Play Like Predators: Anticipate Opportunities When You're Off the Ball.

     Click on the video link below for some highlights of British Premier League games.  Parents, please let your players check out the video for examples of the sort of attacking play away from the ball that I will be trying to get our teams to understand.  Be sure they notice what the players away from the ball are doing.

     Obviously that first goal is a beautiful example of a confident player being willing to challenge every defender between himself and the goal.  I want every one of our players to feel they have the skills and the permission to do just that when they see the opportunity.
     In the next few clips I want you to pay attention to the way the players away from the ball are reacting to and anticipating the action of their teammate with the ball.  See how they get scoring opportunities by actively maintaining spacing.  By resisting the urge to crowd the ball they aren't being passive, rather they are actively mounting the attack and setting up the opportunity to strike.

U10 Boys: Sometimes You Chase When You're Already in the Lead.

     In a frightening preview of my own impending senility I somehow forgot the game time Sunday...even though I had it on my google calendar...even though I'd just sent an email to the team reminding them of the time only a day before...even though I was actually at T&C just two hours before the game.  My apologies to everyone, especially the players and my thanks to Coach Ben for covering for me and to Wyatt for covering for Owen.
     Naturally I was somewhat rattled by my own inexplicable schedule discombobulation but the team was fine thanks to Ben's leadership.  When I arrived they were down two goals, which was surprising, but within a few minutes they had tied it up and then taken the lead.  They were doing so generally by playing the sort of confident possession-style soccer we'd seen on display in the last game.
     Before I go further in analyzing the game I want to stop right here and emphasize that last point.  They were playing possession soccer.  Not just some of the players but rather all of them.  Every player on this team and in fact on all the Legends teams have bought into the idea that the way to play the game is to get control of the ball and to dribble.   With my younger teams they are at a stage where they attempt to dribble and be deceptive and possess the ball all the while knowing that we may not get a win.  They have taken me at my word and accept that the real goal in these games is to improve your skills not accumulate wins...so be bold and use your skills and the wins will take care of themselves.  With this U10 Boys team though, they've reached another level.  They want to possess and dribble the ball because now they've had a taste of how easily they can handle other teams when they play that way and I couldn't be happier with their progression.  I'd say I'm proud of them but what I really feel is grateful.  They've put in the work.  They are taking the chances.  I'm thankful to have a group like this to work with, to be working with kids who clearly love the game so much and who are genuinely committed to it.  They don't just play soccer, they are soccer players.
     So then what happened?  To Ben and I it looked like they had the game in hand, that they were controlling the pace and that their persistent efforts to dribble deceptively were frustrating the other team.  Yet, over the second half, even though our players seemed to feel that they were in control, they also started playing as though they were "chasing" the game.  That's a phrase you hear used in tv coverage of pro soccer to describe a situation where a team is down a few goals late so they have to commit to a full-scale attack, "chasing" the game but risking giving up more goals on easy counter-attacks as they leave their defensive third more and more empty.  It's similar to the situation in American football where a team that is down has to rely heavily on their passing game to catch up quickly and in so doing they risk the dreaded "pick six".
     In this instance our boys were drifting toward the ball, crowding into the corners or against the wall, each seemingly unaware of where his teammates were.  As a result the other team had some easy opportunities to get in to open space with the ball and rush to our goal.  I think each of the boys was feeling that they had a chance to score a goal and so they each wanted the ball but in chasing after the ball this way they end up missing some opportunities.  They are still at a stage where they may feel that they are basically taking turns being on the attack.  They haven't had enough experience with cooperative play to realize that you can be on the attack even when you are off the ball.
     Next game we'll set a few goals for everyone in terms of challenging themselves to try some new move.  I think the way to get them back on track is to remind them that the goal for each of them is to improve their skills regardless of the score. 
 

Girl Power! Better and Better.

