Our latest book, Triangle Midfield tells you everything you need to know about implementing a three man midfield effectively. It covers all the formations associated with a three man midfield in depth, explaining the functionality of the formation along with an extensive collection of drills and exercise for training your team to play with a three man midfield in possession and in defense.

The excerpt below focuses on training possession and penetration through the midfield.

The following represents examples of how to train for possession and/or penetration in a 1-4-3-3 Midfield with two attacking and one holding midfielder.  There are a total of four (4) different exercises to accomplish what you need to in order to train or prepare your midfield to play this formation.

The examples used will be very similar to the ones used in prior formations to illustrate their similarities and differences.  This is important so that you, as the coach, understand the actual differences in the formations and movements of the players using the same situations and examples.  You will see that the training of possession and penetration is essentially the same.  However, it is the differences in your own philosophy that will change the impact of every exercise.

Exercise #1 (Possession and Penetration- MF Combinations)

Frame #1- The exercise begins with the coach passing the ball to the holding midfielder.  Make sure to watch the adjustments of the triangle midfield to make sure they are in position and adjusting to the ball.  You can see how the two attacking central midfielders are supporting forward at an angle to the ball.  This opens up the main option of the central attacker (#9).

Frame #2- The holding midfielder receives the ball and turns with possession to face towards the goal.  The two attacking central midfielders continue to support at an angle, but as a continuation, the holding midfielder passes the ball forward to the central attacker.  The arrows in the diagram show the supporting runs each of the triangle midfielders would then make.  The weak side attacking central midfielder would look to make a penetrating run forward, the ball side attacking central midfielder would tuck in behind the ball to give direct support, and the holding central midfielder would shift slightly to their right to maintain the shape of the triangle while also being in a position to protect the middle of the field.

This is the basic setup for this exercise.   The next two frames will show you just one pattern that can be run with this.  However, there are dozens of different patterns you can run from this basic setup.  In addition, begin the exercise with no defenders and work on locating your passes, the movement of the triangle midfielder and other players in the system, and the consistency of play.  If you would like to see other examples of different midfield combinations, then please look at another World Class Coaching book, ‘Dutch Drills for Total Team Training’.

The rest of this session and many others are included in Triangle Midfield and the companion eBook, Training The Triangle Midfield.

Do you have a drill or exercise that has helped you train players to work together in a triangle midfield? Please post your ideas in the comments section below.

Have a Great Day!

Tom

My U14 girls play in a local league as well as the Midwest Regional League (MRL) in addition to the occasional tournament. But all of that leads up to the most important tournament of the year, State Cup. The winner of State Cup goes to Regionals to play the 21 State Cup Champions from our Region. The winners of each of the four Regions in the U.S. progress to the USYS National Championship which will be held at the Overland Park Soccer Complex this summer.

I originally arranged our schedule so that the games were spaced nicely with sufficient time for training, rest and recovery but the rained out games have piled up and now we’re looking at about 15 games in 27 days. Warm-ups, cool-downs and recovery sessions have now become more important than they usually are.

I’ve always preferred having practice on Tuesday and Thursday because this gives the players Monday off after a tournament or MRL weekend. This year the U14 girls practice on Monday and Wednesday. We don’t have the option of changing this because of scheduling and field availability so the decision is between canceling practice and running a light, recovery session. I’ve done both in the past but I’m leaning toward the recovery sessions in the future because we can still get some valuable training while doing some active recovery. In recent years it’s been shown that players will recover faster by doing a lower volume of exercise while retaining some intensity. To achieve this we put more rest into an exercise but ask the players to go hard when it’s their turn.

Here’s an example of our recent recovery session.

We begin with a set of dynamic stretches. After that we do a warm-up led by Scott Moody of Soccer F.I.T Academy. Here is a link that shows the progression of the exercises.

I wanted to do some work on finishing so we used this exercise:

It’s a basic passing and shouting drill but it’s not taxing and provides the players with plenty of time between repetitions. We add intensity by asking the shooter to act as if they are in a game. They need to get the ball out of their feet and shoot as quickly as possible. The group on the opposite side begins as soon as the shooter receives the ball.

After this we play one of the girls favorite games, Soccer Tennis. This isn’t a very functional game but they are working on their touch and they really enjoy it. Mental recovery is just as important as physical recovery so games like this serve a real purpose in the session.

We finish by working on some creative free kicks from the middle and wide areas. These could be useful in our upcoming tournaments and State Cup. They also serve to stimulate the girls imagination.

Finally, the girls take a short cool-down jog and perform some static stretching before ending the session.

