The 10 Commandments for Attacking Soccer

1) Thou shall not spectate when thou should be playing. It is impossible to support your teammates on attack or when defending if you are watching play instead of adjusting your positioning each and every time the ball moves. A coaching phrase I use to remind players to do this is “When the ball travels, we travel!” It can be called, ‘When the ball travels” by a coach or player and answered “We travel” by the remaining team members

2) Thou shall check to the ball when winning loose balls and receiving passes. Waiting for a ball to come to you is inviting an opponent to win the ball. Perhaps even worse is running away from a ball thinking you are played through and allowing an opponent to step in behind you to win the ball. Inexcusable. We should never lose a possession due to not checking to the ball. Never.

3) Thou shall position yourself so your hips are open to as much of the field as is possible. If your hips are closed to the direction the ball is coming from, your play is predictable. Open hips to as much of the field as possible is a secret to successful possession. In this manner thou shall receive the ball across your body whenever possible. We call this being a back footed player. Receiving in this manner allows the player to stay in compliance with Commandment #3. Failure to comply with this commandment makes you a predictable player and one easily defended and dispossessed of the ball.

4) Thou shall make a safe pass upon winning possession of the ball. It is senseless to win the ball and attempt to advance into pressure. Make a safe pass and allow that receiver to establish the rhythm of the attack.

5) Thou shall not stop the ball between thy feet when receiving it. The path of the ball must be changed away from pressure when receiving it. This forces any defender in pursuit of the ball to change course thus buying the receiver space and time to play the ball. Failure to do so changes the pressure to make the play away from the defender and onto the receiver.

6) Thou shall support your teammates at proper angles. It is extremely difficult to make a straight pass, especially if the teammate is running away. This type of “vertical” support can devastate an attack. It is just as critical not to support the 1st defender in a vertical line as you offer virtually no support in doing so. The rule of thumb is 45 degree angles when defending and 45 degree angles or bigger when on the attack.

7) Thou shall not pass square in your defensive third nor in the middle portion of the field. Square passes are the easiest passes to cleanly intercept and immediately transition to attack on. Square passes tend to happen when there is a lack of diagonal support for the passer.

8) Thou shall play the way you face. This is a rule of thumb so there are exceptions. It holds especially true when you are under pressure. Drop or back passes are okay to relieve that pressure. Maintaining possession is what we want to do.

9) Thou shall not shoot from impossible angles. Intelligent defenses seek to deny shots in general and especially those from in front of the goal. Many defenses seek to limit shots against them to coming from a line that extends from the goal post to the corner of the 6 to the corner of the 18 or wider. Shots from those angles leave the goalkeeper with a greatly reduced goal to defend. You must seek to cross the ball when in this deep or take the ball to and along the end line for a cut back cross. Thou shall go to goal each and every time you get your inside shoulder in front of the opponent defending you. When you are breaking free and have the opportunity to eliminate the closest opponent to you, do so. It is not an option. It is mandatory.

10) Thou shall shoot the ball whenever in position to take a quality shot. When in front of the goal and from 25 yards in there should be no hesitation. No extra touch to set the ball up just right. No extra passes. Just put the ball on net. Toe pokes are fine. Knees are fine. Love headers for goals. Strike at the midpoint or higher on the ball to keep it low. Whatever it takes to get the ball on net. Just do it and do it at the first available moment.

Fundamentals of Team Attacking Play

There are 4 cornerstones needed in order to attain a consistently high level of team play - quality of first touch, purposeful passing,  intelligent support and communication. The four components are inter-related and as such the quality of your team's play is dependent on the ability to execute effectively in each area.

Quality first touch refers to a players ability to gain and maintain possession of the ball with his first touch of the ball. Although usually used in association with receiving a pass we also need to include the ability to gain possession of a loose ball or a contested ball in our definition. Therefore we can say a player executing a quality first touch will receive the ball under control and away from pressure utilizing his first touch to facilitate his next touch(es)on the ball.

The Seven Deadly Sins of Soccer

Since we previously looked at the 10 Commandments of Soccer I thought it might do us well to consider the Seven Deadly Sins Of Soccer today. Whereas the commandments focused on possession and attacking play the sins will take a look at defensive mistakes that lead to goals.

