One of the training goals I have for Ninjas and Girl Power this season is to help everyone perfect the "roll-over" dribble touch.
I think most of my players can execute this skill but very few of them will use it in games so that's what I'll be focusing on this season, getting them to adopt that skill as a regular part of their game. This dribble skill is valuable for two reasons. First it allows a player to move quickly with the ball in a way that keeps the ball moving at the same speed the player is running. Secondly, it can be used as a simple and effective deceptive dribble skill too.
Sunday, March 5, 2017
Wednesday, January 25, 2017
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.
Sunday, January 15, 2017
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'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.
Tuesday, November 1, 2016
Finding "The Killer Ball"
While driving to a Fusion game this past Saturday I heard a great phrase used to describe the style of play of my favorite English Premier League team, Arsenal. One of the London teams, Arsenal under head coach Arsene Wenger play the kind of creative, flowing style of attacking football that can be immensely entertaining...even when they don't score. Scoring wasn't a particular problem in the game I was listening to as Arsenal defeated Sunderland 4-1 but one of the radio commentators noted that as beautifully as they play it can still seem sometimes that Arsenal wait too long to take the shot. "Sometimes" he said "they just keep passing it around, searching for the killer ball."
That is a fair description of how Arsenal play. They pass and dribble and pass again, overlapping and interweaving, until finally the last pass puts the ball in a position where the goal is undeniable. The first goal of the game, a header for Alexis Sanchez, came at the end of a run that included more than twenty-five completed passes. That's something like 20 seconds of continuous possession!
Here is a nice compilation video of Arsenal highlights showing their signature style of "possession football"
But while it's true that Arsenal do play to find the killer ball I don't think that it's much of a criticism of a team to say that they are too patient. My own feeling watching most games, whatever teams are playing and at whatever level, is that far too often the players aren't patient enough. Teams and individual players try to play too directly rather than taking the time to find an opening or even create one by drawing the defense out. I want my players to have that patience, that confidence in their individual skills and their teammates' skills to know that they can take time and a longer path to find the goal.
Girl Power played the final two games of their season this Sunday and the girls were brilliant in both games with the first match bringing a flurry of goals. The second game was a hard fought 1-1 draw against a very tough FC Kentucky side. In both games I was particularly impressed by the new level of competence the team is achieving in playing "positionally". Specifically, we're seeing more of our players understanding how to be patient in their particular role and let the game opportunities come to them rather than getting drawn into chasing the ball. The result of that is that you see many more opportunities created where a player is in just the right position to receive that final pass. I think this achievement is for them a combination of having the experience to read the flow of the game better and of having confidence in each other, knowing that they are working together.
There was one run of play in the second game that particularly stands out for me. I think the players involved were Olivia and Eileen with Liv being in the #2 fullback position and Beanie being ahead of her in the #8. Liv brought the ball up after recovering it in our half and made a quick pass up to Eileen. Eileen found her path blocked by two defenders so she quickly turned back and dropped the ball to Liv who then immediately sent it right back up past those defenders so Beanie could run around them and back onto the ball. It was brilliant but the best part was that they executed it with a kind of casualness, like it was the easiest thing in the world to take a moment out of the soccer game to play a little "monkey in the middle".
Girl Power displayed a lot of that sort of play in that game and it was beautiful but late in the second half their style changed a bit. FC Kentucky had managed a goal finally on one of their rare shooting opportunities and in response our squad seemed to become a little more desperate. We saw less quality passing and more efforts by individual players to dribble-penetrate through the FC line. The girls seemed to be taking turns picking the ball up in midfield and dribbling straight into the heart of the defense, usually with good success until they got to that last defender. No one seemed to be able to break through.
