Friendly - Friday, Feb 16

Our U14 White team is a solid team.  I'm pretty confident that we will have tough battles with them in the U14 Premier League next summer. 

Tonight, both teams were missing a few key players.  I think we had control of most of the game, though the U14s had a few good scoring opportunities.  We got a goal off a great piece of build up play down our right side, culminating with a great cross from Bidi (playing right back) to Jill (playing point), who took a hard shot on a half turn that was too powerful for the U14 GK to handle (though she got two hands to it). 

I had been giving a lot of thought to which team formation suits our players best.  We have a lot of team speed and are a dangerous direct-play team, while also having some real technical players in the center of the field who can take control of a game.  Tonight, we came out and played a 4-1-2-3.  It was a very effective formation for us, giving us the following benefits:

• Solid back four defending shape with the ability to get our wide backs into the attack (which happened a lot)
• Good numbers in the center of midfield
• Good options for flank attacks with wide forwards and supporting wide backs

I realize that some people may call this a 4-3-3, 4-1-4-1, or a 4-5-1.  The 4-1-2-3 helps the girls better understand the roles I want them to play, namely that I want our wide players up front as well as our two forward center midfielders to be very attacking minded.

I will experiment more with this system of play, but like what I see so far. 

Training - Tuesday, Feb 13

6:00PM - 6:30PM Ball Masters - Individual Technical Development

• Scissors
• Step Overs
• Fake Shot Cut
• Fake Shot Push
• Fake Shot Stutter

6:30PM - 7:45PM Field Training

I. Ball Masters - Individual Technical Development

• Bounce Killers
• Thigh Control
• Laces Control

II. Receiving/First Touch 1v1s

Setup

• 4 teams of 3 in different color scrimmage vests, each player with a ball
• Two 15x20 yard grids with Pugg goals at each end in the center of a 5 yard coned goal (blue disks in the illustration below)

Procedure

• Green starts out as defenders in one grid, gold as defenders in the other
• Defenders have a ball at their feet and try to play a hard pass past the awaiting attack on the far side of the gird
• If the attacker stops the ball from going past them, they can attack the opposite goal and try to score 1v1
• Play make it, take it, meaning that if the attacking player scores on the 1v1, their team gets to be the attacking team again

Make It Competitive

• +10 points for the defending team if they can strike a ball into the attackers Pugg goal at the start
• +5 points if the defender can strike a ball below the attacker's waist height and between the attacker's 5 yard goal (marked by blue cones)
• +3 points if the attacker scores a goal after controlling the initial pass from the defender

Coaching Points

• Attackers need to be on their toes and ready for the hard initial pass
• Move quickly to get your body in line with the path of the ball
• Cushion the hard pass by "giving" a bit with the part of the body that first contacts the ball
• Get the ball on the ground as soon as possible and attack the defender at speed

Progression

• Defenders throw or volley the ball (to ensure that the ball is bouncing at the attacker
• Attackers summersault first to start the play, disorientating themselves and forcing quick reaction to the incoming ball

III. 7v7 Small Sided Scrimmage

Futsal/Steet Soccer - Sunday, Feb 11

5:00PM - 6:15PM Futsal/Street Soccer @ Lake JHS (Woodbury)

Today was just a day for the girls to come out and play the game of Futsal.  I was working with our U11 group from 3:45PM - 5PM, just prior to the U13s coming in from 5PM - 6:15PM.  I stopped the U11 training session about 5 minutes early and had 10 of the U13s take the field so that the U11s could watch the U13s play.  It was funny to see how some of the U13s got nervous, knowing they were being observed by about 20 U11 girls.  Because of these nerves, the U13s didn't have enough time to settle their game down and the 5 minutes looked a bit panicked.  I didn't really get what I wanted to get out of this for the U11s, but I think they got the chance to see some good stuff.

By the way, the size difference when the U13s took the field directly after the U11s was amazing!  I can't believe I started with this group when they were this (U11) age. 