     I try to be very disciplined with all of my teams about showing as little interest in game scores as seems plausible.  I don't try to discourage the kids from caring about the score.  Rather, I'm just trying to reassure them that my appraisal of their performance is never based on the game outcome.  I like the score to be their business, as it were, and for them to think that I'm really paying attention to other things most of the time and that I'm not caught up in the score the way they are.  During the game when I have the chance to talk to them I'm focusing on things like their effort to actually use their skills or to stick to some basic principle that we've talked about before the game started.  But I'm like anybody else and I like to win so sometimes it's hard for me to keep the girls from seeing that I'm caught up in the game as much as they are.  Thursday's game was one of those times.
    It took a few minutes for the girls to get their feet under them but once they did they played beautifully.  Prior to the start of the game I'd spoken to the team about making an effort to really be aware of where your teammates are so that we aren't getting in each others' way and crowding the ball so often.  When a team does that they leave so much of the field open that it's easy for their opponent to basically get lucky with a few long kicks and next thing you know they have the ball in your penalty area.
     Well, early on our girls were chasing and crowding the ball thoughtlessly and the other team was able to take advantage of that with three quick goals.  Girl Power! turned it around though and with some leadership from Ava, Hajar, Abby and Ashley they began to take charge of the game by maintaining possession of the ball and using their dribbling skills to move rather than just kicking at it.
     Ava is so fearless when it comes to having the ball in a tight spot.  She peeks up to see where the opposition is then makes her move into the open...it's fantastic, if I can just get her to really take off once she sees that opening.  Hajar has that really good quick step when she clears a defender, a real speed burst.  For her the next step is to follow that quick step into the next defender and then the next.  Right now she tends to hesitate to follow the ball into the next line of defenders.
     Abby is my rule-follower and if I tell the girls that they need to use their dribble skills to take "the long way" around the defenders rather than simply trying to rush past them, Abby is the one to do it...over and over again.  Her deceptive dribbling is really impressive and she's so persistent.  And finally, in this group it was Ashley who really made the breakthrough when she showed the other girls that if you challenged the other team early for the ball you could win it away from them.   She was tough as nails Thursday night, stealing the ball off the foot of the other team's biggest players repeatedly.
     Our two other leaders on the attack were Hailey H. and Kelsey who were turning into an impressive double threat.  They weren't exactly running give-and-go plays but they were definitely aware of each other and maintaining a nice space between as one or the other brought the ball up-field.  That intentional spacing frequently put one of them in the position to get a rebound after the other had taken a shot.  I talked to them about how they were working together.  Hopefully they could feel it too and will build on that experience.  Hailey is the better dribbler right now as she is able to turn quickly and keep the ball with her.  Kelsey still wants to go in a straight line to the goal most of the time but that's understandable as she has such a strong kick.
     Erin had a great game and is easily the most talkative (in a good way) of the team.  She always calls out for passes and in this game she was doing much better at being in a position where a pass would make sense.  She took a ball to the face at one point and set a great example for the team by staying in the game.   Hailey B. improved dramatically as the game went on and by the end her touches on the ball were much smarter and she was showing very good awareness of where she was on the field.  Maya was improving throughout the game too.  She is gaining more confidence in her dribble step every game and hopefully she will build up some momentum on one of these runs and realize she can take the ball all the way in if she tries.
     In the second half, when the team was really dominating the game, Avery went in as keeper and was rock-solid.  Next time she's in there I'll encourage her to try some punting.  With Avery in the goal Eileen was able to play in the field the second half and I'm very proud of how far she's come and the level of confidence she's showing.
     All in all a very good game that I hope was a valuable learning experience for the girls.  They played with real toughness and determination and found that they could come back against a physically bigger team and even hold the lead for a while.  So, why did I get as caught up in the score as the girls were?  I've become accustomed to seeing the value of any game as a learning experience for my players, even games where my team is getting thumped.  We keep working on what we want to work on and playing the way we think is best and eventually the scores will take care of themselves.  But sometimes when I hear not only the parents on the other team but the coaches too encouraging their players to play sloppy, ugly, kick-ball style soccer I can, I admit, start to feel like a win for the Legends would be a very good thing...for everyone involved.  Every practice, every game, every single touch on the ball that one of my players gets is too valuable to waste so you'll never hear me encouraging my players to "kick the ball!" I want them to try to get control,  make a move and beat the person in front of them then attack the goal.
     I'm also sure that most of you were noticing that the other team did play with some discipline in so far as their defenders were consistently staying in the defensive third.  Seeing our girls playing with less shape in terms of positioning must be frustrating.  But there is a method to my intentional refusal to talk to the players about "staying in your position."  I'm going to take a little time to think about this some more and then discuss it here.
   