Obviously it can often seem like the girls have more success when they pass the ball around, when they break through a defense as a team rather than as individuals. The truth is though that as both their game coach and their trainer I have to have two different views on the games. As a coach working within the games to teach the players a tactical perspective I naturally want every player to recognize the passing opportunities. I want them to see how they can exploit the openings in a defense by cooperating. But as their trainer I also want to see everyone putting their 1v1 skills to the test. As the trainer I still want them to be fearlessly, even selfishly, pushing forward with the ball. So when I see a player dribble into traffic rather than releasing the ball I see two things. I see that they missed a tactical opportunity that I'd want them to be aware of but I also see a technical deficiency that could be addressed. If a player chooses to dribble into a crowd in an effort to get to goal on their own and they lose the ball does that mean that getting through the crowd was impossible, a bad decision? Or does it mean that they didn't execute technically? As the trainer it's the later that I see. I see players who actually might have gotten through if they'd just used that one move we've worked on so many times...if they'd tried a fake shot...or shielded the ball. So even as the other players and even the parents might be thinking "she should have passed the ball" I might be thinking "yes, maybe...but maybe she could have gotten past that last defender if she'd tried something else."
My feeling is that we still have to let players at this age have the option of dribbling. I don't want players who are merely competent dribblers in 1v1 situations, players who can dribble but who prefer to pass. I want players who are excellent in 1v1, who can reliably dribble-penetrate with confidence and who can then choose their options calmly and with patience, exploiting whatever weaknesses they can discover. A team full of players like that can then find many paths to the goal. They can work together patiently relying on the combined quality of their individual skills as they search for the killer ball.
That is a fair description of how Arsenal play. They pass and dribble and pass again, overlapping and interweaving, until finally the last pass puts the ball in a position where the goal is undeniable. The first goal of the game, a header for Alexis Sanchez, came at the end of a run that included more than twenty-five completed passes. That's something like 20 seconds of continuous possession!
Here is a nice compilation video of Arsenal highlights showing their signature style of "possession football"
But while it's true that Arsenal do play to find the killer ball I don't think that it's much of a criticism of a team to say that they are too patient. My own feeling watching most games, whatever teams are playing and at whatever level, is that far too often the players aren't patient enough. Teams and individual players try to play too directly rather than taking the time to find an opening or even create one by drawing the defense out. I want my players to have that patience, that confidence in their individual skills and their teammates' skills to know that they can take time and a longer path to find the goal.
Girl Power played the final two games of their season this Sunday and the girls were brilliant in both games with the first match bringing a flurry of goals. The second game was a hard fought 1-1 draw against a very tough FC Kentucky side. In both games I was particularly impressed by the new level of competence the team is achieving in playing "positionally". Specifically, we're seeing more of our players understanding how to be patient in their particular role and let the game opportunities come to them rather than getting drawn into chasing the ball. The result of that is that you see many more opportunities created where a player is in just the right position to receive that final pass. I think this achievement is for them a combination of having the experience to read the flow of the game better and of having confidence in each other, knowing that they are working together.
There was one run of play in the second game that particularly stands out for me. I think the players involved were Olivia and Eileen with Liv being in the #2 fullback position and Beanie being ahead of her in the #8. Liv brought the ball up after recovering it in our half and made a quick pass up to Eileen. Eileen found her path blocked by two defenders so she quickly turned back and dropped the ball to Liv who then immediately sent it right back up past those defenders so Beanie could run around them and back onto the ball. It was brilliant but the best part was that they executed it with a kind of casualness, like it was the easiest thing in the world to take a moment out of the soccer game to play a little "monkey in the middle".
Girl Power displayed a lot of that sort of play in that game and it was beautiful but late in the second half their style changed a bit. FC Kentucky had managed a goal finally on one of their rare shooting opportunities and in response our squad seemed to become a little more desperate. We saw less quality passing and more efforts by individual players to dribble-penetrate through the FC line. The girls seemed to be taking turns picking the ball up in midfield and dribbling straight into the heart of the defense, usually with good success until they got to that last defender. No one seemed to be able to break through.
Obviously it can often seem like the girls have more success when they pass the ball around, when they break through a defense as a team rather than as individuals. The truth is though that as both their game coach and their trainer I have to have two different views on the games. As a coach working within the games to teach the players a tactical perspective I naturally want every player to recognize the passing opportunities. I want them to see how they can exploit the openings in a defense by cooperating. But as their trainer I also want to see everyone putting their 1v1 skills to the test. As the trainer I still want them to be fearlessly, even selfishly, pushing forward with the ball. So when I see a player dribble into traffic rather than releasing the ball I see two things. I see that they missed a tactical opportunity that I'd want them to be aware of but I also see a technical deficiency that could be addressed. If a player chooses to dribble into a crowd in an effort to get to goal on their own and they lose the ball does that mean that getting through the crowd was impossible, a bad decision? Or does it mean that they didn't execute technically? As the trainer it's the later that I see. I see players who actually might have gotten through if they'd just used that one move we've worked on so many times...if they'd tried a fake shot...or shielded the ball. So even as the other players and even the parents might be thinking "she should have passed the ball" I might be thinking "yes, maybe...but maybe she could have gotten past that last defender if she'd tried something else."
