Tactical Thinking and the Three Questions

     I've been reading a wonderful little book on coaching called Soccer IQ by Dan Blank, a coach for the women's squad at the University of Georgia.  In each brief chapter of the book Coach Blank shares his observations on what constitutes the "soccer iq" that good players have in common.  You might think this "iq" would include a lot of technical skills, things like having a good passing stroke or having mastered some particular deceptive dribbling skills, the sorts of things I work the most on with my players.  But for Coach Blank those skills are the tools you have to have in order to make and execute tactical decisions in games and it's in that decision making that we find the soccer iq that separates great players from good ones.  It's qualities like speed of thought, empathy and anticipation and developing a habit of observing the game closely even as you're playing.

     For some time now anyone attending one of my teams' games would be able to hear me calling to my players to "use your eyes" as I encourage them to know what's going on around them.  So I was tickled to get to chapter 10 of Soccer IQ, and find Coach Blank emphasizing just how important it is for players to really learn to use their eyes.  Here are a few passages from the chapter which is entitled Three Questions:

     "A soccer player's most important body part is her pair of eyes.  Your eyes are your very best way of collecting information...Your eyes prepare you to make the decisions that enable you to play quickly and keep the ball for your team.  And too many players don't utilize them very well.
     In a ninety minute soccer game you will probably spend between two and three minutes on the ball.  That means that 87 minutes, roughly 96% of your day, is spent off the ball.  Smart players understand that when they don't have the ball, they've got to plan for those moments when the ball finds them.          

     A smart player is constantly asking herself, "What if?" and "What's next?"
     What if the ball comes to me?
     What's next when I get it?
     What if we give the ball back to them?  What's next?
     What if they give the ball back to us?  What's next?
     And she is always asking, "What's behind me?"
      

Average soccer players make their decisions after they've already received the ball. That's not a good thing...Smart players make 90% of their decisions before the ball ever gets to them.  Even if that decision is to face up a defender and take her on the dribble (1v1), the smart player already knows that's what she's going to do before the ball gets to her."

     Share that with your player if you can.  I think all of the players I coach are capable of understanding what this is about.  If you're interested in hearing more of Coach Blank's ideas on Soccer IQ you can go to his website www.soccerpoet.com and he's also got a SoccerPoet channel on YouTube where he actually talks through and illustrates some of the book's chapters.  Good stuff.

Fusion Girls Are All About Attack!

     My Fusion U11 teams were in action for the kick-off of indoor season this Saturday and the two games, played back-to-back, were fantastic.  Most of the girls hadn't played since early November so while I'd expect them to be really anxious to take the field I wouldn't expect the quality of their play to be great.  A bit of kick-ball, at least in the opening half of each game wouldn't have been surprising.  The games we got though were far from that, featuring some really skillful individual play and a lot of great cooperative ball movement.   
     I've thought in the past that many players benefit from time away from the game in that it seems to give them a chance to "percolate" on what they learned in the previous training season.  I've seen players who had trouble with some particular skill at the end of one season show up for the next season with that same skill now being readily available to them as just part of their game.  There seemed to be plenty of examples of that sort of off-season development in the two games I saw Saturday.   Prior to the Ninjas game I let the players know that the two skills I'd be specifically looking for from them in the game would be their Cruyff turn and their roll-over touch.   I keep track of that sort of thing using what one of my players named "The Tallies".  Here is the tally sheet from the Ninjas game:

     I noted a few things on this tally sheet that I wanted to be sure to remember, like Kylee earning a new nickname.  "The General" was totally in charge when she was on the field and I think her ability to communicate clearly and in the right tone of voice to her teammates was a big factor in their ability to hit the ground running in this game.  In addition to putting the first goal in for us Kylee was setting a great example with the quality of her first touch on the ball.  In particular, she had two opportunities to trap balls out of the air and in each case she got the ball to the ground as smoothly as a pro would have.  I frequently say to my players in training that of all the skills we work on first touch is the most important, the most indispensable and you could see that in Kylee's performance.   

     The team as a whole seemed to have a really excellent first touch in this game and I hope that's a trend that they can maintain.  Every time you successfully trap a ball to maintain possession you're gaining time for creating shooting opportunities.   The other skills we work on are all important in this regard too.  To score you've got to have the ball so we should never take possession casually.   I would say that it was that overall attitude toward possession of the ball that impressed me most from the team.  Sometimes teams can be stuck in an attitude toward the game where they are content to keep trading possession, as though the two teams were taking turns.  But Saturday the Ninjas were playing with a more commanding attitude, owning the ball most of the time and pressing hard to win it back when they had to.   They were on the attack for the entire game and it was awesome.

     Girl Power managed a draw against a very tough opponent in their game and I was most impressed by how our girls were able to match the pace of play the other team was setting.  I've been planning on having "pace of play" be a theme during the upcoming training season and I'm happy to see that the Girl Power squad are ready for that.  We saw the sort of deft ball control skill we expect from this team but we also saw them much more willing as a group to attempt that sort of control in a higher gear.  

     One great example was Anna executing her typically smooth "scissors" move but at a faster speed than I think I've seen before.  Emily was using her roll-over touch faster.  Zoe was doing that crazy-legs step over of hers faster.  Ashley and Hailey were not only playing fast but also they seemed to have improved their timing on those subtle cut moves they prefer so that they would work even against taller, faster opponents.

     In the first half we had outstanding work in keeper from Natalie who even did the splits like a hockey goalie!  Then in the second half Eileen and Ava were rock solid under the pressure of facing a barrage of well struck shots.  Jolie got too goals for us in the first half, including one off her left foot (I know because she told me three times).  In both halves Abby and Olivia were tying our midfield together.  Olivia got loose down the sideline repeatedly and Abby was playing that field commander role I mentioned Kylee taking for the Ninjas...not as vocal but still in charge.  Our new team member, Payton, seemed most comfortable covering in defense the whole game but she wasn't shy about challenging hard to the ball and her play contributed a lot to the team's ability to frustrate what looked to be a very strong opponent.