At training I use possession games like rondos that are competitive enough to make it hard for the players to keep the ball without making it too difficult for the pressing players to win it. It’s a question of making sure the size of the rondo/area you are using is the right one and making adjustments as the session continues. Last night I played 5v2 for half an hour with stops to show what it was I wanted the players to do when they were either trying to play the ball or working in pairs.
They make lots of mistakes and lose the ball even though I change the size and overloads to suit the players but that doesn’t matter. Each time they make a mistake they are learning the game. Even when they take what they have learned into matches they will make mistakes and this is also acceptable. As long as they are trying to use a skill or make a decision then they are learning the game and that is a huge part of their development.
It helps players develop team and individual skills – individual skills are vital to player development so let them make mistakes.
I love to see my players shielding the ball, playing through passes into dangerous areas creating exciting moves in a match and ball skills like step overs and movement in different directions. Try the different types of skill below to get your players being more creative in matches.
Can your Under 9s shield the ball? Use Shielding the ball (Under 9 game) from my curriculum to get them shielding and keeping possession in key areas of the pitch
Putting through passes into attacking areas is a great attacking skill to have. Playing killer passes needs clever work to create space and to see the pass. Line breaking passes is a good example to show your players, then get them to put players through on goal with the session Running onto a pass.
Introduce tricks such as step overs or drag backs, which can help wrong-foot defenders and give them a clear run through on goal. Encourage your young players to use a skill to get past a strong defence or to beat a goalkeeper when they’ve been put through by a killer pass. One of my go-to games is Double jeopardy which pits the striker against the goalkeeper.
The key rondos passes can be used in tactical play during matches to play between the lines with the key play splitting lines of defence to create goalscoring runs MORE
When players are through on goal, they must decide whether to shoot or take it around the keeper. To be able to make this decision players must practise both methods so they have the techniques required when the situation arises in matches. MORE
If you want to put your strikers through on goal with a killer pass from midfield, try running this session and see your match day passing improve MORE
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
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
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
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
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
Use this game and it will develop the ability of your players to use dribbling skills to win one-on-one situations. Individual skills develop players so they can keep the ball when facing an opponent. MORE
