Optional Training 4/9 Tennis Soccer And Fun Dribbling Games

We have top players at Chelsea and, I'm sorry if I sound arrogant, we have a top manager as well.  I don't want to be compared with coaches from the past, nor do I want to be viewed as the face of young managers in the game.  I have won the Champions League.  I'm not one who comes straight out of the bottle.  I'm a special one.  I am a winner because I'm good at what I do and because I am surrounded by people who think the same.
-Jose' Mourinho

This is our training field that we are working at right now.  No goals.  No lines.  Just dirt and patches of grass that make the ball do crazy things.  I have trained at this field since I was a U17 player and I love it.  This field forces you to develop your first touch and keep the ball close to you because of all the bumps and bad patches around the field.  After playing here for 2-3 weeks every other field we play at this year will be like playing at the Emrites.

It is kind of funny.  I talk to a lot of top level teams and they consistently tell me that their training fields are horrible and that they have limited space.  The important things are that the kids want to be there and the coaches provide the right environment.

The girls arrived early again and immediately began playing tennis soccer again.  We played for 45 minutes again and I added in various challenges like:
-You have to pass the ball to your partner and she has to hit the ball over the net without the ball hitting the ground
-You have to head the ball over
-Each player on your team has to touch the ball
-We also talked a little about how to move to create the best shot for your team and how to move so the other team cannot score on you

After the tennis soccer I wanted us to work on our dribbling to beat players 1v1 so I brought out a couple of classic games.  Blob Soccer and Sharks and Minnows.  These are two outstanding games that every player knows and loves. 

After playing those games for a while we ended with a scrimmage. 

Optional Training 4/8 Tennis Soccer

Although we approached the game seriously and worked hard at it, we hoped everything we did would help the game be fun and fulfilling for our players.
-Dean Smith

Today was a great day.  A majority of the girls arrived to the optional training session early and while I was working with our U10 Girls team, the U12's made their way up a hill, past the basketball court to 2 tennis courts and they began playing tennis soccer all on their own.  When I finished with the U10's and made my way up to the courts they said "This is fun.  Can we keep playing?" 

So for the next 45 minutes we played tennis soccer.  Every 10 minutes we switched up the teams and I added in different restrictions like; You cannot hit the ball back over the net without passing to a teammate. 

After 45 minutes I said we were moving on even though they still wanted to play.  I figured if they left training tonight still wanting to play more tennis soccer they would be excited to arrive early to all our sessions here and play.

For the last 30 minutes we played a 1v1 game that works on seeing teammates who are making runs from behind you.

1v1 With Two Support Players
Set Up: 25x20 yard grid with cone goals or flag goals
Procedure:
-1 Player from each team step out into the middle and play 1v1
-The other 2 players from each team are behind their end line on opposite sides of the goal from each other
-If you cannot score you can turn and play one of your two support players and they attack the same defender that you were just playing against.

We talked to the girls about which support pass will create more for us offensively.  The support pass that goes straight behind you or one that goes to an angle.  We decided that the pass that goes off at an angle is more dangerous because the defender must now change her angle to close you down.
We also talked about after the player makes the support pass at the angle that we should rotate our positions instead of following your pass because it will be quicker and you will be more likely to be open for a return pass if you don't run on the same line as the pass.

As the girls played longer they started to realize that the support player could start to realize when the ball was going to be played back and she could make her run early and receive the ball into space running full speed.  By making this run the girls would beat the defender with the pass.

The key point to this run was not to make it too early.  If the run is made too early the defender does not have to choose who to defend because the runner will be flat with the passer, or if the run is made to early the runner may have to stop her run to wait for the ball.  It is much better to receive the ball running into space.

As the girls became better at this we added in the option for a give and go between the runner and the passer on the condition that the passer yelled "Back" as she was passing the ball.

An added benefit of this exercise is that it helps us to work on our team shape.  Whenever the player in the middle was beaten 1v1 the two players on the end line needed to drop back and central behind the goal to stop the ball as it was shot through the goal.  It they did not drop then they would have to chase the ball down as it flew by them.

After we finished we talked about the fact that we basically just played a 3v3 game with really good defensive positioning and explosive runs from behind the ball.  This game went really well and we will be using it a lot in the next couple of weeks.