My feeling is that we still have to let players at this age have the option of dribbling. I don't want players who are merely competent dribblers in 1v1 situations, players who can dribble but who prefer to pass. I want players who are excellent in 1v1, who can reliably dribble-penetrate with confidence and who can then choose their options calmly and with patience, exploiting whatever weaknesses they can discover. A team full of players like that can then find many paths to the goal. They can work together patiently relying on the combined quality of their individual skills as they search for the killer ball.
End-of-season High Note for the Ninjas
Over the course of their first season together I've seen each player on the Ninjas squad have moments of real individual brilliance. I've seen them all play hard against physically bigger, more aggressive teams. I've seen them deal with the knocks and cheap fouls with grit and the indignities of their roster situation with grace. On Saturday, in their final match of the season, they showed all of that again and more. It was without a doubt the team's best performance of the season and, I think, a real indication of the high quality team they can become.
The first half of that game was, for most of the girls individually, their best half of play. Not only were they displaying a great combination of skillful play and raw athleticism but they were playing with a very high energy level and intensity. There was a wonderful amount of communication going on and most of it was in the limited vocabulary we work on in training: "Square, Drop, Through". Kylee has certainly been the leader in that aspect of the team's play but in this game she was combining that willingness to communicate with a great vision for the flow of the game. Not only was she calling for "square" or "through" passes, she was really getting into the ideal position for them. It seemed to me that she was always in an advantageous position, always "in" the play even when off the ball. This made for an exemplary display of how to actually play a "position", in this case the #10 and #6, which is where I put Kylee in the first half. Something I've been talking with the team about lately is that the key to playing your position well is to understand your responsibilities and how those intertwine with those of your teammates and then, most importantly, to be patient and let the game opportunities come to you. Don't chase...not the ball, not your teammates. Rather, be patient and strike when the time is right.
Annabelle also played her first position very well in that first half. I'd started her in as the #9 or "striker" as she has the speed and the physical toughness to play that role in a "hold up" style. That means she's a player who is able to receive the ball with her back to the goal, shield off the defenders and then turn into her run for a shot. In past games she's had a tendency to start in that #9 role and then run out of position chasing the ball back into our own half. My advice to her and all of our players when they take the strikers position is that you now get to be "the big whinny baby" who says to her teammates "your job is to get me the ball...and by the way...I don't play defense." Annabelle was perfect in that role Saturday and just by successfully holding the ball up in the other team's half for long periods of time she contributed to our defense the way a good striker does: don't let the other team have the ball.
Ashley was brilliant in midfield (the #10, #8 or #6) most of the game and it was a kind of brilliance that might be easily missed. She's the artist of the quick trap-and-pass, receiving the ball cleanly with one touch then after one dribble step at most she's passing it off right to a teammate's feet. As a result you could easily get the impression that she didn't get involved in the run of play very much but that's not the case. She plays the role of #10 perfectly, acting as a conduit to move the ball quickly up the field or side to side. It's subtle but indispensable.
Juliana has from the start of our training season shown that her greatest gifts are her speed, balance and courage. She runs full tilt straight into crowds of players who tower over her and like a spinning top she impossibly maintains her feet while being tripped and pushed. I've thought since the beginning that if she could develop a good touch on the ball she'd become a tremendously effective penetrating player. If you ever get the chance, watch some video of Leo Messi the FC Barcelona star. Jumping over tackles, stumbling on after being hacked, driving relentlessly to goal...that's his signature. In this last game I think Juliana was finally showing that she is developing that soft touch on the ball that will allow her to turn her speed into a real advantage on the attack and she had some lovely long runs with the ball where it seemed that nothing could knock her off her balance.
