would be to play a, “Goal Up / Goal Down” small-sided game. Play a five minute game where one team is a goal up and the other is a goal down. Focus on the team that’s a goal down and work with them on strategies that they can use to get a goal back. Practicing this positive attitude in a no risk environment like practice may help them deal with those situations better in games.

In This Episode

My oldest team, U17 girls, was having trouble converting possession into quality goal scoring chances. We were doing well defensively and possessing the ball through midfield but we ran out of ideas in the final third of the field.

The training session I’ll describe today has helped to give the players some ideas that have begun to transfer over to game situations.

Here’s the video on the hourglass passing pattern that I described.

Hopefully you were able to follow my description of the pattern play activity but if not, here’s an animated drill video that should clear up any questions you have.

Future Episodes

I have a number of topics and interviews lined up for the coming weeks thanks to helpful suggestions from listeners. Let me know if there’s a topic that you’d like me to discuss on a future episode.

I have a team that’s playing up an age group and there were promoted to the first division after a very good fall season. The difference between DI and DII is substantial and it’s been a difficult spring for the team.

They played well in the first half this weekend and were up a goal at halftime. We talked about ways we could improve in the second half. Unfortunately, they had a tough time with their first touch and we couldn’t seem to put anything together. I started to get frustrated and the players could tell. As I became more frustrated they became more tentative. I didn’t realize it at the time but my reaction to their poor play was only making it worse.

In hindsight I see that I lost my perspective and stopped teaching and encouraging. I’m committed to reacting differently the next time I have a team that’s struggling and needs my help.

This week’s question comes from Joseph. He’s asking about encouraging players to be more assertive.

Joseph says,

“I am a volunteer coach of two Girls U9/10 travel teams at a regional club. Between the U9 and U10 groups, I have 19 girls all together. I train them together twice per week and then we split up for our League and Tournament games. As you know, the format change from 4v4 to 7v7 is quite a change for the kids to get used to.

I have really struggled with my U9 girls not being aggressive when playing with or against older girls. I think it’s a combination of the age difference and the new format.

We have adopted the Play/Practice/Plan training format. We typically have all the girls mixed up for the first Play section. We split them up by age for the practice portion since they are at different stages of development. Then we take some time to scrimmage at the end of training by mixing all the girl up to play a full 7v7 scrimmage.

Do you have any suggestions on how to encourage younger players playing with older players to be more assertive on the field?”

Thanks for the question Joseph!

I find that young players are going to be assertive in close proportion to how confident they are. Some kids are just naturally less assertive but I think that can be traced back to confidence as well. So I would be focused on what you can do to increase their confidence. Confidence comes from previous success and an expectation of possible (or even probable) success.

It could be that the younger girls don’t feel like they can compete with the older ones so they’re less likely to try their best. I might do more smaller-sided scrimmages before the 7v7 game at the end so that they can play with the kids their own age. If you see more confident and assertive play when their with their own age you can point that out to them and see if being aware of the difference helps them gain the confidence they need to play harder with the older girls.

In This Episode

Today I want to talk about a session that I’ve used in the past but I revisited it this week and found myself coaching it much differently than before.

Here’s the setup for the Tic-Tac-Toe Warm-Up game that I described.

Show Notes

Here’s a link to episode #010 Training Session to Break Lines of Pressure. The training session I talk about today is the same but what we focused on what different. The details are described on the podcast.

Please Share on Social Media

I appreciate everyone who has helped us spread the word the podcast. If you haven’t already, please post a link to your favorite episode or just one that you found useful into one of your social media streams. I’d really appreciate  it.

Future Episodes

The next month is crazy. My teams have three tournaments in the next four weeks with one of them being State Cup. After that we start all over again with tryouts the first week of June. I don’t have any set plans for topics in the next few weeks but with that many games I’m sure something will come up worth sharing with you.

Last year we were down a goal and the other team packed it into a tight diamond. We couldn’t break them down. This year we’ve worked on using a ‘Fly Keeper’ or ‘Fifth Attacker’ Done it in training and in games where the score wasn’t in question. Hopefully we don’t need to use this tactic but with the quality of the teams we’re playing I think we probably will. I’ll let you know how it goes next week.

This week’s question comes from Kacey. He’s asking about playing against a very physical and aggressive team.

Kacey says,

“We are playing a very dirty team in our state cup match next week. Last time we played there was tripping, elbows, very rough play and taunting by the coach and players. My U10 boys were not ready for this the last time we played and did not fare well. This might not happen due to the state cup games having three refs who are competent, compared to the usual U10 ref who is just starting out there.

What’s your advice in preparing the boys for a game like this in terms of dealing with the dirty play? I will not tolerate our team playing that way. We are a very different team from when we played last, so our physicality is way up, but I just don’t want to see the game spiral out of control. We can beat them if they don’t get in our heads with all the fouls and such.”

Thanks for the question Kacey!

My suggestion is to prepare your players to play, “Tough but Fair”. This is a phrase I borrowed from another local coach because it describes how I always want my players to act.

You can’t control how the other team, or it’s coach, will act and you never know what the referee will call. All you can worry about is focusing your players on competing hard but within the spirit of the game.

If you win, you and the boys will have a victory to be proud of but if you lose at least you will lose while playing the game as it should be played.

In This Episode

I want to share the training session I’ve been using to bring together all of the concepts we’ve worked on this winter. This Attack vs Defense game requires the players to use the techniques and tactics they’ve learned but most importantly they have to make decisions about what the defenders are giving them and what they’re taking away.

THANKS!

I said it last week but I really appreciate everyone who takes the time to leave a comment on CoachingSoccerWeekly.com or emails me a question. I received some great feedback and questions this week. Keep’em coming!

Future Episodes

Next week I’ll share what I’m doing with my teams to transition from winter Futsal indoor back to outdoor soccer.

We wrapped up a three week MicroCycle where we did a progression of fast footwork and change of direction moves.

This last week we did mostly 1 v 1 between two dots. The dribbler tries to fake the defender and get to one of the two dots before they do. If they do, they get one point. After 30 seconds the players change roles. The player with the most points after they’ve both attacked wins the round.

There’s a ‘ladder’ setup where the winner moves forward and the loser moves back. The players love it because it’s competitive and I love it because they get to use the fast footwork skills under pressure.

This week’s question comes from Sammy Grantham. Sammy is a longtime listener and I interviewed him back on episode 102 about Differentiated Coaching.

Sammy says,

“There was a podcast you did a year or two ago and you were discussing different types of training sessions. You mentioned the whole-part-whole method. It was briefly discussed in a coaching course I took a couple of years ago, but it almost seemed like the instructor hit on the topic because it was part of the course curriculum and moved on. There wasn’t a lot of detail.

I have a cursory idea of what it is. I’ve done some googling and amazingly little. I was wondering, is the whole-part-whole method something you use much? If so, could you give some examples of sessions you’ve ran.”

Thanks for the question Sammy!

It’s my understanding that the Whole-Part-Whole method is going to be used in the new Grassroots Pathway courses. They’re calling it Play-Practice-Play.

I’ve been asked to be a Coach Educator for the new courses so I’ll let you know more about the curriculum in the future.

I told Sammy that, I use it more in the spring than the fall because I can use it to see what I topics I need to return to.

An example would be playing a four-goal small-sided game and see how the players perform. If they fail to recognize the opportunities to switch the ball because they are facing the ball and not opening up and looking away from the ball then I would do an activity to work on this area. I’d use something like a diamond passing drill to work on opening up and then a possession game where team keeps the ball in one area and then switches it after a certain number of passes or certain amount of time. Then I’d return to the four goal game or similar game to see how the players perform.

In This Episode

This week I want to revisit Episode 14 Do Your Players Move Without the Ball? I think it covers an important topic in a way that makes it easy for even young players to learn how to move to receive the ball.

Printable Show Notes

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Remember!

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We would appreciate it if you would leave us a 5 star rating and/or a written review on iTunes to help spread the word about the show and ensure that we can continue to bring you top notch guests in the future.

Future Episodes

Next week I’ll look at is and isn’t acceptable sideline behavior for a coach.

In addition to the different on the field challenges, traveling also provides an opportunity for the players and their families to get to know each other better.

This week’s question comes from Dennis.

He asks about teaching slide tackling. Dennis says,

“At what age would you start teaching the “art” of slide tackling? How would you do it?”

Thanks for the question Dennis!

To be honest I work on slide tackling with my teams. I never have. I only have so much time in training so I have to focus on the techniques and tactics that I think are the most important.

I think players pick up on how to slide tackling on their own so there’s no need to spend time on it in training. I would rather spend that time teaching them how to defend more effectively so that they don’t have to slide tackle.

In This Episode

It’s important that we transitioning from technical exercises to more functional activities. We need to teach the key points of basic technique but then we need to make it more like the game to see the transfer of training that we all look for.
3. I’ve found that these activities help to train game-like patterns of movement that the players will actually encounter on match day while still giving me the opportunity to reinforce the key technical points.

Printable Show Notes

The show notes for each episode are accessed through the WCC Training Center.

They are FREE but you will need at least a Free Membership to the Training Center in order to view and print them. They’ll be available there for eight weeks before they’re placed in our archive which can be accessed at any time by Elite Members.

Click on the image of the notes and if you’re already logged in to the Training Center you’ll be taken to the Podcast page. If you’re not logged in your be taken to a login page where you’ll also be able to login or register if you are not already a Member.

Remember!

Make sure you subscribe to Coaching Soccer Weekly through iTunes, or your podcast provider of choice, to be sure you never miss an episode.

We would appreciate it if you would leave us a 5 star rating and/or a written review on iTunes to help spread the word about the show and ensure that we can continue to bring you top notch guests in the future.

Future Episodes

I recently came across a list of common faults of coaches. Next week I’ll talk about the list give you suggestions for how to avoid the most important of them.

The formations I use for small-sided soccer keep it pretty simple. I always use a 2-3-1 for teams playing 7 v 7 and 4-3-1 for playing 9 v 9 games. I’ve found that these formations are effective, easy to teach and create a great pathway to the 11-a-side game. They allow me to teach the principles that the players will use playing different variations of the 4-3-3 which is the most common one used by the teams in our club.

This week’s question is from Nick

He’s asking about pre season friendlies.

Nick says,

 “I wanted to ask about friendlies, I coach a high school girls team and we have four friendlies or scrimmages against varying levels of competition before our actual season begins.

I know there are two schools of thought when it comes to friendlies and wanted to know which you recommend. The first being,   If you want a winning culture and to start the season with positive momentum you should play to win as much as possible (obviously accounting for player health and fitness), the other being, it’s a friendly, the result doesn’t matter, but the way you play, your ideas, and getting players time and exposure is the real value.”

Thanks for the question Nick!

I focus on different aspects of play when I’m doing preseason friendlies or scrimmages with other teams during the year. If we’ve been working on building from the back then that’s all I coach and I base our success on whether or not we’re keeping the ball well.

You have to sell this to the players but if you do then the players will be looking at their success as something different than the score and it will help them prepare for the games that really matter.

In This Episode

I’m sharing the way I decide what to work on with my teams at the beginning of the season. If you just watch your team play you’ll see that there’s a lot to work on. If you try to cover too much in a short period you’ll just overwhelm them and not get anywhere. Today I also share a couple of sessions that I’ve used with my own teams of different age groups

Printable Show Notes

The show notes for each episode are accessed through the WCC Training Center.

They are FREE but you will need at least a Free Membership to the Training Center in order to view and print them. They’ll be available there for eight weeks before they’re placed in our archive which can be accessed at any time by Elite Members.

Click on the image of the notes and if you’re already logged in to the Training Center you’ll be taken to the Podcast page. If you’re not logged in your be taken to a login page where you’ll also be able to login or register if you are not already a Member.

Remember!

Make sure you subscribe to Coaching Soccer Weekly through iTunes, or your podcast provider of choice, to be sure you never miss an episode.

We would appreciate it if you would leave us a 5 star rating and/or a written review on iTunes to help spread the word about the show and ensure that we can continue to bring you top notch guests in the future.