Third Place Game vs Eclipse Select 95-96 #24 Nation

I was happy that we finished second and we were guaranteed a good game against another quality team.  That is why we come to these events, to play quality teams.  Eclipse had the kick off and proceeded to string together 7 passes that resulted in a through ball putting their forward in but AJ was on her game and she dove and arrived at the ball just before the Eclipse forward.  I thought to myself, "Oh boy, what have we gotten ourselves into?"

As AJ punted the ball the team clicked into focus and we started to battle.  Soon after the punt Millie was in on a break away but Eclipse's goalie came out and made a good save.  We started to get some corner kicks and the chaos from the kicks forced some great saves out of their goalie and defenders.

At the 16 minute mark we played Kari down the line.  Kari had been showing some great footskills all weekend and her first touch is one of the best on the team.  As she arrived at the ball she beat her defender and crossed it into the box.  Sprout CRASHED the box, net, keeper, and anything else that got in her way, bounced it off the keeper and Jordy knocked in the rebound for a 1-0 lead.

After that goal we were rolling.  Shortly after another cross came into Sprout who crashed into the goalie again and came out with the ball but her shot went just wide.  Millie then took a girl to school inside the box, cutting her so bad that she fell down.  But again the goalie made a great save on her.

The half ended with us up 1-0.  At half time we talked about the fact that Eclipse now has the wind at their backs to go along with their skill, so we might spend the majority of the second half in our end.  Ideally we don't want to spend it there, but realistically it may happen.  It will be important for us to stay positive and keep doing things our way.  Don't change how we play because we are under pressure.  Believe in yourself and each other.

When the half started we were under pressure.  Eclipse almost was through on a couple of breaks but Taz came out of nowhere to close down their forwards and she made a bunch of important tackles.

We held them off until the 50th minute when they had a free kick from 35 yards out just like the KC game.  I had hoped we had learned from that game and I yelled for our girls to follow the shot.  As the shot came in AJ was forced into another good save.  To my horror we were watching again as two Eclipse players were in alone to finish the rebound.  I guess we'll have to spend some extra time working on that before our next game.

After the goal we responded brilliantly and we started to make the game a back and forth affair with both teams rushing up and down the field at each other.  I loved the response.  I put Erika up top for the closing minutes and she used her speed and vision to set up a couple of chances.

In the last minute of the game Blitz won the ball in our half and played a 30 yard ball up field to Millie.  She drew in a defender and sent Kari through on a break away down the left side.  As the goalie came out to take the shot and the defender closed her down she wound up with her left foot with everyone thinking she was going to shoot.  At the last second she cut the ball and LK, DM, who had started the play back by Blitz in the midfield had made a 70 yard run to find herself alone inside the six at the far post.  As the defender flew by Kari she slotted the ball over to LK on the ground.  Just as she was going to shoot the ball took a wicked bounce and hopped up off of her shin by her knee and the ball went inches wide of the post.

It was a tough break off of such a great play.  I knew LK was upset but I told her and the team how amazed I was that she had made the run.  For a player who is playing defensive mid to start back in our half and make that run in the last minute of the game is exactly the attitude that we are looking for in our players.  With the finish to this game it was the 3rd game out of 4 that when the final whistle blew we were fighting inside the other teams box going for goal.  The chances will fall in our favour if we can keep creating them.

Since it was a third place game there was no shoot out so the game ended in a tie.  Another exciting game.

MVPs
Carly for her great runs from outside defense and step overs
Hannah for her stellar play at center defense
Erika for her rock solid defense and set ups on offense

Game #3 vs VSA Visions

From the opening kick off of the game we looked good.  Really good.  VSA was not able to put as much pressure on us as Lake and KC did so the girls had a little more time on the ball and their confidence was high.  Our outside backs Carly, LP, Erika, and Lydia all did a great job of overlapping our mids and they were all getting into great scoring positions.  I was really excited to see them coming forward and it will be important for all of our outside backs to get involved in our offense through the year.

13 minutes into the game Sprout played Millie in on a break away and she converted for us to take the 1-0 lead.  A little reversal from the final goal yesterday.  We continued to put VSA under pressure.  Ricky played in 3 great corners that their goalie made some very good saves on in the middle of the giant scrum that our girls create.  I want our corners to be played inside the six yard box right in the middle of the goal and she was hitting the spot perfectly.

