Filed under: Dave Clarke, Soccer Coaching, Soccer Fitness, Soccer News, Soccer Refereeing, Soccer Skills, Soccer Team Management, Soccer Training | Tags: alex song, Arsenal, hard tackles, simple exercises, simple passing
I once heard the late Sir Bobby Robson use the phrase after his Newcastle United team had thrashed West Ham. It is a statement that is true in soccer, simplicity can make teams into winners.
One player that has played simple but clever balls all season is Alex Song at Arsenal in the English Premier League. He has been turned from a centreback into a very accomplished midfielder. He is strong in the tackle and can burst quickly with the ball when he wins it. But what he does very well is play simple passes to his attacking team mates when they are unmarked giving them time to use the ball.
Arsenal’s attacking players are fed clever little passes by Song which enables them to interlink and open up the opposition defence.
Song does simple things very well… watch this compilation of him in action and see how often he wins the ball and plays a simple pass to an attacking team mate.
Filed under: Dave Clarke, Soccer Coaching, Soccer Fitness, Soccer News, Soccer Refereeing, Soccer Skills, Soccer Team Management, Soccer Training | Tags: defending, playing stronger teams, stop goals
When you play against really strong teams you can use tactics to win the game. However this often means your team needs to score first. When Manchester City played Everton just before Christmas in the English Premier League there was a classic example of a less skillful team winning the game.
Everton scored twice in the first 20 minutes then sat back for an all out defensive strategy. City had Carlos Tevez and Balotelli up front who like to come inside and attack in front of goal. So Everton set up a narrow defence with players protecting the defenders.
The one technique most in evidence for Everton was the defensive block with players getting their bodies in the way of shots. City struggled to break this down and ended up frustrated and lost the game. They didn’t create many clear cut chances because of Everton’s determination to stop them. City’s goal in fact came from a deflection.
I use this example not to encourage negative play but to help you coach players to cope with all types of situations they will face in games. There will be matches when you need all your players to help out at the back to stop strong attackers.
These tactics can stop your team leaking lots of goals in games where your players would struggle against stronger opposition.
Get the views of the managers involved by watching the clip below:
