I see many coaches who decide to take on a new youth football team, throw themselves into it with great intentions and enthusiasm for the game only to wish they never started 6 months down the line.

This is because children are very unpredictable and need to have some form of boundaries and direction put in place from the start or you could risk losing the respect of the players and parents.

There is an old saying “prepare to plan or prepare to fail” and it couldn’t be truer in youth football.

What you will find in this article is a blueprint to how you can lay the foundations from the beginning of the season, giving you the best possible start.

Decide Your Youth Football Team Philosophy!

If you are going to coach a youth football team then you will need to have a coaching philosophy, a certain way of doing things.

The players need to be aware of your vision, values and understand that this team is not like other sides.

Every Member of the team including any other coaching staff have to be onboard with the club philosophy. If anybody happens to not follow through with the philosophy then it could risk derailing all the work that was initially put in.

The player’s development is the most important thing, and everyone associated with the club needs to understand that yes we want our players to win, but this should never come at the cost of their development.

‘Winning with a certain style’ is the motto and every player should understand this clearly.

The main aim is to produce skilful, creative and innovative players in order for this to happen you will need coaches who are innovative enough to produce those players.

How Do You want to Play!

Every coach has a different view on how the game should be played but at youth level, I believe we all should work towards a style of play that embraces skill and encourages players to have individualism on the ball.

They should also be encouraged to make good decisions in the game. Too often I see coaches try to restrict their players with conditions that limit their options too much. So much that the practice becomes unrealistic and the player learns unwanted habits from it.

Instead of creating natural players we end up with ‘robots’ who can only play one way and are not ‘multi-functional’ like many players we see in other countries. We want our players to have the ability to switch their style when needed and for this to happen our players need to have high levels skill to give them more options later in their playing career.

Creating will allow our players to play in any style whether it’s direct, counter-attacking or possession based they will have the attributes to adapt.

Whichever style of play you decide to adopt never forget that game understanding and skill should be at the core of the methodology. To play football at the highest level you need to have these important attributes.

Having physically strong and quick players who are inept with the ball will only take you so far. Always first develop the foundations (can play with both feet, skill, game understanding etc) and your style of play will be a lot easier to achieve.

Create Your Football Curriculum!

In order to have success with coaching young players, you have to think long-term and plan ahead. What are you planning to achieve? What will you focus on in each phase of the season?

I keep it quite simple when it comes to planning my season for my youth football players by breaking it into four parts; Pre-season, competitive phase 1, competitive phase 2 and Transition phase.

With this in mind, I can plan my sessions for each phase working on a certain topic for 3 – 4 weeks i.e dribbling, running with the ball etc.

You cannot put together a meaningful and progressive coaching session without having in mind how you want to play the game.

Need to learn more about how you can build your session plans? checkout this post.

Explain Your Philosophy to The Parents!

Another important area that is often neglected by coaches is the relationship we have with parents. Regular communication is important, and the parents should be informed of your plan’s for the season.

How can you expect them to support you if they don’t understand what you are trying to achieve? The best coaches and youth development sides tend to have a good relationship with parents. Parents are regularly informed about what their child is learning and what the goal is for the season.

The parents should feel involved in their child’s learning and also given the opportunity to make an impact on it.

Too often the parents have pushed aside and not utilized enough. I encourage you to take a different approach and take time to educate the parents as well as the players. Tell them about your philosophy and share with them your development plan for the year.

Address Your Expectations!

Once you have an idea of your philosophy and how you want to play the game it is time address the players and let them know what your expectations are.

Young players need to know from the start what is expected from such as how you expect them to behave, showing respect to themselves and others etc. Your values and beliefs should be clear so there are grey areas when it comes to enforcing them.

Before the start of the season, I like my players and parents to sign a document which includes a written statement about the team’s values, expectations, and philosophy. This will show everyone involved what you stand for and how you expect them to represent the team.

Implement Your Style of Play!

By now, you should have a clear idea of how you want to play the game and prepared a season plan to achieve your desired style of play. It is now time to share it with the players and begin preparing your them to deliver your playing style.

Consistency is key with a youth football team!

If you have carefully thought out your season plan, then the session planning should become a lot easier to create.

Each phase of the session plan should not be neglected, and should all contain an element of realism throughout. It Should be gradually progressive throughout and always linking from the previous session to further embed the topic.

Be Consistent!

No matter how much players and parents may ask you to change things stick to your beliefs. Even when you are suffering defeats as long as your players are still trying to deliver your style of play and following the club philosophy there is no need for drastic change.

Remember it is their development that is the most important thing, not the result. If the players are showing appropriate development then the results will eventually come and if you are regularly communicating with the parents on what you are trying to achieve then they will be patient with you especially if they can see improvements themselves.

Don’t let the results influence what you coach every training session. The match is an assessment of all the work you have been doing in training and it’s an opportunity to see who can implement it in a real match situation.

Simple tweaks can be made from your match assessment in training but always persevere with your plan.

Always Re-enforce What Was Previously Taught!

At every training session, I always try to make reference the previous one to further embed the topic. The more your players are put into situations that bring out your topic the more it becomes a habit for them to execute it.

I want to create natural players who can think for themselves in real match situations. E.g in my previous session I did dribbling with both feet so, in the warm-up, I made sure that the players each had a ball and were recapping some the points from the previous session. Gradually progressing to the new topic but still occasionally referencing to the previous one throughout the session.

we want to have ‘natural players’ in our youth football team!

We want our players to develop good habits. Too often I see players who have developed bad habits such as not scanning before they receive or never playing on the half turn to see both ways when they are aged 13 or above.

The fundamentals need to be re-enforced from the beginning so that the foundations are laid when they older. This will allow your youth football team to learn more complex skills and tactics a lot quicker because of the good base they have to start from.

Set Homework!

Finally, after each session set your player’s football homework to complement the training session you have just delivered.

Having your players do homework will help further re-enforce your topic for the week. It also give’s you an opportunity to work with your parents and get them to ensure that their child is doing the football homework if they are willing to participate.

Football homework can be an excellent tool to utilize with your players. They won’t do it all the time but the ones that do will improve quicker which will only benefit the team. You can even make it competitive and set them challenges to encourage them to complete the task. E.g how many ball juggles can you do with your weaker foot or how many times can you perform a certain trick in a minute.

