Filed under: Dave Clarke, Soccer Coaching, Soccer News, Soccer Skills, Soccer Team Management, Soccer Training | Tags: aston villa, Eddie Gray, England squad, England U21, leeds, milner, peter taylor, World Cup
One of the names which could be making headlines at the 2010 World Cup in June is England’s James Milner. And this is a player who makes the headlines for the right reasons – his footballing abiity.
He is someone all young players can take inspiration from. Before the English Carling Cup final where his team Aston Villa play Manchester United, Milner spoke about playing for Leeds United U11s when beating Manchester United was the highlight of his young career. He made the first team at Leeds when he was just 16. Now the 24-year-old has the manager of England singing his praises.
Milner’s story is one of hard work and hours spent on the training ground. According to Eddie Gray who was Milner’s coach at Leeds, “his one aim in life has always been to be the best footballer he can. His right foot was initially stronger but he just worked hard on his left and made himself two-footed.”
By working on his weaknesses he has made himself a player who can play in any position, winger, midfield and he has even played at left back for his club, which has seen some experts suggest he could solve the problem caused by Ashley Cole’s injury.
His manager at England U21 level, Peter Taylor saw Milner as his favourite player. “If all players were like him the job would be pure joy!”
“James listened to my advice and acted on it. His crossing improved immensely.”
He can also read the game better as he has played more games, constantly improving his technique. He is now the penalty taker at Aston Villa opening the scoring in the match with a penalty in the first few minutes.
When he goes home to his family he goes down to the local park and plays with the kids there, challenging them to a game of keepy-uppy.
A young man truly in love with the game and someone for all young players to aspire to be like.
Watch these two clips of Milner, one at the start of his career at Leeds aged 16 and now at Aston Villa aged 24:
Filed under: Dave Clarke, Soccer Coaching, Soccer Skills, Soccer Team Management | Tags: brazil, club world cup 2005, Liverpool, sao paulo
Support in attack can bring out the best in a team and create openings in even the strongest defence. Youth teams can take inspiration from watching the Final of the Club World Cup in 2005 between Sao Paulo of Brazil and Liverpool of England.
On paper it should have been an easy victory for Liverpool, but the Brazilians won against the odds. After Sao Paulo took the lead they defended deep and hit Liverpool on the counter. But the Brazilians were more than that. In defence they marked well and showed good strength on the ball and in the air. In attack they were tactically superior to Liverpool using support from the wings and through the middle.
The goal they scored to win the game summed up their style of play. Watch the clip below and see how well positioned on the pitch they are. The wingers are pulling the defence wide and the midfield is moving to create space. As the fullbacks push up Liverpool go to meet them leaving Aloisio in space in a dangerous position.
As he flicks the ball through Mineiro ghosts through the defence leaving them flat footed appealing for offside. The team pulls the Liverpool defence apart in one flowing move.
The Sao Paulo players showed how to cover each other all over the pitch and Liverpool found it hard to get any momentum going.
It goes to show that however much of an underdog you feel when you take your youth team out on to the pitch as long as you are well organized and work hard for each other you have a chance to win the game.
Watch the highlights below.
Filed under: Dave Clarke, Soccer Coaching, Soccer Fitness, Soccer News, Soccer Skills, Soccer Team Management | Tags: ball control, ball skills, goalkeeper, Manchester United, match pratice, passing skills, warm ups
I’m always telling fellow coaches and my readers that you don’t have to use complicated training drills to get your players using the right techniques and tactics that can give them the edge in matches. Often simple 4v4 games and simple exercises that get players kicking the ball and passing the ball work best with young players.
You don’t have to take my word for it. I spend hours watching training sessions with professional players. In that time there may be one small thing I can use with my team or turn into something I can give to my coaches to help them make their team play better.
Watching a session with Manchester United players training the night before a match it was very interesting to note the number of balls that are being constantly used so that players are getting one and two touches as they do their fitness training. There was nothing complicated about it.
The players were constantly moving – I didn’t see anyone waiting around for their turn, the exercises were designed so that the players are on the move as they are being coached. The repetitive one and two touch movement is very controlled and done at a slow pace.
You can watch part of the session in the clip below – watch how the goalkeepers train on the ground where they can only use their hands to catch or block the ball. All of these exercises are designed to maximise a player’s ability to react to the ball in the air or on the ground.
