Crash Course Thread...

I hesitate to say anything because with 7 years experience I probably couldn't begin to think of anything you haven't already thought of. You ask some tough questions.

Like the first one: "How do you go about organizing your team based on talent?" The easy part of the answer is put good players down the spine of the team. Keeper, CB, CM, and striker positions have the most influence on the field. Put a natural leader in the CB and CM positions.

Okay now we are past the easy stuff. After that, I don't know how to explain it. I look at the players, their skills and personalities and figure out which combinations of players will work best together. For instance you have two wide players on the right flank. Who plays in front of who? It takes some experimentation, and sometimes the reverse will work better against an opponent. A sticky problem is who plays on the left side. Usually you are looking for right-side players to move to the left. Usually you put the better defenders on the left because usually the opponents attack more down that flank and have their faster wing there. But not always. Sometimes you may surprise your opponent by overloading the left with attacking quality. I really cannot explain how I decide who to put where any more than I can explain why one lineup works this week and next week the same lineup doesn't work. I also cannot explain why making one change to the lineup can have a significant change on how the team plays.

Now to the "organizing" part of organizing the team. How did I handle dealing with opponent speed with a mixed talent group? This is not going to be a popular answer: (U10s and U12s) I used a pressing zone defense in depth with a diamond back line with a sweeper. If you have only one great back, sweeper is a good position for her. The early pressure on the ball is important because it keeps the opponent's head down and won't allow a quality pass over the top. Little or no pressure on the ball will kill you no matter how good your back line is.

For handling speed at adult rec, I would usually put 2 college-level players at CB, at least one with speed. I would put the slower or weaker players on the flanks. In possession one of the CBs would move into the midfield instead of an "attacking" fullback. But I coached the same over-30 players for 15 years and about half were college-level players. We basically used the off-sides rule with good effect to negate the opponent's speed. Generally our team on average was 20 years older than our opponents, so we used our advantage of experience against the younger players. Fast doesn't count as much as timing.

I just ordered Dan Blank's "Shut Out Pizza." It tells how Dan coached his back lines in college. But at college he is dealing with the best high school players, so not everything he did will work for you. Some of it might help though. I don't know if you have read any of his books, but he is very practical in his writing approach.

Before tackling the rest of your questions, how do you organize each line in your 442? Particularly the midfield organization(s) is important for team play and the forward line organization is important for getting the best out of your forwards.

 

About what I expected, which means you are doing well and there is not much advice I can give you.

Back line: no comment other than to suggest that looking at Dan Blank's book or what some other college coach is doing might help you come up with some new ideas about training a flat four. We have some other posters (with a lot more experience than I) that might have some suggestions.

Midfield: Especially in a 442 the easiest way to make significant adjustments to how your team plays is to change the organization of the midfield (i.e., T, inverted T, flat, diamond, box). First point, I consider organization and shape to be two different subjects. Organization is about roles, shape is the team's shape on the field. I like the diamond and it is by far the most common organization. Second point regardless of organization and system, the most common defending shape for a team in their own half is two lines of four. So in a 442 system, typically the defensive shape is 442 and the attacking shape is 244 (or 2413) with rotational movement.

The T and inverted T play much the same as the diamond. The variance is in the offensive/defensive balance for the winghalfs. For instance 50/50, 40/60 or 60/40. So a T or inverted T is a useful adjustment if you want to chase the game or kill the game off.

For 442 I like the box as much as the diamond, although I didn't use it that much. It is nicely balanced. Think of the box as two pairs (right side and left side) of AM and supporting DM. The DMs protect against the counter while the AMs collapse into a line of four after a turnover. If a CB moves into the midfield while in possession the pairs can split wider and if you use attacking fullbacks, they can play more inside to allow room for overlaps. The AMs are going to be naturally aimed at the gaps between the opponent's CB and FB on each side, which is exactly the point where Pep Guardiolo aims his best players in the final third. The AM will always have close support for a safe pass to begin a switch to the weak side. You still have a striker pair so the CBs will be engaged. If the full back pushed up and/or a striker supports you have opportunities for numbers up play.

The real value is having both a diamond and a box as golf clubs in in your bag.

Forwards: Cannot add much here to what you already said. This applies to a certain extent to the other lines as well. I got a lot of mileage out of trusting my players and giving them freedom to react to the circumstances.

Of course this works better with experienced players who read the game well, but, even when I was coaching U10s and 12s house league, I taught zonal marking (it was over 20 years ago) and did not forbid the girls from leaving their assigned zones. They had a surprising amount of common sense, shifting to fill empty center zones, shifting to an overloaded zone when theirs was empty, and switching to man to man marking inside the penalty area. Which I reinforced.