We must have had 15 shots in the first half that were all in quality scoring positions but we couldn't finish.  VSA's goalie was big and it seemed like we thought we had to put a perfect shot on her to score or absolutely crush the ball to get it by her.  This resulted in us missing the net and shooting right at the goalie on a majority of shots.  The shots that we didn't do those two things, their goalie made some great saves to keep her team in the game...  At least as far as the scoreboard was concerned.  I don't think they came into our half under control more than twice.

We continued the dominance in the second half.  Hannah who had been playing in the center of our defense for a majority of the time during the first two games had stepped up into the defensive mid spot and she was doing some great give and go's and LK was using some good footwork and vision to switch the fields all game.  Despite our dominance VSA's goalie was holding strong.

It took us until 7 minutes from time to put in our second goal when Ricky hit a long diagonal ball to put Millie in on another break away which she converted.  For this goal the reffing was in our favor as it seemed that Millie was a good couple of yards off sides.  But to her credit she took advantage of the non call and dribbled by the goalie.

We pushed for a third goal and had a couple of more close chances but we couldn't finish anything else and the game ended 2-0.

* * * *
I was trying a new thing this weekend when it came to the scoreboard watching.  I told the parents not to tell the kids what kind of results they needed to get to give them the best chance of advancing. 

I had made the mistake in the past of telling my teams that we need to get so and so result or win by this many goals to give ourselves the best chance to advance.  I found that when I did this, it did not matter if we played well or if we played poorly, how we felt about the game purely came down to the scoreboard.  So for this tournament I was determined not to let this happen.

I knew going into the game that we needed to win 3-0 to give ourselves the best chance of making it to the final.  We ended up winning 2-0 so we were eliminated from the final but we were still alive to play in the third place game.  Looking back at the game I don't think I'd change anything about the way we played.  We had tons of chances and they didn't have any.  We just didn't finish one more of our chances. 

When I told the girls that we were out of the final they were not that upset because they knew that they had just played a very good game and they had had fun during the game.  I am pretty sure that if I had told the girls they needed to win 3-0 before the game and they played the way they did and came up short one goal the attitude within our team could have been negative.  This was a good lesson for me to learn and I know that we are in a good place heading into our final game.

As I went over to watch the Lake Forest vs KC Legends game I replayed the game in my head and I felt good about what we had done.  We had played very well and the girls recognized that.  KC scored near the end of the first half and took a 1-0 lead into half time.  Since they had been going with the wind and Lake was still dangerous in the first half I thought that Lake could easily put in a couple of goals in the second half and win. 

Shortly into the second half Lake tied it up.  The rest of the half was spent with Lake on the attack but KC holding strong.  The game meant a lot to both teams.  Whoever won the game would advance to the final.  With our place in the group still up in the air it made the game interesting. 

The game ended 1-1.  KC is a resilient team that knows how to grind out results. They will be going to the final to defend their title from last year.

Team	Wins	Losses	Draws	Points	GF	GA
KC Legends	2	0	1	7	7	3
Bangu	2	1	0	6	7	5
Lake Forest	1	1	1	4	6	4
VSA	0	3	0	0	0	8

It turns out that the goal differential would not have mattered at all because of the tie.  Now I am very happy we didn't put the emphasis on the score of our last game.  Since we finished second we will play Eclipse in the third place game.  I am excited because I know they are a good team and the girls are excited because three of the girls from Eclipse played with us last fall so they know the team. 

Game #2 vs Lake Forest Utd #39 Nation

In between games we had lunch out at the fields.  It was great to see all of the girls eating and laughing together.  It really looks like the girls are becoming more of a team both on and off the field.  The girls also made it over to watch our U11 team play to show support for another Academy team.

I was able to see Lake
Forest play a little bit before our game this morning
against the third team in our group VSA.  Lake Forest had won easily 3-0 but it could have been a lot more if it was not for VSA's goalie.  From watching the game I knew that Lake could keep possession of the ball pretty well and they had a couple of great wingers.

Before our game against Lake Forest started we talked about how the girls had shown great belief to come back and they stayed positive through adversity.  I told them how important that would be because when we play against top level teams there are going to be times when the other team is in our end for 10-15 minutes at a time putting us under pressure.  It is important to stay together during those times and not fall apart.

We also talked about putting the ball in Lake's end in the first five minutes to set the tone for the game.

Lake had the ball on the kick off, we won possession after they came into our half and we played the ball deep into the right corner.  Kari (CF) and Blitz (RF)sprinted down into their end and put tons of pressure on the ball and made it predictable for Carly our RD as their pressure forced their defender into a bad touch that went right to her.  Carly hit the ball first time across to Millie (LF) who brought the ball down and finished it into the far post for a 1-0 lead only 40 seconds into the game.