Watch it carefully and you can see all sorts of training going on, most of which is simple ball work:
Filed under: Dave Clarke, Soccer Coaching, Soccer Fitness, Soccer News, Soccer Skills, Soccer Team Management, Soccer Training | Tags: fabregas, passing, small-sided games, vision
There are certain players that I watch and wonder whether I could create for my youth team. These are special players that magically appear on my TV screen and I can be absorbed watching them. The way they play the game leaves others mesmerized in their wake.
Everyone talks about the strikers who can light up the game with one change of pace and in an instant give their team the advantage, but the special players I would like in my team play in midfield and come from Spain. Xavi and Andres Iniesta of Barcelona are outstanding hard working skilful players, but the one I see most of all is Cesc Fabregas.
Fabregas can run a game for the full 90 minutes. At the age of 22 he already has the ability to orchestrate the play of his team-mates. He can force them to change the direction of a run by his own clever pass that exploits space his team mates didn’t even see.
In the same way that Liverpool’s Steven Gerrard runs around doing everything better than anyone else in the team through sheer determination, Fabregas does it with his outstanding understanding of geometrical space.
And I want him in every single one of my teams because that is how I want my teams to play.
Space and vision is something you can coach your team to understand better. They may not be players who impose their own sense of space on their team mates but you can give them a better understanding of how to use space which will benefit your team in the long run. To do this I use a lot of small-sided games which are great to coach young players in how to use space and passing.
Fabregas’s ability was demonstrated by one pass in the 1-0 defeat of Liverpool earlier this month which was over 30 yards and at an angle through a crowd of Liverpool players to the feet of Diaby which showed his awareness and sense of space – Diaby failed to control it otherwise the scoreline would have been greater.
In this clip you can see some of the incredible passes he makes that look so simple but show his amazing vision:
Filed under: Dave Clarke, Soccer Coaching, Soccer News, Soccer Team Management | Tags: coach education, motivation, people coaching
As we develop as coaches we should be constantly aware of what is going on in our sport around the world. In some countries parents are now deciding which sport their children should participate in on the quality of the coaching they will get.
This is catching on in a lot of countries and you can expect it to happen in your neighbourhood soon. Not necessarily the sport they choose but the team they choose. If the coach isn’t up to leading the ‘people’ side of the sport then they will go somewhere else.
Bo Hanson is a four-time Olympian and a sports consultant for Athlete Assessments. He has just returned from a 2-month tour of the USA and Australia. According to him one recurring theme kept popping up…there is a growing war for talent across sports, vying for the best athletes, coaches and referees.
“Only those sports focused on attracting, engaging and retaining their talent grow and prosper. Sport is no longer just about technique and fitness. Progressive sports are those that can manage and lead the ‘people side’ effectively and that parents will choose for their children.” Hanson says.
Australian Football has over 720 000 participants and recruiting and retaining not only coaches, but also referees has become another major challenge. The demand for referee appointments is growing at 89% pa yet the number of actual referees is only increasing by 13% pa. Around one quarter of referees drop out each year due to abuse from players, coaches, parents and fans. Without referees and umpires, sport cannot be played and cannot grow.
Hanson says, “The AFL is promoting the fact that coaches are a key selection criteria for young athletes in choosing which sport to play.”
If a sport is to grow, a large part of that growth relies on the skills and characteristics of their coaches.
Here at Better Soccer Coaching we are educating our coaches in skills and techniques but we are also helping to improve their non-technical skills to enable them to be better leaders and people managers. In my own Soccer Coach Weekly publication I write two columns designed to help this – The Art of Coaching Children and Touchline Tales.
Filed under: Dave Clarke, Soccer Coaching, Soccer News, Soccer Skills, Soccer Team Management | Tags: battyeford, losing 15-0, respect your opponents, winning 15-0
Guest Blog
By Mark Bickerdike, Battyeford under 11s
The Battyeford U11s squad
I’ve been reading Dave’s recent comments on respecting your opponents when you are winning by a big score.
Having recently been on the wrong end of a heavy defeat (albeit in an adult match) the worst feeling was when the other team changed their style to accommodate our ineptitude, it felt like they were just taking the mickey.
By telling them to pass and pass and pass before shooting or shooting with your wrong foot I feel it shows at best pity and at worst disrespect to the other team.
Our team recently got beaten 7-0 (and we were lucky to get nil) but the thing that I wanted out of my under 11’s was the ability to keep playing, not to let their heads go down, to keep their positional shape and above all realise that some teams are better than us, lose with grace, take the positives out of the game and move on, all of which they did.
