Filed under: Dave Clarke, Soccer Coaching, Soccer Team Management | Tags: girlfriends, Katy Perry, MTV EMA, WAGs, West Ham Kit
At the weekend one of my U16 players was acting strangely. Cocky was an understatement. All acting up and lippy “I’m not being subbed today!” Messing about during the warm-ups I was getting annoyed with him until one of the other boys told me his girlfriend was watching.
When the match kicked off I couldn’t see him in his usual position… he was running up front desperate to score. Considering he was a defensive midfielder it was causing problems to the team. All the other players started moaning at him to get in to position but he wouldn’t come back.
Eventually I had to take him off and get him to calm down. He got a ribbing from the other boys but he didn’t seem to care. I let him go back on later but the same thing happened.
No wonder Fabio has told the England players to leave the WAGs at home.
And what about Katy Perry at the recent MTV Europe Music Awards in Berlin dressing up in a West Ham to embarrass her boyfriend Russell Brand:
Filed under: Dave Clarke, Soccer Coaching, Soccer Fitness, Soccer News, Soccer Skills | Tags: attack drill, counter attack, william Gallas
Quick counter attacks are one of the ways you can make sure your young team makes the most of winning the ball.
Catching a defence out when the team has won the ball relies on quick thinking and accurate passing. Defenders will struggle to keep up with the ball so an accurate pass and a quick thinking attacker can combine to create good goal scoring opportunities.
Young players can get over excited when they win the ball and just kick it in the general direction of the goal. You need to get them looking and thinking about where to put the ball to cause the most damage to the opposition.
Try this drill with your players, you score points by hitting targets a bit like being at the driving range with your golf clubs hitting different distances. In this video the coach uses baskets to hit but you can make target areas out of cones.
Filed under: Dave Clarke, Soccer Coaching, Soccer Skills | Tags: coaching wingers, crossing drill, Manchester Utd, pfa player of the year
By Dave Clarke
At the ripe old age of 35 its amazing that Ryan Giggs is still good enough to win the PFA player of the year award which he did in April this year. One of the reasons for his longevity is that he is constantly on the training pitch going through his paces.
One of the best training exercises for any winger is the training he does so he can get pinpoint accuracy on his crosses. His delivery in to the box is the right weight and direction almost every time.
The secret behind his success is this little exercise.
If you look at the diagram the coach had split the penalty area up into very tight squares numbered one to ten. When he called out a zone to Giggs the player had to cross the ball so it landed in that square. It was a very precise exercise, the coach had a lot of balls and played it to either position 1 or position 2 for Giggs to run onto and cross first time to the called out zone.
As I was coaching under 15s I could use all the zones but for younger age groups you could just shout near, far and penalty spot. There is also an opportunity to practice cutbacks where the player is crossing the ball back to the edge of the penalty area for players running in.
For players who cannot cross the ball very far it is good practice for them to run onto the ball and cross it using a good technique – they will soon progress.
Filed under: Dave Clarke, Soccer Coaching, Soccer Fitness, Soccer Skills, Soccer Training | Tags: how to shoot, shoot at goal, Wayne Rooney
Can your players hit the target? I don’t know whether my U9s can because they won’t try. They had 16 corners at the weekend and not one shot from those corners. It was so frustrating, they passed and passed and passed, right in front of goal, it was almost as if they were too shy to shoot. Of course I love a good passing move, but from a corner I want them to be more direct – I want them to shoot!
So at my training session tonight I will give them target shooting practice.
The way to do it is to put some balls just outside the penalty area and get your players to shoot at goal from there.
Watch this clip of Wayne Rooney practicing shooting from outside the area and get your players doing the same thing.
