FUNNY YOU SHOULD ASK. My U11s are playing futsal again this winter, but I'm not coaching them full time. A parent does. But I go from time to time to watch. When I go, I watch the first half from the stands (I like seeing them from an elevated angle so I can see their shape). At half I go down to tell them what I see and make some suggestions. I came down at half after the first game I watched I told them to use their GK more. BUT apparently there's a one back pass rule (per possession or per half). Other team gets an indirect otherwise. So that's the biggest roadblock to using the GK. I was steamed about it for a day or two but it makes sense, it keeps the game moving forward otherwise, two good teams may just sit back (one circulating side to side, the other just keeping shape). But I agree—the futsal is a good size. In some books that study futsal point out that most Brazilian kids don't play anything but futsal until they are older. Youngsters like Ronaldinho never saw a regulation ball and a grass pitch until they were teens according to the book. In the winter, our space is only 30L x 20W so we are limited. 5v5, like futsal, is the optimal shape. We sub as needed.
This link is to a slide show urging coaches to train teams to play possession style soccer as early as U10. http://assets.ngin.com/attachments/document/0042/7591/ImplementingAPossessionPlayingStyle.pdf This was apparently a presentation at a USYSA workshop in 2012. I linked it because it illustrates everything I consider wrong with the push for possession style soccer for youth teams. These problems I discussed in earlier posts. To summarize my concerns the slides push myths about soccer tactics that are not true, including a mischaracterization of soccer styles. (It lists bad tactics and then calls that direct play, then lists some of the general principles of attack and describes it as possession style play but, I think illustrative, it never mentions the most important attacking principle--penetration. It stresses the teaching of team tactics to U-Littles when coaches should be stressing fundamentals. Really it mistakenly associates possession style as defensive soccer. The truth is any style of attacking play can be associated with "attacking soccer" or "defensive soccer." The distinguishing characteristic is how aggressively does the team attempt to break down the opponent's defense and score as opposed to run out the clock? I have no quarrel with the coach presenting these materials. He is just preaching the USYSA policy and conventional wisdom. This conventional wisdom which I think is sure to guarantee development of less skilled and less astute players for the future. I think I lost 20 soccer IQ points just looking at the slides. The biggest kick I got out of the slides was the one depicting a progressive formation for U15s--It is the ancient 235 (i.e., 2323 shape). The recommended U10 attacking shape with no one playing in the center was also a shocker. (Exactly how does one play possession style soccer without close support and numbers up around the ball?) Want to play supersize rondo anyone? I don't have a USSF coaching license (I don't count my F), but I know how to play soccer.
We took our club to an indoor tournament this weekend, across the board we could really see that the club-wide implementation of a possession style of play is taking root. We also started using a club-recommended curriculum, a set of about 20 activities to teach concepts from U9 on up. The interesting thing is how much you can cover in 20 drills—as the players grow, speed of play becomes more important, so technical ability does too. So it's not that the drills get ever more complex (how can they? as the most complex they should be is a soccer game, right?). I've stopped hunting for more drills, and focusing instead on how to run these the best way possible and how to adapt and modify. This is one of those concepts taken from that book Practice Perfect and that blog 3four3.com: as coaches, we need to practice too. Jumping from drill to new drill for variety's sake limits our ability to really improve on our coaching. The curriculum isn't rigid. It's a simple idea to get most of our coaches to master how to coach and apply a discrete set of activities. And further, to understand how it all fits together. In fact, I feel like I'm finally getting answers to how to effectively coach possession AND get the players to understand when and how to go forward within the style. My last point with this post, we have 4 "senior" coaches and despite possession having similar concepts they all teach it effectively but in a different way. Working with them all has allowed me to cannibalize the different styles. The key, again, is that they don't do a lot of different activities. Repeat, repeat, repeat. Got lots of ideas on the topic these days. Ask if you're interested.