Samantha had a great game too, especially in as keeper. Her hand technique is really good already and while I don't like to move players into specializing in any position at this age I have to say she certainly shows some real aptitude for playing goalie. Out in the field she had a good game too and like Annabelle she seems really suited to playing that "hold-up" style of forward player, someone who likes to body-up to a defender and receive then shield the ball before turning in for a shot. It's especially the quality of Sam's first touch that makes her so effective in that role and I hope all of us, parents and players, as we watch the game more and understand it better will come to understand that "first touch" is probably the single most important skill a player can have and frankly nothing short of perfect first touch will suffice. When it comes to first touch there's an old soccer training adage that really applies: a good player practices until they get it right...an elite player practices until they can't get it wrong. So I always say to my teams "don't waste a single touch...we never know which one will lead to a goal or at least prevent one for them." Sam gets that as well as any player I have.
Charlie also got some quality time in as the #9 in this game. Her natural gifts make her an interesting contrast in style to the way Sam and Annabelle play as strikers. Charlie, because she's reliably two-footed and also has good field vision, plays the position less as a hold-up striker and more as a "runner" who looks to either dribble-penetrate from near the half line or else likes to run through seams in the defense onto through balls from her teammates. Charlie is a surprisingly good dribbler who can move with ease through a crowd of defenders. I say "surprisingly" because I think the grace of her touch on the ball can seem incongruous to someone who is only judging her based on her size. You don't expect such a tall player to have such deft control of the ball in tight spaces. In contrast, Kennedy looks just like the sort of player you'd expect to see dribbling crisply through the scrum. Kennedy has a brilliant ability to control the ball with either side of her right foot and this allows her to move at good pace without ever letting the ball too far away from her. As a result she can step around defenders lightly without needing any dramatic cuts side-to-side.
I describe those two players, Charlie and Kennedy, together there because they combined for the one season-defining highlight from that last game that I want to describe in some detail. In the second half we'd had some very nice long runs of play where our fullbacks (#2 and #3) and central defenders (#4 and #5) were bringing the ball up to one of our midfielders who then made steady headway dribble penetrating into the center of the other team's defense. I think we must have had five or six really good chances generated in this way and there was a fair amount of good passing between the mids and the striker too (Ashley!) but one play really stood out. Late in the game Annabelle, playing in the #3 position, received the ball near the sideline then took a few dribble touches diagonally toward the center of the field before making a beautiful pass to Kennedy. Kennedy then won the 1v1 in front of her and started moving diagonally to her right back across the remaining defenders. Just as Kennedy made that change of direction Charlie, who was in the #9, turned and ran out ahead of her toward the right corner, staying on-side but getting a good five yards out past those nearest defenders. The pass that Kennedy delivered wasn't just good, it was thrilling. The communication between the two players was in this case clear but wordless. Everything in Charlie's posture and body language signaled Kennedy "I'm headed into this space and I need the ball" while Kennedy was herself clearly signaling "here it comes...you'd better get this."
Charlie had a good shot but didn't convert. No matter though. That sort of interplay is as good as it gets and my feeling as a coach is that for many players it's that sort of thing that becomes the real addiction. Everyone likes having the ball and scoring or making any other sort of individual play that makes a difference, but that feeling of being in concert with a teammate, of wordlessly knowing where to be and when, is at once magical and primal. It's like being part of a wolf pack, moving forward, knowing that the prey has no chance. When a team develops that sense of being predators, opportunists and killers then every aspect of the game, even their play in our defensive half becomes part of the attack.
Thanks for the great season Ninjas. Can't wait for the spring!
The first half of that game was, for most of the girls individually, their best half of play. Not only were they displaying a great combination of skillful play and raw athleticism but they were playing with a very high energy level and intensity. There was a wonderful amount of communication going on and most of it was in the limited vocabulary we work on in training: "Square, Drop, Through". Kylee has certainly been the leader in that aspect of the team's play but in this game she was combining that willingness to communicate with a great vision for the flow of the game. Not only was she calling for "square" or "through" passes, she was really getting into the ideal position for them. It seemed to me that she was always in an advantageous position, always "in" the play even when off the ball. This made for an exemplary display of how to actually play a "position", in this case the #10 and #6, which is where I put Kylee in the first half. Something I've been talking with the team about lately is that the key to playing your position well is to understand your responsibilities and how those intertwine with those of your teammates and then, most importantly, to be patient and let the game opportunities come to you. Don't chase...not the ball, not your teammates. Rather, be patient and strike when the time is right.