Please share any ideas you have for recovery sessions in the comments area below.

Have a Great Day!

Tom

“Silent” Coaching Weekend this spring is May 11 and 12. This is our second weekend after a successful effort in the Fall.

 The goals we had for the Fall were to empower the players to make decisions for themselves without being micro-managed by the coaches (and parents) for every decision throughout the game. We want to continue that theme and provide another weekend to give the game to players.

Our expectations for coaches are that they will try to refrain from coaching constantly throughout the game. Avoid telling every kid what to do at every moment and watch the game and take notes. Coach the kids on the sideline (the kids on the bench and when you sub) and observe the things you can fix and then at halftime try to make the adjustments.

Having said that I wanted to take just a minute to address some of the concerns that coaches have expressed about the upcoming games.

Some of you are wondering if your players will be able play the game without constant instruction. While there will be bumps in the road, your players will do better than you think. If you get a chance in the next two weeks in practice go over your throw-ins, corner kicks, kick-offs, goal kicks, etc. and ask them to organize them without your help. Perhaps choose a couple of kids who are potential leaders and encourage them to step up and help organize during those moments.

 Some of you are worried that your team (or parents) will be upset if you lose games because either you or they weren’t able to yell to your players during the game. We are encouraging all adults to focus less on win/loss records and more on development. Did Suzie attempt to use foot skill versus pounding the ball away when under pressure? Did Tommy receive the ball with his head up and have a good first touch to bring the ball under control before proceeding? Each of these accomplishments is a success, whether they directly lead to a goal or not.

Remember soccer is the players’ game and this weekend will give all players an opportunity to be successful and make mistakes without the coach providing constant directions during the course of play. Remember you can coach the kids on the sideline before they go into the game, when they come off, and at half-time. This is the best time as you are more likely to have their attention when they are on the sideline than you are when they are 10 yards away trying to pass the ball to their teammate.

The key to this being a positive experience is presenting it as such to the kids and the parents. Use the weekend to evaluate what your kids have learned without attempting to orchestrate every movement. This is an opportunity to take notes on the game that you can use to guide your future practices.

I am looking forward to the games and I think your players will enjoy themselves and do a great job.

It’s important to understand that this is addressed to the recreational arm of the club. The coaches involved are mostly well intentioned parents that don’t have a background in soccer coaching. In this case I think that a, “Silent Weekend”, could be fun for the players and educational for the coaches and parents. Experienced coaches know that there are times that you should coach and times that you should let the players make their own decisions. The art of coaching is finding the right balance. The very best coaches ask questions to get the players to think rather than tell them what to do which does their thinking for them.

This type of program was tried with a local premier league a few years ago. There was a lot of resistance from coaches because most of them were experience, licensed coaches that felt they knew what over-coaching was and how to avoid it. They didn’t need a weekend experiment to teach them how to coach.

Has the league in your area held a “Silent Weekend”? What do you think the pros and cons are? Is over-coaching real problem in our game?

Have a Great Day!

Tom

The most common way I’ve seen the game played is with five offensive players on the outside of an area and two defending players on the inside. The grid is usually a square and varies in size but 10 x 10 may be the most commonly used.

While there is a lot that can be taught in this format I’ve recently changed my 5 v 2′s format so that there are four attackers on the outside and one in the center. As usual, the defending players are in the middle of the area.

Removing one attacker from the outside gives those players more clearly defined roles and more room to move and support the ball. The attacker in the middle provides an opportunity to train a creative center midfield player. Having them create passing angles mirrors what would be expected from them in the game.

By making the area rectangular and giving them a point every time the ball is moved from one end of the rectangle to the other it creates a functional exercise that mimics the movements, roles and responsibilities of players in defending, midfield and attacking positions. This makes it possible for the players to transfer the things they learn from the exercise to their games much more easily.

We have a new eBook coming out called, ‘Training the Triangle Midfield’ that started me thinking about this method of using the 5 v 2 possession game. Keep an eye out for this eBook in the coming weeks.

If you use 5 v 2 possession games try using this different format as a way to challenge your players in a different way.

Are there other formats you use for 5 v 2 that work well for your players? Leave your ideas in the comment area below.

Have a Great Day!

Tom

Check out our latest Hi Def video here…for FREE!

 Click here for more info on the WCC Video Library

Transitional Defending Game
This Transitional Defending Game focuses on developing and practicing defending cooperation, defensive pressure, and specific decision making while defending. This small sided game also focuses on developing transition to build attack and possession in a defensive and offensive zone, anticipation, cognitive abilities such as vision and awareness, and soccer specific endurance.