That is consistent from what I read about other coaches. They use the same familiar, favorite exercises, but have unlimited ways of modifying them to fit their specific group and coaching objectives for the session. As I gained experience with a new exercise I found that I was simplifying the planned exercises as I adjusted them to get the desired movements, rather than making them more complicated. As I am sure you know, pressure can be adjusted without increasing complexity. For example, shrinking or expanding the playing area adjusts pressure. Regarding the club curriculum, I had a couple of questions. First, what is the oldest age group in the progression? Second, I noticed you said the activities teach concepts. Does the curriculum only cover tactics and not technique too? Third, does the curriculum include separate exercises for the mental and physical aspects at the older age levels? If not, does it include mental and physical coaching objectives on the technical or tactical exercises, like typically done when training U-Littles? Your club sounds like a great coaching environment. If ever we saw that type of coaching environment extending to all levels of youth soccer, the impact on training would be tremendous.
Thanks. It's a work in progress. We've been going to the aforementioned tournament above for about five years and we looked back between the first groups we took and now—the difference is remarkable. There were a lot of philosophical differences that get ironed out over time, because we see what way works better because of how teams and players turned out. We've have our first few players getting picked up by MLS academies with our best player getting interest from some well-known european clubs. And we have another kid in the pipe line who is equally good. Right now, U17 are our oldest teams. But they are "out there" because they kinda missed the reorganization of training systems by about 5 years. Good players, but could've been better. We do Coerver stuff from U9 through U10, but the possession stuff is creeping into that as a way to introduce a system of play. So that's heavy on technique. U11-U12 is heavily weighted toward passing and receiving, but done in the context of the rondos and various positional activities. So still a technical focus. U13 it starts to get more tactical, assuming they are technically sound. Talked about our player above who is being courted by the pro clubs and what they've talked about is his technical ability. He's small for his age. So those conversations are reinforcing us to really focus on creating technical players.
I talked about it in another thread, but maybe look at lacrosse and basketball drills and "translate" these into soccer. Both of these sports are "possession" sports with very little "long ball" or "dump and chase". If you do this, the ball goes out of bounds. As a matter of fact, I know several youth clubs that will play basketball in the winter. They don't necessarily do well, but the kids learn that you can't just throw the ball without a target. Though I really stink at basketball, I think it is a great sport for developing athletic skills in other sports and every athlete should play it at some point.
I never played organized youth soccer, so my first organized team was a senior men's team. Those practice sessions were not player development oriented. So for my coaching role models I used my high school basketball and football coaches. I translated football drills for attacking skills and tactics and basketball drills for defending skills and tactics. Except for the hands, basketball and soccer defensive movements are very similar. Regarding basketball's tactics, I believe that European soccer borrowed "pressing" from US basketball in the 1970s, imo the biggest innovation of the modern game.
I also feel defense skills learned in basketball translate well to other sports- football (defensive backs), lacrosse and soccer.
I recently bought the Soccer IQ books by Dan Blank. I played 50 years and there is a lot of new-to-me stuff in them. A youth coach without a lot of senior playing experience or an athlete from another sport will find this pair of books an outstanding resource, providing them with lots of coaching points and the exercises to make them. My new favorite SSG is the end zone game in Chapter 16 of part 1.
We have a touches competition each month and the player with the most touches gets a prize. I give this book as a prize.
Great article on positional play aka possession soccer. http://spielverlagerung.com/2014/12/25/juego-de-posicion-under-pep-guardiola/ Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Video I made about possession out of the back. Positioning is crucial, and that is the foundation of all my drills. Put the players in positions to succeed, there technical abilities will do the rest. Like | Comment | Subscribe please.
I only gave it a quick run through. I'm glad you have stuff about midfield play. People are obsessed about playing out of the back and disregarding what to do when we are on the other thirds. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Kai, good ideas and well presented. Your video was so interesting that I took a look at your other Youtube videos too. There is enough there to keep me busy for a while. Regarding these drills, I would be comfortable using them with U18s and perhaps U16s. They seem more of a senior training program rather than a developmental program for juniors. At what levels have you used these drills? Hope you don't mind some feedback: 1. I didn't see a drill that focused on the breakout pass. 2. At least in the presentation, the drills seem to encourage play in the central channel and did not use the entire width of the field. The only thing I disagree with is training backs to play east-west passes just inside of the end line. I think the fullbacks are too important to leave out of the picture. They don't appear until drill #7. I am not going to explain why because I am sure you understand why I say this. What I would do is add a drill focusing on movements and passing along the touch. In a 433, this would involve the FB and CB, Keeper, a midfielder (in my version it would 1 of 3 CMs) and a winger. Run as mirror image to cover both flanks. In the progression, it would be somewhere before #7. This is not original with me. For example I have seen video of Arrigo Sacchi using a similar drill with Italy in a 442 system in 1994. Started with a short keeper distribution in the back and ends with a finish (he had a striker in the mix). For a possession style drill I think it is enough to find the winger in the middle third.