Individual Skill + Cooperative Play = Beautiful Game

     My U10 boys played on the larger field this Sunday and prior to the start of the game I talked with them about how we should adjust to the field size.   I had been anticipating that if they were pressed hard while playing on the larger field some of our players would be tempted into old bad habits of defending by kicking the ball away.  I've been trying to impress upon them since the summer that our attack always begins from wherever we get possession of the ball.  At the midfield, deep in our third or right in the goal box, once we get the ball we are on the attack so don't kick the ball away and give up possession.  With the exception of the keeper, I want them to dribble the ball up field into open space rather than try some long clearing kick/pass.  For this game I offered a suggestion for how they might deal with the size of the field while still sticking with our style of possession ball.  I described it as "rotation".  If one player gets the ball back in our third and starts dribbling out then one of the players farther up field needs to rotate back to cover for him, and not only cover but to actually support him by being there to pick up the ball if an opposition player manages to knock it loose.
     I was really impressed by how the team adopted this way of playing.  They were moving up and back and into and out of attacking and defending positions with real confidence.  They were communicating well and cooperating easily.  It was fun to watch.  They really seemed to be learning a lot during the course of the game and getting better and better as the game went on.  I hope it sticks with them.
     Every one played very well and I could fill pages with highlights but I want to just mention a few.  Braden didn't see much action in as keeper in the first half although he handled himself well when we needed him.  In the second half he was in the field and when I saw him two times make just the slightest hesitation/stutter-step/sort of shake-and-bake move to get around a defender my jaw was on the floor.  That is a huge breakthrough for him to attempt that sort of thing in a game situation and I'm so glad to see him taking that step.
     Similarly, I saw Logan G. taking a big step forward.  Logan has always been an aggressive attacker with a strong foot but, like most kids, it's taken him a while to realize that you can't always just rush past the defender.  Sometimes you have to take the long way around and in this game I saw him do just that a couple of times including at one point executing a sort of double-pull-back turn to get clear and find a shot.  That's big, that stage when a player gets comfortable with the idea of turning their back to the goal in order to shake a defender.
     Finally there was Conner S. who seems to want to Maradonna turn his way all the way down the field.  We joked with him about it at the last team practice.  "Maradonna turns all the way, baby!"  But he really does like that move and it seems to suit his feel for where he wants to put the defender.  He was also one of the quickest to grasp the "rotation" concept in this game and to understand how and when you need to take a chance and move away from your "position".
      It was a great game all around against a team that had some very good players with very little experience playing together.  I'm happy to say that the Legends took advantage of that in just the right way and stayed true to their style.

Coach Pat's U10 Boys Open With a Win!

     With Joe, Luke and Drew taking the lead, the U10 boys opened with an impressive nine goal performance.  They faced a Blessed Sacrament squad that was no push-over in terms of their aggressiveness and basic competence and yet the determination of our boys to maintain possession of the ball, even in defense, made it difficult for their opponents to find any shooting opportunities for most of the game.  Here is the rundown of our scoring:

Joe put in three by my count.
Drew had three.
Luke had two, one of which was a solid left-footer.
Kaleb put one in on a free kick.

     The referee thought we had ten total but my notes only show nine.  I may have missed one near the end.  The other team did manage a bit of a run towards the end when we altered our line-up a bit and I'm glad they did.  It was a fun game with both teams maintaining a very up-beat attitude throughout despite plenty of very physical play.

     The big highlight of the game has to be Braden's performance in keeper during the first half.  He was totally engaged the whole twenty two minutes and played brilliantly.  Most impressive were his outlet passes which were thoughtful and accurate and were mostly leading his teammates right into scoring drives.

     I saw lots of great skill work from everyone and we'll keep encouraging that.  On the small field the "three lines" rule applies to all players, not just the keeper, so clearing kicks from defense have to land in the mid-field area to avoid a penalty.  The consistent result is that clearing kicks are just turn-overs.  Our team's style of defense, to trap the ball and try to dribble out into the mid, is much more effective on that field.  Next weekend we play on the big field so we'll probably see the boys adapt by passing more often and over greater distances with some clearing of the ball being a necessity.  That will be interesting.

     See you next Sunday at 2:40 PM on the Large field.  The turf on that field is good for turf shoes or cleats.

Girl Power! rolls. Not much opportunity to work on defense after all.

     The Girl Power! squad made an impressive showing in their first game...in terms of scoring at least.  Our girls went out strong and really kept the play in the other team's half for the first five minutes or so.  Then on a lucky bounce the other team found themselves with the ball close to our goal and put one in past Eileen. That seemed to really light the fire for the Legends girls as they dominated possession of the ball for the remainder of the game and managed seven goals.  I should note that Eileen played very solidly in keeper for us that whole first half.  She really likes playing that position and she showed some good skill including at least one beautiful punt.
     I can't complain much about a seven goal performance but I will make some observations about the quality of play.  First though here's the rundown:

>Kennedy in her first game with the team put one in from the top of the penalty box when a shot rebounded off the keeper and came right to Kennedy's feet.  It pays to be in the right place and Kennedy had smartly moved out clear of the scrum to get a rebound opportunity.
>Hailey Hall came on strong in her second turn on the field of the first half and put one in.  Very strong shot.  She had a second goal that from my view looked like it might have come off her foot and Avery's at the same time.  We'll count that as one for both of them as either of them could have put it in.  Hailey went on to put in another two for an amazing showing from one of our youngest players.
>Kelsey had a nice goal which came after she accepted that she didn't have to hang back in defense the whole game.
>Ashley put one in too after taking several good shots including a powerful left-footer.

