Filed under: Dave Clarke, Soccer Coaching, Soccer News, Soccer Skills | Tags: Manchester Utd, Real Madrid, Liverpool, World Cup, Michael Owen, England, sir alex ferguson, ruud van nistelrooy, ole gunnar solskjaer
England’s chances of winning the World Cup in South Africa got a massive boost when Sir Alex Ferguson decided to take a huge gamble and sign Michael Owen.
Manchester Utd have not played with a goal poacher since Ruud van Nistelrooy was sold to Real Madrid and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer hung up his boots.
But it will take all the coach’s finest attributes to change the fortune of a striker who has not scored since January and was unable to score goals to prevent Newcastle being relegated.
England could do with a fired up Owen if he finds his goal scoring touch again. There are few goal poachers in the England set up, indeed there are few in the English Premier League with the exception of Jermaine Defoe.
England manager Fabio Capello will be watching with interest. So will I. A coach can do such a lot for players and if Owen fits in at Manchester Utd expect to see a different player when he runs out on the pitch. At Newcastle his head was often down and that was evident in his play.
A coach can restore confidence and give a player their touch back. Remember when he was scoring goals for fun for England, Liverpool and Real Madrid? Here’s a reminder:
Filed under: Dave Clarke, Soccer Coaching, Soccer Team Management | Tags: David Beckham, England U21, England v Portugal, james milner, joe hart, John Terry penalty miss, penalty shoot-out, penalty slip, soccer slip ups, Sweden U21
Missing penalties because the player slips always bring a huge cheer from the opposition. Whenever my teams play I always tell them we don’t cheer missed penalties when the player slips or misses the goal.
Yes, we cheer a good save from the penalty kick, but not the miss itself.
I’ve seen a lot of missed penalties this season – the pressure on the players taking the penalty is huge and is something that the player involved will think about for a long time afterwards.
If your player misses, have a quick chat with them and tell them it doesn’t matter. Don’t show your disappointment and don’t let the rest of the team see your disappointment. Hopefully your team’s spirit will help the player get over it.
You must get over it quickly too.
In the U21 European Championships last month the England U21 team beat Sweden on penalties – surely one of the biggest pressure points in a football match – James Milner took England’s first penalty and slipped kicking the ball high and wide of the goal.
He must have felt terrible listening to the jeering crowd, but by the end the English spirit shone through and even though Joe Hart the England goalkeeper would miss the final the team celebrated as one.
Consider also David Beckham’s slip for England against Portugal in the European Championships in 2004. His mistake led to the team losing in the quarter-finals of Europe’s biggest International tournament.
John Terry missed for Chelsea when he slipped against Manchester United in Europe’s biggest club tournament in the final of the Champions League in 2008. He only had to score the penalty for Chelsea to win, he missed. Chelsea went on to lose.
It happens to the best players in the world so expect it to happen to your players, and be there for them when it does.
Here are the clips of the two slip ups for England and John Terry’s miss for Chelsea.
Filed under: Dave Clarke, Soccer Coaching | Tags: make your players strong, motivational speech, what to say before a match
Good coaches are good motivators. American football coach Vince Lombardi was one of the best and he was good at getting his team prepared for matches by sending them out with a great speech.
It is a brilliant way to get your team really geared up for the game ahead by making a big motivational speech.
Listen to this one and use it next time your team plays.
Click here to watch a video featuring the speech by Vince Lombardi
Filed under: Dave Clarke, Soccer Coaching, Soccer Team Management, Soccer Training | Tags: fc dallas, football on golf course, games for soccer, soccer golf, youth coaching
I can remember going along to training when I was young and all we did was run laps around a field or wait in lines to dribble through some conesbefore shooting and being shouted out by a coach hassled by a bunch of bored kids.
One of the best ways to get children to learn soccer is to use games that they find fun and creative. It is a simple fun way to improve skills and to make sure the children come back to your training sessions again and again.
You and the children are getting a higher level of energy, focus and attention – in other words they are learning the game without realizing it.
You probably know the game soccer golf because I’ve featured it in my Better Soccer Coaching newsletter, but I found an another version! Okay I know soccer players are on the golf course all the time but not like this. Watching this clip of FC Dallas players on a proper golf course using a soccer ball made me realize that games are not just for the very young.
We all love a bit of innovation and the challenge that games throw up.
Now I wonder if I could take a bunch of kids to my local golf course and get permission to boot a few balls down the fairway….
Filed under: Dave Clarke, Soccer Coaching, Soccer Skills, Soccer Team Management | Tags: attacking, Celtic, losing games, possession, Skills School, Soccer AM, Tony Mowbray, West Brom
It was refreshing to see that Celtic has chosen a manager not on the latest results his team produced but on the way they play the game.
Relegated from the Premiership at the first attempt, Tony Mowbray’s West Brom have been praised for the way they play. When they won promotion in 2007 from the Championship against teams who played with one up front and nine men behind the ball – Mowbray remained true to his ideals. Much as he has this last season only to see his team fail. But Celtic have recognized in his team the core of something special, something that will excite the fans and bring more trophys.
