Stay on top of the latest drills, games and practice plans with the Soccer Coach Weekly email newsletter. Sign up below and check out the arhcive of previous posts.
in Email newsletters, Set pieces
Perfect set pieces can be a thing of beauty... but they can also spell disaster. Think of how many times you see a free kick sail over the bar or a corner put your team from attacking to defending a counter attack. Dead ball situations are an individual skill from the player taking the set piece but also they encompass a whole team working to take advantage of the situation. MORE
in Email newsletters, Midfield
One of the things I find really useful is to engage my players on a Zoom call and get them to list the attributes they think players need in certain positions. So this week we are working on defensive midfield. What does a player in that position have to do? MORE
in Email newsletters, Fitness and Diet
During lockdown or anytime you find you cannot get your team to training for a period of time you should make sure they are doing things to keep fit. They need things that they will find are fun and things that they will want to do because it is a competition. Without matches they are missing that competitive edge and that will add to their boredom when they cannot get out and play. MORE
in Email newsletters, Team Management
How you use your players in matches is a key part of your game model – and with many clubs in lockdown and training going online it is a great time to review your game time policy. MORE
in Coaching Classroom, Email newsletters
It is a very difficult time to be coaching our players around the world. So to help you I have created the Coaching Classroom where you can download lessons to give to your players online. Here I have focused on Compactness and Penetration MORE
in Ball Control and Footwork, Email newsletters
I was out walking on the local golf course where I live this week and in the distance I saw a child running from what seemed miles away at top speed. As the child got closer I realised that it was someone dribbling a ball. Of course on the fairways it was like being at Wembley on a well cared for football pitch! It was great to see a child enjoying dribbling a ball, chipping over the bunkers and swerving around the patches of heather that catch out an unwary golfer. MORE
in Email newsletters, Tips and advice
At the United Soccer Coaches Digital Convention yesterday I was in the presentation by Dan Abrahams on performance of your team with well being in mind. He explored three environmental approaches and combines them to help you establish a healthy and safe coaching environment for players of all ages and levels. MORE
in Email newsletters, Psychology
I'm usually high up in the sky on my way to the United Soccer Coaches convention in America at this time of the year – last year I was at the convention in Baltimore and there was loads of coaching education on offer. Yet it is still exciting to be entering the United Soccer Coaches Digital Convention 2021 on my computer in the home office. MORE
in Ball Control and Footwork, Email newsletters
Turning with the ball has always been a skill that draws names from the great players through the ages – think of the Cruff turn or Zidane spin turn. It used to make me wonder how players like Lionel Messi, Andrés Iniesta, Zinedine Zidane or Johan Cruyff could turn their opponents inside out, game after game – I now know it needs practice and from a young age. MORE
in Email newsletters, Small Sided Games
One of the ways to improve your team in 2021 is to get them communicating on the pitch. Players do this by verbal and non verbal actions, like pointing where they want a ball to be passed or calling for the ball when overlapping from behind like a fullback running outside a winger. MORE
in Email newsletters, Podcasts
I launched my podcast this time last year, totally oblivious to the problems that were developing in the world. But as ever there is no difference to how I feel about coaching and once again by the time it gets to New Year's Day I find I'm itching to get back out on the pitch! So I read books, listen to some podcasts and generally boost my coaching knowledge sitting in the house. MORE
in Email newsletters, Team Management
When we all packed up for Christmas did you have one or two things you put to the back of your mind that you thought "I will solve that when we come back"? It is easy to do but those problems don't go away and come the New Year they will be facing you again so now is the time to confront them and sort them out. MORE
In a couple of weeks once the decorations have come down it is back to (hopefully) full time training again. One training position I think about at this time of year is the Christmas joker. It's a very important position a bit like the star of the school play and it needs a player who is a big personality on the pitch.. MORE
in Email newsletters, Fun soccer games
Sometimes the break can be annoying for teams that have been playing well - first the coronavirus has stopped the season then along comes the winter holiday. But to give the kids a break it is always a good idea to do things they love to play and have fun at the last training session of the year. MORE
in Email newsletters, Small Sided Games
We've had a lot of fun games this season with all the stopping and starting of the leagues due to coronavirus. But when I ask the players what it is they want to do they nearly always ask for a shooting game. With only one match left before Christmas this is a great time to work on the vital areas of the game like shooting at goal. MORE
We do a lot of work on technique in grassroots training but just as important are the tactics that put the technique to good use. While it is important that the two are worked on separately at training don’t forget that they mutually reinforce each other while playing the game. So while technique is all... MORE
in Ball Control and Footwork, Email newsletters
I came back from a game on Saturday feeling a bit low – my Under 10s who were unbeaten this season lost a game 5-1. We played well but as the game wore on the opposition began to win the important challenges especially the 1v1s. So they will be part of my training session tonight MORE
Possession is so important it is worth spending as much time as you can on getting players reacting to having the ball and making decisions to keep it. They must be switched on and you must get them to look for supporting runs and make the runs themselves. MORE
Keeping possession of the ball is key to winning games – if you have it your opponents haven't got it. There are tactical musts that go hand in hand with a possession game. Being aware of where the ball is and where your teammates are is essential so get your players to have a picture in their head of what they’re going to do with the ball before it comes to them. MORE
Over the next few weeks I plan to work on box-to-box passing moves – counter-attacking play that involves passing and receiving between the lines, well-timed movements and crossover runs, and the exploitation of space behind the opposition’s back line. MORE
One of the things I have done a lot of work on this season is getting my team to play right to the very end of matches. Not only that, whether we are losing or not in the last 10 minutes as a collective we up our game and try to score a goal. It helps us end on a positive note. MORE
Simple answer is “Yes”, particularly if your players regularly struggle to hang on to the attackers they are marking, or if they fail to organise themselves each time they face a corner or free kick. Given a set position, your players will grasp what they have to do and respond well to their part of the defensive responsibility. MORE
in Email newsletters, Shooting
These are five of my go to sessions when I want to coach shooting or to give my players a good workout using both feet to put the ball in the net... it's also the thing they love to do at training better than anything. MORE
Do your players know the offside rule? From Under 11s at 9v9 the offside rule comes into play. This can be used to your advantage in defence but against you in attack, so players need to be on top of it and understand it. Find out how... MORE
