Coach must be: A strong personality
with some soccer knowledge. The coach should be enthusiastic and
patient but demanding.
Development of individual skills
– individual and small group tactics:
Adult standards and formal rules become applicable. The pace of
development quickens at this time due to the acceleration of physical
and mental maturation. The demands of skill training as well as
training loads should increase, thus provoking improvement with mental
toughness, concentration and diligence. Awareness of tactics within the
game becomes an important facet of the learning process. Players tend
to be self-critical and rebellious, but have a strong commitment to the
team.
Technique:
- Build on the base.
- Emphasize the development of individual skills
under the pressure of time, space, and an opponent.
- Continue to increase technical speed.
- Dribbling: Encourage the players to take opponents
on 1 v. 1. Teach feints/moves, how to keep possession, how to shield
and spin turns.
- Receiving: Emphasize a quality first touch. Have
players take balls out of the air and work on turning. Players should
use all surfaces and learn to receive the ball on the run.
- Shooting: Work on shooting on the run, on the turn,
from all angles, from crosses and from volleys.
- Passing: Work on short, long, bent, crossed, driven
and chipped using all surfaces. All should be learned on the run.
- Heading: Work on going to goal (shoot/glance), to
pass and to clear.
- Tackling: Emphasize the proper techniques.
Tactics:
- Increase tactical speed (decision making under
pressure).
- Individual: Work on 1 v. 1, in attack and defense.
- In attack: Teach players to keep possession but
encourage risk taking and taking players on in the proper areas of the
field.
- In defense: Teach how to apply proper pressure (in
front and behind), how to channel players, when to use immediate chase
and how to use angles of pressure.
- Small Group: Continue with 2 v. 1, 2 v. 2, 3 v. 2,
3 v. 3, 4 v. 2 and 4 v. 4.
- In attack: Teach to keep possession, support,
combination play (including the wall pass, takeover, overlap, the
double pass). Introduce the concepts of width, depth and penetration.
Begin work on crossing with proper runs in the box. Start to
demonstrate simple set plays.
- In defense: Players should be introduced to angle
and distance of cover, defensive balance, delay and pressing as a
group.
- Team:
- In the attack: Teach players how to keep possession
and how to play the ball away from pressure. They should know how to
maintain balance in the chosen system. Introduce interchange of
positions during the run of play. Encourage attackers to take defenders
on in the final third. The keeper becomes an integral part of the
attack (play balls back to the keeper). Players should still play a
variety of positions.
- In defense: Players should learn to maintain good
“shape.” Zonal concepts should be introduced and should include knowing
when to “delay” or “step.” Clear decision on where the “line of
confrontation” should be is important at this level. Coaches should
teach how to maintain good pressure and cover in all three thirds of
the field.
- System: The recommended system for player and team
development is a 4-4-2. This formation is very flexible and will
enable teams change to other formations via a minimal switch of player
positions.
Note: There should be a great deal of coaching/teaching in 4 v. 4 and 7
v. 7 games.
Physical:
- All fitness work should be done with the ball
- Flexibility – static stretching and dynamic
flexibility
- Agility – Coordination with and without the ball
- Speed
- Strength – non-weight bearing, core strength and
stability
- Endurance
- Balance
Psychological:
- The game should remain fun and enjoyable. Players
should have a passion for the game
- Imagination/creativity
- Increase demands
- Establish training targets
- Maintain discipline
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