     I didn't see much in the way of deceptive dribbling in this game (I counted four pull-backs) but that doesn't mean that the Legends weren't showing some skill.  Being able to trap the ball at your own feet is a skill and all of our girls have that so even though they weren't doing enough purposeful dribbling they were definitely possessing the ball more effectively.  Our first touches on the ball were in general much more thoughtful and purposeful than the random kicking of the other team (One player on the other squad was even making a kind of "Hi-yah!" karate sound every time she kicked it).  That thoughtfulness became more apparent late in the second half as I saw many of our players make a first touch on loose balls that carried the ball into open space away from their opponents.  They played with great energy and it was their first game on this field and with several new players joining the mix so I'm not complaining about what I saw but I want to be sure that everyone else sees the potential that I see.
     I described in the previous post the points on defensive play that I'll be trying to make with the team through the season but obviously this first game didn't require much defense so we'll get back to that discussion later.  So here's what I'm looking for on the attacking side.  A coaching point that I try to repeat often with all of my teams is that you have to try to be aware of three things at all times while you are on the field:  Where the ball is; Where the goals are; Where the other players are.  Seems simple to an adult but when you watch the kids play it's clear to see how often they have a kind of tunnel vision on the ball and consequently they loose track of which direction they should be heading and where their teammates are.  They are all at an age right now where their ability to process what they are seeing in their peripheral vision is just developing so I don't expect anyone to have a better vision of the field right away.  We'll just keep talking about it and try to build on our playing experience.
     We do though have a few players on this team with some precocious field-vision abilities.  Ava and Abby seem the two most advanced right now at seeing openings and opportunities.  One highlight for me last night was a moment when Abby made a very good trap near the bench area then took just two dribble steps before shooting the ball diagonally across the center circle towards the other teams' eighteen (top of the penalty box).  Just as I was shouting to her "Abby, dribble that ball more next time" I realized that she'd made a perfect pass through a tight window that ended up right at Hailey H.'s feet, goal side, and led Hailey right into the penalty area.  I know Abby has the skills to dribble around anybody but she also has the vision to see opportunities and I can't argue with that.  That being said, my goal isn't to help them develop their view of the field so that they can all start making brilliant passes.  Right now what I want is for them to begin to see where the open space for themselves is, where they can dribble the ball and find a path to the goal on their own.
     Potential for improvement aside though, this was a very promising first effort for sure.

Girl Power! Game One: What to watch for.

     At our last practice session I was trying to introduce the team to a concept that I've been turning over in my head for a few weeks.  We don't spend much time in our Legends practices working on "defense".  I and the other coaches take it for granted that if you work on learning the ball control skills you need to attack you can figure out on your own how to apply those same skills to the task of stealing the ball from an opponent.  So, our consistent mantra with regard to defense is to keep pointing out to the kids that the goal when approaching an opponent who has the ball should almost always be to come away with the ball in your possession.  "Clearing" the ball is a necessity sometimes but let's avoid that if we can.
     After watching a game at the T&C field a few weeks back it occurred to me that we would actually have a good opportunity to work on our defensive skills while playing there.  The field is a fast turf and it's not all that big.  The goals, however, are enormous for U8 players.  The result is that games are fast paced and high scoring.  The temptation for many players in a situation where the goals seem to be going in easily is to fall into playing a kind of preventative defense where you just try to maintain position between the ball and the goal.  Instinctive but ineffective.  We want players who attack the ball, "closing the gap", as we say, with real fierceness and confidence.
     On the attacking side of the ball, when we're working with Legends players on developing their deceptive dribbling skills, we frequently ask them to be willing to try their moves in their games.  The reasoning is, the only way you'll learn to really use those moves effectively is to put them to the test in game situations.  So forget about the outcome, forget fearing failure and just try it.
     Well, with all of that in mind I've been thinking about how to help our players learn to play better defense by talking about defensive play the same way we talk about attacking play.  This week at practice I tried to get the girls to understand that if they hang back from an attacking player and don't close the gap they aren't playing defense nor are they giving themselves the chance to learn to play defense.  So, I said to them, think of those situations in the same way you would situations where you have the ball.  Go to the ball, close the gap quickly and try to steal it.  Sometimes it will work, sometimes you'll get beat but we've got to begin with gaining some experience.
    Tonight let's keep an eye out for the defensive performance of the team in particular.  And keep in mind that what I'm looking for is that they'll take chances and play boldly.