Filed under: Dwyer Scullion, Soccer Coaching, Soccer Fitness, Soccer News, Soccer Refereeing, Soccer Skills, Soccer Team Management, Soccer Training | Tags: better soccer coaching, exercise, Soccer, Soccer Coach Weekly, Soccer Coaching, soccer control, soccer passing, soccer players, soccer receiving, Soccer Skills, Soccer Training
What we’re all about?
You’ll have noticed a great many references to Better Soccer Coaching in the posts on this blog site. Better Soccer Coaching is the name of the free weekly coaching guide published by the company we all work for.
If you’ve been wondering what Better Soccer Coaching is all about, I’ve included a recent article below. This one is about the core skills of passing and receiving. We also cover areas such as tactics, fitness, communication, running a good session and lots more.
We like to think we’re good at taking these tips from our panel of expert coaches and presenting them in a way which makes it easy to take on to the training pitch.
Head on over to Better Soccer Coaching and have a look at our archive of over 100 tips and maybe sign up to receive a new issue each week. Either way, I’d love to hear what you think of how we do things.
Dwyer Scullion, publisher and youth team coach
A Great Way to Coach Passing and Receiving
Constant passing using match-like situations and a bit of competition to give it an edge is the best way to coach your players to be ready for soccer matches. And it should be fun too, says David Clarke.
Great for passing, agility and building fitness.
We’ve covered passing and first touch a lot in Soccer Coach Weekly, and it is indeed one of the most important things you can teach a young soccer player. I came across a little exercise recently that I just had to share with you. It is great for passing and agility but it also has a little bit of fitness in there too.
Run, pass, receive, control, pass
Use two players and four cones. In the diagram the player at the bottom runs left to right and gives a square pass to the player on the opposite side. The top player does the same thing from right to left. Both players must keep up with play to receive, then pass. So it is a constantly moving exercise with first touch and good passing vital to its effectiveness.
It has proper soccer-like situations
If your player makes a bad touch, he will have to work a little bit harder to get it back which is exactly what he would have to do in a game.
Making the exercise competitive
You can move this exercise on by bringing a bit of competition into it by combining skills with fitness and whenever you can do that in an exercise it adds to its value.
After 10 touches get your players to sprint to the 18 yard line and see who can get back to their positions first.
You will see that by adding a little bit of competitiveness to it, the pace picks up and the skill level goes up a notch because they are doing it in competition with each other, so you’ve created a skill building exercise.
Key coaching tip: First touch is vital coupled with a good inside foot pass.
Filed under: Dwyer Scullion, Soccer Coaching, Soccer Fitness, Soccer News, Soccer Skills, Soccer Team Management, Soccer Training | Tags: Better Soccer Soaching, coaches, dribble, Football, proper passing, soccer players, Soccer Skills, squad
My Under 8s side have been doing extremely well lately, but regular readers of Better Soccer Coaching will know that we
started our season back in September with humble ambitions.
We didn’t have any outstanding players. You know, the kind that you can rely on to score regularly. As a coach I simply wanted to do what I could to help them progress as players and to have as much fun as is humanly possible on a freezing cold English Saturday morning. My stated ambition was for the team to score a goal before Christmas, and maybe push on to win a match by the end of the season.
Well, as things panned out, we actually got our first few goals in October but we were still a long way off winning a game. However, our fortunes took a dramatic turn when we managed to acquire the registration of a local boy who started training with us in the new year.
Now, this boy is really something special. He’s fast, skillful, smart, he looks up, and he has a left foot that Liverpool FC could certainly be doing with at the moment. Best of all, he is an absolutely delightful young boy. He supports his team mates at every opportunity. He’s always smiling. He’s never rude and he’s keen to learn as much as he can about the game.
Now we can’t stop winning. We’ve beaten the two strongest teams in our local area 4-0 and 6-0. We’re in danger of actually winning the Cup! Talk about Bad News Bears done good!
But here’s the thing. This weekend just gone by we had to make do without our star player, and quite a few others, and our squad was down to bare bones. We lost 2-0 but the message to the boys who played was that it was far and away our best ever performance. I saw cute little drag-backs, step-overs, passing into space, one-twos. I heard players pointing to each other to cover different areas of the pitch. I saw real determination to play “proper” passing, attractive football – not the kick-and-rush style that so many of us were brought up on.