Why Goals are Scored

or

The Seven Deadly Sins of Soccer

The vast majority of goals scored come from an area defined by imaginary lines extending from the goal post through the corner of the six yard box to the corner of the 18 yard box – the area directly in front of the goal. Keep the defense tight and compact with immediate and intense containing pressure combined with double teams when the ball is in this area of the field.

Attacking Play

 

Gain Possession

 

Maintain Possession

 

Utilize Possession

 

Strike on Goal!

Four Phases of Development. Part II

This is the second installment of a four part series looking at the development phases for youth soccer. I believe one of the priorities in coaching is to prepare those who wish to move on to a higher level to do so. It is with that premise in mind that I write today. I am going to look at a microcosm of the overall developmental process - U6 through U19 or Kindergarten through the end of high school. So, the end game here would be to prepare an athlete to play in college or professionally.

Part II

Passion - strong and barely controllable emotion.

The ages of 10 through 13 years of age are when a passion for the game fires up.

These are the years of rapid growth as players emotionally, mentally and physically begin to transform themselves and mature. These are also transitional years in the development of soccer players that see focus shift from a primary emphasis on skill development towards tactical application of skills in the game environment.  Both work loads and work rates increase as the ability to concentrate and focus strengthen and mental toughness begins to develop. Coaching begins to transition from predominantly enthusiastic toward introducing an element of being more demanding.

Receiving - The player's first touch on the ball. Receiving on the move. Playing bouncing balls cleanly. Taking a ball out of the air. Turning with the ball as part of the reception.

Shielding - The ability to maintain the ball under pressure remains critical but should in some ways diminish as other skills become stronger decreasing the need to employ shielding skills as often.

 

Dribbling - The ability to run with the ball becomes more important as a tactical consideration. Decision making begins to enter the equation on a grander scale. Learning how and when to engage an opposing defender to create numerical advantage becomes a focus.

 

Footwork - Applying moves to beat an opponent with forethought and intention. It's not enough to simply defeat an opponent. We learn how to set an opponent up to be defeated in a certain manner that is to our best advantage.

Combining Dribbling and Footwork to maintain possession while defeating an opponent through individual moves or combination passing.

Passing - The ability to accurately convey the ball to a teammate with appropriate pace. Developing knowledge of both how to and when to pass short, intermediate or long and the techniques for doing so. The push pass remains the primary pass but the ability to play a driven ball, a bent ball, a chip using various surfaces of the foot become a stronger focus.

 

Shooting - The ability to score the ball. Combining receiving and passing skills. Developing the ability to score on the move, off runs, on the turn, from crosses and from volleys - half and full. It is important to establish an ability to score from a variety of angles using a variety of skills.

Contain - The ability to be patient on defense. Stay in front of the ball carrier to slow forward progress of the attack.

Force - The ability to take options away from a ball carrier and make him predictable thereby allowing your teammates to easily provide defensive help.

Tackling - Teach the cues for when it is appropriate to tackle as well as the proper technique for doing so. Do NOT attempt to tackle when the ball is between the ball carriers feet. Stay BIG when tackling. Do not dive in, stab or turn sideways.

Tactics the Passion stage of development should focus on developing pace of play through the ability to make quality decisions under pressure.

 

1 v 1

Attacking - striking a balance between maintaining possession and taking risks predicated on where the ball is on the pitch.

 

Defending - how to pressure from in front, behind or the side. Channeling attackers to make them predictable. Pursuit angles to where the ball will be.

 

Small group tactics continue in 2 v 1, 2 v 2, 3 v 1, 3 v 2, 3 v 3, 4 v 1, 4 v 2, 4 v 3 and 4 v 4.

 

Attacking - Maintaining possession through support ad combination play. Introduction of Penetration, Depth, Width and Mobility as elements of the game. Simply set pieces for restarts.

 

Defending - As a group and with intent. Pressure including the angle of approach, bounce step, channeling and making the ball carrier predictable.  Combined with defensive spacing in the former of cover.  Difference between and value of intercepting passes as opposed to tackling the ball away.

 

Team

 

Attacking - Gain and maintain pressure. Safe Pass as a means to establish rhythm. Play away from pressure. Penetration, Depth, Width and Mobility. Spacing and Balance. Interchanging positions through the run of play.