Future Episodes

Next week I’ll talk how important it is that coaches have the courage to be patient in order to develop great soccer players.

I’m using the extra free time to work on the Fall Technical Training Curriculum for our U8 through U12 teams. Talked about that back in episode 18 Creating a Technical Training Plan. If you want to know why we do this and how it’s put together you can listen to that episode.

I’ve been interested in the Confederations Cup since it’s the only international soccer that I’ve been able to see. The use of the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) is something new that’s being tried in this competition. I talk about the positives and negatives as well as my opinion on the use of this kind of technology in our game.

This week’s question is from Joe.

He’s asking about selecting players.

Joe says,

“Over the last few months I have noticed some coaches select players for what they are doing now, and not so much on what they are capable of. Players that are technical, smart, spatially aware and dedicated are getting passed up for players who are larger and faster at the time of Try-outs. What is your take on natural speed and size vs a smaller, maybe slower technical player. And do you think speed can be improved?”

Thanks for the question Joe.

This is the classic debate between athleticism an skill. It’s such a complicated subject. I share my thoughts but I have to apologize for rambling a bit. There’s just no clear cut answer and so many things to consider.

In This Episode

Today I’ll share my four favorite possession activities. I’ll also tell you why there are only four as well as why these are often the only possession activities I’ll use with my teams.

Printable Show Notes

The show notes for each episode are accessed through the WCC Training Center.

They are FREE but you will need at least a Free Membership to the Training Center in order to view and print them. They’ll be available there for eight weeks before they’re placed in our archive which can be accessed at any time by Elite Members.

Click on the image of the notes and if you’re already logged in to the Training Center you’ll be taken to the Podcast page. If you’re not logged in your be taken to a login page where you’ll also be able to login or register if you are not already a Member.

Remember!

Make sure you subscribe to Coaching Soccer Weekly through iTunes, or your podcast provider of choice, to be sure you never miss an episode.

We would appreciate it if you would leave us a 5 star rating and/or a written review on iTunes to help spread the word about the show and ensure that we can continue to bring you top notch guests in the future.

Future Episodes

I’m taking next week off from the podcast for the 4^th of July holiday but I’ll be back the following week with an episode looking at the trend toward playing with three in the back and how you might apply this to your own teams.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think that my way of coaching the game is the only way. We’ve had coaches on this podcast that have a wide variety of methods that are very different and effective was to develop players. But surely we can all agree that just kicking and throwing the ball as far as you can is not one of them.

We should all be teaching these kids how to control the ball and make decisions. We’re not trying to train them all to become Pros but these are skills that carry over into other sports and places the value on control and skill rather than on who wins the game.

Sorry, that just really got under my skin!

This week’s question is from Steve.

He asks about player evaluations.

Steve says,

“In one of the past episodes, you have mentioned that your club does player evaluations during the year. We are starting up a new season here for our U12 girls, and I was wondering when you typically do evaluations during the course of a season. I see a lot of merits in sitting down with players at the beginning of the season to encourage and let them know where we see potential for growth in their game.

Additionally, I was wondering what sort of form or format you use in evaluating players? What areas/skills do you evaluate? Is that something you could share with the listeners?

And finally, I was wondering how you share the evaluations with players & parents?”

Thanks for the question Steve!

I’ve been working on my end of year evaluations so this question comes at a great time.

Many of our teams have the players set goals at the beginning of the season. This can be a valuable tool especially for players U13 and above but it can also be helpful for some younger players.

We evaluate our players twice a year, once about five months into the year and once again at the end of the spring before tryouts.

The system we use for evaluations is from ZoomReports.com. It allows us to write up each evaluation and send it to the family. They can view it and respond with any questions. We meet with players on a case-by-case basis. Sometimes it’s the coach that would like to talk more about the evaluation and sometimes it’s the family.

We keep the evaluation very simple. We focus on the four key areas of development: Technical, Tactical, Physical and Psychological. I’ll put an example of the form in the show notes.

This system keeps track of the player’s evaluations over time so that future coaches can look back on what I told the player when they were on my team.

In This Episode

I talk about how giving your players choices and decisions to make during technical training makes these activities more fun and more connected to the actions that they perform in the game.

Printable Show Notes

The show notes for each episode are accessed through the WCC Training Center.

They are FREE but you will need at least a Free Membership to the Training Center in order to view and print them. They’ll be available there for eight weeks before they’re placed in our archive which can be accessed at any time by Elite Members.

Click on the image of the notes and if you’re already logged in to the Training Center you’ll be taken to the Podcast page. If you’re not logged in your be taken to a login page where you’ll also be able to login or register if you are not already a Member.

Remember!

Make sure you subscribe to Coaching Soccer Weekly through iTunes, or your podcast provider of choice, to be sure you never miss an episode.

We would appreciate it if you would leave us a 5 star rating and/or a written review on iTunes to help spread the word about the show and ensure that we can continue to bring you top notch guests in the future.

Next Week

Next week I’ll look at how you can use High Pressure Defending to win the ball back quacking and create goalscoring opportunities.

Now thousands of coaches listening to each episode. There have been more than 690,000 downloads of the show since I started.

I owe all of you, the listeners, a huge THANK YOU! I appreciate you listening each week and sharing your comments and suggestions online and directly to me through your emails.

Everyone that has taken the time to give the show a ranking and review has helped to make Coaching Soccer Weekly the number one soccer coaching podcast on iTunes.

If you’ve enjoyed this podcast and haven’t left us a ranking and review yet I’d ask you to make that your contribution to the continuing success of the show. You can also help us by sharing the podcast with your friends and fellow coaches. Anything you can do to spread the word about what we’re sharing here would be appreciated.

This week’s question is from Joey. I just received this question earlier in the week and thought that his question might help other coaches as well. He asks about when you should make a change to your tactics when you’re behind in a game.

Joey says,

“My question today is in regards to making in game adjustments. I coach a U15 boys tier 3 team & we had a quarter final cup game yesterday that my team lost 2-0.

We’re usually a high powered offensive team, but couldn’t seem to break the lines on this day. At what point should you realize as a coach, something needs to be changed ( formation, tactics) & what should you be looking at as a coach for signs something needs to be changed?

We were down 1-0 at half & about 20 min into the second half, they scored another. At that point, with 20 min left & us getting no quality chances (we play 40 min half’s) I put my CB up ST & was playing a 3-4-3 from 4-4-2 but still didn’t seem to make a difference though.”

On the show I talk about how you can decide WHEN to change and WHAT to change when you need to score to get back into the game.

In This Episode

This week I share a session that I’ve done a couple of time recently. It allowed me to complete the warm-up, technical exercises and small-sided game in one area. Doing this created a connection for the players as we moved through the session and made it easier for them to see how each part relates to the one before.

Printable Show Notes

The show notes for each episode are accessed through the WCC Training Center.

They are FREE but you will need at least a Free Membership to the Training Center in order to view and print them. They’ll be available there for eight weeks before they’re placed in our archive which can be accessed at any time by Elite Members.

Click on the image of the notes and if you’re already logged in to the Training Center you’ll be taken to the Podcast page. If you’re not logged in your be taken to a login page where you’ll also be able to login or register if you are not already a Member.

Remember!

Make sure you subscribe to Coaching Soccer Weekly through iTunes, or your podcast provider of choice, to be sure you never miss an episode.

We would appreciate it if you would leave us a 5 star rating and/or a written review on iTunes to help spread the word about the show and ensure that we can continue to bring you top notch guests in the future.

Next Week

In the next couple of weeks I have an interview with a coach and educator where we discuss differentiated coaching when you have a team of widely varied skill levels, a training session to teach your players to use the wide areas of the field and a look at the tryout process and how you can decide what to look for in a player. I’m not sure about the order I’ll release these episodes in but I have some interesting topics that I’m looking forward to sharing.

If you didn’t have a chance to listen to the show last week I’d suggest that you go back and listen if you can.

This week’s question is from Tony

Tony says:

“One aspect with my team I’ve been having trouble finding consistency is with the pregame warmup/drills. We have a set FIFA 11 warmup with dynamic stretching but I want to know your thoughts on effective drills to prepare the boys for the pace of the the game as well as to mentally engage them from the start. We’ve done rondos, offense v. defense, passing patterns, etc but i haven’t found something i consistently like.

Should there be consistency in the pregame warm up or should we switch it up each time to keep it interesting? How does the level of the potential game affect what drills/warm-ups to do?”

Here is my response to Tony’s question:

I like to use a pre-planned routine for at least part of our warm-up. That include a movement pattern that includes individual and small group technical work.

In the fall we used the Cogi Movement pattern shown in this YouTube video: https://youtu.be/1RpQSP6dd50 This got the players moving, working together as well as passing and dribbling. We could do this even in small spaces that were all that was available so it worked out very well.

Once we were able to get on the field we would play a 5 v 5 line game to create a game-like environment so we were ready right from the whistle.

I think having the start of the warm-up planned but then adapting the last 10 minutes or so to the game situation is the best way to go.

Every parent can’t always attend every game but with TeamSnap you can keep everyone updated on the game LIVE! When something happens in the game that you want to share you can update the TeamSnap app and everyone will receive a notification. With TeamSnap you can stay up-to-date on the game even if you can’t be there.

You can sign up for a demo and start your free 21-Day Trial today and find out why people rely on TeamSnap.

Whether you coach or manage a single team or organize a whole club, league TeamSnap makes organizing every aspect of active sports life easier.

You can sign up for a demo and start your free 21-Day Trial today and find out why people rely on TeamSnap by going to teamsnap.com/csw

All coaches want their team to play faster but it’s not enough to just tell them to play quicker, you have to put them in an environment that brings this out of them.

This week I look at how you can use circle drills to get your team dribbling, passing and combining quicker and in more creative ways.

For example, after one of my teams gave up a goal last weekend I decided not to focus on the mistake but instead I told the player who made the mistake not to worry about it and move on to the next thing.

There are times when we need to correct our players so that they know what they did to cause the problem but there are other times when focusing on the negative is not constructive and will not help the player or team in that moment.

It’s a balancing act. We won’t always get it right but being aware gives us a much better chance of doing what’s best for our players.

This week’s question is from Marty about training two teams together

Marty says:

“This Fall we trained twice per week with both teams together. We never divided the squads into their respective teams at training. Although the coaches and I thought it was effective, other coaches in the club have questioned whether this is benefitting either squad. Most teams in the same age group are flighted Red and White but run independently. Next year at U13 we will need to expand the rosters as we begin to play 11v11. At what point should I look at separating the squads or should I keep them together as long as I can? Have you had any experience in this type of training style?”

Thanks for the question Marty!

I have trained younger teams (U12 and below) together in the past and found that it’s a great way to develop players and challenge the 2nd team players to raise their level of play. It also motivated the 1st team kids to keep improving because they could see that there were a few players in that 2nd group that could take their spot if they let down a little.

I haven’t tried to train two 11v11 teams together for more than the occasional session. If I did that I would want to divide the players up in different ways each session and have one or two other coaches that I trusted to run a planned session with the other group(s).

Training 32 to 36 players together on a consistent basis wouldn’t allow me to cover the tactical topics that are necessary to train them to play the 11v11 game. If you could work with the back six (holding mid, back four and goalkeeper) while another coach worked with the attacking five (two attacking mids and three forwards) for most of the session and then come back together to play some attack v defense games then I can see where training two teams together would have it’s benefits.

Something I used to do every week was to send out a reminder of the practice and game schedule. Families have hectic schedules and most of them appreciate a quick reminder of upcoming team events. I don’t have to do this anymore because TeamSnap takes care of it.

I can turn on notifications and the whole team gets an email when we have a game or practice coming up that week. I can also set a notification from TeamSnap to send me an email with a list of the available players before each game or training session.

Whether you coach or manage a single team or organize a whole club, league TeamSnap makes organizing every aspect of active sports life easier.

You can start your free 21-Day Trial today without entering any credit card information by going to teamsnap.com/csw

I’ve been working on a couple of different topics for the show but hadn’t finished any of them. Then I had something come up that I think is a common issue for many teams at the end of the season so I thought that other coaches might be going through something similar.