Organization
Divide the field in two halves as showed in
the diagram 1:

One Gk, six Blue players
(offenses) and four White
players (defenses) in the first
half.
One GK and two White players
(defenses) in the second half.

The game is played for set period of time or
until a team reaches a certain score.

Instructions
The game begins with the Blue team keeping the ball away from White team (6 vs. 4). After making 6 consecutive passes, the Blue team (with the ball under their possession) and two White players move to the second half as showed in the diagram 1. After moving to the second half, the Blue team tries to score as fast as they can while the White team tries to recovery on defense as fast as they can in order to try to protect
their goal and steal the ball from Blue team. (Diagram 2).

Defenders Win the Ball
If the White team wins the ball in the first half, they pass it to their teammates on the other half (Diagram3), start connecting passes, and try to do the same thing the Blue team was doing in the beginning of the game (6 consecutive passes and move to the other half to try to score. (Diagram4)
If the defending team (It can be White or Blue team. It depends who has the ball possession at that moment) wins the ball in the second half, the attacking team starts the game over again from the first half.

Variation 1
6 vs. 4 in the first half and 6 vs. 5 in the second half.

Variation 2
6 vs. 4 in the first half and 6 vs. 6 in the second half.

Variation 3
If the defending team steals the ball, they become attacking team and play a 6 vs. 6 until the ball goes out of play or the defending team regains the ball possession and cross the half-line.

Coaching Points
Team Work (Cooperation)
Defensive and Offensive awareness
Anticipation
Decision Making
Accurate Passes
Transition Quickly (defense to offense and offense to defense)
Recovery Play

Good Defending – The defending team must adjust based on who has the ball, where
players are on the field etc.
Good Attacking – The team in possession should make runs off the ball to create space
for themselves and teammates.

(Gabriel Celante, Soccer Coach and Strength/Conditioning Coach, BRASA – Brazilian Soccer Academy)

Help us spread the word. If you share this article on Facebook, Twitter and Google + we’ll you a PDF copy of another very good defending session. The session is a small-sided game that can be used in small groups or with a full team. It was submitted by Philip Pierce and Tom Martin of James Madison University.

This progress training method is not new to most coaches but relating it specifically to the confidence of the player may be a facet that some may not have thought of. As a coach of young players it certainly struck a cord with me. I’m responsible for helping to develop the confidence in eight and nine year olds that will drive them to achieve or drive them away from the game depending on how I approach my task.

Below is the complete post.

Motivation, confidence, skill and talent are all interconnected, and are especially important at a young age. Children with low confidence tend to lack motivation. This lack of motivation leads to a reluctance to try and a lack of effort. Lack of focused effort leads to lower skill and low skill usually leads to a lack of confidence…the downward spiral (pictured here) has started. But let’s flip this around…

If we can connect with the child at a young age, and put them in an environment where failure is not feared, an environment that celebrates risk, encourages reaching and uses small stepping stones of skill mastery to build confidence, then we might be able to increase motivation. If we increase motivation, the child will be more willing to try new things, accept challenges and think outside the box.

This willingness to try goes hand in hand with increase effort, and if we fill our rosters and facilities with motivated, creative, willing children that give 100%, and then we focus our approach on attainable milestones, we will develop skill. We will develop creative, fearless skill. We will develop young people that don’t fear failure, but in fact embrace it as an opportunity to learn.

Today, try and connect on an emotional level with your players. And if you are working with players in the 6-10 year old age group, realize that they are motivated more by feelings. How you make them “feel” about themselves is directly proportionate to their motivation to try, their effort to develop skill, and ultimately their confidence. Are you doing everything you can to make an impact on their lives?

 Scott Moody is one of the authors of Soccer Conditioning Monthly. It’s a great resource for videos and descriptions of functional activities that increase the strength, speed and fitness of your players. Click the link below for more information.

Remember, if you liked this article, please help us get the word out and share it on Facebook, Twitter, etc.  And don’t forget to share your thoughts and ideas by leaving a comment below.

Have a Great Day!

Tom

Stevie Grieve’s latest book, Coaching the 4-2-3-1 Advanced Tactics, does a great job of explaining how to teach your players to cover these areas. Below is a brief excerpt from his book.

Defending on the sides in a 4-2-3-1

In the 4-2-3-1 formation, there are two players who can defend on the sides; the full back and wide midfielder, but with the benefit of the 3^rd central midfielder, one of them can shift over and have 3 players close down the space on the side, or allow extra cover when the winger is too far ahead of the ball.