Annabelle also played her first position very well in that first half. I'd started her in as the #9 or "striker" as she has the speed and the physical toughness to play that role in a "hold up" style. That means she's a player who is able to receive the ball with her back to the goal, shield off the defenders and then turn into her run for a shot. In past games she's had a tendency to start in that #9 role and then run out of position chasing the ball back into our own half. My advice to her and all of our players when they take the strikers position is that you now get to be "the big whinny baby" who says to her teammates "your job is to get me the ball...and by the way...I don't play defense." Annabelle was perfect in that role Saturday and just by successfully holding the ball up in the other team's half for long periods of time she contributed to our defense the way a good striker does: don't let the other team have the ball.
Ashley was brilliant in midfield (the #10, #8 or #6) most of the game and it was a kind of brilliance that might be easily missed. She's the artist of the quick trap-and-pass, receiving the ball cleanly with one touch then after one dribble step at most she's passing it off right to a teammate's feet. As a result you could easily get the impression that she didn't get involved in the run of play very much but that's not the case. She plays the role of #10 perfectly, acting as a conduit to move the ball quickly up the field or side to side. It's subtle but indispensable.
Juliana has from the start of our training season shown that her greatest gifts are her speed, balance and courage. She runs full tilt straight into crowds of players who tower over her and like a spinning top she impossibly maintains her feet while being tripped and pushed. I've thought since the beginning that if she could develop a good touch on the ball she'd become a tremendously effective penetrating player. If you ever get the chance, watch some video of Leo Messi the FC Barcelona star. Jumping over tackles, stumbling on after being hacked, driving relentlessly to goal...that's his signature. In this last game I think Juliana was finally showing that she is developing that soft touch on the ball that will allow her to turn her speed into a real advantage on the attack and she had some lovely long runs with the ball where it seemed that nothing could knock her off her balance.
Samantha had a great game too, especially in as keeper. Her hand technique is really good already and while I don't like to move players into specializing in any position at this age I have to say she certainly shows some real aptitude for playing goalie. Out in the field she had a good game too and like Annabelle she seems really suited to playing that "hold-up" style of forward player, someone who likes to body-up to a defender and receive then shield the ball before turning in for a shot. It's especially the quality of Sam's first touch that makes her so effective in that role and I hope all of us, parents and players, as we watch the game more and understand it better will come to understand that "first touch" is probably the single most important skill a player can have and frankly nothing short of perfect first touch will suffice. When it comes to first touch there's an old soccer training adage that really applies: a good player practices until they get it right...an elite player practices until they can't get it wrong. So I always say to my teams "don't waste a single touch...we never know which one will lead to a goal or at least prevent one for them." Sam gets that as well as any player I have.
Charlie also got some quality time in as the #9 in this game. Her natural gifts make her an interesting contrast in style to the way Sam and Annabelle play as strikers. Charlie, because she's reliably two-footed and also has good field vision, plays the position less as a hold-up striker and more as a "runner" who looks to either dribble-penetrate from near the half line or else likes to run through seams in the defense onto through balls from her teammates. Charlie is a surprisingly good dribbler who can move with ease through a crowd of defenders. I say "surprisingly" because I think the grace of her touch on the ball can seem incongruous to someone who is only judging her based on her size. You don't expect such a tall player to have such deft control of the ball in tight spaces. In contrast, Kennedy looks just like the sort of player you'd expect to see dribbling crisply through the scrum. Kennedy has a brilliant ability to control the ball with either side of her right foot and this allows her to move at good pace without ever letting the ball too far away from her. As a result she can step around defenders lightly without needing any dramatic cuts side-to-side.