There’s a tendency for high school age players to start to ‘check out’ at the end of the club season. Either they’re just less interested in training or they stop showing up all together.

This week I talk about what I do when the numbers at a training session are small, very small.

Next Week

Next week I’ll look at the importance of confidence in performance. How can we increase the level of confidence of our players and what we need to stop doing that’s getting in the way of building confidence that will ultimately hurt our player’s performance.

There are many factors that go into the proper placement of a team in a league or tournament. If you put a team in a division below their ability they won’t be challenged so they won’t grow. If you place them too far above their ability level then they’ll be unmotivated because they never experience success.

I generally place my teams division relative to their standing in our club during the fall season. For example, I put our top U11 team in the top division of U11. But since they won the division easily in the fall, I’ll place them in with the U12’s next spring.

This might seem obvious but often times teams play up from the start to play tougher competition from the outset. This year that was tougher to do because everyone had new teams due to the change in the age groups.

This week’s question comes from Seth. He explains a bit about his background and then says,

“Here is the challenge. Our teams are a mix of kids usually spanning 3 age groups. I am constantly challenged to coach to this cross section of age and certainly a wider variety of skill levels than the teams we play. Most clubs form several different select, premier or club teams at each age level and for the most part have relatively common talent level.

While this age/skill level discrepancy does present challenges on the practice field, where it really becomes a challenge is managing playing time in matches. On the one hand I buy into the “player development” over “getting the result” mindset but usually the “getting a result” issue is driven by the kids. Last Saturday we had a very tight and exciting match and it was so obvious to ALL the boys that when I subbed certain players the balance of the game shifted dramatically.  My current policy is that I try to “provide at least half a game playing time for each kid…averaged over the season” so that if they only got 10-15 min in one game they can get 40 or more in a different match. So far this works out but it kills me and I lose sleep over whether I am managing this correctly…..How to effectively develop at the same time, on the same team and in the same matches, both the “elite player” playing at age, and the kid 2 years younger that doesn’t want to play rec any longer but doesn’t quite fit into our team from a physical stature or skill standpoint.”

I share my thoughts and how I approach this challenge with my teams at the start of this episode.

Encouraging Communication

Communication between players is vital in a game where the play flows freely with no timeouts, and few set plays. It’s not enough to tell them, ‘You’ve got to talk out there!’ We need to train our players what to say and when to say it. Once you decide on a common language then you have to make talking to each other a habit. There’s no quick way to do this. Today I describe how I encourage communication between my players and make talking to their teammates as much of a habit as striking the ball properly.

Check out the show notes for the complete diagrams and descriptions of the training session that I often use to focus on the importance of communication on a soccer field.

I’d also be VERY grateful if you could rate, review, and subscribe to Coaching Soccer Weekly on iTunes, Google Play Music or wherever you get your podcasts.

In the Next Episode

Next week I’ll talk about the importance of your players knowing WHY their doing a particular drill, exercise or small-sided game. Making sure that you directly relate training to games is the best way to ensure the maximum transfer of training.

One stood out because the coach commented that they would like the show to be longer because I sometimes gloss over important points. This got my attention because if there’s something you want to know more about then I want to bring it to you.

Please let me know if there’s ever something on that show that you’d like to hear more about. You can put a question in the comments section at the bottom of the episode or email me at tommura@worldclasscoaching.com.

I get a number of questions each week from coaches about their teams. I thought other coaches might be interested in some of these questions so I’ve decided to bring you one or two of them each week.

Here’s this week’s questions from Anthony:

Hi Tom, I’ve got a very talented team of individuals at u11s, most of which have been noticed by scouts and had trials (just to make you aware of the kind of level they’re at), problem is I struggle to get them to play as a team/unit, whether it be defending, attacking or simply movement on the pitch, I have a lot to learn as a coach and by no means do I think I’m brilliant at it. I feel my strong points are teaching them the techniques as individuals, but I lack experience on teaching them how to defend or attack as a unit. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I talk about the answer I sent him in this episode.

What to do When the Session is Just not Working

Today I talk about a situation we all find ourselves in. It’s when your practice is just not working. This happened to me recently and I describe the session I was running, how I knew it wasn’t going well and the six questions that I ask myself in these situations. I share what I decided to change and how these changes affected the session

So what should you do when this happens to you? What are the solutions for the six different possible causes? What are the risks of just pushing through.

These situations can be frustrating to the coach and the players but if you recognize that it’s going to happen eventually you can be prepared to find the solutions and make the adjustments.

The complete show notes can be downloaded from the link below and include the diagrams and descriptions of each exercise in the session.

Printable Show Notes

The show notes for each episode are accessed through the WCC Training Center.

They are FREE but you will need at least a Free Membership to the Training Center in order to view and print them. They’ll be available there for eight weeks before they’re placed in our archive which can be accessed at any time by Pro and Elite Members.

Click on the image of the notes and if you’re already logged in to the Training Center you’ll be taken to the Podcast page. If you’re not logged in your be taken to a login page where you’ll also be able to login or register if you are not already a Member.

Remember!

Make sure you subscribe to Coaching Soccer Weekly through iTunes, or your podcast provider of choice, to be sure you never miss an episode.

We would appreciate it if you would leave us a 5 star rating and/or a written review on iTunes to help spread the word about the show and ensure that we can continue to bring you top notch guests in the future.

Next Week

In Episode 44 – Keys to Being an Effective Coach, I looked at the key coaching points for five technical skills. Next week I’ll talk about five different skills. What coaching points to focus on, activities to improve the skills and how to integrate those skills into the game.

No more searching through thousands unrelated drills on Google or YouTube. The new Training Center will cut the amount of time you have to spend planning 75%. You’ll have a quick search, with refined results, making it easy to pick the exercises you need so that you can go to practice.

The podcast show notes will also become part of a Free Membership to the Training Center.

As I’m recording this we’re a couple of days away from flipping the switch on the new site. If you go to WWW.WCCTRAININGCENTER.COM before the launch you’ll only be able to log in if you’re already a member but once we launch you’ll have the option to become a Free Member and enjoy access that you don’t currently have.

Today I’m talking to Wayne Harrison about his ideas on player development. This includes: how positions in the 11v11 game can be taught with all of the small-sided formats, the importance of Rondos, how they can be progressed and used to relate directly to the game

Wayne describes how his training methods are developing a ‘One-Touch Mentality’ in his players. This is often misunderstood as limiting the players options. Once you listen to Wayne you’ll realize that he’s teaching his players HOW to think not WHAT to think.

Wayne’s latest book, ‘Tactical Thoughts on the Development of the New 4 v 4 , 7 v 7 and 9 v 9 Game Sizes‘, covers many of these areas and we talk how you can create a continuous line of development from 4 v 4 through to the 11 v 11 game.

We had some challenges with Wayne’s audio during our talk and I really appreciate his patience during the process. I apologize in advance if any part of the interview is difficult to understand but there’s so much great information that I felt it was important to bring it to you even if the sound is not up to my usual standards.

Printable Show Notes

The show notes for each episode are accessed through the WCC Training Center.

They are FREE but you will need at least a Free Membership to the Training Center in order to view and print them.

Click on the image of the notes and if you’re already logged in to the Training Center you’ll be taken to the Podcast page. If you’re not logged in your be taken to a login page where you’ll also be able to login or register if you are not already a Member.

Remember!

Make sure you subscribe to Coaching Soccer Weekly through iTunes, or your podcast provider of choice, to be sure you never miss an episode.

We would appreciate it if you would leave us a 5 star rating and/or a written review on iTunes to help spread the word about the show and ensure that we can continue to bring you top notch guests in the future.

In the Next Episode

Next week I’m talking to a coach with a completely different perspective on the best way to develop players. Most of you will not have seen teams play like his teams do. Make sure that you catch that episode because it will give you a lot of food for thought.

Last week I interviewed Wayne Harrison. We discussed the common thread that goes through all game formats from 4 v 4 to 11 v 11. He has some very interesting methods that you should consider using with your team next fall. Look for that interview in two weeks.

I’m working to set up an interview with a very innovative coach who has a unique take on the best way to maximize player development. I’ll have that the week after Wayne’s interview and it will be interesting to compare their two very successful methods.

In the meantime, here is a video I did describing one of Wayne’s favorite training environments – The Double Rondo

I’ll talk to you again in two weeks.

Thanks!

It won’t be difficult or complicated to be involved. You just need a free account on Skype and 30 to 45 minutes to talk. Email me at tommura@worldclasscoaching.com if you’d like to join the discussion

We had our first weekend of the new heading guidelines for our U10 and younger teams. It’s going to take some time to getting used to for everyone. Coaches need to work with their players to get them more comfortable bringing the ball down with their body. Referee’s need to get used to seeing heading as an infraction for the U10’s and below.

Some were applying Advantage to situations where the header went to an opponent. Referees received an email on Monday informing them that the infraction should be called even if there is an advantage for the opponent because it considered a safety issue.

I’d be interested in hearing if the new guidelines are being applied in your area and how the transition is going. You can email me or put a comment in the below.

This week I have a training session that I’ve used to teach my players how to play within the formation we are using. I first did a version of the session while working with a couple of the Kansas ODP teams. But I’ve also used a similar progression with teams playing 11v11 or 6v6 or 8v8. The aim is to show them some of the options that will be available to them within a certain formation.

We play in a 4-3-3 formation so the shape I’ve used has that in mind but you can adjust this to fit whatever system of play you use with your team.

Training Session

I think it’s important to train teams how to function within the formations that we have them play. I don’t think it’s enough to teach our players the skills of the game and then put them in a 4-3-3 and tell them to ‘Find their next pass.’ Having said that I also do think we can afford to use valuable training time to do lengthy walkthroughs where we explain their options.

I like to find ways to combine technical work with patterns that the players will recognize in the game and point out the similarities while we progress through the session. If I’ve connected the dots successfully the players will go from a technical exercise through a small-sided game then into an expanded small-sided game and see how it relates to the full match by the end training.

This is a session that I’ve used with teams playing full sided soccer but I’ll show you how to adapt it to the smaller sided game as I talk through it.

Six Cone Pattern

Coaching Points

1. Quality of pass
2. Checking to ball
3. Pass in front of the player so they can continue to play quickly
4. Receive with one foot (farthest foot) and pass with the other
5. Communication
6. Game Speed

Layoff by Second Player

Add Give-and-Go with Wide Player

4 v 4 + 3

I previously described this in Episode 31 on position specific possession.

A goal is scored by passing the ball from a neutral player on one end to the neutral player on the other.

The other four players on the team play 3 v 1 in 10 x 1o yard grid. The players rotate after a given period of time.

With young teams that are playing 6 v 6 or 8 v 8 you can use the same organization but play 2 v 2 + 3. With fewer players it’s easier for them to see the available options and makes the decisions more clear.

Attack v Defense

The Black team combines to attack the goal while the Yellow Team defends and moves the ball across the halfline if they win the ball.

I you’re working with a younger team you can use the formation they play. For example a U10 team may play a 1-2-1-2 formation. Have the ball start with the goalkeeper and the players combine to score on a goal at the other end of the field. Start by adding one player to pressure the attacking team’s defenders. Then add a player to pressure the attacking team’s forwards. Continue to add players one-by-one if the players are able to be successful despite the pressure.

7 v 7 + 1 

If you have enough players you could expand the game to 9 v 9 or 11 v 11. Since I only had 15 players we just played 7 v 7 + 1 to give the players a chance play a game to two goals.

We focus on the same principles from the Attack v Defense expanded small-sided games.

Diagonal Pass and Shoot

I like to end each session with a shooting activity that is related to the topic we’ve been focused on.

We divide into two teams and keep score to make the exercise competitive.

Progression

We add a central player from each team for the ball to be set back to. The player who laid the ball back opens up outside of the cone to receive a through ball and finish. It’s important that the player who opens up stays on-side until the pass is made.

I’ve used some variation of this session with teams playing 11v11, 8v8 and 6v6. It’s helped the players develop technically while gaining an understanding of what their options are in the game.