 

Defending - Coordinated pressing to regain possession. Recovering behind the ball to establish defensive shape while teammates are pressing. Line of Confrontation is introduced. The difference between containing an attacking and destroying an attack - when each is appropriate.

 

System of Play - The relationship between attacking, defending and transitioning from one to the other. They must fit together in a cohesive plan with each position and positional unit knowing how they link with other positions and positional units within the system of play.

Positions - Players should continue to be given access to explore all positions. Interchangeability is becoming an ever increasing consideration in modern systems of play that specialization at this age is no longer an option.  This is the only way to develop an awareness for the  game in its entirety. Emphasis must be on developing an understanding of all principles of play and exposing the player to the total game.

 

Formation - At one time there was a huge emphasis on playing either a 3-4-3 or a 4-3-3 formation during the developmental stages of youth soccer. I personally believe with the growing emphasis on playing Total Soccer or having complete interchangeability of players in the game formational considerations are not what they once were. It is true that some formations do provide artificial sub formations of triangles and diamonds conducive to passing or defending and the corresponding support angles. However, todays game increasingly calls for players to recognize, create and utilize these concepts in a disciplined free wheeling environment.

Physical Training - Any and all fitness work at these ages should be done with the ball.  Both dynamic (pre-game or pre-training) and static (post game or post training) stretching should become a staple.  Core training for strength, explosiveness, balance and agility should begin to be introduced.

Psychological Training - Training and playing should remain FUN!  Exploration of the game should be encouraged to foster imaginative and creative problem solving abilities.  Mistakes are still okay. Mistakes are still learning opportunities. Discipline increases as demands increase.

The Game - 4 v 4 without goalkeepers or 5 v 5 with goalkeepers remains a staple of training. The game itself moves to 11 v 11 and focuses on developing and sustaining a coordinated effort to establish rhythm when attacking and developing and sustaining a coordinated effort focused on disrupting and destroying the opponents rhythm when defending.

Statistics: Quality of 1st touch

Unlike traditional American sports soccer does not keep many standard statistics for evaluating player performance. Sabremetrics has yet to find its way to grass roots soccer. Over a decade ago I began tracking what I refer to as "Quality of First Touch" statistics as a means to measure a players readiness to participate at a given level.  I utilize a simple +/- system for tracking Quality of First Touch.  What I am looking for is the players ability to gain and maintain possession with his first touch on the ball. I do not extend the evaluation to what he does beyond his first touch (shoot / pass / dribble). The focus is solely on a players first touch on the ball.

What I discovered was a varsity level player generally requires a Quality of First Touch of 80% or higher.  In a really good program that number might approach 90% +  to be a starter.   I do "spot checks" of this statistic when scouting or watching soccer matches and this has held true throughout the years.  I conducted such a survey again last night and the results remained startlingly consistent.  The best players are the ones with the best Quality of First Touch.

As a coach, if I have a limited positions being contested by multiple players, I will often utilize Quality of First Touch statistics from tryouts and training to decide who wins those spots and who will be cut or relegated to a lower level team.

Players who are first to the ball, who win a lot of 50 / 50 balls but do so with a poor Quality of First Touch are not really winning the ball at all. They are creators of more 50 / 50 balls.  Some coaches place a priority on players winning 50 / 50 balls and there is certainly value to winning 50 / 50 balls created by the opposing team.  If it is your player or team that is creating a lot of 50 / 50 balls, chances are the lack of Quality of First Touch is a major contributing factor.

This all relates back to the recent posting on Pace of Play. If a team wishes to increase their pace of play it must be accomplished by increasing the Quality of their First Touch.  This can be done by teaching them to play smarter through preparing to play properly so as to provide the best possible chance to have a high Quality of First Touch.  Sometimes this involves slowing down a players physical pace of play so it is aligned with the players capabilities in mental pace of play. 

The key to Quality of First Touch is found in a players ability to prepare properly before executing his first touch on the ball. Players whose primary focus is on being first to the ball often fail to have a plan for what they want to do with the ball once it is won. This can lead to frantic, if not panicked, play often resulting in poor Quality of First Touch and creation of yet another 50 / 50 ball to be won. It's a vicious cycle that must be avoided at all costs.