The week after we drew one each with the team at the top of the table and the week after we won a game 15-0.
Now I know losing 15-0 hurts (I know because I’ve been there) but the last thing I wanted to do is to disrespect their team or coach by somehow telling my boys to ‘hold back’. I wanted them to do exactly what I told them to do when we were losing 7- 0 and that is to keep trying their best, keep their positional shape and to do all the things we worked on in practice, but above all not to get ‘cocky’, to win with grace and not to show disrespect, to enjoy the win but realise that not all games will be so one sided, take the positives out of the game and move on.
The fact of the matter is that winning or losing, whether by one goal or 15, is all part of football and all aspects need to be experienced in order to gain a full knowledge of what the game is about.
Nobody likes to lose and everybody likes to win, the trick is to learn from both experiences.
The next time we played the team who beat us 7-0, we started really well and went 1-0 up with only ten men against 11. We were completely bossing the game but were pegged back to 1-1 at half time. Second half whether through tiredness or a bad half-time team talk we completely capitulated and lost 10-1.
I’m sure we’ve all had games like that, but it did give me a chance to let the guys compare how they felt after winning well to losing badly. We’ve gone on to win all our league games since and are up to third in the league.
It’s also worth remembering that the boys and girls probably don’t beat themselves up over a defeat like the coaches do, many a time after a loss I’ll be walking miserably back to the car dissecting the game and wondering what we could have done differently and my son will look at me with a smile on his face and say “Can I have a chocolate bar?”, like nothing matters in the world.
It is, as they say, only a game.
Filed under: Dave Clarke, Soccer Coaching, Soccer News, Soccer Skills, Soccer Team Management, Soccer Training | Tags: fa cup, jermaine beckford, Leeds United, Manchester United, michael jordan, motivation
By David Clarke
Motivation was in the forefront of my mind this month. Watching a player from a lower league who has attracted the attentions of a number of high profile Premier League clubs made me wonder what motivated him.
The English leagues have a transfer window during January. It just so happened that the club he plays for was drawn against one of the top Premier League teams and he was going to be in the shop window on TV. During that game the player excelled scoring the winning goal and pulling the Premier League defence all over the pitch.
The national press picked up on this and highlighted why this player would make it in the Premier League. They have never seen him play week in and week out when he doesn’t fancy the pitch or the team or there’s no one watching in the stands.
He is motivated by the challenge of playing at a higher level with a higher profile and a higher salary. When the transfer window closed again he played against a team from the Premier League but this time there was no winning goal in fact no goal at all, and hardly a shot.
One of the reasons he gets so many chances to score goals is that behind him supporting him he has a quartet of excellent players. One who can win the ball, hold it up, knock it down and take the defenders away from him. Then there is the clever winger who can beat players get into the penalty area and cross the ball. Finally there are two midfielders who can play long or short passes to put the attacker in space.
He gets the goals and the kudos that goes with it hence the motivation from a higher challenge. So how do you motivate the players that comprise the engine room of the team who create but don’t score the goals what kudos do they get?
Here are my tips for motivating all your players, you need to think about:
The way you communicate – with the right approach and by using positive language you’ll get enthusiasm and positive action – from yourself and those you coach.
Various coaching methods enhance the motivation levels within soccer training sessions and during matches, including goal setting, rewarding positive outcomes and involving players in the planning process.
Allowing and encouraging players to take responsibility for their own behaviour and performance outcomes has a significant impact.
Involving players in the design of soccer training sessions and programmes is a key step to increasing loyalty, commitment and ownership.
Remember it’s not just the goal scorer that wins the game.
Listen to this clip from Michael Jordan about winning and losing:
And watch Manchester United lose to a lower league team:
Filed under: Dave Clarke, Soccer Coaching, Soccer Skills, Soccer Team Management, Soccer Training, Uncategorized | Tags: drills for both feet, left foot, right foot, two footed
Watching my left winger playing in the U9s at the weekend, he beat a player and moved into the penalty area, the ball was perfect for a right foot shot, but he tried to turn it back on to his left foot and all the hard work he had done to get in to the penalty area and set himself up was lost.
It’s a great thing at this age to have a left footed player because it means your forward line is very well-balanced and playing down both wings is made much easier without having to play a right footed player on the left wing like most teams have to do – so I’m not complaining!
You also have to remember he is only 8-years-old so there’s plenty of time for him to learn.