The flexibility of the 4-2-3-1 allows different players to leave their designated position to cover other players who have left position to help team mates who are within pressing distance. The flexibility also allows slight, temporary formation changes to occur, for example, below is an example of changing to a 4-3-3 as the attacking midfielders don’t chase back to help the full backs, so the central attacking midfielder will drop in as the near side central midfielder will move over to press the ball.

This can help conserve the energy of players who need to be more dynamic and decisive close to the goal, or players who are needed to carry possession 40-60 yards in attacking scenario’s in situations such as a 3v4 on the counter attack when the defence are dropping off, not chasing back allows and has allowed players such as Ronaldinho, Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and Robert Pires become such effective attacking players as they have more energy to be effective in the attacking phases of play.

The ball is switched from one side to the far side, almost like the Xabi Alonso pattern of play for Real Madrid. In a more likely scenario for less talented players, the ball would be transferred again inside to be passed to the far side. As the ball is passed wide to the weak side of the defense, the far side full back and far side attacking midfielder would move across and press the ball. The midfield and defense would move over to adjust to the new position of the ball, taking care to cover the zones but to mark players as you move into new positions.

Scenario 1 – the full back, central midfielder and winger can all cover the distance to press the ball – 1v3 on the side with no overlap from the full back

As the ball is switched to the far side, the priority for the back 4 is to get into positions and mark the striker, while the central midfielders need to firstly get into position centrally and allow the midfield to become a 4-4-1-1 formation with the far side attacking midfielder dropping deep into a wide midfield position as the central midfielder pushed across to mark the opponent who is in the space between the lines and central midfielders.

As the player on the ball will likely try to attack the full back 1v1, there are two main options here – the central midfielder presses the ball as the full back drops off to cover the space down the dribbling line, or the full back presses and shows the winger inside to his supporting central midfielder. The near side attacking midfielder should try to block the pass back to the full back and stop easy passes to keep possession if the space to attack is covered.

Some teams such as Barcelona are more effective when passing back to move the ball diagonally across the defense and midfield so although stopping forward passes is obviously a priority, stopping passes back that result in easy ball retention are just as important.

Many more scenarios are discussed in the book that you can learn more about here.

Have a Great Day,

Tom

We have probably all seen this problem in soccer coaching as well. I’ve often heard coaching instructors say, “No Laps, Lines or Lectures”. But we still see too many times when players spend too long listening and not enough times playing. As I was reading the article below I kept thinking, “Telling is not Teaching”. Hopefully this article also gives you some food for thought.

Ofsted: PE Lessons Slammed By Ofsted For Too Much Talk, Too Little Sport

Many PE lessons are failing to improve pupils’ fitness, while not enough youngsters are playing competitive sport to a high level, inspectors warned on Thursday.

In a new report, Ofsted raised concerns that many schools are failing to push their sportiest pupils, or help those that are overweight.

It warned that in some PE lessons there is not enough physical strenuous activity, with pupils spending too much time listening to teachers.

Overall, PE lessons are not up to scratch in around a third of primary schools and about a quarter of secondaries, the inspectorate said.

The report, based on inspections of PE in schools over the last four years, concludes that in general the subject is “in good health”, with significant investment in the last decade.

But it warns that in more than a quarter of schools, PE teaching did not improve pupils’ physical fitness.

Ofsted chief inspector Sir Michael Wilshaw said that PE was part of a child’s entitlement to a good education, and that there are some areas for improvement.

“In particular, we found there often wasn’t enough physical, strenuous activity in PE lessons. Some teachers talked for too long and pupils were not provided with enough activity to enable them to learn or practise their skills.

“In many of the schools visited, the more able pupils were not challenged sufficiently because teachers’ expectations of them were too low.”

In a number of primary schools, youngsters were subjected to PE classes with warm-ups that were too short and too easy, followed by “long periods of inactivity” while the teacher talked, the report said.

“Pupils were not challenged to warm up vigorously or build stamina and strength by participating in sustained periods of physical activity,” it said.

“They were often prevented from exercising for extended periods because teachers interrupted their learning or took too long to introduce new tasks.”

Ofsted also suggested that the most able youngsters were taught the same lessons as their classmates, and given tasks that were “frequently too easy for them.”

And it warned that a fifth of primary schools were not making sure pupils could swim at least 25 metres by the time they left.

In secondary schools, sporty pupils were not given enough time to practise and achieve their best, the report said, and only a minority of schools played competitive sport to very high levels.

In general, “Too much teacher-talk and regular interruptions to record information and observe others performing prevented them from remaining physically active throughout lessons,” the report said.