I describe those two players, Charlie and Kennedy, together there because they combined for the one season-defining highlight from that last game that I want to describe in some detail. In the second half we'd had some very nice long runs of play where our fullbacks (#2 and #3) and central defenders (#4 and #5) were bringing the ball up to one of our midfielders who then made steady headway dribble penetrating into the center of the other team's defense. I think we must have had five or six really good chances generated in this way and there was a fair amount of good passing between the mids and the striker too (Ashley!) but one play really stood out. Late in the game Annabelle, playing in the #3 position, received the ball near the sideline then took a few dribble touches diagonally toward the center of the field before making a beautiful pass to Kennedy. Kennedy then won the 1v1 in front of her and started moving diagonally to her right back across the remaining defenders. Just as Kennedy made that change of direction Charlie, who was in the #9, turned and ran out ahead of her toward the right corner, staying on-side but getting a good five yards out past those nearest defenders. The pass that Kennedy delivered wasn't just good, it was thrilling. The communication between the two players was in this case clear but wordless. Everything in Charlie's posture and body language signaled Kennedy "I'm headed into this space and I need the ball" while Kennedy was herself clearly signaling "here it comes...you'd better get this."
Charlie had a good shot but didn't convert. No matter though. That sort of interplay is as good as it gets and my feeling as a coach is that for many players it's that sort of thing that becomes the real addiction. Everyone likes having the ball and scoring or making any other sort of individual play that makes a difference, but that feeling of being in concert with a teammate, of wordlessly knowing where to be and when, is at once magical and primal. It's like being part of a wolf pack, moving forward, knowing that the prey has no chance. When a team develops that sense of being predators, opportunists and killers then every aspect of the game, even their play in our defensive half becomes part of the attack.
Thanks for the great season Ninjas. Can't wait for the spring!
Thursday, October 20, 2016
"I have failed over and over again...and that is why I will succeed."
The Haunted Classic event in Beavercreek this past weekend was unequivocally a great experience for Girl Power even though the team's run there ended in heartbreaking fashion. Despite dire advance reports the fields were in good enough condition, the weather was perfect and the referee crews we got were consistently competent. And of course the girls played beautifully throughout the weekend, not only playing as skillfully as always but also taking some noticeable steps forward in their development as individuals and as a team.
After their third game and before we learned one way or the other of our chances for advancing to the final I met with them to get my two coaching points in (that's a limit they make me stick to). The girls were a little giddy, still high from the quality of their performance in the game, and a couple of players had to try to calm the rest down. "Be quiet" someone said, "he's got to do that talking thing." I surprised them by saying simply "I've only got one coaching point for you...I'm as proud of you as I could be." Their reaction, silence followed by a group "awwww" showed me that they knew they really had played well, that they'd set a new standard for themselves. They had gone into that game knowing they needed a shutout to have any chance of advancing and they delivered, playing their best, most organized defense of the whole season while still maintaining a vigorous attack that netted four goal. What better feeling is there than knowing that you have to put everything you've been working on in training on the line and be perfect for 50 minutes and then going out and actually executing!? They earned that post game moment of elation.
Everyone knows how things went after that. We ended up in a PK shootout with another team to get into the final and we lost. Their keeper was amazing and all of their shooters were cool and efficient. My girls hadn't been in that situation before but they handled it well. Natalie bravely volunteered to be the keeper and she did all she could although not a single shot taken was really in range for her to realistically make a stop. The shooters I chose, based simply on my estimation of which of them has the most consistent technique on deadball kicks, all struck the ball solidly but only one of them could find the net.
So when the referee blew his whistle to end it the girls were shocked at first and then after the hand shakes and "good games" there were some bitter and bitterly earned tears. They'd given each other everything they had and earned their chance but in this weird tie-breaker situation, which an enraged Beanie described as "not even soccer", their chance was over in what seemed like an instant. They'd earned the right to be devestated so I didn't try to talk them out of that. I'm sure everyone else had the same experience Eileen and I did. As angry as she was right then, by the time we'd had some lunch and were half way home it was all in the past, just another competition, another chapter in the story.