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In Future Episodes

I have a number of topics I’m working for upcoming episodes including a commentary on Planning vs Reacting and a complete overview of Training and Techniques for coaching U8’s. If there’s a topic that you’d like me to focus on or a question you have, now is the time to send me an email or put a comment on this episode below.

It got me thinking about all of the questions we have about the process and how the state associations, leagues and clubs will handle it.

I’m putting together a round table discussion on the changes with an Executive Director of a State Association, a league administrator, and club director and maybe one or two others. We’re going to record the discussion next week and should have it posted by the end of February. That will be just in time for the one year anniversary of the first episode of this podcast.

This week’s training session might seem like a 180 degree turn from last week when I talked about developing creative players. But I followed that session up with the one I’ll share today and I think they complimented each other very well.

The focus is on teaching players to recognize the moments to go for it and also develop the patience to keep the ball until the moment arrives.

Training Session

I want players to go for it and create opportunities but deciding when to go for it and when to be patient in possession is difficult for players of any age. The best way to help your players learn to read situations and make decisions is by putting them in environments that replicate what they will be faced with in the game.

Once they see an opportunity to go forward they also need the skills necessary to take advantage of it.

This session begins by working on the passing, receiving and combination play skills they will need before putting the players in a small-sided game that’ll test and train their decision making ability.

Triangle Passing

1. Just let them start
   1. Check for what you’ve taught before
   2. Let them know what is expected
      1. Checking
      2. Timing of run
      3. Magic Hop
      4. Locked ankle
      5. Foot next to ball
2. Add Combinations
   1. Check to
   2. Lay Off
   3. Through Ball
3. Coaching Points
   1. Angles
   2. Distance
   3. Weight of Passes

3 v 3 

1. Great game to emphasize the Coaching Points you just made
   1. Create triangles
   2. Get one player behind the defense
      1. Look for windows
      2. Show wide into the space
   3. 3 v 2
      1. Select the open pass
      2. The purpose of passing
         1. Move the defenders
      3. Patience to keep the ball
      4. Recognize the moment to play forward
      5. Start over if you need to
   4. Look for times to be a ‘Ball Hog’
   5. The decision making process is what we’re teaching
   6. Be patient with mistakes
   7. Coach don’t criticize

6 v 6 

There’s a ball on every cone. When the ball goes out of play the player who touched it last must retrieve it. A player on the attacking team can take a ball from any cone and play from there immediately.

These restarts create numbers up situations like the 3 v 2.

This session is one that you will need to repeat or present in a different way a number of times before the players will internalize the technical and tactical concepts that you are teaching them.  If you’re patient with them and remember to ‘coach’ not ‘criticize’ they will begin to see the pictures and make better and better decisions about when to go for it and when to keep possession and look for another opportunity.

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In the Next Episode

Next week I’ll share a training session that is focused on learning to protect the ball more effectively both individually and as a team.

If you missed the episode I’d encourage you to go back and listen because there’s some great information there on shooting activities you can do with your team during the winter months.

This week I want to focus on what I feel is the key to being an effective coach. It’s not a certain drill, exercise or game. It’s the coaching points and corrections you make as your players are performing a drill or playing a small-sided game.

Coaching Points

The drills, exercises and small-sided games we do with our teams don’t teach our players the technical skills necessary to compete successfully in the game. They only provide an environment to repeat what we have taught them or a game to put the skills into the context of the real match. The coaching points and corrections we make are the keys to the development of our players.

Today I want to share the coaching points that I use with my own teams. They create the expectations that the players have for their performance. They also focus me during drills and games to make sure that the players are doing these things correctly.

Over the years I’ve collected a long list of ‘things to watch for’ when training each of the technical skills. During that time I’ve narrowed them down to the ones I’ll discuss today because they are the most effective cues that I’ve found. They help paint the picture for the player so that they understand exactly what I’m looking for from them.

I want to focus on five skills today; moves to beat a player, Change of Direction, Shooting, Receiving, Passing.

Moves to Beat a Player

1. Setup
   1. Small touches
   2. One with every step
      1. Controlled speed
2.  Fake
   1. Fake something
   2. Not just a move
      1. Sell it
      2. Fake one way, go the other
3. Play away
   1. Out of your feet
   2. Big enough to have to sprint to get it

Favorite Drill – Two Lines Facing

Changing Direction

1. Drive
   1. Fake to drive in one direction
   2. Drive defender in that direction
   3. Make it believable
2.  COD
   1. Start with a fake shot
3. Lean in the direction of the play awayPlay away
   1. Out of your feet

Favorite Drill – Up Two Back One

Shooting

1. Balance
   1. Foot alongside the ball
      1. Plant heel first for power
   2. Leaning forward
2. Contact
   1. Lock ankle
      1. Foot like a brick not a noodle
      2. Foot like a fist
      3. Toes down and out (diagonal)
   2. Center of the ball
      1. What happens when you spin a penny?
      2. What happens if I strike the bottom half of the ball?
3. Follow Through
   1. Understand – your leg swings in an arc not a line
   2. Land low on the shooting foot
   3. Swing through the ball not just at it

Favorite Drill – Shooting on the Wall

This episode of Coaching Soccer Weekly is supported by ZoomReports.com. If you’re a coach looking to give your players valuable feedback or a director of coaching searching for a way to manage the evaluations for your whole club you should try a free trial of ZoomReports by going to ZoomReports.com and entering the promo code CSW when registering for the free trial.

Receiving

1. Body Position
   1. In line with the ball
      1. Shouldn’t have to reach if you have time
      2. Select largest surface
         1. Inside
         2. Sole – Futsal
      3. Open body
         1. Face the largest space
         2. Or intended target
   2. ‘Magic Hop’
      1. Bob Warming
      2. Saw it in my better players
      3. Important when ball is in the air
   3.  Contact
      1. Middle of the ball
      2. Top half if it’s bouncing at all
      3. Develop a feel for the ball
      4. Out of your feet
         1. Two feet from your feet
         2. Away from pressure
         3. Into space
         4. Toward your target

Favorite Drill – ‘The Cage’

Passing

1. First touch
   1. Out of your feet
   2. Diagonal to prepare
2. Balance
   1. Foot alongside the ball
   2. Leaning forward
3. Contact
   1. Lock ankle
      1. Foot like a brick not a noodle
      2. Foot like a fist
      3. Toes up and out (hockey stick)
   2. Center of the ball
      1. What happens when you spin a penny?
      2. What happens if I strike the bottom half of the ball?
4. Follow Through
   1. Like you’re putting a golf ball

Favorite Drill – Diamond or Triangle Passing

Now your coaching points may be different than these. That’s fine. The important thing is that you choose coaching points that resonate with your players and stick in their minds. If they’re able to internalize the key points that you give them they will be able to correct themselves when they have a bad touch or take a poor shot.

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In the Next Episode

Next week I want look at how different scoring methods change the focus of small-sided games. I’ll share ways to structure your games to get the most out of the specific topic you want to cover.

Our club took a two week break for the holidays. This is just as important for the players as it is for the coaches. It allows for everyone to spend time with family and friends and enjoy the holiday season.

For the last 30 years my family has taken a trip to Glenwood Springs, CO between Christmas and New Years. If you’re looking for a great place to teach your family to ski you won’t find a better place than Ski Sunlight.

I really enjoyed the break but I’m also excited to get back and start the second half of the soccer year.

Training Session

The session I share today is set indoors but it’s not specifically a Futsal session. The goal of the season is to teach the key aspects of possession that apply both indoors and out. These exercises will help us be successful now but more importantly they’ll provide a foundation for deeper understanding when we move outdoor in the spring.

Training indoors usually means being confined to a much smaller area than we often enjoy during the outdoor season. This means that any work on possession training must be done with smaller numbers in tighter spaces.

I actually view this as an advantage. It forces me to spend more time on the foundations of possession training: quality passing, width, penetration, and angles of support. All of these things transfer perfectly into the outdoor game so the work we do indoors will make the team much more fundamentally sound when the spring comes around.

Once I’ve taught my teams the key attacking and defending principles of Futsal we spend most of the rest of the season alternating between work on individual ball skills and team possession.

This session focused on possession is one that I return to, or some variation of it, a number of times during the winter.

4 v 1 or 4 v 2

I have the players start playing this as soon as they arrive. We vary the size of the area based on the number of players. Sometimes we start with 3 v 1 and progress to 4 v 1 and 4 v 2 as more players arrive. This gets the players moving right away.

Coaching Points

1. Right /Left / Split support
2. Sharpening angles
3. Movement to support
   1. Move toward the ball NOT away from it
   2. Off the shoulder of defenders
      1. Break lines of pressure
4. First touch
5. Quality of passes
6. When to dribble

Variations

1. One touch after five passes
2. Stay extra for 10 passes or a split
3. Must receive with sole

Square Passing

I use a square instead of a diamond to maximize the space we have. My teams train on basketball courts so we only have a space that is about 15 yards wide and 25 yards long.

Passing Progressions

1. Pass and Follow
   1. Open up
   2. Receive on back foot
2. Variation One
   1. Receive with sole of front foot
   2. Pull across the body
      1. Pass with the other foot
3. Variation Two
   1. Receive with sole of front foot
   2. Turn with the inside of other foot with back to pressure
   3. Pass with same foot
4. Variation Three
   1. Check toward ball
   2. Layoff to supporting player
   3. Run around corner cone
   4. Receive pass on the other side

This episode of Coaching Soccer Weekly is supported by ZoomReports.com. If you’re a coach looking to give your players valuable feedback or a director of coaching searching for a way to manage the evaluations for your whole club you should try a free trial of ZoomReports by going to ZoomReports.com and entering the promo code CSW when registering for the free trial.

Transitional Possession

Organization

1. Two Teams
2. One on each side of the court
3. Team in possession completes five passes
4. Defending team can sends one defender over to pressure
5. They add a defender each time the attacking team completes five passes
6. If defenders win the ball they pass it to their side
7. If the ball goes out it’s put back in play immediately
8. The first team to 10 points wins
9. The players must count out loud

Coaching Points

1. Move the ball away from pressure
2. Quality of touches and passes
3. Techniques repeated in Square Passing
4. R/L/S
5. Angles of support
6. ‘Sharpening angles’
7. Face the Field – Open body position

Variations

1. Start with NO defenders
2. Start with more than one
3. Number off and have players sprint for ball a new ball when one goes out of play

4 v 4 with Bumpers

Organization

1. Two teams on the court
2. One spread out on the sides of the field as neutrals
3. No Goalkeepers
4. Play five minute game and rotate

Futsal Game

We finish most training sessions playing the same format we’ll play on the weekend so this time of year we finish with a 5 v 5 Futsal game.

I look for coachable moments where there is a breakdown that results in the loss of possession. We talk about the different choices or techniques and then restart with the correct action.

I like to leave the last five to ten minutes for free, uninterrupted play.

This session would take about an hour and a half to complete. We usually only have an hour in the gym during the winter so I would do the Transitional Possession Game one week and then the following week cover the same warm-up and technical drills followed by the 4 v 4 Bumpers Game but always ending with a regular Futsal Game.

The third week I would plan an Whole / Part / Whole session like I describe in episode 28 on Organizing Your Training Sessions. That would start with the 4 v 4 Bumpers game and then the Square Passing or 4 v 1 Game depending on which area needed more attention; the technical work or shape and decision making work.

This three week micro cycle covers everything that the players need to learn in order to be able to maintain possession effectively. The concepts apply equally to the 5 v 5 Futsal game as they do the larger formatted outdoor game. This makes us more effective in the short term as well as providing a foundation for the work we will do in the spring.

Printable Show Notes

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In the Next Episode

Next week I’ll share a shooting and finishing session that I do regularly with my teams during the indoor season. It includes the tight passing and support play that is needed for in the indoor game.

Coaching players of this age is very different than working with any other age group. The course shares some great methods to engage these young players and help them develop and understanding and love for practicing and playing the game.

If you work with players that are U10 or younger I would encourage you to take this course even if you’ve already achieved higher credentials. You can learn more about the USSF ‘F’ License by clicking the link.

