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Coaches Corner
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Spring Outdoor Season Kicked off with Recent Spring Coaches Clinic/Meeting in the TARC Center at Carthage College.
I'm sure we all agree that soccer is very subjective. Team by team, club by club, region by region, country by country, everyone has their own idea about what works best. I completely get all of that. But, as a club, we've decided to try to unite our philosophy and go after a possession-oriented style. Why? Well, here's my take on it: It's a style that will prepare our players for anything a future coach will ask of them. If their college coach plays a style that's more direct, our players will certainly be prepared to accurately serve, or receive long, direct passes, and they'll understand how to get in behind defenses. However, if they play for a college coach who plays more of a possession style, our players will obviously be prepared for that as well. But, if we only prepare players to play 1-dimensionally, when a future coach places any increased demands on their games, they may not be able to rise to the task. This kind of soccer is FUN to play! It requires discipline. It requires you to stay cool under pressure. It requires confidence and skill. These are some of the great intangibles we often hear mention of that being involved in sports provide young athletes.
So, we spent this spring's clinic on taking an in-depth look at 5 v 2. In past clinics we've talked about how it's a miniaturized version of the big game, but at this clinic we went over all the coaching points with a fine toothed comb, and tried to pay attention to the FEEL for the timing and rhythm of it. We reviewed proper support angles, and when you want to have your support there. We talked about the footwork necessary to play effectively around the ball. Are your feet always ready to play the ball with your body in balance? Are your feet always ready to transport you from one spot on the field to a new spot while keeping "open to the play"?
This, to me, is critical. If we are going to ask our players to play a possession-type game, then they MUST have a command of how to move when they are around the ball. Our ability to "connect passes" is dependent upon how well we move and support the ball; giving the player on the ball MULTIPLE options to break pressure versus one, maybe two, (the result of which is 1-dimensional soccer). Once you stop, or walk, you take yourself out of the play, because chances are the defense is moving and reacting to every roll of the ball. You need to continually "readjust your position", and look to "get the ball back" when the it moves.
Once we get the players moving correctly, we talked about the proper weight and accuracy of the pass. We went into a few more advanced concepts like playing 1-touch, playing with rhythm, timing the release of the ball, and disguising intentions.
We discussed applying these concepts to each of our training sessions so that players begin to "own" this as their style of play. We discussed asking the players to transfer these concepts from each stage of training, (i.e. drills, possession games, games with goals, etc), right through to their actual matches. For example, at the clinic, we played a possession game at the end where I asked the coaches to find the 5v2 game within the larger game.
Yours for United FC,
Greg Winter, Head Trainer, U-18 Coach
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