The previous tournament the team had played in, as a U9 squad in Columbus in the spring, was a dramatically different experience. Not only did the team play poorly that weekend but their anger and disappointment at the overall result was, to my perception, more drama than genuinely earned anguish. I wrote about my thoughts on that at the time but then felt uncomfortable sharing what I had written. Reading it back to myself then, the tone of anger and disappointment was unmistakable so I shelved it. Keep in mind that we were in the middle of a dominating league performance and I was very anxious to see the girls perform well in the Columbus tournament. At that time though I was also feeling that our training sessions weren't going as well as they could and I was feeling that the work rate, the seriousness, of our training sessions was falling off.
Anyway, here's a bit of what I wrote after that Columbus weekend:
This season has been a different story. Generally the team's effort in training has been excellent and I do see very real and remarkable improvement in many areas of their fundamental skills. Ball striking is a great example and I'm really pleased with the general quality of the team in that regard. I'm really happy with the consistent level of their dribbling technique, even in games and under pressure. Their communication skills have improved dramatically and they are just in general playing ever more cohesively as a team. And most importantly they are playing with a very high level of commitment to each other. I see many instances in games or training where they are talking with each other about how they are performing, even demanding more of each other. And of course that has led to their new pre-match rallying cry: "Who do you play for?...I play for you!"
So in contrast to that Columbus performance I felt that at the Haunted they played with much more heart, with much more commitment to play through fouls and to play to the whistle. There was virtually no complaining about the officiating and the complaints about fouls from opponents that I did hear were usually framed in the context of a boast like "did you see what she was doing to me?...and I dribbled around her anyway!?" Every player showed at some point during the weekend their hard earned skill with the ball and as a team they played in a beautiful free flowing and creative style, demonstrating once again that they are Proper Footballers. When that PK shootout on Sunday ended and we were headed home I felt that our girls had earned their tears, their anger and disappointment. I also knew that the next time they stood, toes on the circle waiting for the whistle to blow, their minds and hearts would be fully occupied with the game at hand.
After their third game and before we learned one way or the other of our chances for advancing to the final I met with them to get my two coaching points in (that's a limit they make me stick to). The girls were a little giddy, still high from the quality of their performance in the game, and a couple of players had to try to calm the rest down. "Be quiet" someone said, "he's got to do that talking thing." I surprised them by saying simply "I've only got one coaching point for you...I'm as proud of you as I could be." Their reaction, silence followed by a group "awwww" showed me that they knew they really had played well, that they'd set a new standard for themselves. They had gone into that game knowing they needed a shutout to have any chance of advancing and they delivered, playing their best, most organized defense of the whole season while still maintaining a vigorous attack that netted four goal. What better feeling is there than knowing that you have to put everything you've been working on in training on the line and be perfect for 50 minutes and then going out and actually executing!? They earned that post game moment of elation.
Everyone knows how things went after that. We ended up in a PK shootout with another team to get into the final and we lost. Their keeper was amazing and all of their shooters were cool and efficient. My girls hadn't been in that situation before but they handled it well. Natalie bravely volunteered to be the keeper and she did all she could although not a single shot taken was really in range for her to realistically make a stop. The shooters I chose, based simply on my estimation of which of them has the most consistent technique on deadball kicks, all struck the ball solidly but only one of them could find the net.
So when the referee blew his whistle to end it the girls were shocked at first and then after the hand shakes and "good games" there were some bitter and bitterly earned tears. They'd given each other everything they had and earned their chance but in this weird tie-breaker situation, which an enraged Beanie described as "not even soccer", their chance was over in what seemed like an instant. They'd earned the right to be devestated so I didn't try to talk them out of that. I'm sure everyone else had the same experience Eileen and I did. As angry as she was right then, by the time we'd had some lunch and were half way home it was all in the past, just another competition, another chapter in the story.
The previous tournament the team had played in, as a U9 squad in Columbus in the spring, was a dramatically different experience. Not only did the team play poorly that weekend but their anger and disappointment at the overall result was, to my perception, more drama than genuinely earned anguish. I wrote about my thoughts on that at the time but then felt uncomfortable sharing what I had written. Reading it back to myself then, the tone of anger and disappointment was unmistakable so I shelved it. Keep in mind that we were in the middle of a dominating league performance and I was very anxious to see the girls perform well in the Columbus tournament. At that time though I was also feeling that our training sessions weren't going as well as they could and I was feeling that the work rate, the seriousness, of our training sessions was falling off.