With adults I liked to run a slightly different 433 from the classic Dutch 433. Instead of 3 CMs I used a RM/CM/LM and had 3 forwards who had complete freedom to interchange and find space anywhere. Typically they would arrange it so the best was in a 1 to 1 situation against an over-matched back. The freedom of movement made it very difficult for the opponent. Some adult players were very uncomfortable at first without an "assigned position." I just told them to go wherever they wanted and I would go where they weren't. That explanation always worked.

I was thinking that giving your two strikers freedom of movement might do the same thing for your team. The only important tactical limitation on the two strikers movement is being within supporting distance of each other when needed. I suspect that your team would need one of the strikers to stay central near the penalty area, so both could not move away at the same time. You could get almost same movement but with more predictability with a "second striker" position. This freedom of movement would work better with the two AMs than with the solo CAM I think, especially in attacking through the center channel.

I suspect none of my comments are anything you haven't already thought of.

 

Tough question. My philosophy is that I want to help make the players better than they were. At the high school age this is not so much about improving their technique, tactics, or fitness. I think it is about encouraging them to love competitive sports and become better players. Instead of thinking on how few go on to play college, think of how many potential future adult players, referees and coaches you have a chance to influence.

Not much I can say about your training plans. I do have 2 comments.

First consider development in the big picture for your club players. You can further a club players development by broadening their experiences from what they might not get at the club level. Leadership roles. Playing in different positions, like a club back playing striker or winger, a club striker playing DM or AM, and a right sided player playing on the left side (experience that they should be getting with the club but often aren't).

Second. If you can contact their club DOCs, you could expressly ask what they would suggest you do to further the players' development. You might even ask about fitness and intensity. The club players are probably at a quite different point in a yearly training cycle than your other players. So it might be better to tailor the planned intensity levels to the individuals. Much like the first practice after a match when you push those that didn't get minutes and lower the intensity for those that played a full match. That would probably be a shocker to the DOCs but it is about time we started seeing club and high school coaches as something other than adversaries and build networks within the coaching community. You might even find a coaching mentor with an A license that way.

Sorry I couldn't be of more help. Hopefully you will get some more responses. Best wishes for fun and success.

Oh one last suggestion. If you aren't already, join NSCAA and start networking with local coaches and state organization people. NSCAA is trying to run a mentor program and has a special program for coaches under 30 and another for coaches of women.

 

I forgot to mention something earlier. It isn't easy on the coach. If I was coaching HS girls I would consider running a 343 as suggested by Anson Dorrance. I would look at 433 and 343 before 442. Essentially all would defend in two lines of four, but attacking shape and pressing is easier and more intuitive in a 433 and 343.

Anson's 343 is not organized as a WM with a box midfield. It has a flat midfield for better compactness and width. The other thing I find unique is that his 3 forwards all shift to the strong side. Generally the opponent's back line shifts to the strong side too, leaving space for a midfielder (e.g, the winghalf) to run toward the far post. He has a large number of books and articles available, some are written as advice to high school coaches.

Obviously this is not a suggestion for this year.

 

I never have been a believer in playing a 4-4-2 in the women's game too much running on the flanks. Especially with new players.

The slower the player the smarter they have to be not to get burned by their mistakes so they better be smart. New soccer players have no soccer sense.

On sitting players for missing practice. Was there a compelling reason for missing practice? If there wasn't Try this let them come to the game, and not play at all. Then one of two things will happen. They will try never to miss a practice again or they will quit the team. Either way it will be better for the team.

If they miss practice and still play they don't need you. If you think they do need you to get better. Then you my friend don't need them.

 

Stew since they are used to 4-4-2 tell me how your flank players the wing mids play in it.

You know Juventus 4-4-2 they played for years using only 1 true winger the left wing mid the other wing player played it like regular mid.

So most of the time the attack on a flank came only from the left side of the field.

 

One of the reasons why your wing mids are too far up field after someone on your team loses the ball is because they don't know when to make their runs. You run when the player with the ball gets his head up. That is when they can pass not when their head is down. Plus they should not be more then 8 yards further up when a inside players has the ball.

So if an inside player loses the ball while there head is down. Your wingers recovery run to get behind the ball will be much less. Even if the mid gets his head up and the team loses the ball your flank players recovery runs will still be much less to get behind the ball.