Training Session

This session was inspired by one that I found on www.TheCoachingManual.com. I’m always looking for new and interesting ways to approach topics and I really enjoy how this site presents its sessions.

This session focuses creating an environment that will help to train your players when to dribble and when to pass.

Warm-Up

The area is 20 x 30 yards and can be used for the entire session with very quick modifications.

To begin with the players each dribble a ball around the area and discover the different techniques required to navigate each portion.

The players need to dribble the ball more closely when in a crowded space and can get the ball out of their feet and move faster when their is more open space.

Two to A Ball

The players are in pairs with one dribbling the ball inside the area and one moving around the outside. The player dribbling the ball performs one, two or three moves and then passes to their teammate on the outside. The outside player should move around the perimeter.

When the outside player receives the ball he takes his first touch into the largest space available.

Add Defenders

One pair is designated as defenders. They try to win the ball from dribblers and intercept passes. If they do then they dribble the ball and stop it on the sideline before going to pressure another player.

Each set of defenders work for 30 seconds to a minute before their change roles with another pair.

The players must now decide where to dribble and which moves to use in order to avoid the defenders and keep possession until they can pass to their teammate on the outside.

Team 2 v 2 Game

The team is divided in two with half of the players putting on pennies and going to one end of the area and the remaining players on the opposite side from them.

The team that is defending passes to the other team who tries to dribble, pass and combine to reach the other side of the area and stop the ball near the line.

If the defending team wins the ball they can counterattack and try to stop the ball on the other side of the area.

4 v 4 + 2

Moving to the expanded game you should look for the players to make good choices about where and when to dribble or pass.

I didn’t notice a complete transfer from the 2 v 2 to the 4 v 4 game. The players became a lot more direct than they were before. This caused them to force passes and over dribble more than they had before.

The next time I use this session I will use an endzone game rather than the four-goal format shown here. My hope is that the players will focus more on possessing the ball and making good choices than on just trying to score.

Printable Show Notes

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In the Next Episode

I have an interview with Jonny Carter about how to prepare for and successfully complete your next coaching course. It was a really interesting discussion that I think you’ll enjoy.

We use a website called ZoomReports.com to complete evaluations for more than 60 teams in our club. The online format allows each coach to have a record of the evaluation and gives the players and parents an opportunity to comment on it as well. This whole process can be overseen by age group directors to make sure that the players are receiving the kind of feedback that will help them to develop.

This week I want to share some of my favorite variations on diamond passing exercises. This is a popular format for training passing technique as well as movement and body positioning but it can get stale and boring if you just do the same exercise over and over.

Keeping technical exercises fresh and interesting for your players ensures that they will be more engaged during training. If they’re able to see how the exercises they’re doing are related to the game you’re also more likely to see the technical work you do in training cross over to the next game you play.

Opening Up from the Middle

After each pass the players move to the middle of the diamond. Before they are to receive the ball each player moves to the cone, opens up and receives the ball before passing to the next player.

This allows you to coach the players to time their run and open their body when they show for the ball.

Two to a Corner

Whether you use cones or triangles, having two players at each corner gives the receiving player an actual person to check away from so they can open up to receive the ball.

You can also incorporate the extra player into the passing combination if you’d like.

Turning Inside

Most diamond passing exercises involve the players moving around the outside of the cones. This movement trains the players to turn inside using the inside or outside of the foot.

Showing from the Other Side

I like this pattern because it involves both of the wide players each time. You can also work on passing across the body to a supporting player.

Adding Dribbling

By using only four players you can add dribbling to the exercise. You could also have each player in line have a ball so that the next ball can be played while the last player is still dribbling to the end of the line. This will speed up the activity and correct for poor passes more quickly.

Splitting the Diamond – Dribbling Outside

Creating two triangles gives the players more repetitions while also creating more possible ways of combining. This pattern requires two through balls and a move to go past the cone / flag / mannequin.

The players should switch sides each time so that they complete the exercise using both feet.

Splitting the Diamond – Dribbling Through

This combination works on passing and dribbling to penetrate a defense. It’s easy for players to see how this activity can be related to the game.

Splitting the Diamond – Give-and-Go Through

This pattern creates two opportunities for give-and-goes to break through the defense.

Double Diamond

This is a simple variation that adds turning to the pattern. You can have the players complete any of the combinations on the outside before turning the ball to join the other diamond.

Diamond Around a Square

I found this exercise on the Keepitonthedeck Facebook page. I suggest you like this page if you are active on Facebook. They share a lot of great drills and exercises from teams around the world.

I like the format because it involves the diamond shape while working on playing through the last line of defense.

Different Actions at Each Cone

With more advanced players I like to have them complete a different combination play at each cone. This keeps them focused because they have to remember which one they perform at each location. Changing the activity also makes it more similar to the game and less repetitive.

Finally, if your players are up for it, have them decide what they do each time. The receiver can check to the ball or open up. The passer can support and ask for the ball back or move inside for a give-and-go. They could even tell the receiver to hold it and overlap him. The possibilities are only limited by the player’s decision making.

I don’t believe that we should be teaching our players new and ever more complicated exercises each week. If we do then we’re going to spend more time teaching them how to do the exercise than we do on the important technical and tactical coaching points that are going to make them better soccer players.

Using variations on key exercises like diamond passing will keep the activity fresh in the eyes of the players while allowing you to coach the game in a familiar format that will help your players relate the skills back to the game environment which will improve their ability to play the game successfully.

Printable Show Notes

Make sure you subscribe to Coaching Soccer Weekly through iTunes, or your podcast provider of choice, to be sure you never miss an episode.

We would appreciate it if you would leave us a 5 star rating and a written review on iTunes to help spread the word about the show and the information that we are sharing here.

In the Next Episode

I want to share a training session that really helped my players make better decisions about when to pass and when to dribble.

Early in the season the exercises tend to be more on isolated shooting technique. As the season progresses and the players demonstrate an understanding of the key principles of shooting then I start to make the exercises more functional.

As we approach the end of the fall season I like to incorporate combination play into the exercises. This allows me to build on the concepts of shooting, passing and support.

In this episode I share four exercises that I use with my own teams that include combination play and finishing.

The goal of these exercises is to put finishing exercises into the context of situations the players will face in the game. The patterns will give your players some ideas for how they can combine to create goal scoring opportunities and hopefully inspire them to find their own patterns within the game.

L – Shooting

Player 1 passes to Player 2 and moves inside to create an angle for the return pass. Player 2 passes and overlaps Player 1. The ball is passed to Player 3 who lays it back for Player 1 who takes a touch and shoots from around the top of the box.

The players rotate up one spot while the pattern is being completed on the other side. When Player 3 returns to the line he joins the opposite side.

Coaching Points

• Player 1’s angle of support
• Player 2 must overlap quickly
• Player 3 lays the ball BACK to Player 2 not FLAT
• Take a touch before shooting

Progression

• Player 2 passes diagonally through for Player 1
• Player 1 lays ball back for Player 2 or 3

Y-Shooting (Dutch Wine Glass)

I took this exercise from Dutch Total Football by Terry Michler. The book includes more variations of this exercise and many others that I know you would find useful.

Player 1 passes to Player 2 who turns and passes to Player 3 who has checked away and then shown for the ball to then take and touch and shoot.

Each player moves up one station. The pattern is next completed to the right side.

Y-Pattern 2

This time Player 2 lays the ball back to Player 1 for a pass to Player 3. Player 2 has turned to receive the ball back from Player 3 before touching and shooting.

The angle of the layoff is important here.

Y-Pattern 3 

Player 1 passes directly to Player 3 who lays the ball offer for Player 2 who has turned to receive it.

These are just a few variations that you can use. There are dozens of others that are possible.

Y-Pattern 4

This is an example of a pattern that includes players from both sides of the formation.

Ajax Finishing Competition

I was able to observe Robin Pronk present this exercise during a Ajax U17 Academy Training Session in 2008 during a tour of Dutch Academies.

Player 1 passes to Player 2 who turns and shoots. The players compete as part of a team. The team that scores 10 goals first wins.

Progression 1

Player 2 now lays the ball off for Player 1 to follow and shoot.

Progression 2

A central player is now added. This creates situation similar to one you would have in a 4-3-3 or a 4-2-3-1.

Coaching Points

• Pass to proper foot
• Angle and distance of support
• Pass in front of target
• Touch and shoot

Progression 3

We now add a wide player to receive a diagonal pass and serve it into the box for the three players to attack and finish.

Barca Shooting Pattern

This is a pattern based on the one I described in episode 10.

The sizes and distances of the grid may be a little out of proportion here but I wanted to make sure you could see the pattern.

Player D is at the top of the ‘D’. The 10-yard grid is 10 yards from the top of the ‘D’. Player A and the other players with a ball are 10 yards closer from the grid.

My favorite part of this pattern is that it starts with a run by Player B. All of the other movements and passes are based on this movement.

When Player B goes wide Player C moves to the opposite side. Player A then passes to B who lays it off to A. Player A then passes to Player C who lays off for Player B who has moved to support him. The ball is then passed into Player D who turns and shoots.

You could also have Player D lay the ball off to Player C or play a give-and-go with him.

Progression

The pattern starts with the movement of Player B but now the ball is passed directly into Player C who lays off to Player B who has moved to support Player C. The pattern is completed with a shoot on goal.

There are many different patterns you could have your players complete here. Eventually you want to let the players make the choices so that the movement can flow as it would during a game.

You can put two of these areas side-by-side to have one team compete against the other. You could also add a defender to the center of the grid to influence the passing decisions.

These are four very useful patterns that you can add your own combinations to. Encourage your players to find patterns of their own and soon you’ll be seeing these passes and movements showing up for your team on game days.

Printable Show Notes

Make sure you subscribe to Coaching Soccer Weekly through iTunes, or your podcast provider of choice, to be sure you never miss an episode.

We would appreciate it if you would leave us a 5 star rating and a written review on iTunes to help spread the word about the show and the information that we are sharing here.

In the Next Episode

I’ll present some unique variations on diamond passing patterns that will help your player technically and tactically.

These sessions represent a three-week MicroCycle that I used with a couple of my teams to teach them how to combine effectively. There are a wide variety of combination plays that can be taught but I focus on the give-and-go and the overlap. I think these are the two most common and provide most of the key elements of combination play.

The first session focuses on the give-and-go. The second one teaches overlapping and the third one gives the players the opportunity to decide when and where to use each one.

Week One – Give-and-Go

Triangle Passing

We start with passing and moving to the right and then to the left as a technical warm-up. Then the players complete a type of give-and-go around the triangles.

Give-and-Go Pattern

First I teach the player the pattern where the defender passes to the attacker. Once the attacker touches the ball the defender moves to pressure him. The attacker dribbles at the defender. The wall passer moves onto the shoulder of the defender to set-up the give-and-go to beat the defender

Key Points

• Dribble at defender
• Wall Passer angle
• Choice of foot – use the outside of the foot closest to the wall passer

Once the players understand the pattern and key points they need to focus on the decision making aspects. The attacker needs to commit the defender before passing. The wall passer needs to recognize when NOT to make the return pass. This is when the attacker has not fully committed the defender because the ball was passed too early. This is a cue for them to keep the ball and dribble.

Give-and-Go Around Triangles

We use the triangle from the warm-up to represent defenders.

Two Defenders

Two players become defenders. The pairs take turns dribbling at the defenders and completing a give-and-go around them. The defenders are not trying to win the ball as the players dribble but they are trying to disrupt the completion of a give-and-go around them.

2 v 1 to Goal

The defender passes to the outside attacker who then passes to his teammate. The attacker with the ball dribbles at the defender while the second attacker moves into position as a wall passer. The defender attempts to win the ball.

The attackers must make the correct decisions to beat the defender and finish on goal.

4 v 4 Endzone Game

The players are required to perform a give-and-go before they can dribble into the endzone. You can remove this rule and allow for free play at the end of the session.

Week Two – Overlap

Triangle Passing

We start with passing and moving to the right and then to the left again as a technical warm-up. I also introduce the players to turning with their back to pressure around the ‘defenders’. 