Summary

The start of a new youth football team is an important phase that should be given careful planning with clear goals and objectives for the team.

The best development sides always have a good base to start from which sets the tone for the rest of the season. It allows the process to run more smoothly and it also gives you a plan of action if things don’t.

Do you want to learn how you can also develop your process for creating players with high levels of skill and great in-game awareness?

Then you should click here and receive 4 free skills training videos and begin to get the best from your players.

The post Top 10 Tips For Starting A Youth Football Team! appeared first on Let's Play The Game - Blog.

See the original post here.

In this article, Sam and the two soccer scouts discuss what scouts want to see from a footballer.

Each and every weekend, on rainy pitches across the country, you can guarantee that at least one player in every team is wondering if today is the day that they will get their ‘Jamie Vardy’ moment.

It’s not unheard of for players to be scouted from grassroots level, as Vardy’s experience goes to show, so in the event that a scout did rock up, what would they be looking for?

To determine exactly what top soccer scouts are looking for, we spoke to two of the best in the business:

Tim Coe, Chief Scout at Crystal Palace is experienced in spotting the potential in young players as Palace have famously brought Nathaniel Clyne, Wilfred Zaha, Wayne Routledge and Victor Moses through their academy.

Joel Purkiss, scout at Revo Sports Management works with teams across the league and is no stranger to finding players at grassroots level. Most recently, Joel has been scouting for Sheffield United’s U13 youth team.

KITLOCKER

What are the key characteristics that you would look for in a player from the grassroots/amateur leagues across the different positions?

Goalkeeper

TIM: We assess each player on four ‘position specific’ components, each comprising of defending and attacking aspects. In a goalkeeper we would look for handling and shot stopping, command of the area, coming from the line and distribution.

JOEL: At an amateur level, the first thing you’re looking for is how a player reads the game, how they command the area and their kicking, as well as their decision making. Decision making as a goalkeeper is crucial because in lots of situations, it’s the difference between not conceding and letting a goal in.

Full Back

JOEL: Full Backs are almost like extra attackers now, especially when deployed in the 352 formation that we’re seeing sweep across the Premier League. Full backs now are typically very athletic and competent with the ball at their feet and are expected to get up and down the pitch as quickly as possible.

Centre Back

JOEL: The two components I look for in a centre back is their ability to head the ball and their reading of the game. The centre back needs to understand situations when they should be going into a tackle to win the ball back and when they need to drop off, covering a team mate. More and more centre backs are now encouraged to be confident with the ball at their feet, moving away from the ‘Kick it, Head It’ mentality that has dominated lower leagues.

TIM: For a centre back we would look for defending against direct play, defending up the pitch, defending in the defensive third and using the ball and attacking set pieces.

Wide Midfielders

JOEL: Here we are looking for players whose first thought is to get forward. To attack and create chances for the forwards, as well as contributing goals themselves. Decision making is also a key aspect, when to cross, when to pass and when to dribble.

Centre midfielders

JOEL: In a central midfielder, coaches are looking for the whole package. Are they good on the ball? Can they tackle? Can they get into the box and score a goal? Can they provide for the rest of the team?

Strikers

JOEL: Strikers are judged on one thing: goals. What can they produce in the opponent’s box? Are they clever with their runs? Do they create space for themselves and others? Strikers should be natural in front of goal, they shouldn’t have to look at the target to know where it is. Having the ability to do this saves them vital seconds as a defender looks to take the ball away from them. We’re also looking for a striker to hold up the ball, depending on the team’s style of
play. Can they hold off defenders before finding a winger in space?

Key attributes soccer scouts look for.

KITLOCKER

Do scouts acknowledge that certain areas may need refining and perhaps need further training?

TIM: Every player will have relative strengths and weaknesses in their position. Their suitability or otherwise to us will be determined by what we are looking for in that position which is determined by the philosophy set by the club and/or by the manager and the needs of the team at that particular time.

If we are looking to defend deep than we will need centre backs who are good defending against direct play and defending in the defensive third, but we may be able to compromise on their defending up the pitch. Some areas of a player’s performance can be improved further than others. For example, a centre back’s positioning, reading of the game and decision making can improve significantly with a good development program, plus a good mentality from the player. Other psychological and technical elements are harder to make significant strides in.

JOEL answered according to position:

Goalkeepers

I’ve seen goalkeepers who have improved dramatically from specialised training, across multiple areas such as positioning, shot stopping & handling. We’ll look for goalkeepers that can demonstrate the mental skills such as decision making over their ability to save a shot because that technical side of the game is easier to develop with specific training drills.

Full Backs

Full backs are put on specific training drills to improve the timing of their runs to assist with attackers scoring a goal, whether it be via a cross or dragging a defender towards them by making an off the ball run.

Centre Backs

If a player excels with the ball at their feet, the tackling and heading aspects can be worked on in training.

Wide Midfielders

Correct coaching can see decision making increase.

KITLOCKER

Do you look for different things across the different levels?

TIM: Watching prospective transfer targets is more of a prediction than an assessment because you can see what they are doing in their team now but you need to know what they can do in our team in the future, and watching prospective development players involves even more of a prediction. Important factors to consider here are character and personality and potential for future growth.

JOEL: As top level scouting shifts towards technically competent players that demonstrate an understanding for their position, this will filter down the leagues which will see more of these players picked up from amateur clubs.

KITLOCKER

What emphasis do you put on scouting grassroots football? Is there any value scouting down the leagues?

JOEL: Scouting at a grassroots level is very important, there are so many players that are good enough to compete in professional leagues but for whatever reason haven’t been picked up or they may have been dropped by an academy or simply didn’t get the chance. More and more players are being signed from non-league football teams and a lot of this is down to the success of Jamie Vardy and teams realising that there is a lot of talent that isn’t involved in a professional club. Whilst the player might improve the team, their value will also skyrocket, another important aspect for lots of clubs who rely on player sales to continue running.

TIM: We spend the vast majority of our time watching lower league and non-league football. There is a lot of talent and potential and there are a lot of examples of players who have risen through the levels to play at the highest level. It is much more difficult to go through the levels in one jump. It’s more common to take two or more steps. But we are always looking for the exception.