Nineteen minutes in Lake tied the game up when they played a through ball for their speed left mid #44 who broke in and finished her shot far post. 

At the 27 minute mark we went back ahead when Millie (DM) received the ball at midfield and played Gaffer (AM).  Gaffer turned her defender and found Sprout (RF) running diagonally into the box.  There defender tackled Sprout but the ball went straight to Millie who had continued her run into the box and she fired the ball in at the near post.

It was a great time for a goal and well deserved since we had been putting them under a decent amount of pressure during the half since we had the wind at our back.  At half time we talked about continuing to have confidence to take people on.  We also talked about how important it was to keep working hard if you lose the ball or take a bad touch.  Don't hang your head.  The last point we talked about was the fact that since Lake Forest was a good team and they now had the wind at their backs we could be in our end for most of the second half.  Ideally we want to be in their end but they might have long stretches that put us under pressure.  I reminded the girls to stay positive and believe in what they were doing.  We would be able to break the pressure and our counter attack would create some very good chances.

The second half started and immediately Lake had the ball in our end.  We had a goal kick a minute into the half that their CM won with no one from our team really near where the kick went.  She played #44 the ball and she walked our LD and CD and tied the game up.  She had some very good moves.

After that Lake Forest continued to put us under pressure but our girls held strong.  LP was on fire at defense.  Every time a girl around her received a ball with her back to goal LP forced her to play it back or she won the ball.  If they were running at her she made it predictable and made many great tackles.  Lydia was also playing fantastic defense making lots of important tackles before Lake could create good chances.

We were able to mount some very dangerous counters including twice where we played Millie through down the right side, she beat a defender with Sprout running down the field with her.  As Sprout's defender left her to close Millie down, Millie slotted the ball over to Sprout with only the out of position goalie to beat, but she miss hit the ball right into the goalie both times.

With four minutes left in the game, Millie was played in again on the right side.  As she walked around her defender I saw Sprout making the same run she had made two times earlier in the game.  The defender left Sprout to get to Millie but there was no way she was going to get there in time.  Everyone thought Millie was going to shoot but at the last second she crossed it to Sprout, with everyone holding their breath she connected with a great one touch shot past the goalie and into the back of the net.  Everyone went crazy.

It was a great show of trust in her teammate from Millie that even though Sprout had missed on two earlier chances and she could have shot, she still passed it to her believing that she would score.  Sprout showed the confidence in herself and the ability to get back in the play after things did not go her way on the first two chances.  It would have been easy for her to not make the run and put herself in position to miss again.  Or to yell for Millie to shoot.  But instead she made the run and was yelling for the pass knowing that this was her chance to score again.

After the goal Lake Forrest mounted a serious attack down at our end.  We no longer had positions just girls going everywhere to make plays.  Every time we made a tackle their parents were going crazy and yelling for a foul.  And the ref would oblige them with a call.  Once Lydia was dribbling the ball up field and one of their forwards hit her from behind three times from behind as she was dribbling and Lydia was called for a foul. 

With one minute left the ball was in our box and we made a great tackle on a girl getting all ball.  Their parents exploded and a couple of seconds later the ref blew his whistle for a PK.  Unbelievable.  I called the ref over and asked him to explain the call.  He said that he thought our girl had tripped her but she may have gotten the ball too. 

As their girl stepped up to take the penalty she looked very confident.  AJ was in goal jumping around trying to distract her.  She struck the ball solidly but the soccer gods were smiling down on us and the ball went just an inch wide of the post.  Soccer justice I suppose.  I felt bad for their girl who missed the penalty but happy for us since it was not a deserved penalty.

The final whistle blew soon after and our girls all mobbed AJ who had made some very important saves throughout the game.

Oh boy soccer is an emotional game. 

MVPs:
LP for her rock solid defense
Lydia for her rock solid defense
AJ for her smooth goalkeeping

Standings after Day 1:

Team	Win	Loss	Draw	Points	GF	GA
KC Legends	2	0	0	6	6	2
Bangu	1	1	0	3	5	5
Lake Forest	1	1	0	3	5	3
VSA	0	2	0	0	0	6

It was setting up for another exciting day on Sunday.  I predicted that Lake Forest would beat KC in a close game and everything could come down to goal differential.