Each December the coaches in our club complete player evaluations. We used to do these on paper but for the last few years we've used ZoomReports for all of our player evaluations. That was long before ZoomReports became a sponsor of this podcast. It's a great site that makes it easy for our coaches to complete evaluations but it's also a great tool for our Directors because it allows them to see which coaches have completed their evaluations and which … [Read more...]
#031 Training Session for Position Specific Possession
This week I will share a training session that will help your players make the connection between the work you do on possession in practice to the way they function within a team shape in the match. But first.... Congratulations to Sporting Kansas City for winning the 2015 Lamar Hunt Open Cup! As a coach with a Sporting KC Affiliate Club I've been fortunate to work with the first team staff on ways that we can help develop more homegrown players like … [Read more...]
#026 Developing Players in Full Sided Games
An email came out from US Youth Soccer on Monday, August 24. It was to announce changes that most people had heard something about already. The first is that they are mandating small-sided soccer for players below the age of 12. They are also standardizing the formats for each age group. The U8’s will play 4 v 4 without goalkeepers, U9-U10's will play 7 v 7 and U11 and U12 teams will play 9 v 9. This is a change from the 6 v 6 and 8 v 8 formats that many of … [Read more...]
#025 Systems of Play for U11 and U12
Last weekend was our first tournament weekend. There is always a lot of discussion about whether playing multiple games over a weekend is good for players. I think it depends on the age and level of the players. For high school age and above I think more harm than good comes from playing more than a game a day and no more than three days in a row. These are players that are playing close to if not full 90 minute games and often with limited … [Read more...]
#024 Formations for Small-Sided Soccer
The questions and suggestions keep coming in each week and one that I received today gave me an idea. Michael K said, ‘I am really enjoying your podcasts and am finding them very informative and educational. Would it be possible to include sessions that focus on set plays and restarts? This is a topic that I have on my list but it’s one that I’ve avoided because it’s not one of my strengths. I have a couple of corners and free kicks that I use with my teams … [Read more...]
#017 Formations and Adjustments
A few weeks ago I mentioned what a crazy time of year this is. The last tournaments of the year lead into State Cup and President’s Cup competitions. That’s immediately followed by tryouts. Now’s the time to look back and review. Last week I gave you an overview of our tryout process. This week I look at how I arrived at a formation and style of play for one of my teams as well as how it evolved and changed over the course of the year as well as how it might … [Read more...]
#015 Analyzing Your Team’s Performance
We had a request from a coach wanting to learn more about how to breakdown the game from the sideline so I arranged to talk with John Pascarella, Assistant Coach for Sporting KC. John has coached at every level of the game and knows what to look for whether he's watching games at the highest level or younger youth teams playing in local leagues. We discuss what to look for in your opponents as well as what to focus on with your own team. He shares his … [Read more...]