Overlap Pattern

The defender passes to the outside player who then passes to the inside attacker. The defender moves to pressure the dribbler who is moving to the middle while the outside player shouts, ‘Hold It!’ and runs behind and the ahead of him.

Key Points

• Tell them to ‘Hold It’ as you pass the ball
• Dribble to the middle to create space on the outside
• Tell when the dribbler when to release the ball

The decision making comes in when you allow the defender to try and stop the pass to the overlapping player. If the defender moves to intercept the pass then then dribbler should keep the ball and take the open space in front of him. If the defender tries to steal the ball from the dribbler then it should be passed to the overlapping player.

2 v 1 to Goal

This is the same exercise we used for give-and-goes. It provides the opportunity to emphasis the key points and put the combination play under the pressure of an active defender. The players are punished for mistakes by losing the ball and rewarded for good decisions with a shot on goal.

2 v 2 to Goal

The player play 2 v 2 without restriction. They are instructed to look for opportunities to complete overlaps.

Endzone Game

We again finish with an endzone game. I look to see if the players are correctly taking advantage of opportunities to complete overlaps.

Week Three – Using Both

Triangle Passing

We use triangle passing as our technical warm-up for this session again. After passing to the right and left and making sure that the players were making good passes I give them the freedom to open up and pass, check to the ball for a give-and-go or turn with their back to pressure around the ‘defender’.

Passing Pattern

We return to this passing pattern and review the give-and-go and overlap before I give them the choice. They can perform either combination play. The decision is made by the outside player who receives the ball from the defender. They tell their teammate to, ‘Hold It’ or ‘Go at Him’. This tells his teammate what he is looking for.

2 v 1 to Goal

As with the passing pattern, the player with the ball decides whether to perform a give-and-go or overlap by telling his teammate what to do. Now the dribbler has to decide whether to pass it to the supporting player or take the space that the defender is giving him.

2 v 2 to Goal

The players now have all of the tools to decide what to do. I let the exercise flow freely and coach within it but not by stopping the action unless the same mistake is being made by multiple players.

These are very technical sessions that involve a great deal of dribbling, passing and shooting. The exercises provide a great environment to teach the key factors necessary for effective combination play. Once the players understand the keys then it becomes all about decision making; what to do, when to do it and whether or not they should change their mind depending on what the defender is doing.

These sessions will teach the combination plays but will also give your players the tools to make good soccer decisions during the game.

Printable Show Notes

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In the Next Episode

Putting combination and finishing skills together in front of goal makes the shots more realistic and gets the players looking for these opportunities in the game. Next week I’ll share my favorite finishing activities that involve combination play.

This week I talk about this issue with Bob Warming, Head Men’s Soccer Coach at Penn State University. This is the second time Bob has been on the podcast. If you haven’t listened to our discussion in Episode #8 on The Triangle Training Method, I would encourage you to go back and listen because Bob shares why he developed this training method and how it can help your players.

In this episode Bob and I talk about how coaches can ensure a greater transfer of training between what they do in practice and the games on the weekend.

Bob talks about what coaches shouldn’t do in their training session, the coaching points that he repeats time and again with his own players, the REAL purpose of passing and possession, as well as his three key factors to achieve the greatest transfer of training possible for your players.

I will have a complete transcript of the discussion in the printable show notes that will be posted shortly.

Make sure you subscribe to Coaching Soccer Weekly through iTunes, or your podcast provider of choice, to be sure you never miss an episode.

We would appreciate it if you would leave us a 5 star rating and a written review on iTunes to help spread the word about the show and the information that we are sharing here.

In the Next Episode

In next week’s episode I’ll share a three-week microcycle to train combination play. You can use these sessions with players of just about any age or ability level.

The amount of time you spend in each phase of this session will depend on the age and experience level of your players. With younger players you may only go as far as the 2v2 defending work because those numbers are enough to teach them what they need to know at this stage. If you’re coaching older players you may spend less time on the basics and more on the small-sided games and phase of play exercises but I believe even the most accomplished players need to spend some time working on the basic principles. Without a solid foundation then you will see individual break downs leaving gaps for the opponent to exploit.

Training Session

Teaching the principles of defending is important for players of any age. If you start by introducing 1 v 1 defending at an early age you can gradually build on those concepts to include defending in pairs and in units.

This training session is designed to build up from the most basic unit of defending to a full Attack vs Defense phase of play exercise. If you had a full squad of 22 players you could continue by teaching the attackers their responsibilities when your team is out of possession. This could also be accomplished by starting the phase of play exercise with a ball rolled out by the goalkeeper to work on many of the same ideas. You’d be doing the same exercise but with a focus on the forwards and midfielders.

I’ll also show you how you can use part of this session if you are working with teams that are still playing small-sided soccer.

Training Environment

I try to use one set-up for as much of the session as possible. This means less time wasted moving cones and creating new areas. This also allows the players to see how the session builds. They can see how each part of defending relates to the next.

You can scale it to the size of field your team is playing on. I use 10 x 10 girds regardless of the age. I try to use mats instead of cones inside the area if possible. For this example I’ve used cones on the outside because I don’t have enough mats so I’m showing the area how I had it set up.

1 v 1

Set-Up

• Defenders with a ball at top of the box
• Attacker diagonally across from them
• Start with passive pressure to teach positioning and body shape
• Defender passes to attacker
• Attacker tries to dribble across the line to score
• Defender can counter attack if they win the ball

Coaching Points

• Pass and Pressure
  • 1. Travel when the ball is traveling
• Bend your run to take the line away
  • a. ‘Banana Run’
• ‘Get on your surf board’
  • a. Quarter turn
  • b. Weight on back foot
• Force them one way
• Tackle if they cut back
• Get across them if they try to run into the open space
• Make contact
• Win the ball, don’t just kick it away

Progression

• Switch to the other side
  • Reteach everything when you switch
• If defender allows attacker to score they defend again

2 v 2

Set-Up

• Remove middle cone to make area 20 x 20
• Two defenders at the top of the box with a ball
• Two attackers on the far side
• Everything else is the same
• I start with the attackers passing back and forth
  • Defenders work on their movement and communication
• Make it live when they’re ready

Coaching Points

• Closest defender pressures the other covers
• Communicate who is pressuring
• Covering player should tell pressuring player where to force them
  • I like to take the line away
  • Force attacker into pressure
• iv. Covering players distance and angle
  • Split the attackers
  • Teeter-totter
• v. Switch roles when ball is passed
  • Communicate
  • Travel as the ball travels
• 3. Bend run to take the line away

Give-and-Go Defense

• Drop back as soon as your player passes
• Don’t get caught watching the ball
• Communicate

Overlap Defense

• Slide and switch players
• Trying to track your player will leave the middle open

You might stop here with younger or less experienced players. You can skip to zonal passing game I describe next but with only two players in each zone.

3 v 3 or 4 v 4

• Which one?
• You could progress to 3 v 3 and stop there
• If you have teams playing with a back three
• Or you could go straight into 4 v 4 if you player with four in the back
• The roles of the balancing players are pretty much the same whether you have one or two of them
• I like to go progressively so I do 3 v 3 and then 4 v 4

Set-Up

• Remove cones to make it 30 wide by 20 long
• You can go 30 x 30 once the players understand their movements
• Same as before
• Start passively to define each player’s roles and responsibilities

Coaching Points

• Outside Defender
  • Cut off the line – force them inside
• Tuck in and form a triangle when the ball is central
  • a. Cover on both sides
• Role of Balancing player
• Ready for the direct switch
  • Stay in line with covering player
  • Not too close but don’t leave a gap you can’t cover

Middle Defender

• Lots of communication
• Ready to step up and pressure the ball in the middle
• Force it one way
• Directed by outside players

All Defenders

• 1. Anticipate where the ball will go
• 2. Travel when the ball travels
• 3. Close gaps
• 4. Angles and distance of cover
  • d. Essentially the same for 4 v 4
  • i. More players so more communication and coordination

Four Zone Game (Foosball)

Set-Up

• Put mats back to form the grid
• Two teams divided into two groups each
• Ten yard grid for each player in each group
  • 20 yard wide area for 2 v 2
  • 30 yards for 3 v 3
  • 40 yards for 4 v 4
• The groups occupy the zones as shown in the diagram
  • They alternate
• Each group is restricted to their zone

Process

• The group with the ball tries to find an opening to pass it through an opening between the groups to their team mates on the other side.
• The ball must be played on the ground
• If the ball is intercepted that group tries to complete the same task
• You can award points to the defending team for winning the ball or the attacking team for completing a pass through the defense

Coaching Points

• These are the same as in the 3 v 3 and 4 v 4 game
  • Mistakes are more easily exploited because of the receiving players on the other side.
• Closest player pressures to limit options
  • 1. Take away the line on the outside
  • 2. Force one way or the other in the middle
• Close the gaps
• ‘No Splits’
• Balancing player stay in line with the covering player(s)
• Communication

Phase of Play

Set-Up

• This game will put the defending tactics under the pressure of a game scenario
• Defending 1-4-2-0
• Attacking 3-3
• The attacking team tries to score
• The defending team works to keep their shape, prevent a shot and win the ball
  • 1. Two small goals to counter attack into for the defending team
    

Coaching Points

• Focus on only the defending team
• Work with two holding midfielders to screen the back four and pressure the ball
  • 1. They should slide and cover for each other
• Back four covers for holding midfielders
• Communication to coordinate their movements
• Get the ball to outside backs to counter attack

6 v 6 + GK

• One team attacks the large goal
• The other team attacks the two small goals
• Allow the teams to set-up as they choose
• Play the game as, ‘make it, take it’
  • i. If a team scores they keep the ball and attack the other goal
  • ii. Quick transition
  • iii. Keeps tempo high
  • iv. The players enjoy it
• I don’t coach this
• I see if the players apply what we’ve worked on in training
• I look for mistakes to correct in future sessions

Building a solid defense won’t be done in one session but the principles that are taught in this session will give your players the foundation and understanding to defend well individually and as a team.

Printable Show Notes

The show notes for each episode are accessed through the WCC Training Center.

They are FREE but you will need at least a Free Membership to the Training Center in order to view and print them.

Click on the image of the notes and if you’re already logged in to the Training Center you’ll be taken to the Podcast page. If you’re not logged in your be taken to a login page where you’ll also be able to login or register if you are not already a Member.

Remember!

Make sure you subscribe to Coaching Soccer Weekly through iTunes, or your podcast provider of choice, to be sure you never miss an episode.

We would appreciate it if you would leave us a 5 star rating and/or a written review on iTunes to help spread the word about the show and ensure that we can continue to bring you top notch guests in the future.

In the Next Episode

I’ll look at the different ways you can organize your training sessions. Players learn in different ways and presenting the same topic but organized in a different way may help you teach a concept that your players have been struggling with.

Learning to be Creative

I believe that we need to teach our players a variety of individual fakes and moves in order to spark their imagination and encourage their creativity. By learning a few moves they will see what is possible and this will give them a framework for their own creativity.

The same can be done with creative combination play. If we teach the players a few basic movement patterns, and the keys to making them successful, then this will lead them to find their own patterns in the game.

That is the goal of this session.

Arrival Game – Wembley

This game can be played individually or in pairs. I prefer to play it individually as an arrival game. When a player scores they become the goalkeeper. If you play in pairs you can say that the first team to score three goals wins.

Technical Warm-Up – Passing in Pairs

Start with two touch. Focus on good technique: ankle locked, toes up and out, bouncing the ball off of your foot. We begin by passing right to right. I use my right foot to pass to their right foot. We switch to left to left and then to receiving with one foot and passing with the other.

Next I have one player pass with one touch and the other play with two touches. This is less challenging than having them both play one touch because the player with two touches can clean up the mistakes of the one-touch player. Have the player switch roles so that they both have the opportunity to play one-touch passes.

Only progress to all one touch passes if you think your players are ready for that.

Triangle Passing – Diagonal

The pattern starts with a checking movement and shout by Player 2. Player 1 passes to him and follows his pass. Player 1 and 2 then complete a give-and-go around the cone before Player 2 passes diagonally to Player 3

Coaching Points

• Quality of each pass
• Checking to trigger the pass
• Calling for the ball
• Timing of runs
• Distance of support

Player 1 moves to the second cone, checks and the pattern continues.

Triangle Passing – Give-and-Goes

The first movement are the same but now a second give-and-go is completed around the third cone with Players 2 and 3 before Player 3 dribbles to the first cone.

The coaching points are the same as above.

Triangle Passing – Square Pass

Player 1 now passes to Player 3 after receiving the layoff from Player 2. Then Player 2 runs around the second cone to support Player 3 and complete a give-and-go.

The final phase is to allow the player to choose which combination of passes and movements the will use to get the ball around the triangle. Anything the choose is fine as long as the quality of the passes are good and the timing and distance are realistic to the game.

3 v 1

While the movements aren’t exactly the same as the pattern play, this is an opportunity to work on providing a short and long pass to the player with the ball. This will make it hard for the defender to pin the attackers down to one area.

It’s also a time to talk about dropping off to support your team mate after a pass in order to draw the defender in and open up the longer pass.

4 v 4 + 1

This is a nondirectional game where five passes equals one point. Encourage the players to find patterns in the game from the previous exercises. They should also look for the chance to draw a defender in and then switch the ball to the open space.

4 v 4 Game

This is a multiple ball game that was on our CoachingSoccerConditioning.com blog post a couple of weeks ago. Here is a link to that post.

This is a normal 4 v 4 game except there is a ball on each of the out-of-bounds cones. When the ball goes out of play, whoever touched it last has to retrieve it while the team who gets possession takes a ball off any of the cones around the field. The player retrieving the ball must return it to the empty cone.

This creates a numbers up situation for the attacking team. This numbers-up situation is perfect for working on the combinations learned earlier in the session. It also creates a fast paced game that involves a lot of sprinting so it’s great fitness as well.

8 v 8 

You could end the session with the 4 v 4 games but I wanted to work with larger number to finish so we played an 8 v 8 game. This let me see if the players could find the patterns within a game with larger numbers.

You can use this session to give you inspiration for creating your own combination play session. There are many other drills and exercises you could use to accomplish the same objective.

In the end it’s about giving your players ideas and then letting them apply those ideas to what they see happening in the game.

Printable Show Notes

The show notes for each episode are accessed through the WCC Training Center.

They are FREE but you will need at least a Free Membership to the Training Center in order to view and print them.

Click on the image of the notes and if you’re already logged in to the Training Center you’ll be taken to the Podcast page. If you’re not logged in your be taken to a login page where you’ll also be able to login or register if you are not already a Member.

Remember!

Make sure you subscribe to Coaching Soccer Weekly through iTunes, or your podcast provider of choice, to be sure you never miss an episode.

We would appreciate it if you would leave us a 5 star rating and/or a written review on iTunes to help spread the word about the show and ensure that we can continue to bring you top notch guests in the future.

In the Next Episode

In next week’s episode I’ll share ideas for how to train your players to move more effectively without the ball.

A ‘Five Star’ review on iTunes from ‘Flying Dave’ says, “I’m thoroughly enjoying this podcast. I find it hard to talk soccer coaching with other coaches. My wife is tired of me bouncing ideas off of her. I’m super pleased to hear about coaching from other coaches. thanks!”

Thanks for the review and rating Dave!

Another ‘Five Star’ review is from Arima 19 says, “Have been coaching for 20 years and this is a great vehicle for creating ideas and different ways of presenting your training sessions. When setting up your training sessions, you are likely by yourself and these podcasts act like a second coach to help customize your coaching ideas. Easy to understand with good back up diagrams. Well Done!”

Thanks Arima!

While I really appreciate the kind words and positive feedback, this week I’m looking for something different. Please let me know if there’s something you don’t like about the show. Maybe something you’d suggest we change. Everything is fair game except the host, sorry, you’re stuck with me.

We want this coaching resource to be the best it possibly can be and if there’s something we can change to improve your experience, we want to try to do it.

You can leave your suggestions in the comments section below or email them to me at tommura@worldclasscoaching.com.

In This Episode

I take a look at possession play. My guess is that the most commonly used games by soccer coaches are possession games. This is especially true today with our love for all things possession related.

The challenge is to set up the game to applies enough pressure but not so much that the players don’t experience any success.

If it’s too easy then it doesn’t transfer to match situations. If it’s to hard then the players get frustrated.

The game below strikes a great balance between pressure and success because the pressure increases as the players become successful. This ‘self-regulating’ type of game ensures that the pressure is always challenging without being overwhelming.

Transitional Possession Game

Coaches often use possession games that have two teams of six or more players competing to keep the ball away from the other team. If the teams are having trouble keeping possession then they will add a neutral player or two in order to give the team with the ball a numerical advantage that will make it easier for them to keep the ball.

Usually this will be a non-directional game played in a large area. The number defenders involved make it difficult for players to see the shape of the game and connect passes successfully to move the ball away from pressure.

The following possession game is my favorite game of this type for any age group because it solves many of the issues that the ordinary possession games have.

Set-Up

Use a space the size of two penalty areas. This is an easy way to make the size of the area relative to the age of the players. Divided the space in half and put eight players on each team. Fewer is fine but keep the size of the area relative to the number of players and their ability level as well as their age.

One team is on each side of the area. The coach has a supply of balls at the halfway line.

How the Game Works

One team begins with the ball. The other team sends over two defenders. Five passes equals one point.

Have the players count the passes and points out loud so everyone is aware of the score. I have the players do this because ‘I’m coaching not counting’. I want to be free to give tips and make corrections as the game is being played without worrying about what the score is. Another defender enters the attacking area after each point is scored.

The defenders try to win the ball and move it back to their side of the field. If they do, the other team sends over two defenders. The teams organize who becomes the defenders. When the ball goes out of play the coach plays a new ball into whichever team should have possession.

Benefits

• Starts with less pressure
• Progressively gets more difficult as players get better at possession
• Defenders have to win the ball not just kick it out
• They have to keep it until they can get it to their side of the field
• Includes an element of transition
• New defenders need to move quickly to pressure
• The team has to communicate about who will defend
• Great opportunity to teach players to reshape the Right – Left – Split shape

Coaching Points

• Body shape
• Open to the largest part of the field and teammates
• First touch away from pressure
• Use the back foot to open up
• Support the player on the ball
• Make sure there is a Right – Left – Split
• Spread the field to create space
• Switch the ball away from pressure

You can control the pressure on the attackers by starting with fewer defenders. You could even start with NO defenders for the first five passes. With very young players you can have the defenders crawl like crabs or hop on one foot to defend.

With older or more experienced players you can allow them to leave one defender in the other team’s area. This will make transition more difficult and allow for immediate pressure.

Variation for Restart of Play

Another way to restart play when the balls goes out of play is to number the players. When the ball goes out the coach calls a number and those players race to the coach for a ball.

Focus on Defending

This is a great game to teaching pressing. Keep the same set-up and game play but change the scoring system. Give five points if the defending team wins the ball before five passes are completed. They receive three points if they win the ball after 10 passes. The defending team receives one point any time after that.

This creates the motivation for the defenders to work hard. It also provides an opportunity to teach pressure, cover and balance.

I feel that it’s important keep the game flowing and only coach within the game without stopping the action.

You can also give coaching points between rounds of play. Play until a team reaches a set number of points then give the players a break and discuss what can be done better. The play another round and focus on those coaching points during the flow of play.

As you can see this is a possession game that you can shape to fit the age and ability level of your players. Since the pressure is controlled by the amount of success they have the players will gain confidence quickly and the pressure will increase as they improve.

You can also control the focus of the game by deciding how points will be earned. Give points for passes when you want to work on possession and give points for winning the ball when you want to have the players focus on pressing the ball. Once you’ve used this game a few times with each scoring system you will see the players improving on both sides of the ball.

Finally, this is a great conditioning game that will improve the player’s fitness while they are also working on their technique and small group tactics.

Printable Show Notes

The show notes for each episode are accessed through the WCC Training Center.

They are FREE but you will need at least a Free Membership to the Training Center in order to view and print them.

Click on the image of the notes and if you’re already logged in to the Training Center you’ll be taken to the Podcast page. If you’re not logged in your be taken to a login page where you’ll also be able to login or register if you are not already a Member.

Remember!

Make sure you subscribe to Coaching Soccer Weekly through iTunes, or your podcast provider of choice, to be sure you never miss an episode.

We would appreciate it if you would leave us a 5 star rating and/or a written review on iTunes to help spread the word about the show and ensure that we can continue to bring you top notch guests in the future.

In the Next Episode

In next week’s episode I’ll share a complete training session inspired by the quick passing and combination play of Barcelona and Bayern Munich.

One of them is focused on how to use ‘Free Play’

Tim asks, “How do you set up free play?  Whenever you allow your players free play, how involved are you? I image you handle substitutions and try to ensure equal playing time, but is that where you stop? Do you do anything in regards to formations, positions, or any other technical or tactical coaching? How much free play do you allow your teams? Would you vary the amount of free time that players get in different age groups?

Thanks for the question Tim. I use the last part of the small-sided game at the end of each training session as ‘free play’. I make sure everyone is involved so that we don’t have any subs. I use a neutral player if we have an odd number. If i want to play 4v4 I’ll just create two of these games so that everyone is playing. I have the players decide what shape and positions they’ll use. Even your youngest players can do this. I try to give the players five to 10 minutes at the end for free play. This is the same for every age I work with.

Session Overview

In this episode I want to share a complete training session designed to teach your players different ways to get behind the defense. It starts with an arrival game to get the players engaged right away. Then we do some technical work so that the players are passing and moving well. Next, I introduce some patterns along with options that the players can choose from.

I’ll show you the progressions I use that lead to taking a shot on goal. We then get into a game related activity to allow the players to use the patterns against active pressure. The session finishes with small-sided games to test the player’s ability to use the techniques and tactics in game situations.

Training Session

Today it seems that coaches are most concerned about maintaining possession. Keeping possession without creating chances to score is more of a defensive tactic than an attacking one.

If you’re going to create goal scoring chances you’re going to have to do more than possess it in front of the other team. You need to get the ball behind lines of pressure.

This training session is focused on finding combinations of movement and passing to accomplish this goal.

Arrival 5 v 2

There are six Cones but only five attackers. As the ball is passed the players move to make sure that the player with the ball has support. The two defenders work to break up the possession. Change defenders after the ball is lost four times.

Six Cones

Three balls are passed back and forth. The players pass and follow to the end of the other line. This is a technical warm-up to prepare for the session. It’s important to stress the quality of first touch and the pass.

Passing Pattern with Two Balls

The pattern begins with a diagonal pass to the right by both players in the middle. The the ball is passed down the line to the player in front of them. Finally the ball is passed diagonally to the left to restart the pattern. Each player follows their pass.

Next the same pattern is completed in the other direction.

Coaching Points

• First touch
• Pass to outside foot
• Setup your teammate with quality pass
• Be aware of where the next pass is coming from

Barca Passing Pattern

Setup:

• One cone 10 yards from each end of a 10 yard square
• Line of players on first cone
• One on the first line of the square
• One on the second line
• One on the last cone

The movements are cued off of the seocnd player. He chooses right or left. The third player goes in the opposite direction.

Ball played to second player and laid off. The ball is then passed to third player who lays it off for the second player to follow and pass to the last player.

Coaching Points

• Quality of Pass
• Which foot to pass to
• Body position of receiver
• Angle of support and layoff

Progressions

• Add give and go with last player
• First pass goes to third player
• First passer chooses
• Receiver can turn
• Each player can choose their pass
• Add Defender
  • Passive
  • Active

You know it’s clicking when the second player starts to fake one way and go the other. The players are asking for the ball. They are spinning out after their layoff to support the next pass. Once the players start to move quickly and play one touch they are ready for the next exercise.

Barca Passing Pattern with Shooting

Use the same patterns but the last player can turn and shoot or lay the ball off and then move for the return pass.