We had 12 U13 girls in attendance.  I divided them into 2 teams of 6 players and they played games to 3.  If Team A won, each girl on the team would receive 3 points plus a point for every goal they scored and a bonus point if they shut out the other team (for a max of 7 points).  The players on the losing team would receive 1 point plus a point for every goal they scored.  Individual players would keep track of their own point totals as I reshuffled the teams after each game.

The girls come and play some of their best soccer in these sessions.  Though I do make coaching points every now and again, my only real words to them are to encourage creativity with, and confidence on, the ball. They are relaxed and have no pressure on them to perform and this translated into better play.  I commented to the group after the session about this and they all seemed to agree that they felt comfortable in this environment and played well.  I talked to them about trying to take this mentality into the non-Futsal games we play, but I know this is a lot to ask. 

Training - Saturday, Feb 10

8:15AM - 8:45AM FIT Training

8:45AM - 9:15AM Video Analysis

9:15AM - 10:45AM Field Training

I. 6v3 Possession - Triangle Defending

Set Up

• Two teams of 9 players (blue and green) - I had 16 players so the two coaches played to make numbers
• Two 25x35 yard grids

Procedure

• Green sends three defending players into blue's grid, blue sends three blue defenders into green's grid
• Play 6v3 possession
• Attacking team is trying to split defending three with passes

Make It Competitive

• +1 point for the attacking team if they can split the three defenders with a pass (complete a pass between two defending players to a teammate)

Coaching Points

• Defender pressuring ball NEVER follows the ball on a lateral pass
• In the illustration below, (1) blue passes laterally to a teammate and the pressuring green defender follows the pass.  The covering green defender also moves to pressure from the front to cut off a pass or shot up field.  (2) both defenders can now be split and beaten with a single pass into dangerous space.

• Instead, pressuring defender should drop back into a cover position if ball is passes sideways to avoid being spilt

• The idea is to give opponents lateral passing lanes, but to cut out any vertical passing lanes up the field into dangerous areas
• Good verbal ("I go ball!", "Drop right!") and visual communication

II. 4v3 Triangle Defending

I'm going to tell you right now, this is a difficult drill.  It takes patience and repetition to get the flow down, but once your players get it, it is a very enjoyable and competitive activity.

Set Up

• Two teams of 8 players, blue and green
• 35x60 yard grid with goals and GKs at opposite ends
• 10 yard Transition Area in the middle of the field
• Soccer balls in the goals

Procedure

• Blue attacks first and sends 4 attackers out with a ball in their defending half
• Green defends first and sends three defenders into their half
• Blue gets to build up uncontested until they cross through the Transition Area (green shaded area above) and into green's defending area
• Once the 4 blue attackers have left their defending zone, the next green player comes out to the middle to serve as a target player, and the next blue player in line comes out to act as a marking defender (see illustration below)

• The 4 blue attackers go to goal and try to score on the three defenders
• If the green defenders win the ball, or if a shot is taken and saved by the green GK, green now tries to find their target player with a long outlet pass.  Once this is done, all three green defenders move up the field through the transition area and join their target player
• The green target gets a free touch on the ball and must play the ball backwards to a supporting teammate
• Blue marking defender must call two players back by name (two from the four players who were just attacking).  The two called back players must sprint and recover goal side of the marking defender before beginning to play defense
• The other two blue attacking players who were not called back exit the field and wait their turn in line

• Once the green defenders have transitioned into attack and have left their defending end, the next player in blue comes out to be a target and the next player in green comes out to act as a marking back

Make It Competitive

• +1 point for a shot on goal
• +3 points for a goal

Coaching Points

• Good communication from the three defenders
• Give the attacking team sideways (lateral) passes, don't give them penetrating passes or uncontested shots
• Try to transition into the attack quickly by finding your target player and quickly moving up the field to support

III. 7v7 Small Sided Scrimmage