So where did this all come from? I think our new star player has had an immeasurable influence on his peers, and not just in the way he plays. Sure, they all want to be able to dribble and shoot like young Ben and that aspiration has clearly raised their individual skill levels.
But I think it’s as much to do with the way he supports his team mates. I think they see him being attentive and respectful to the coaches. They respond to his encouragement and the fact that he never berates his team mates. They hear they way he communicates with the other players and, because, he’s such a great player, they can’t help but want to copy him.
In that regard he’s possibly a more effective coach than I could ever be.
Dwyer Scullion, Better Soccer Coaching publisher
Filed under: Dwyer Scullion, Soccer Coaching, Soccer News | Tags: better soccer coaching, Football, Gaelic football, Manchester Utd, marketing, Soccer, UK and European coaches
It’s Only a Word
“Why would I buy one of your products when you don’t even know what the game’s called?”
So reads a response I received to an email marketing one of our weekly subscription services. In fact, I’ve edited that down to remove one or two expletives. This respondant was – you guessed it – English, and he/she was upset at our use of the word “soccer” rather than “football”.
I’ve heard the same sentiment voiced by respected radio journalists, one high profile match commentator intoning the word “soccer” in a syrupy and exaggerated American accent.
For the purposes of this posting I’m going to stick to my guns and use the word “soccer”. I’m Irish and was raised to refer to the Beautiful Game as “football”. But I’m comfortable using the word soccer. I have absolutely no problem with it.
Readers with a slightly wider world view will be aware that the reason we at Better Soccer Coaching use the expression is because we are an online publisher with a global market and a huge proportion of that market play a game called soccer.
That game has the same rules, the same beauty, passion, excitement, thrills and spills as what we in England insist on referring to as football. They love it just as much as we do. They may not have been playing it for quite as long, and they may not have the same proud tradition of freezing cold stadiums selling poisonous pies and watery beer, but they love the game just as much.
As I mentioned I was brought up in Ireland playing Gaelic football, basketball and football. In the last 12 months, working at Better Soccer Coaching and dealing with coaches from around the world I’ve grown used to using the expression soccer. So much so that it’s started to slip into my daily conversation. However, when I say “soccer” to my fellow coaches at my local club I’m treated with a combination of ridicule and scorn. Clearly, I know nothing about the game.
But we’re all coaches. We share the same values and ambitions for our players and our teams. Whether we refer to the game as soccer or football makes not a jot of difference. In the UK and Europe we borrow liberally from American culture in music, fashion, art, cinema and lifestyle (McDonald’s anyone? – a significant sponsor of grassroots football – I mean, soccer – in the UK).
You can bet your bottom dollar (pun intended) that when Manchester Utd and Arsenal play an exhibition match in Boston or Los Angeles they will be perfectly happy to market the event as a soccer match.
But culture is culture and you can’t change it overnight. For those UK and European coaches who baulk at the word soccer, maybe the thing to do is build a website just for them. Watch this space.
Filed under: Dwyer Scullion, Soccer News | Tags: Carlos Alberta, David Beckham, FIFA, Franz Beckenbauer, Johann Neeskins, LA Galaxy, Pelé, Soccer, Soccer Coach Weekly, South American, The New York Cosmos
I came across the following quote in this week’s issue of Soccer Coach Weekly.
South American soccer is renowned for the skill and quality of its players, its different styles, the interest it attracts among its fans and the dedication they have for the sport. If the South American imports are able to inject all this into MLS, as the great Pelé did when he joined the New York Cosmos in 1977, the league may well undergo such a huge transformation that its teams may eventually compete with the top clubs of Europe, both in success and popularity. Gregory Sica in Sports Illustrated
Gregory Sica is an acknowledged expert on South American soccer and really knows his stuff. However, I’m not convinced that his belief that MLS teams can “compete with the top clubs of Europe, both in success and popularity” is a realistic one.
Have you seen the movie “Once In A Lifetime: The Extraordinary Story Of The New York Cosmos”? It tells the story of how a couple of extremely wealthy record executives created the Cosmos from scratch and the story of the trials and tribulations of the team through to its demise in 1985. This is a more a tale of rock and roll glamour and excess than sporting achievement. The Cosmos were first and foremost a business venture and when it became clear that the American public weren’t interested, the club was dissolved.
The New York Cosmos featured, at various times in its 14 year history, some of the world’s greatest players, albeit well past their best – Pele, Franz Beckenbauer, Carlos Alberta, Johann Neeskins and many other legendary names. I’ve seen footage and the truth is that, despite the obvious quality of many of the individuals, the soccer played was slow, clumsy, tactically naïve and frankly uninspiring.