2 v 2 Target to Target

This is the same setup but I’ve widened it to 20 yards. The targets have unlimited touches to begin with but you can progress to playing two touch. The middle players have unlimited touches. You can also reduce this as the players improve.

Look for similar movements and patterns:

• High and Low
• Open on opposite side
• Movement to open spaces
• ENCOURAGE CREATIVITY
• Target can play directly to target if the space is open but only on the ground

Team Target to Target

This is really just a progression from the 2 v 2 game. It’s more complex with more players to combine with.

Look for the players to create levels of support (right, left and split) as they try to move the ball from one target to the other.

Finish with a Game

Look for the players to recognize situations from early in training. Be sure to focus your comments on the topic. Be sure that the players are getting the ball through lines of pressure. If this isn’t happening it can often be because the attacking team is not making runs behind the defenders.

Don’t stop play unless absolutely necessary. Let the player express themselves and see what they have learned from the session.

Remember!

Make sure you subscribe to Coaching Soccer Weekly through iTunes, or your podcast provider of choice, to be sure you never miss an episode.

We would appreciate it if you would leave us a 5 star rating and/or a written review on iTunes to help spread the word about the show and ensure that we can continue to bring you top notch guests in the future.

In the Next Episode

In next week’s episode I want to show you fun ways to start your training sessions that will help to motivate and engage your players so that they are ready to learn what you have to teach them.

In this Episode I talk with Bob Warming, Head Men’s Coach at Penn State University about a method of training that many of us may not be familiar with.

We discuss what European Academies are doing that we aren’t. How they use mannequins in training. Why we don’t use them. Bob describes ways that we can get the same benefit without the cost and hassle of using mannequins. We close with the three things that Bob looks for in players he’s recruiting.

Mannequin Training, Pep Guardiola, and The Triangle Training Method

Penn State Men’s Soccer Coach Bob Warming has been using mannequin training to develop successful players and teams for years. “Substituting mannequins with The Training Triangles has solved the portability, storage, transportation and other issues we’ve experienced while using full sized mannequins to train pattern play for the last 8 years” remarks Warming. But the PSU Head Coach isn’t the only one beginning to seek a solution to the numerous issues with mannequins, as the list of Men’s and Women’s College, Club, and High School teams now using The Training Triangle is rapidly growing. Coaches can now easily implement mannequin training with their teams, without needing to haul full sized mannequins from a storage facility to the field everyday.

The Triangle Training Method and Pep Guardiola

Warming has helped design a completely free website TheTriangleTrainingMethod.com aimed at sharing innovative training methodologies to develop players of all age groups and skill levels.  The site outlines some of his team’s training practices in Fall 2014 using mannequin training like this one:

Notice Any Similarities?

Remember!

Make sure you subscribe to Coaching Soccer Weekly through iTunes, or your podcast provider of choice, to be sure you never miss an episode.

We would appreciate it if you would leave us a 5 star rating and/or a written review on iTunes to help spread the word about the show and ensure that we can continue to bring you top notch guests in the future.

In the Next Episode

In next week’s episode I present six different methods to train your players to be more effective in any 1 v 1 situation. 1v1’s are such a key factor in games at every level that we owe it to our players to help them come up with solutions to any 1 v 1 confrontation they will face.

We’ve continued to get some great feedback on the podcast. Thousands of coaches are listening every week and it’s great to hear that they’re enjoying the show.

Some have been sharing the episodes with their friends and followers on Facebook and Twitter. Thanks to @precisionfutbol for helping to spread the word on Twitter.

We’ve also continued to receive some great ‘5 Star’ reviews and comments on iTunes: Adam McCracken (great username) said ‘If you are in your first year of coaching or a veteran coach, coaching high school and college, Tom has something for everyone. Great in depth look at a different topic each week that will make each coach and team better. Even as a college soccer player myself I found different things I would have never thought of.’ – thanks Adam

AElliott2 said ‘This has great information. I’m not a soccer coach by nature but I’m doing the best I can for my young kids. Thanks for helping me “fake it ’till I make it!”’

Jakbb88 said ‘Great information for all ages and skill levels!’

Thanks to everyone who took the time to give us a review and a ranking in iTunes.

Here’s a question I received by email:

Email me your questions to tommura@worldclasscoaching.com and I’ll do my best to help.

The 5 v 2 possession game is probably the most popular possession game. It’s a great way to teach the basics of possession or challenge more experienced players with smaller spaces and greater restrictions. In this episode I discuss different ways to setup your 5 v 2 exercises depending on what you are trying to accomplish.

Five Outside

The outside players pass and move the ball around the outside. They should move with each pass to support the player on the ball. The focus is on moving the ball away from pressure.

Variations

• Count number of passes
• Split the defenders
• Limit Touches
  1. From the start
  2. After set number of passes

Problems

• Not moving after a pass
• Moving away from the ball
• Players in corners
• Not giving Right / Left / Split

This is not the only way to play. Maybe not the best way either.

Four Outside With One Inside

• Diamond Shape
• Adds CM
• This is the shape of the game
• Make area rectangular

Coaching Points

• Keep your shape as the ball moves
• Sharpen angles
• Pass to CM as often as possible
• CM must have ‘Open’ body position to switch the ball

4 V 2 Transfer

• Pass to 5th player in the next grid
• Three passes before transferring to target
• Puts more pressure on possession
• 4 v 2 in the first area

Reduce Pressure

• Put one defender in each square – 4v1
• Require defender to stay behind target until the first touch
• Progress to allow free movement
• Have the players imagine how this relates to the game

2 v 2 + 3

• Most functional way to play 5 v 2
• Defined roles
• Adds transition
• Keep score
• Getting the ball from one end to the other
• Add goals
• Target lays off for one of the wide players to shoot

5 v 2 games are great for teaching the key concepts of possession. Once they understand angles of support, body position, the importance of the first touch and having a plan it will be much easier for them to see these moments in larger possession games and ultimately in the game.

The ability to take a good first touch and make a quality pass is just as important to success in this environment as anything else. If your players understand the tactical concepts of support but can’t make a pass that keeps possession these games will constantly breakdown.

The key for the coach is to closely watch these games and see if the breakdowns that are occurring are technical or tactical. Knowing this will allow you to focus on that area and make the coaching points necessary to help your players keep the ball more effectively.

Don’t Forget!

Make sure you subscribe to Coaching Soccer Weekly through iTunes, or your podcast provider of choice, to be sure you never miss an episode.

We would appreciate it if you would leave us a 5 star rating and/or a written review on iTunes to help spread the word about the show and ensure that we can continue to bring you top notch guests in the future.

In the Next Episode

In next week’s episode I’m going to discuss a topic that I think all coaches should be more aware of. It’s an improvement that we all want to see but I don’t think we are doing as much as we can to help make it happen.

This is a progressive session so it gradually adds pressure and complexity and ends by applying the skills in game situations. This progression helps to create a transfer of training from the basic practice to a game.

I think you’ll find this session useful for teams of any age or experience level.

Featured Training Session

Show, Pass and Turn

SetUp

Two lines of players. There’s a cone gate in between them. One player starts with a ball. The player across from him shows into the gate. Timing their run to go through the gate as the ball arrives. The passer needs to be sure to let the receiver get through the gate before they have to take their first touch.

The receiver then turns around the outside or through the middle depending on the type of turn they are using. After turning the ball is passed to the first player in the line they came from. With younger players you might have each player have their own ball so that the exercise moves more quickly.

Types of Turns

Opening the Gate

• Step toward the ball so that the ball rolls across your body
• Receive it with the inside of your back foot
• Play away with the outside of the same foot through the gate

Inside of the Foot

• Use the inside of the foot that the ball comes to
• Control it across your body
• Taking it early, out in front of you, will allow you to turn around the cone with one touch

Outside of the Foot

• Use the outside of the OPPOSITE foot
• This means that you have to reach across your body
• Control the ball across your body
• Again, taking it early will help you to turn in one touch
• This one is challenging at first so have the players take a little off their passes to give the receiver more time to react

(Good, isn’t she!)

Cruyff

• Use the inside of the foot that the ball comes to
• Control it behind your standing leg
• Diagonally through the gate
• Have the receiver show to one cone or the other to create an angle
• This also helps with the outside of the foot turn
• There are other turns but these are the four core movements that I teach

Tag Turning

This begins as a pattern exercise to focus on the technique of turning and we gradually add pressure.

1. Basic Pattern
   1. Two lines of players are facing each other
   2. One player has a ball (Player 3)
   3. A player from the opposite line starts in the middle (Player 1)
   4. Player 1 goes back toward his line and tags the next player (Player 2)
   5. Player 1 then checks back toward the ball and Player 3
   6. Player 2 follows closely behind
   7. Player 1 calls for the ball and Player 3 passes it to him
   8. Player 1 receives the ball and turns around Player 2 using one of the four turns taught earlier
   9. Player 2 then moves to tag Player 3 while Player 1 passes to Player 4 and the pattern continues

Coaching Points

1. Make sure the passer is ready before checking to the ball
2. Hold your run if necessary
3. Check away quickly from Player 2
4. Check your shoulder to see if Player 2 is following
5. Call for the ball early so you have space to receive the ball
6. Check your shoulder again after calling for the ball to see the position of the defender
7. Turn the ball across your body and away from the defender
8. Always demand a quality of the pass

Progressions

1. Apply physical pressure by having the defender put one had on the attackers shoulder
2. This also provides a clue as to which side to turn away from
3. Have the defender pick a side so that they attacker can turn to the open side but do not put a hand on their shoulder so they have to look for the defender
4. Allow the defender to tackle if the attacker turns into them
5. Allow full pressure from the defender

Turning to Shoot

I like to incorporate shooting into training sessions whenever possible

1. Fun for the players
2. Shows them how the skill can create goalscoring opportunities
3. Helps with transfer of training

Setup

1. Line of players with a ball each next to each goal (diagonal from each other)
2. A flag (or cone) 15 yards in front of the line and outside of the penalty area
3. This will be different for different age groups but that’s the point

Pattern

1. The first player in line starts without a ball and jogs to the flag and then checks back to receive a pass
2. Use a turn and shoot on goal
3. The shooter can become the keeper and the keeper gets a ball and joins the end of the line next to that goal
4. Have the lines switch to the other side of the goal to work on turning both ways

Progression

1. Put a player in place of the flag or cone
2. The players rotate from passer to receiver to defender and then the goalkeeper
3. Start with shadow defender and progress to full pressure

Possession to Target

Now we’re moving toward applying these skills to game situations

Set-Up

1. There are three zones
2. In the example we play 3 v 3 in the middle
3. Each team has a forward in front of the goal they are attacking as well as a defender protecting their goal
4. These are the only players allowed outside of the middle zone
5. You can scale this up depending on the number of players you have at training
6. The middle players attempt to complete three passes before playing to their attacker
7. The attacker attempts to turn and finish
8. Rotate your attacker, defenders and midfielder if you would like or put them in their usually positions depending on the age group you are working with

Coaching Points

1. To start with, the defend must stay behind the attacker until they have their first touch
2. Encourage the attacker to ‘stay high’ up the field, away from the middle zone
   1. This creates space for them to show into and room to turn
   2. If they get too close too early the defender will be right on top of them when they receive the ball

Progression

1. Have one defensive midfielder recover to encourage the attacker to turn quickly and score
2. Have one attacking midfielder join the attacker in support
3. Add a second attacker and defender to the final third to work on the attackers movements and combinations between them

Finish with free play

This allows you to see if what you’ve taught has been understood and can be applied without artificial rules.

Don’t Forget!

Make sure you subscribe to Coaching Soccer Weekly through iTunes, or your podcast provider of choice, to be sure you never miss an episode.

We would appreciate it if you would leave us a 5 star rating and/or a written review on iTunes to help spread the word about the show and ensure that we can continue to bring you top notch guests in the future.

In the Next Episode

I talk about my favorite format for training creative goalscorers. Technical shooting work is necessary but it’s exercises like this that help you transfer that skill training to the game.

Future Interviews

In an upcoming episode we talk to Wayne Harrison about training soccer awareness. Wayne has coached at every level of the game and I know you’ll enjoy his insights.