Id use these with my u11s. What I like about your drills are they are functional, overlaid over relevant parts of the field. And they address a function of play and/or positions. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Yes, but what soccer age are your U11s? My guess is at least U13. As you say this is functional training, all tactical, very few touches so not really mixed tactical-technical. For regular U14 (which I have never coached) my approach would be mixed technical and tactical exercises. I would be introducing specific positions to prepare them for future specialization. I would still be developing players rather than a team. (From a skill set view, there are only 4 positions to introduce: CB, CM, CF, and Flanker. All positions use one of those skill sets. In my view any further breakdown of categories really is teaching a specific system tailored to a specific team. So it is situational information rather than general. Situational information is less portable in future training.)
Thanks a lot for the feedback and comments guys. I'll try to make this as brief as possible! I utilize this 'concept of play' for all my teams. Typically u10 and up, because they deserve to learn the correct way of playing early on and so do the parents! Although all 'players' may not be getting hundreds of thousands of touches with these drills, they present a new realistic view on situational drills. These are '12' mini scrimmages basically, but with a purpose. Instead of 2v2, 3v3+1, etc drills, these are game situational to help players see the bigger picture positionally. I honestly walk around the soccer fields and see dog-shit soccer from 90% of teams. I see good individuals, but rarely ever quality teams. Not saying I am right, but I do believe my 'style' of play is the correct way. I always say this to my team, 'they can't hurt us if we have the ball.' This is only chapter 1, but what should be accomplished is breaking out to your half-line consistently. The animation is flawed on occasion, so don't take it too literal. Just absorb the content and drill layout and go to work. Adjustments: Formation, and formation of opponents (if known). Drill dimensions. Duration 'Goals' and purpose. If anything, use one or two of these drills each practice - in addition to technical work - when they consistently break out into midfield with the ball and as a unit, its ********ing beautiful. Feel free to ask anything always. Appreciate it. -Kai
I agree with all your comments except one inference you made. I don't believe that there is only one correct way of playing or only one solution to a tactical problem. My own belief is that regardless of system or nationality the better players and teams solve tactical problems in similar ways. Of course that is why coaches talk about Principles of Play. My view of coaching is player-centric. I don't expect U10 matches to look like adult professional matches. I expect U-Littles to learn the fundamentals needed to play every style of play at the senior level. I do expect U10 players to make good tactical decisions and play well in a small group context. By U12 I want ball mastery--first touch is especially critical, team tactics is relatively unimportant to me at that stage. By the time players reach U18, I expect players are making good tactical decision and play well in a full side. By that point I expect that the matches will look like good adult play. If someone teaches team tactics earlier than U12, it is a good thing as long as the ball is mastered by age 12. One of the problems I have found with teaching U-Littles in a league/team environment is that opponents tend to play bunch ball. This means there are no opportunities for 1-2's or stretching of defenses because the kids don't defend like adults do. So fundamentals translate to the youth matches, but teaching an adult style of play won't translate to those types of youth matches.
Kai, I really like those progressions in your video. I also tend to agree that is the "right" (for lack of a better term) way to play. Anthony Ramos does multiple rondo progressions that are easily adaptable. He has one of youtube from the 20014 NCSAA convention. I'm sure most here have seen it. But I found that one extremely useful and flexible. I used with with my U10 last season and just introduced a portion of it to the team I am helping with now last night (U11). I tend to start with a large box (12x12 or 15x15) and try to have them focus on technical aspects (push pass through the ball, progressive first touch, keeping the ball moving, and maximizing the space). Nothing positionally, but all players in any position should be able to scan their area and be able to make the most of what they have. Apply pressure by tweaking it with size changes, touch rules, etc. I start with 4 or 5v0 and work my way up. It is a staple in my training sessions. On top of that you can teach defending in 2/3s, combination play, and so forth further along. Thanks for all the input in here, love hearing how others are doing stuff. Lots of good information.