I find that easy drills with both feet are the best way to ease these young players in to using both feet and I found the one in the clip below to work well with my younger players:
Filed under: Dave Clarke, Soccer Coaching, Soccer Skills, Soccer Team Management, Soccer Training | Tags: Barcelona, corner, goal, skills, xavi, Zlatan Ibrahimovic
How often do you get to grounds with wide pitches and your corner taker can’t reach the middle of the penalty area so you watch corner after corner go to waste?
Tactics go out of the window as your players try to kick the ball harder but just cannot reach their team mates.
I’ve coached my team to use a near post tactic which catches the defenders off guard and creates goal scoring opportunities in front of goal.
1. The corner taker plays a quick ball into the player on the near post along the ground.
2. The receiver moves towards the ball to get it.
3. He plays the ball back to the corner taker who has moved to the edge of the penalty area.
4. The ball is played to the edge of the D where one of your midfielders has moved into position.
Isolate the defender with quick movement
Diagram 2 shows a close up of the initial move. The corner taker and two receivers have moved quickly so the circled defender is isolated in no man’s land. Players are moving to the ball and must be quick to control and pass.
The other attackers pull defenders away
Diagram 3 shows how the defenders have moved to cover the attackers they expect the ball to be played to. The two circled attackers have not only pulled the defenders away opening up a route to goal from the penalty area, they are also in the perfect position to score from any rebounds.
Watch the highlights from Barcelona versus Sporting Gijon and see how often Barcelona attack the near post. Their first two goals come from corners played towards the near post or the front part of the penalty area. They don’t cross deep first time it usually goes short first.
The highlights also show some wonderful skills and it in HD so worth taking a look at:
Filed under: Dave Clarke, Soccer Coaching, Soccer News, Soccer Skills, Soccer Team Management | Tags: funny goal kicks, goal kicks, goalkeeper kicks, player on the line, stop scoring from goal kicks
By David Clarke
Writing for my Touchline Tales column in Soccer Coach Weekly I was reminded of an incident which happened to a fellow coach.
A coach I was corresponding with has asked for advice, his problem he says is that “sometimes it’s better when my team gives away a corner rather than a goal-kick because we give the ball away and end up letting soft goals in”.
In 7-a-side matches, junior teams find it hard to clear the ball at goal-kicks, often resulting in the ball going straight to the opposition, who shoot straight away and end up scoring with the goalkeeper stranded.
However, I like my goalkeepers to take goal-kicks, because it is part of the responsibility they have to take on. Sometimes it will be the only time they kick the ball.
During last season I went to watch one of the other teams who I had not seen during the season play. The coach of our team was looking glum. I asked him what was wrong and he told me that the team were 3-0 down after 15 minutes all resulting from the goalkeeper kicking the ball straight to the opposition and being returned into the empty net.
“I’d let someone else take it but he’s the best kicker,” he told me. I explained that I too had experienced this problem and our solution had been to put a defender on the line at goalkicks in case the ball went straight to the opposition attackers.
Not only did this give us a chance to stop the ball but it also gave our goalkeepers the confidence to kick, and they usually kicked much better with this added security of a player on the line.
What I have also found useful with this tactic is that when you go to 11-a-side the players who have been on the line become excellent line clearers at corners and free-kicks. Of course they can no longer stand on the line at goal-kicks but the art they have learnt can be put to use in other ways.
Back at the game the coach of the U9s decided he would try the tactic in the second half. I reminded him to impress upon the goal-line defender that he mustn’t use his hands or he will give away a penalty. I told him to tell the defender on the line to advance towards the attacker to cut down the angle and make it harder for him to hit the back of the net.
In the second half the team tried the tactic out and they did notice a huge difference. Now if the opposition striker got the ball straight from the goal-kick he couldn’t just kick it straight back into the net, he had to think about what he was going to do to beat the defender on the line. It also gave more time for the goalkeeper to get back to the goal and be ready for a shot.
The coach said he would be practising at training and definitely use it from now on in the matches he played.
Here’s how he can coach his players:
Practice in your training sessions
Players: Goalkeeper, two attackers and your goalline defender.
Where: Use the goalmouth on your pitch making it as realistic as possible.
Aims: Goalkeeper kicks out and the two attackers win it and advance on the goal. Your goalline defender must advance towards them at speed and so must your goalkeeper. You’ll be amazed at the number of times the attackers miss or shoot straight at your goalline defender.
Here’s a clip that may stir a few memories…
Even the professionals get it wrong…