Anyway, here's a bit of what I wrote after that Columbus weekend:
It's endlessly fascinating to me how differently a coach's perception of a game can be from the way the players or the parents are seeing it. Our first game in the Columbus tournament was a great example of this. For the players their conversation or rather complaints after the game were all about how rough the other team was and how awful the referee was. They seemed to feel that we had the game in hand but it was snatched away by a combination of "dirty" play and poor officiating. I had seen some physical play, some foul calls missed maybe. I had seen at least two blown off-sides calls. But for all of those, let's say ten incidents total, I probably saw forty instances in the game where one of our players made a technical or mental error. Bad first touch, lazy effort away from the ball, failure to look up and see passing opportunities that were better than your dribbling path. Failures to execute on set plays like goal-kicks and throw-ins. Failures to cooperate and support each other. In short, it was clear to me that the roughness of the other team and the referee's competence had very little to do with the game's result. Our fate was in our hands and we dropped it.
Now I'm not necessarily complaining about how the girls played. They make mistakes and hopefully we learn from those and I have no expectation at this point that they should always play their most glittering soccer. Some days you just don't have it. My concern is that they may fall into a habit of looking for excuses after games when no excuse is necessary. We played poorly--the end--learn then move on. And by "learn" I mean assess your performance honestly, your individual performance and the team's performance. If there was a play where you feel you got fouled and yet the referee didn't call it, as you're licking your wounds ask yourself this: was it a situation where a few moments earlier you might have been able to make a smarter move to get into space? Was it a situation where you might have passed the ball off and avoided that pressure altogether?
All of this got me to thinking about the amount of emotional energy players put into the games, particularly their losses, and how that compares to the amount of energy in the form of focus and effort that they put into training. I'd ask every player this question: Does your emotional commitment in games match your commitment in training? Or are the two out of balance? In other words, what I'd like the players to come to realize is that if they come out on the short side in a game and they're upset they need to ask themselves is that emotional energy balanced by the knowledge that they really gave it their all at training throughout the season? If you aren't a particularly disciplined practice player, like maybe you know how to look disciplined and sort of fake your way through without really zeroing in on your technique, without mindfully struggling to improve, then what gives you the right to be all emotionally crazy on game day? Did you earn that? If you don't train as though winning is really important then how can you complain after a loss as though you think winning is really important? I guess that's the take-away for me, that players must earn the right to feel really disappointed at a loss. If you don't give it everything in practice then it's silly to let yourself get so overwrought after a game.
This season has been a different story. Generally the team's effort in training has been excellent and I do see very real and remarkable improvement in many areas of their fundamental skills. Ball striking is a great example and I'm really pleased with the general quality of the team in that regard. I'm really happy with the consistent level of their dribbling technique, even in games and under pressure. Their communication skills have improved dramatically and they are just in general playing ever more cohesively as a team. And most importantly they are playing with a very high level of commitment to each other. I see many instances in games or training where they are talking with each other about how they are performing, even demanding more of each other. And of course that has led to their new pre-match rallying cry: "Who do you play for?...I play for you!"
So in contrast to that Columbus performance I felt that at the Haunted they played with much more heart, with much more commitment to play through fouls and to play to the whistle. There was virtually no complaining about the officiating and the complaints about fouls from opponents that I did hear were usually framed in the context of a boast like "did you see what she was doing to me?...and I dribbled around her anyway!?" Every player showed at some point during the weekend their hard earned skill with the ball and as a team they played in a beautiful free flowing and creative style, demonstrating once again that they are Proper Footballers. When that PK shootout on Sunday ended and we were headed home I felt that our girls had earned their tears, their anger and disappointment. I also knew that the next time they stood, toes on the circle waiting for the whistle to blow, their minds and hearts would be fully occupied with the game at hand.
Tuesday, October 18, 2016
New Posts and Old Posts
Even as I keep posting at the new NKY Fusion FC "Field Notes" blog I want to keep my personal blog going just for the sake of keeping access to all of my old posts open. I've moved everything from the old Coach Pat's blog to this new one and everything going back to the earliest days at NKYA are available here in the archives.
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