Maybe, just maybe…

The good news for amateur teams is that there is every chance of being spotted at grassroots level. Taking Tim and Joel’s advice on board and considering how you can apply it to your own game may help you tailor your performance, physically and mentally, to suit the attributes that are currently desirable to premier league clubs.

There is no denying that the challenges presented through grassroots football can sometimes feel quite demoralising for players, making it difficult to ever imagine that there may be life beyond Sunday league. However, as Tim suggests, personality and character play a huge part in deciding whether a player is worth watching.

No matter how small or low in the league your club may be, the star players are those who display pride in pulling on their club strip and stepping out onto the pitch as a united team, and giving their all regardless of the conditions. Attitude and team unity goes a long way towards raising a player’s desirability, and just as the old cliché ‘there is no I in team’, suggests, no one is ever looking for individual stand-alone players.

So, when the last thing you feel like doing after a busy week in the office or at school is dragging yourself along to a drizzly football pitch, just remember, you never know who is watching.

The post What Do Scouts Want From A Footballer? appeared first on Let's Play The Game - Blog.

A common question I tend to ask grassroots coaches I support is how can use differentiation in your session? the response I tend to get is what is differentiation and how I use it?

Knowing how to differentiate in your sessions is an important skill for a youth soccer coach to learn and when mastered will take their coaching to a new level.

What is differentiation?

Differentiation is when you tailor your coaching to meet the needs of your players who will either find the practice too hard or too easy. I am sure you have all experienced situations where you have planned a coaching session that will be perfect for your players but for some reason 1 or 2 are not grasping the session.

In this situation, a coach has a couple of choices (a) continue with what you originally planned and hope they eventually pick it up or (b) slightly adjust the practice so that the players who were struggling get back on task. You can also have it go the other way where we have some high achievers finding the practice too easy and others seem to be getting along with it ok. Do we again (a) continue with what we originally planned or (b) find a way of pushing the high achievers whilst keeping the others at a level they can cope with?

Quite simply, having the ability to differentiate allows you to have a framework for effective coaching, that will give your players who are either more advanced or less able a different avenue to achieving your session objectives.

Do you use differentiation in your practice?

Why is it Important to differentiate?

When you can effectively differentiate in your sessions, you are better catering to the needs of your players. You won’t have situations where some players who are finding the session too easy are becoming bored or players who are struggling in the session becoming frustrated that they cannot perform the task you have set.

Differentiating allows every player the opportunity to have some success whilst still challenging your players.

How to Use Differentiation in Your Session!

It all begins in the planning process where you will write down how you can adapt the session for certain players if you need to. I believe this is why a lot of coaches fail to implement the method because they have not had an initial thought process on how they can use it.

My current number #1 tool for planning my soccer sessions right now is the academy soccer coach session planer. You can go and check it out by clicking here. 

When you prepare your plan, think about how you can challenge those who are finding the task quite easy and those who are struggling to keep up with the rest. Here are some suggestions you could use.

In this example, the players are involved in a passing and receiving practice working in pairs (technique).  The following challenges for players who find the current task too easy:

“Every time you receive the ball, look to move the ball into space with your first touch (touch move) and accelerate into space if you can. How many times can you do this in 1 minute.”

“Your challenge is everytime you pass the ball call out which side you are passing to e.g passing left or passing right.”

“What you are doing is ok but I think you can play quicker, so everything you have just done do it quickly”

The following are for players who find the current task difficult.

“Instead of trying to pass the ball with 1 touch can you now take at least three touches before you pass the ball.”

“I have noticed that when you pass the ball your partner is struggling to control the ball, so can you change the weight of our pass to make it easier for your teammate. Now let’s see how many times your teammate can successfully control your passes in 1 minute.

Expect to be regularly assessing the players after you have set the tasks. The advanced players may pick up the challenge quite quickly and you will have to give out encouragement to better what they did previously because most of the time that is all they need e.g “well done now do it quicker”.

The same will apply to players who are at a lower level compared to the rest of players. Regular praise when they execute the task well will give the players more confidence and keep them on track.

Throughout this process, you need to have the right manner and approach when you deliver information to your players for it to be effective. If your tone is not expressed with enthusiasm you may find it difficult to inspire your players to deliver the outcome you desire. Keep these points in mind and you will find it a lot easier to keep your players on task.

Conclusion

For me, once you begin to regularly implement this into your coaching you will see your players excel a lot quicker. Just think of all those times you may have been pulling your hair out trying to think of a way to keep your star player ‘john’ on the development path or that one player who is always behind the rest of the team a chance to catch up with the others.

Just by effectively adding this method you can take your level of coaching to new heights and you will be able to cater to the needs of every player on your team.

Why don’t you join us in our quest to help improve the standards of football coaching across the globe by joining our weekly mailing list if you join you will have exclusive access to free coaching tips, recommendations and articles. Just click here to get started and receive our free youth football coaching guide. Look forward to seeing you on the inside.

The Coach

Kurtis is the Director of Coaching at coaching company ‘Lets Play The Game Ltd’ and has over 12 years of coaching experience. He is also a head coach at a junior school and club level. Kurtis has experience in training and mentoring grassroots coaches in the West Midlands area. He holds a Diploma of Higher Education in Sports Coaching, FA Level 2 Badge Holder and is currently doing the FA youth module level 3. He has the Premier Skills Coach Education Award.
 

The post How to Use Differentiation in Youth Soccer! appeared first on Let's Play The Game - Blog.

whether you prefer to play direct or a possession-based game you should have an idea of how you want to play. Especially in the UK, not enough consideration is given by grassroots coaches of how they want the kids to play, preferring a more ‘ad hoc’ approach that very rarely leads to anything productive for the players.

I more often see coaches place a large focus on just ‘getting the ball to their best player’ as quickly as possible or I often hear “just get rid of it” resulting in an aimless long ball when the player was under little pressure. This ‘mish-mash’ approach normally means the less able players suffer because very little responsibility is placed on them to get on the ball and play.

The English Way!

‘fight ball’ is a more favourable style of play then our kids trying to play the game properly.

When you watch international football or other countries it is normally very clear how each nation like to set up and play their football.

We have England who favours a more physical, direct and fast-paced style of football that doesn’t really feature any pattern to the play and has many turnovers (when a player loses possession of the ball). The problem we find with this approach is that there is very little focus on ball retention and when a team eventually comes up against a side who are better on the ball they tend to find it difficult. This style of play is very reliant on physicality and the speed of players. Very little focus is given to players who have high levels of skill and game intelligence as these types of players tend to get bypassed in the game as the long ball over the top is the choice of play missing out the architects of the game.