The fate of the Cosmos mirrored that of the North American Soccer League itself. The average attendance in its first year (1968) was a mere 4,747. By the time the league was dissolved in 1984 the average was 10,769 – clearly not sustainable.
Major League Soccer came back to the States in 1993, really in response to FIFA’s requirement that the USA hava a professional soccer league in advance of the 1994 World Cup. The league failed to set the American public alight and the standard was poor.
David Beckham’s move to LA Galaxy was heralded by some as a big step forward for the MLS. I’m not so sure. I don’t believe that expensive foreign imports and has-beens are the answer (although you might argue that this process is what reinvigorated English soccer in the late 80s and early 90s).
So what’s different now? Why does Gregory Sica believe that an influx of South American talent to the MLS could enable it to compete with the European leagues?
Perhaps he believes the issue is that of quality. South American players will no doubt bring skilful, exciting soccer to the American public who, like the rest of us, want to be entertained. But it takes more than that.
I think the issue is more to do with the standard of coaching. And I think that that’s where the good news starts for the MLS. In my experience, American grassroots coaches are extremely open and keen to learn, share and develop. The US has a history of sporting excellence which suggests that when the numbers of young people playing the game reaches critical mass there will be enough homegrown talent to produce a league of real quality. I think that critical mass is here and I think that in 10 years the picture will be entirely different.
There are already signs that there is a new generation of young American players coming through who will be good enough to play at the top level. And as is the case in so many other sports, American coaches are becoming increasingly wise to the realities of the professional game.
I don’t think the MLS needs South American players to achieve success. They need the interest of the American public. That is growing but can it “compete with the top clubs of Europe, both in success and popularity”? Maybe one day, but I don’t think it will be for several generations and I don’t think it will ever have the cultural resonance that it does in England, Spain or Italy.
Filed under: Dwyer Scullion, Soccer Coaching, Soccer News, Soccer Skills, Soccer Team Management, Soccer Training | Tags: coaching, communication, grassroots coach, Kevin Keegan, knowledge, listening, motivation, Newcastle United, organisation, Premier League level, Soccer, Soccer Skills, youth coach
I’ve been thinking about what it is that makes a great soccer coach. What is the essence of coaching? What are the core
skills that a coach needs to have in order to fulfil his role?
I guess the answer depends on what the role is, and there are a number of different ways to look at that. For example, a great youth coach might have different characteristics to a great adult coach. Similarly, a great grassroots coach might need different skills to that of a professional coach.
For the sake of argument, I’m going to lump them all in together and take the broadest view possible. Here are my five criteria for what makes a great coach:
Communication: a great coach should be able to communicate with his players on their level. The communication should be supportive and encouraging and should include everyone in the team.
Coaches should generally avoid using the word “don’t” and should try to be nurturing as opposed to bullying. And it’s important that no one is allowed to slip through the cracks – a loner in a soccer team is a potential problem and communication has to be consistent.
Listening: a great coach needs to be able to listen to his players and everyone else with a stake in his team’s success.
Players need to feel that they can talk to their coach about their game, and a good coach is able to respond to that in a positive way. I’m not saying that we should let players dictate where or how they play, but I think that a good coach can establish an effective two-way relationship with his players.
We also need to be able to take advice and guidance from other coaches and assistants. All the world’s great coaches recognise that they are part of a team and I doubt there are many successful coaches who dictate everything at their club. I know some coaches who are uncomfortable when a peer suggests a different approach. They need to be able to tell the difference between helpful advice and criticism. For me, the more ideas and viewpoints the better. I’ll still make my own decisions, but I’ll do that with the benefit of the views of the people whose judgment I trust.
Motivation: a coach has to arm his players with the tools to be better individuals and a better team. Chief amongst those tools is the motivation to succeed. Many people would say that this is the key factor – the magic ingredient – that every great coach must have.
Organisation: an effective coach must be organised. Everyone’s time is wasted if no-one knows what they are supposed to be doing, if the equipment isn’t in place, and if arrangements haven’t been made. Some coaches are terrible organisers but the trick is to recognise that and find an assistant who is a good organiser.