 

the flank players have to be trained to play the flank right on attack and on defense so they can make the transition from attack to defense in less time.

Also their body position had to be right on the flank. They have three option on the flank forward option to run or pass, the inside the field option again to run or pass and the back option again to run or pass.

Plus if they beat their first defender that doesn't mean they can beat the second defender if he is positioned right. The second defender can be dangerous defender for the wing mid. A lot of very good flank player get hurt by the second defender. Good example is Tab Ramos.

 

Curious when your wing mid has the ball. Does one of your strikers make a diagonal run in front of him?

 

1. Did you want transition to defense or transition to attack (a/k/a counterattacking)?

2. If I understand what you mean by "landmarks," the keeper's literal landmarks are the markings on the field, most importantly the penalty spot for monitoring her positioning. For the field players the most important literal landmarks are the goal (of course) and the half line (for offsides purposes). For everyone the ball is always one of the landmarks.

In addition, however, we also use opponents, team mates and the ball as landmarks to determine positioning. So typically we want field players to be in particular positions relative to the ball or relative to opponents and teammates. Using physical locations on the field creates tactical problems because it doesn't take into consideration changing circumstances.

I will use the DM as an example. The typical coaching instruction for a DM is that when we are attacking the DM is always behind the ball to guard against a counterattack if we lose possession. The only time the DM makes an attacking run (goes higher in the team shape) is when the DM is the player with the ball. Generally this means that the DM is "holding back" while the other midfielders are advancing closer to the opponent's goal.

This is not the only way to organize, but right now a typical practice in the attack with a 4 back system is to have the fullbacks advance along the touch until even with the DM. So the back line becomes a shallow U shape or "bow." So the "landmarks" for the fullbacks are the touch line, the DM's position, and the opponents. The opponent's location is important because the fullback needs to be available in open space for a pass in order to support her team mates whenever they are looking to pass. They also have to watch the winghalf teammate ahead of her because if the weakside winghalf goes inside the fullback has to stay wide (and in open space) so the team shape has width for a switch option. As the team advances up the field into the attacking half of the field, you typically tell the back line that they should stay within supporting distance of the midfielders. Supporting distance is going to vary with the effective passing distance of the players. Typically a coach would want about 20 yards between the lines, for some teams the coaches want more distance, for some they want less distance. The half line is the usual landmark for the backs. If using attacking fullbacks, most coaches don't want CBs to advance further than the half line (because of the offsides rule). Sometimes they will tell the fullbacks not to go more than x yards past the half line--10 or 15 for example-- except for certain circumstances. Examples would be making an overlapping run on the strong side or an attacking run into space on the weak side. Coaches may not want both fullbacks to go forward at the same time. So the fulls backs will watch for each other's location as well.

Spotting a problem and knowing how to correct it are two different issues. In the diamond midfield you have a DM (holding midfielder) who is supposed to be providing depth in the midfield to protect against counter attacks. If the DM is in a good position and there is too much gap between the back line and the midfielders, then the back line needs to move to close the gap. A special situation exists when far up the field. You don't want the CBs to go past the halfline and you want to get numbers into the opponent's penalty area, so this will stretch the shape of your team longer than any where else on the field. The solution is to have the DM play further behind the ball. Don't use the halfline as her landmark because it is behind her. Use the 18 yard line as the landmark instead because it is in front of her. If there is 42 yards between the half line and the 18 (a 120 yard field) you might tell the DM to stay at least 20 yards away from the penalty area unless she has the ball. That should limit the gap between the CBs and DM to 20 yards. You might also want the DM just to control the center channel(s) and so tell the DM to stay in the center 44 yards of the field as indicated by the edges of the penalty areas.

Hope that helps.

 

Whew. I am slow. There was 5 new posts while I was writing that one!

When Nick was talking about winghalf runs, he said the winghalf should not run more than 8 yards ahead of the inside player. The inside player is the "landmark" in that situation.

 

What you use (LM/CAM/DM/RM) I call a diamond midfield.

I call a box midfield one with a right side AM/DM pair and a left side AM/DM pair.

A "T" is LM/CM/DM/RM. It is just like the diamond, except the T has a box-to-box CM instead of a CAM. The T shape refers to the 3 box to box mids playing in front of a DM.

An "inverted T" is LM/CAM/CM/RM. It is like the diamond but with a box to box CM instead of the DM (holding mid).

Does that help?

 

I just wanna say this thread is a whole ton of awesome already. Even though our outdoor season is over I'm already thinking of how this all could apply next year. And getting a headache. Time for more coffee methinks...