Currently, there has been a big push for sides in England to take a leaf out of our European counterparts and encourage a more possession-based style of football. This has resulted in an overhaul of the coach education system in England with courses that have a bigger focus on young players playing through the thirds.

Despite this being a step in the right direction for our national game we still find many youth coaches at grassroots level opting for the more ‘traditional’ style of play that this country has been used to for many years now. The more physical and faster you are the better your chances are succeeding at this level because ‘fight ball’ is more favourable than our kids trying to play the game properly.

Instead of encouraging our kids to learn from their mistakes we make an ‘example’ of them for making a mistake. Parents shouting instructions from the sidelines encouraging simplistic football with chants such as “get rid of it” and “stop trying to be Messi and pass it” only add to the problem and place fear in our kids game.

I believe for our game to see any real benefit from the football associations different approach we need to do more to change our footballing culture. England’ DNA’ has some good intentions such as having a nationally recognized way of playing, but the implementation of the methodology is yet to have a major effect on changing the footballing culture of the majority.

Different Styles of Play!

If you watch other top nations it’s clear that they have a style of play that is ingrained in their football culture. The Italians tend to be more cautious and play a slower tempo of football, but very intelligent on and off the ball making clever runs into gaps that cause problems for opponents.

Other countries have a clear style of play ingrained throughout their footballing culture.

Despite their recent misfortune, the Dutch style of play is the world renowned ‘total football’ methodology which was first introduced by the innovative coach Rinus Michels in the 1970s. Every player including the goalkeeper must be comfortable on the ball, and it’s commonplace to see defenders bring the ball out from the back to create many overload situations. Players often interchange positions and attackers are expected to move the ball quickly once they are in the final third using sharp passes looking the right opportunity to penetrate either with a through pass or running with the ball. finally one of the most notable aspects of the method is the amount of pressure they put on the opposing team to win the ball back after losing it.

Another great footballing nation is Germany who has over the years made slight tweaks to their style play but always keeping that famous German resilience that has frustrated so many. What is most noticeable about the German style of play is how position specific they are meaning they very rarely deviate from there roles and responsibilities. When in possession of the ball they are very composed and efficient, looking to wear down there opponents creating overloads in various attacking situations. The Germans don’t tend to develop many flair players who are very ‘eye-catching’ on the ball like the Dutch and Brazilians but they have excellent game management skills that more often than not takes them over the line.

Finally, I would like to end this section with Brazil who’s style of play is recognized around the world. They have a free-flowing style of play that is very reliant on players who have high levels of skill in all areas. It is also very possession-based but they look to move the ball a lot quicker than some of the European sides. It is also not as position orientated as the European teams meaning players interchange frequently that often leads to defensive frailties and opportunities for opponents to counter-attack.

Now there are other nations I could have also mentioned here but that would have taken a lot of copy. Hopefully, just by reviewing some of the above, you have gained insight into how some of the top nations play the game.

Developing Your Style of Play!

“Whatever playing method preferred it must contain five important ingredients; it must be teachable – it must be playable – it must be variable – it must be watchable – it must be ‘winnable’.” John Cartwright

As mentioned in the quote above by John Cartwright when developing your style of play it must contain these five things; it must be teachable – it must be playable – it must be variable – it must be watchable – it must be winnable.

In the beginning, a coach should first focus all their efforts on producing players who are skilful enough to play their style of play. They should also have a focus on developing players who are comfortable in possession and have very good decision-making skills. A coach shouldn’t just focus on either playing a short or long passing style of play. As coaches, we should look to develop a good mixture of both because this allows our players the chance to play either short or long depending on the circumstances of the game. This is where the player’s decision making comes into practice. Player’s with good decision making and high levels of skill should be able to adopt either playing style and implement it in the game.

Having the right balance shouldn’t be ignored either, you want your team to rarely be exposed defensively and provide appropriate support when in attack. I am a big believer in players having the option to interchange positions during the game if the balance of the team can also be maintained. This is because it gives teammates more options when looking for players to pass to and it also gives the opposition a problem with tactical variations.

Whichever style of play you decide to adopt never forget that game understanding and skill should be at the core of the methodology. As shown with top nations in world football to play at the highest level and be successful, you need players who have these important attributes. Having physically strong and quick players who are inept with the ball will only take you so far. Focus on developing the foundations and your style of play will be a lot easier to achieve.

Why don’t you join us in our quest to help improve the standards of football coaching across the globe by joining our weekly mailing list if you join you will have exclusive access to free coaching tips, recommendations and articles. Just click here to get started and receive our free youth football coaching guide. Look forward to seeing you on the inside.

The Coach

Kurtis is the Director of Coaching at coaching company ‘Lets Play The Game Ltd’ and has over 12 years of coaching experience. He is also a head coach at a junior school and club level. Kurtis has experience in training and mentoring grassroots coaches in the West Midlands area. He holds a Diploma of Higher Education in Sports Coaching, FA Level 2 Badge Holder and is currently doing the FA youth module level 3. He has the Premier Skills Coach Education Award.

The post How to Develop Your Style of Play in Soccer! appeared first on Let's Play The Game - Blog.

Behavior management goes hand in hand with football coaching, and all coaches need to have the right strategies in place to deal with difficult players before they become a more serious issue.

for me, the best coaches have systems in place to win the respect of certain difficult individuals and more often or not find a way of getting through to them. Unfortunately not every player can be helped, sometimes you have to know when enough is enough with some players and the hard approach is warranted.

In this article, I want to share some methods that I have found effective when dealing with bad behavior and what I also do to help prevent problems occurring in my sessions.

Setting the Scene!

Many of you don’t know but I have primary PE teaching background which I still do to this day for more than 13 years and in this time I have learnt some strategies that have helped me manage large groups of young players in football.

Young players need to know from the beginning how you run your football team. You cannot expect them to just figure it out for themselves they will need constant reminding of your expectations. First off, I would have every player sign a document that you prepared stating all your expectations of them and a brief description of how you want to play the game. Having a document prepared that they sign show’s a commitment on their side and sets the tone for the season.