Have the knowledge: a coach can have all of the skills and characteristics described above, but it won’t count for much unless they have the technical knowledge to back it up. At youth level that might mean knowing how to coach players to pass over distance or perform a stop turn. At senior level that might mean knowing how to coach a team to change shape when moving from possession to defence. Either way, the coach has to have the knowledge, and whether they get it from the internet, a bookshop or a training course, a great coach has to know the nuts and bolts of the game.
I found it very strange that Newcastle United appointed Kevin Keegan as their new manager. Keegan is no doubt a great motivator and is known for his strong bond with his players. But it’s also true that he has tactical and technical shortcomings. I know that he will have people on his team who take care of that, but for me a truly great coach shouldn’t have to ask someone else to work out his team’s tactics.
Motivation alone is not enough, at grassroots or Premier League level. A great coach will invest the time to know and understand the principles and techniques that underpin the game.
So that’s five for now. As soon as I post this blog I will no doubt think of another half dozen so I’ll post those in due course. In the meantime, please feel free to get in touch and tell me what you think makes a great coach.
Filed under: Dwyer Scullion, Soccer Coaching, Soccer News, Soccer Skills, Soccer Team Management, Soccer Training | Tags: Chelsea, hobbies, Liverpool FC, publishing, soccer coaches, Soccer Skills, West Ham, youth soccer
Hi there,
My name is Dwyer Scullion and I’m the publisher here at Better Soccer Coaching. I’m going to be posting my thoughts and views on a wide range of coaching–related topics in the months ahead and I thought I’d kick-off by telling you a bit about myself.
As publisher it’s my job to develop our range of publications to reflect the needs of grassroots coaches around the world. I’m also responsible for the commercial success of our publications and this involves making sure that everything we do is as good as it can be.
The best thing about my job is that I get to talk to and work with some great coaches – Tony Carr at the West Ham academy, Mike Beale at Chelsea, our very own David Clarke, and others. I also coach my local U8s side here in my home village in Oxfordshire, England. On Monday afternoons I usually work on editing Dave Clarke’s copy for Better Soccer Coach Weekly. Then on Monday evening I coach my team, so I get to take fresh ideas straight “off the press” and onto the training pitch.
I’m strictly an amateur coach. My background is in publishing. I left university with a philosophy degree (can’t quite remember why) and I’ve been working in publishing ever since. My publishing experience before meeting Andy (our MD) was more in the areas of law and accountancy. But I’ve been coaching youth soccer for 6 years now and that combined with my publishing experience made the chance to work at Better Soccer Coaching irresistible.
As far as playing goes, the truth is I was never that good. I was quick and quite skilful, but I never liked to be tackled and tended to crumple helplessly to the floor at the merest bump from an opponent (not diving you understand, just a wimp).
My main interest (obsession) outside of publishing and soccer is music. I’ve played guitar since the age of 9 and I just can’t stop. I play in a number of bands and I have a little attic-based home recording studio where I play and record all the instruments myself. I’m very interested in the recording process and I like to get out and record many different kinds of performers and sounds in different settings.
As regards musical genres, I don’t seem to have a filter – I like it all but I’m not going to name names to avoid ridicule. The way I see it, there’s 100 years of recorded music out there and not nearly enough time to listen to it all.
I’m a confirmed Liverpool FC addict. Maybe it’s the red shirts, or the Liverpool/Beatles thing – I don’t know, and I’m not actually from Liverpool – but they’ve always been my team. The first match I can remember watching on TV with my father and his mates was the 1974 FA Cup Final when Liverpool beat Newcastle United 3-0 (Kevin Keegan scored). And I remember getting a free poster of the team with the following morning’s newspaper. I’ve loved Liverpool ever since. I’ve been to Anfield a few times and I’ve seen them on their travels around the country. It’s my aim now to make sure that my son gets to go to Anfield before they move to their new stadium (so if anyone can help with tickets?).
Like most of you I love to watch fast, free-flowing attacking soccer as it’s played in England and Spain. I’m less keen on the Italian style although I do enjoy the tactical battles between the top Italian teams. The English Premier League these days is a great combination of gung-ho, let’s-score-more-than-them attitude mixed with imaginative tactical manoeuverings and some of the best players and coaches in the world. It really is mesmerising.
My U8s side are just as entertaining (really) so I’m loving my soccer these days and I’m looking forward to keeping you posted on our progress.
I really hope you enjoy this blog site and I’m looking forward to hearing your views, comments and suggestions.
All the best to you and your team
Dwyer Scullion
Better Soccer Coaching Publisher