Very few schools had set up programmes to meet the needs of youngsters who were overweight or obese, the report added.

Sir Michael said that schools with good PE lessons provided an “ever increasing range of extra-curricular and traditional activities”, helping pupils to achieve more.

But he raised concerns about competitive sport in schools.

“Our report found that only a minority of schools play competitive sport to a very high level.”

Sir Michael said he is commissioning a fresh report which will compare competitive sport in state schools to that in the private sector.

School sport has become a political hot potato since the Olympics and Paralympics last summer, with calls to ensure that the Games intended legacy “inspire a generation”, is fulfilled.

Ofsted’s report says that the Department for Education should build on improvements already made to PE and “harness the interest and momentum” generated by the Games to create a new national strategy for school sport.

A new PE national curriculum, published last week, says that between ages five and seven, pupils should be taught to master basic movements such as running, jumping, throwing and catching, take part in team games and perform simple dances.

Between seven and 11, youngsters should play competitive games like football, netball, rounders, cricket and hockey, as well as learn to swim at least 25 metres.

And in secondary schools, students should “use a range of tactics and strategies to overcome opponents in face-to-face competition through team and individual games”, develop their technique, take part in outdoor and adventurous activities and compare their performances with previous ones to achieve personal bests.

The new curriculum also says that pupils should take part in competitive sports and activities outside school through community links or sports clubs.

A Government spokeswoman said: “We want all children to be given the opportunities they need to be fit and healthy.

“The draft PE curriculum published last week is designed to put competitive sport back at the heart of school life and end the damaging ‘prizes for all’ culture. We are also extending the School Games and spending £1 billion on youth sport over the next five years.

“In addition we are working across government on a range of measures to improve PE and school sport as part of the Olympic and Paralympic legacy and will make an announcement in due course.”

Shadow schools minister Kevin Brennan said: “This report highlights the importance of PE in schools but as leading sports personalities have warned, under this Government the Olympic legacy is at risk.

“Ministers must restore the requirement that pupils do a minimum of two hours of PE a week – the numbers of pupils doing two hours of sport has collapsed from 90% under Labour to 50% now.

“Much of the progress Labour made in school sports has been lost since the abolition of Labour’s School Sports Partnerships.”

Have a Great Day!

Tom

I’d encourage you to think about this the next time you’re sitting down to plan your next training session.

Last weekend, while presenting at the TPEA National Conference, I was fortunate to have the opportunity to sit down over dinner with some of the best coaches around. We discussed our systems, or goals and our philosophies. During one of these discussions, we talked about specific qualities that great youth sports coaches possess? What unique coaching styles separate the great coaches from the poor coaches? In my opinion, it comes down to the ability to follow 3 simple rules…

1. Empower your players – Players need to feel in control. We need to teach them to take responsibility for their actions (in training and in life). By giving players the feeling that they are in control of their own destiny, great coaches can provide the opportunity to learn skills like work ethic, leadership, effort, persistence and the confidence to overcome adversity.
2. Equip them with skill – I am referring mainly to movement skill, which I believe is the foundation for technical skill. Especially in the younger age groups, coaches need to lay a broad and solid foundation in movement skill (balance, coordination, rhythm…). Then we need to build upon these skills by teaching them how to confidently jump, land, accelerate, decelerate, change direction, hop, leap, skip, lunge, push, pull and press. These skills lead us into throwing, catching, kicking, striking, volleying, dribbling, passing, receiving, etc.
3. Emotionally Engage them in the Journey – Great coaches get players excited about learning, they create an atmosphere where the athletes are not afraid to try. Great coaches teach young players to enjoy the journey of athletic development. They make learning fun.

Here is an example…

When teaching a new skill, 1) Tell the player the goal, 2) Show the player the technique, 3) Allow the player to try… When cuing this new skill, keep it simple by getting them to see an image or outcome (external focus). Nick Winkelman had a good cue for teaching acceleration last weekend, “Be a jet, not a helicopter.” Helicopters take off slow and vertical, while jets take off fast and low… just seeing that image can reinforce all the technical aspects of acceleration, especially when other cues are added (push the ground away from you). Finally, emotionally engage the player in the process. It may take weeks, months or even years for the player to master a particular skill. The key is to keep the player from getting discouraged. Great coaches celebrate each stepping stone on the way to success.

Empower, Equip and Engage your players in every training session, and the results will astound you…

You can email Scott Moody with any questions or comments. He’s always eager hear from coaches.

Have a Great Day!

Tom