Having a reward system in place I find works really well especially with younger players between the age of 6 – 10 yrs old. I see some coaches have a special player of the session award and the same on match days but I feel to keep younger players on track, regular encouragement is better. Try giving out little rewards during the session such as maybe stickers for making the right choice or performing a skill you have been working on.

Another thing I have tried is giving each player a chart and throughout the session, I would give players what I called ‘skill points’ when they did something good in the session. Every time a player earned a skill point they received a sticker to place on their chart and at the end of a certain period (I did 4 weeks but feel to do however long you want), I would see who got the most skill points for that term and give them a reward.

This doesn’t have to break the bank it can be anything such as captain for a month. What I found was that having this system in place helped keep my players engaged and focused on the task for longer and even when they began to lose focus I could quickly get them back on track.

Everyone is involved!

If the practice is not engaging and doesn’t keep every player involved throughout then they will eventually become frustrated and bored.

If the practice is not engaging and doesn’t keep every player involved throughout then they will eventually become frustrated and bored. Using ‘drills’ or overly structured practices stifle creativity and easily lose the interest of young players.

The best sessions I remember growing up were the ones where I was always involved and was playing a ‘game related practice’. Making sure all practices have some relation to the game is important and will help the players keep on task.

I have seen many practices where big lines of about 8 players sometimes more, lining up to take their turn and strike a ball and the coach is doing his best to control the bad behavior. Let me tell you something that may shock you ‘KID’S HATE WAITING’ just as much as adults do if not more so don’t keep them in lines following each other.

Another thing is kids don’t like ‘BEING CONSTANTLY TOLD WHAT TO DO’. Kids like to have some input in the session so give them opportunities to do so. There will still be times where you need to show them what to do but don’t forget most people learn by doing so learn to let go from time to time.

Be Approachable

players with bad behavior don’t always respond well to the strict approach.

I find it helps if the players feel comfortable in your presence especially with younger children. Now all players need to understand that they cannot treat their coach like another friend from school, but you also want them to look forward to taking part in your sessions and using humor is a great icebreaker.

Using humor or anything that can ‘break up’ the normal structure of a practice can help win kids around to your way of thinking and stop bad behavior occurring. Now you don’t have to be a comedian to get a giggle from young players you just need to have an understanding of what they are into. For example, going to shake their hand then quickly taking it away putting it by your nose and sticking your tongue out at them, it may seem very childlike but it get’s them smiling.

What we have to remember is that they are children not ‘mini adults’ and using the strict and stern approach all the time will make your sessions not enjoyable and the players won’t want to do it.

Can They See You!

I have seen it many times, a coach will begin a session and start to deliver their demonstration. As they deliver the demo gradually you see them leave their starting position and move to an area where half of the team can no longer see the coach clearly.

Not having the correct position can cause a number issues for you when you are taking a session. Some children will look for any opportunity to not follow instructions so you need to show that you are in a position to see all of the players and they can also see you.

If you are in a game scenario that requires you to step in the situation stop the session, deliver a quick demo to help the players with the problem (no longer then about 30 seconds) and get them playing again.

Tip; if available, use the floor markings that are already laid out on a playing surface to quickly organize your players into an appropriate position to see you e.g ” everybody go stand on the semi-circle”.

Final Thought

As you can see many of the methods I use are there to help prevent difficult situations occurring. Obviously sometimes a player will have to be told when they are in the wrong and if it continues then their parents should be told. I have a 3 strike rule for players who continue to show bad behavior and a timeout will be issued if they reach the final strike with their parents being spoken to.

For peace of mind, I urge you to have some sort of procedure in place and that all associated with your team are familiar with it before you start implementing it. Not only will it benefit you but it will also help your players having a less disruptive football session.

If you need help creating engaging sessions for your football team then you can take your coaching further with the help of our friends from coaches training room and get 5 free passing sessions just click here to learn more.

The Coach

Kurtis is the Director of Coaching at coaching company ‘Lets Play The Game Ltd’ and has over 12 years of coaching experience. He is also a head coach at a junior school and club level. Kurtis has experience in training and mentoring grassroots coaches in the West Midlands area. He holds a Diploma of Higher Education in Sports Coaching, FA Level 2 Badge Holder and is currently doing the FA youth module level 3. He has the Premier Skills Coach Education Award.

The post Bad Behavior: How To Improve The Behavior of Misbehaving Players! appeared first on Let's Play The Game - Blog.

These are just some of the comments you may hear coaches and parents give to young players, every week around the country. I remember in my youth football playing days receiving such instructions on a weekly basis and finding it more of a distraction than actually helping me play better football. Encouraging ‘simplistic’ football is all too common in our game and despite the football association’s best efforts with the introduction of the new FA coaching courses, grassroots football is still suffering from this culture.

Skillful, creative football should be encouraged from the beginning of a young footballers playing career. Coaches at this level have to be more accepting of failure when it comes winning trophies and focus on creating an environment that encourages players to have individualism and excellent game understanding.

In this article, I would like to share some of the methods I use to encourage creative football players.

Creative Football Players!

Firstly, I believe it’s important to get the players to understand how you like to play and it is their development that comes first not the result of the game. Players will naturally want to win anyway but must understand if they do win the game it’s by implementing their game style.

Every player on your team is important regardless of their ability. It still surprises me to see coaches instruct their ‘less able’ players to only focus on giving the ball to the best player on the team by any means necessary. Every player on the team deserves your attention. Your focus should be on how you can keep each player involved in the learning process.

The players should learn to trust each other with the football. This can only happen if the coach has set an environment where the players feel they can trust each other. whenever they play, give them the confidence to get on the ball and express themselves. Yes, mistakes will happen but these are the golden moments where the coach can really help the players reflect and make changes for the future.

In training, the coach should see every small sided game as an assessment of what was previously taught and should never look to waste opportunities by using it as a ‘treat’ to keep the players happy.

As I have stated before, the best coaches come to life in the moments that are most chaotic. This is why using realistic practices is more beneficial then drills with ‘closed outcomes’.

Practices With Multiple Outcomes!

To encourage creative football players, practices should have multiple outcomes.

To encourage creative football players, practices should have multiple outcomes and not be overly restrictive.

If a session becomes too restrictive then the player’s will find it difficult to relate what they are learning to the real game. This means they are less likely to transfer those skills to the game.