The words he spoke at the time reminded me of my own experience a couple of seasons ago when I took over an U14s team that hadn’t won a single game for two seasons. Eventually the team was turned around and I can look back on the first 5 or 6 games when we played well but lost every one in the same way that Mowbray does:
“It hasn’t always been easy. There have been times I have been sitting in other managers’ offices having a beer after games and they have been drooling about our style, telling me how great it is and what good footballers I have almost to a sycophantic extent… on the back of them beating us 2-0. That is hard to accept, but you don’t change what you do, you just try to become better at it,” said Mowbray.
I remember well after losing 2-1 the manager and his coaches coming over and expressing surprise we had lost considering how well we had played. We hadn’t won a game all season and their words made us even more determined to play the way I was coaching them, and if you cannot retain possession, master the football, attack on the flanks and in expansive fashion, your team will never progress.
At West Brom Tony Mobray has introduced a culture right through the club that is based on skills, technique and the ability to hold onto the ball. Here is the Academy team at the Soccer AM Skills School:
Filed under: Dave Clarke, Soccer Coaching, Soccer Skills, Soccer Team Management, Soccer Training, Uncategorized | Tags: coaching clever players, coaching technique, eric cantona, Leeds United, Manchester United, skills
Young players are always making decisions on the pitch, some simple like putting one foot in front of the other to move. Some are instinctive yet they have been practiced many times. As a coach I am constantly coaching my players to run, pass, receive and move, simple things yet I am always seeking to get them to run faster, pass better, receive better and make better movement.
The same can be said if you are lucky enough to be coaching those innovative and creative players who stand out on the pitch.
I was reminded of this by the release of the film Looking for Eric, about one of the greatest mavericks of them all. Yet the thing about Eric Cantona was that he brought a new era of training to the English game. He used to practice all those touches and moments of brilliance. Every night he would go out onto the training pitch just like he did when he was a young player and went into his back garden, and throw the ball up a 100 times and trap it with left foot then right foot until he could control the ball first time, every time.
One of the skills of a coach is to get the best of their players by coaching the right techniques. Then advance their knowledge by helping them to make the right decisions in the time they have in situations on the pitch. You will have some players who have the ability to see all of their options and chose the right one in a very short space of time.
A good way to coach this is to set up drills where there is more than one right option. You can walk playes through exercises and techniques and increase the pressure slowly so they can get used to the techniques and skills you are coaching and use them in matches.
While I was looking at clips of Eric Cantona to show his technique I came across this old Nike video where Cantona, Ian Wright, Maldini, Del Piero, the old Ronaldo, take on the devil’s team and Cantona dispatches the ball into the net with an “Au revoir”. It is one of my favourite Nike ads so I thought I would share it with you.
I have also put up a couple of clips of Cantona in action showing superb technique in scoring a goal.
Filed under: Dave Clarke, Soccer Coaching, Soccer Team Management | Tags: Anderson, cooperation, Cristiano Ronaldo, enthusiasm, friendship, hard work, how to coach, loyalty, nani
1.Energy
The cornerstone to success is not just hard work, it is relevant hard work, not working for the sake of it. Thousands of press-ups or lots of passing drills won’t create a winning team. Each unit of training needs to be focused on moving the player and team forward. A good coach can create a good work ethic which includes players understanding the benefits of their work and why it makes a difference.
2. Loyalty
Are you loyal to your own values and goals? Compromise those and it is difficult to inspire loyalty in others.
3. Cooperation
To have a team that cooperates is to have a leader who listens. Good cooperation starts from the top.
4. Enthusiasm
Energy, enjoyment, drive and dedication. These will stimulate your players and help inspire them.
5.Friendship
The power of friendship is important for binding teams together. You are going to create an environment of mutual respect and comradeship. It is not about affection, but building goodwill where each person will go a little further for another team mate. The way this environment develops come, inevitably, from the way you treat the players. Show them respect and take time to work for each individually.
Even the best teams in the world need to be friends – watch this video of English Premier League Champions Manchester Utd players Cristiano Ronaldo, Nani and Anderson having a laugh together putting off Hargreaves when he is being interviewed.
Filed under: Dave Clarke, Soccer Coaching, Soccer Skills | Tags: Barcelona, champions league final 2009, Manchester Utd, passing, passing and receiving
Watching Barcelona play against Manchester United in the Champions League made me think about the basics of the game. If I could get my youngest players to pass and receive along the lines of the Barcelona team they would be on their way to success.
I love simple passing and receiving because it is such an effective way to play the game. When you see teams like Barcelona do it you can see how fantastic it is and how it can win you games.
I found this great little video which shows you how to get your youth players passing and receiving like Barcelona – why not give it a try!
Filed under: Dave Clarke, Soccer Coaching, Soccer Team Management, Soccer Training | Tags: scare the opposition, simple warm-ups, warm-ups for young players
Simple warm ups for very young players need to be just that – simple.
You need to get your players concentrating on the actual matter in hand – soccer.
Sometimes you turn up to a match late and you just need to get a bit of organization going.
Simple can often be best especially with young players. But you could also try something different to impress the opposition. The first clip here shows you the simple way to warm up, the second clip is an impressive show of team solidarity and if you can get your players into the rhythm it will look great!
I haven’t tried the clapping warm up yet because I bet it takes some doing. I’m going to try it because I think it is a great way to warm up and get team spirit going. If anyone else does it please let me know how successful you were.