That is the one. I agree great session, so adaptable. Hastily typing it, wrote Anthony instead of Greg. Oops
That is probably the best coaching instructional clip I have ever seen. If a coach was only ever going to watch one clip on how to coach, this would be the one. For someone who knows the game, this plus something like the USYSA coaching manual goes a long way toward explaining how to teach kids to play soccer. I hadn't seen the clip before. Thank you.
Thanks so much guys. Yes, I've seen that rondo progression - really well done. Although the progression is great, I believe that's how all 'practice' sessions should progress. Slow/thoughtful/progressions that allow the players to grow into the practice. I don't have any footage of my teams sadly. To be honest, my teams are inconsistent. We play outstanding soccer don't get me wrong, but inconsistent in our technical abilities. It's hard when you inherit players who have had poor coaching throughout their youthful years. Trying to alter their technique when they are 16-19 is tricky especially with time constraints. -- But I'm currently applying for college positions, then I can hand pick some players who have all the right attributes I want. (I'm like a chef in that way, I want the best ingredients to prepare the best possible thing for my hungry eyes!) This is a great thread by the way, let's keep sharing our knowledge and insight constantly. Right now, I do a lot of 'sketches' in my notebook. I'm trying to be ahead of the game (if that's even possible). Trying to find new methods to bring the ball out of the back, new drills to explore movement and space, and overall structure in different moments of the game. I want to create a new style that coaches have to figure out, and alter their methods to stop mine... not the other way around. I'm working on a lot of fluid motion in the game and interchanging positions. I like the idea of a team of 'midfielders' - just have to work on knowledge of the game with a lot of my boys. I love thing's that are beautiful, and sometimes I sacrifice good results because of it. (It's something I'm working on) But I just strive to have a team that can bring the ball out of the back naturally, a CB joins the midfield.. and is so comfortable he becomes that role distinctively. The players rotate to provide options and support... all while players are identifying 'when to go and help' and 'when they need to STAY to help' Sorry I ramble.
@Kai Werring What is old is new again. For big picture thinking, I like reading Jonathan Wilson's "Inverting the Pyramid." My love is 1970's Dutch total football and its prodigies, first A C Milan 1987-91 and then Barca 2008-11. The next big development might be at Manchester City under Pep. Youtube is my library. If you do read about the old teams, look at 424. No system required players to read the game and switch lines to form the appropriate team shape as circumstances warranted as much as the 424. I think the 424 lead naturally to 433 total soccer. When I played competitively in the 1980's each system involved movement between lines as players pushed up to support the attack and dropped back into a compact shape to defend. The big difference I see is we used primarily man to man and zonal marking. Today block zone defenses are predominate, except that I am starting to see some modified zones (mix of zone and man to man coverage) on corner kicks. While there was always an element of zone with players on the posts, now more players are assigned to defend zonally in high risk areas. While I have never coached a competitive senior team, my impression is that you want the team to be able to play at least 2 different systems which are relatively simple frameworks on which you hang the comparatively complex and detailed game plans. In a development situation, the game plans are designed to promote player development according to your training plan. In competitive situations, you still give the team a game plan, but it is one designed to give competitive advantage against a specific team. My impression is that the better teams at the top are playing like you envision. Game plans may include cues for shifting systems not just based on the score line, but based on the moment of play or area of the field. The classic Brazil 433 dropped the left winger into the midfield to defend in a 442. The classic Dutch 433 pushed a fullback into the midfield on attack to morph to a 343. What is old is new again. I know this is almost trite now, but if I was coaching a senior competitive team I would aspire to play Barca tiki-taka. But it takes the equivalent of 4 CAMs to pull off. Lots of technique and 1st step quickness. From your post, I think your own version of tiki-taka is where you are heading.