A good practice should encourage the players to solve problems and make decisions on time and space. Good coaching doesn’t include long lines and a coach constantly barking orders to the players.

Many of the best players in world football honed their skills whilst playing in the streets. In the streets, there is no outside interference and the players are allowed to just get on with it. The players have to make decisions on time and space due to the limited time on the ball. Due to constantly having to play in tight situations players are forced to ‘screen’ when they are in possession of the football and learn to be aware of their surroundings whilst on the ball.

Although not perfect, street football layed many foundations for young players in the early stages of their development. As coaches, we should find ways to bring the good things that street football teaches players into our coaching sessions.

In street football, having good individualism is key. Without this as a base for young players, everything else becomes harder to teach. From the beginning look to improve your player’s individualism in game situations and gradually introduce other aspects when they are ready.

Positive Running With The Ball!

Many think creativity in football is when a player provides a defense-splitting pass or produces some fancy tricks on the ball. For me, great creative players are also very good when running with the ball.

A young player should be encouraged to have the confidence to run with the ball. When your players are confident and begin to run with the ball, they can create new advantages for their teammates.

Your players should learn to keep their eyes up when running with the ball. This will help them to be aware of the opposition and see the gaps that are left open to exploit. Your players should also be taught when and where to run with the ball. This can only be taught if the practice is realistic and encourages the player’s decisions on time & space e.g. is there space for me to run with the ball, if there is no space, is there space for me to go in to out wide.

If space is limited in front, can the player change direction and run across the defender whilst screening with the ball. With this, the player should also learn to keep the ball on the safe side (the foot furthest away from the opposition) whilst running with the ball.

Thinking Ahead!

It still amazes me how so many coaches at grassroots level don’t teach their players to ‘scan’ or ‘check their shoulder’ with and without the ball. Firstly, they should be taught to keep their eyes up when in possession of the ball. It’s common for young players to only look at the ball, so we need to help them ‘scan ahead’ to see teammates, opposition and spaces to exploit.

Players should get in the habit of receiving the ball side on (shoulder to the ball) so they can see clearly what is behind them. This also allows the player to receive the ball on the back foot to turn into space quicker or receive on the front foot to keep it away from the opposition.

Players should receive the ball side on ( shoulders to the ball ).

We want the players to look for opportunities to play forward and if they can’t play forward can they keep the ball until another opportunity to go forward presents itself. A player can only recognize these moments by constantly scanning the field.

To develop creative football players teaching them to make the right decisions can be difficult for some coaches especially if they are using ‘drills’ that have no relation to the actual game. For players to learn how to make the right decisions more frequently, they need to face game related situations constantly. This will give the coach opportunities to help guide their players to the right solution and help them solve problems that will happen in the game.

You can take your coaching further with the help of our friends from coaches training room and get 5 free passing sessions just click here to learn more.

The Coach

Kurtis is the Director of Coaching at coaching company ‘Lets Play The Game Ltd’ and has over 12 years of coaching experience. He is also a head coach at a junior school and club level. Kurtis has experience in training and mentoring grassroots coaches in the West Midlands area. He holds a Diploma of Higher Education in Sports Coaching, FA Level 2 Badge Holder and is currently doing the FA youth module level 3. He has the Premier Skills Coach Education Award.

The post How To Develop Creative Football Players! appeared first on Let's Play The Game - Blog.

The post Dribbling & Running With The Ball Practice appeared first on Let's Play The Game - Blog.

The loss of this informal but positive way of learning has meant an enormous change from the ‘natural’ development of young players to a more ‘pressured’ format. The ‘structured’ take-over of development has been unable to recreate a satisfactory coaching methodology that can recover the loss of practice time, nor the practical realism to learning suitable for all ages. Equally destructive has been the ever-growing emphasis on winning and not learning — now inadequate practice is followed by a win-win culture that has resulted in the disastrous acceptance of mediocrity being accepted as greatness!

Work with your Football Parents

Educate Football Parents!

A couple of evenings a week and a game at the weekend is the sum total of ‘practice whilst playing’ that most of our youngsters now receive. In many cases, parents have become both a ‘taxi service’ and ‘escort’ for their children at evening training sessions and weekend matches. This inclusion of the parent(s) at coaching sessions and matches has not been dealt with as astutely by football in general as it should have been; often there is animosity between football parents and coaching staff that escalates to situations where a parent and his/her child are excluded from further involvement with a club. Strained relations between football parents, staff and clubs should not be a feature throughout the development years and more thought must be given to the matter.

I have seen attempts by clubs to limit the involvement of parents from the actual sessions in which their children are working. In some instances, the football parents are placed well beyond the actual working area and so miss the information that is being given to their sons/daughters. I have also seen parents restricted from entering a training area and left to stand outside throughout a session. This attempt to reduce the parents’ influence on their children regarding playing matters is, in my opinion, a lost opportunity to increase the understanding of the game to football parents. The parent is with a child for much longer than the coach or teacher and should, therefore, be in a position to offer good advice or even join in with ‘football homework’ with him/her. Our game is in crisis. We are not producing players through the present development methods in both numbers and high playing standards. Parents need to be closely associated with development issues and be instructed along with their children. Even the occasional ‘football know-all’ must be given the chance to see the game beyond his/her personal, limited vision of it. The understanding of the game and the advice given to young players by both parents and coaches must correspond equally or distortions can affect the learning progress of the child.

Don’t isolate them from their child’s development.

The parent is with a child for much longer than the coach or teacher and should, therefore, be in a position to offer good advice or even join in with ‘football homework’ with him/her. Our game is in crisis. We are not producing players through the present development methods in both numbers and high playing standards. Parents need to be closely associated with development issues and be instructed along with their children. Even the occasional ‘football know-all’ must be given the chance to see the game beyond his/her personal, limited vision of it. The understanding of the game and the advice given to young players by both parents and coaches must correspond equally or distortions can affect the learning progress of the child.

Don’t Isolate Them!

When I was Academy Director at clubs I made it feature at each evening coaching session with our young schoolboys to bring all the parents together and, whilst sessions at different age levels were ongoing, I would either discuss with the parents what was being coached or I would delegate a staff member. At games, it was important that the parents understood what their youngsters were trying to do and be able to discuss the game — the pluses and minuses with staff members. It was vitally important that football parents were made aware that the junior games were not just to be won, but that the work being delivered during weekly coaching sessions was understood and being produced both individually and in team play during games by their children.

Help football parents understand the game better.

It was vitally important that football parents were made aware that the junior games were not just to be won, but that the work being delivered during weekly coaching sessions was understood and being produced both individually and in team play during games by their children.

Coaching isn’t easy and every opportunity to find ways to assist in creating better teaching and learning opportunities for our young coaches and players must not be overlooked. The ‘home-bred’ player must become an integral part of our game. The continual flow of talent, young and old from abroad must not be allowed to continue as at present. We must take our ‘heads from out of the sand’ and begin to see the game and the way we teach it in a different light. Most certainly, the involvement and education of parents in the teaching and playing of the game must be given a much higher level of importance by all those involved in our game’s future.

Let’s Play the Game Ltd is a provider of excellent one to one and team football training in Birmingham, Walsall and Sandwell. We are also Premier Skills licence holders and deliver the renowned Practice Play coach education courses around the Midlands. If you happen to live in Walsall, United Kingdom we now have our Train Like a Pro soccer center that caters for ages 6-12 which is based on the Practice Play method Premier Skills created. for those who would like to try our services don’t hesitate to contact us. Don’t forget to subscribe below to never miss any of our posts. You can also like our Facebook page or subscribe to our YouTube channel for more football coaching tips.

John Cartwright

Co-founder of Premier Skills, John has over 40 years experience at the top of the game as both a player and a coach. He played for both West Ham and Crystal Palace. John has been Technical Director for the English Professional Footballers Association and Academy Coach at Crystal Palace where he produced the ‘Team of the Eighties’ and Director of Youth Football at Charlton Athletic. John was the England Youth coach and First Team coach at Arsenal Football Club as well as the Technical Director of the FA National School of Excellence. John has been acknowledged by respected managers and coaches like Terry Venables, Ron Greenwood, Don Howe and Malcolm Allison as an outstanding football coach. John is the author of football coaching book, Football For The Brave.

The post Here Is What You Should Do For Your Football Parents! appeared first on Let's Play The Game - Blog.

Attractive and effective football requires highly talented players to be able to play it.

As players of this type are rare today from amongst our ‘home-grown’ players, mediocrity of performance from both individuals and subsequently

their teams is too easily accepted by our Press and public alike. Our reliance on simple skills aligned to simple tactics to ‘camouflage’ the gulf between great and ordinary falters under the spotlight when displayed against superior ability. Simplicity should not signify high quality or greatness in a player, simplicity should be an option not the totality of response – for what happens when difficult decisions need to be made and only simple ability is available?

The gradual demise of individual skill in our domestic game is reflected by individuals as well as teams being unable to retain good ball possession. An abundance of skilful individuals in a team provides excitement and uncertainty to the game and increases the opportunity to use more tactical options. However, tactical variations are ‘locked’ to simple positional roles through skill deficiency here and it has created the ‘ugly’, long-ball style of play associated with the British game. ‘Movement and interchange, the precious quality in which skill, the diamond of performance is set,’ this requires understanding, imagination and confidence in players. Individual skill quality ‘cements’ all these requirements and encourages a player to exit one position and enter another whenever necessary to play different offensive or defensive roles with productive purpose.

I have said for some considerable time that a lack of individual skill creates positional stagnation and this is most visible in the performance of the majority of back defenders throughout football. There are some nations who have players in these positions who can revert to other roles with ease, but many nations fail to produce or select individually skilful players for these positions. Goal-scoring should not be assigned to a limited few. An improvement in offensive team-play from back to front would give opposing teams more defensive problems and increase the goal-scoring opportunities for all attacking players. I find it incomprehensible that so much money and attention should be given to the acquisition of front players as the so-called ‘goal-scorers’ for clubs. There is no doubt that goal-scoring requires some special playing characteristics, but without good service and support the most predatory of ‘strikers’ can find the goals ‘drying-up.’

It is at the rear of teams that both space and time is usually available along with an overload of defenders to opposing attackers. These important advantages are not recognized or exploited enough because of poor coaching and limited playing talent. At the highest levels of the game it might be justified to play the game according to the quality of the players available, but is inexcusable throughout the development years of young players. The senior game only ‘feeds off’ the quality of players supplied to it. A ‘catch 22’ situation has been allowed to develop here; poor coach education produces — poor coaching — producing poor players — who play poor football.

Low skill levels attracts pressure from opposing players. If pressure can be applied to unskilful rear defenders near their goal they can be forced into making costly errors. To eradicate the chance of these errors being made, coaches at all levels adopt a ‘safety first’ approach and demand that the ball is played forward, away from danger, as quickly as possible. The lack of confidence in skill quality disregards more positive play situations and so playing from the back is a rare commodity in the game.

Instead of being simple ‘stoppers’ of opposing offensive play, back players must increase their contribution to the attacking play of their own team and become influential and accomplished ‘starters’ of it. Team play is important if the game is to see more quality football emanating from back areas. It is vitally important that sufficient space is provided for the back player for them to be useful additions to attacking play. In order for this to occur, mid-field players must not fall back into the space required by the back players. To compensate for the ‘loss’ of a defender at the back and to retain defensive safety, a suitably timed rotation from a mid-field player into the vacant position should be made. This follows the exchange in roles as mentioned earlier and a similar exchange in roles could even occur between advancing rear or mid-field players and forward players to cover any gaps left behind in mid-field.

Playing from the back is an essential part of the game. It has been overlooked and is a rarely seen tactical occurrence, but if developed in conjunction with better skill acquisition methods for players in all positions, great strides in playing quality would be possible;

An improvement in skill would promote a better appreciation of the playing options in the space and time available to back players.

• They could create more space for each-other to play in.
• They would decide on running out from the back with the ball or passing it long or short from this area.
• Their passing would be suitable for the situation confronting them, imaginative, correctly weighted and accurate.
• When running with the ball from the back, penetration through spaces before them would be sought where ‘overload’ opportunities in mid-field would be possible.
• The distance of service from back to forward players would be decreased thus increasing ball retention in advanced attacking areas and thus increase the chances for attempts on the opponent’s goal.
• It would also allow back players to continue their forward run and arrive in scoring positions from their own individual play or after having combined with other team members.

Not until those in control of coaching realize the quality and effect that back players with a ‘total football’ upbringing can have on the game will we begin to emerge from the hyped up, mediocre-called-great ‘fight ball’ presented to us today.

John Cartwright

Co-founder of Premier Skills, John has over 40 years experience at the top of the game as both a player and a coach. He played for both West Ham and Crystal Palace. John has been Technical Director for the English Professional Footballers Association and Academy Coach at Crystal Palace where he produced the ‘Team of the Eighties’ and Director of Youth Football at Charlton Athletic. John was the England Youth coach and First Team coach at Arsenal Football Club as well as the Technical Director of the FA National School of Excellence. John has been acknowledged by respected managers and coaches like Terry Venables, Ron Greenwood, Don Howe and Malcolm Allison as an outstanding football coach. John is the author of football coaching book, Football For The Brave.

The post The Secrets To Playing From The Back in Football! appeared first on Let's Play The Game - Blog.

What is required to be a top Football player? It is a question that I am sure many coaches and players ask themselves on a regular basis.

Many seem to think that certain people are just born with their natural ability, I beg to differ. Yes, I believe there are certain individuals who will learn quicker than others and don’t need a lot of input from coaches, but even the most talented players need extra guidance to reach even higher levels.

in this post, I will discuss 5 important attributes of a football player and why all players should work towards having each attribute.

Game Intelligence

I begin this post with what I believe to be the most important attribute of a football player and that is their football intelligence. It is perhaps one of the most difficult things to teach, as there are many different situations that occur in a football match and it is difficult to plan for every situation.

How we measure if a player has good game intelligence is down to the decisions they make in the game and how quickly they make them. Have you ever wondered why the best players seem to have all the time in the world when they have the ball? it is normally because they have developed the knack of recognising the gaps to move into quicker than others thus giving them more time when they receive the ball.

Recognising space quickly is the first step to improving your decision making because once you can see the bigger picture then we can move to the next step which is choosing the correct action.

Should I run with the ball into space or should I pass to my teammate instead? should I play a 30-yard pass to my teammate or should I stay with the ball and wait for a better option?

A coach can help guide a player to make better decisions but ultimately it is the player who has to learn when & where to apply them. This will take a lot of practice in a real match situation where the player is constantly having to make decisions on time & space.

Football players also have to learn when to take a risk and when to keep the ball. This is what separates the great from the good, Players who know when they need to beat a player or drive through those gaps between the opposition when others will take the safe option.

Just remember it is ok to take the safe option and keep the ball but this shouldn’t be your only option.

Technique and Skill   

If the football player has not developed the adequate skills and techniques then there will be fewer options available to them when they play the game. A player cannot survive with great technique alone, they also need to have high levels of skill. 

‘Skill’ is a pressurised technique (Cartwright, 2008), in order for players to develop high levels of skill they need to train in practices that replicate game situations where they make decisions on time and space as mentioned earlier.

Using ‘drills’ that don’t encourage players to make these decisions will not help them to associate when & where to apply their techniques.

In the early stages, the young player must train in small group scenario’s and small sided games where they face a reoccurring problem they have to solve. Having to repeatedly face this scenario will help young players understand where, when, why & how to use the skill, thus accelerating their learning.

Football players should practice in pressurised situations.

Use Both Feet! 

When I work with young football players I always stress the importance of being able to use both feet. All players have a favoured foot, but the best players are also comfortable with their less favoured side as well.

Only being able to use the one side will limit you as a player and make you a lot easier to read when you play against defenders. When you can play using both sides, defenders will find it harder to play against you because you can use either side (outside or across defenders).

When shielding the ball the player is not forced to protect the ball with just the one side, but they can also change direction and keep the ball on the safe side at all times because they are comfortable with both feet.

So remember to always practice using both feet in every situation, this will help you become a better-balanced player.

Mentality

Having the right mentality can sometimes be the difference in whether you progress as a football player or continue to stay at the same level. There are many areas that fall into this category so I have broken it down into short points.

• Self Belief – if you don’t believe in yourself then you will more than likely struggle to achieve your goals. The best players tend to have great belief in their own ability, which is why they can perform at the level they do so often.
• Determination – no matter what level you play, there will be times where you have to overcome set backs or bad performances. No matter how hard it gets on the field you have to show that mental toughness to push forward.
• Train With Focus – Bring a good attitude to every training session. Always try to train with purpose and with an acceptance that every session is a chance to learn something new.
• Set Goals – Have a vision of where you want to be in terms of your development as a football player and write down the steps you will take to achieve that goal e.g to dribble the ball comfortably with my weaker foot in 12 months.
• Self-Motivate – No one is going to do this for you, to take your game to new heights you will have to push yourself all the time.

Always Work On Your Game!

No matter what level you play at there is always room for improvement. Even the best players like Ronaldo, Neymar etc. will spend extra time after sessions and do more training to give them that edge on match day. I encourage young players to work on their game at home or on the playing fields with friends whenever possible.

As I mentioned earlier train with purpose and plan what you need to work on each day. If you need to improve your first touch get a ball, find a wall, and start hitting it at the wall using different parts of the foot to control the ball. Keep doing activities like this until you become more comfortable in that area and then work on something else.

Make sure that you are consistent with your training. To get the best results aim to do at least 20 minutes, 4 times a week of purposeful football training whether it is with other players or on your own.

Let’s Play the Game Ltd is a provider of excellent one to one and team football training in Birmingham, Walsall, Dudley and Sandwell. We are also Premier Skills licence holders and deliver the renowned Practice Play coach education courses around the Midlands. For those who would like to try our services don’t hesitate to contact us. Don’t forget to subscribe below to never miss any of our posts. You can also like our Facebook page or subscribe to our YouTube channel for more football coaching tips.

The Coach

Kurtis is the Director of Coaching at coaching company ‘Lets Play The Game Ltd’ and has over 12 years of coaching experience. He is also a lead coach at a junior school and club level. Kurtis has experience in training and mentoring grassroots coaches in the West Midlands area. He holds a Diploma of Higher Education in Sports Coaching, FA Level 2 Badge Holder and is currently doing the FA youth module level 3. He has the Premier Skills Coach Education Award.

The post 5 Tips That Will Make You An Influential Football Player! appeared first on Let's Play The Game - Blog.