The Process Continues

After a couple of snow storms the team was finally able to take to the pitch for our first league match. I have to admit that this match held a certain amount of trepidation for me. I was not sure what to expect from our team let alone the opponents. The grass hasn't really begun to turn green yet and lawnmowers are still in storage here in Ohio. I wasn't even entirely sure the field would be lined when we arrived. Sometimes you just have to have faith and trust eveything will come together.

When, after an hour drive, we arrived at the pitch it was lined and the goals had nets! The pitch itself was far from ideal. Clumps of crabgrass had sprung up but the good grass was still dormant resulting in a very clumpy surface - a goal keepers nightmare for sure. Tempertures were in the low 40's with a brisk 15+ mph blowing out of the west. The field ran west to east.

As I mentioned in a previous writing, after the college showcase event I re-evaluated team formation and system of play. It was apparent I was asking too much of some players. My fault, not theirs. I assumed a certain level of soccer IQ or game intelligence was present as these kids have been playing for 10-12 years.  Believe it or not, some have specialized in a single position for the vast majority of their playing time and therefore lack a rounded or overall knowledge of the game. Even in regards to "their position" there is only a rudimentary understanding of the nunances of the poition they play.  Again, this is not the players fault, but more an indictment of the youth / development system they have come through.

The changes we made were to move to a 4-4-2 zonal system.  Many people feel the 4-3-3 is the easiest formation to learn the game in, but I disagree.  The 4-4-2 played with a flat back and flat midfield is the easiest formation / system to teach as there exists a certain amount of overlap in positional responsibilities.  Four channels of play with a defense based on pressure, cover and balance utilizing the channels for positioning. It is more static than I prefer, but also returns many of the players to a comfort level that will allow for the cross training necessary before we can consider moving back to the 4-3-3 formation.

Training to implement the changes was hampered by the aforementioned snow storms.  We did virtually no pattern play and a minimum of shadow play in the few training sessions leading up to this match. the focus was instead on breaking down old habits and establishing new habits centered on individual and collective patterns of play.  Many of the players receive the ball and then attempt to figure out what to do with it - one decision soccer.  Playing in this manner is terribly slow soccer that self-inflicts pressure.  Our focus has been on knowing the play you will make before your first touch on the ball.  Preparing to play before the ball is received allows for the first touch on the ball to be in the direction of your next play. This speeds up the pace of play.

There is much more to it than just having an advanced vision of the play you will make. For instance, movement without the ball is critical. It is player movement without the ball that predicates the movement. of the ball.  The majority, probably 85 % of our preperation for this match was focused on preparing to play / movements without the ball with the midfield being the focus of attention.  This was done with purposeful intent as midfield play was our weakest link at the showcase event a few weeks back. 

The match went well with our side earning a 6-2 decision. Overall, I feel very comfortable with our starters. Attacking play through the midfield showed dramatic improvement. I could see multiple decision soccer and forethought of play taking place to a far greater degree. The backs and midfielders linked well together. The forwards were still one dimensional and our focus in training will shift to their play this week.  Defensively the starting midfielders played very well individually, as a unit and in linking with the backs.  Our substitutes played well in attack, but allowed the opponents too many counter attack opportunities. We really lost control of the midfield when the starters were out. This will have to remain a focus of our training going forward.

The important thing to remember is to treat the season's journey as a process. We started down a path in Februrary. March saw us decide to alter our course. April has shown positive intitial results but there is a long ways to go yet. We cannot become bored with the details of the process. It is the small details that ultimately determine the success of our journey.

REACT & RID for November 12, 2012

REACT moment for November 12, 2012

This one is for the goalkeepers.

Attacking ball carrier breaks free behind defense for a score.

Real Time:
Did I come out to cut down angles and transfer pressure to make the play to the attacker?
Did I approach the attacker at the same pace he was coming at me?
Did a stay BIG for as long as possible to force the attacker to make the play?
Did I read the cues to know when the attacker was going to take the shot?
Was I set?
Did I execute a proper collapse dive?

Immediate:
Remind yourself to take control of the situation.
Remind yourself to relax, stay calm and transfer the pressure to make the play to the attacker.
Remind yourself when you can make the play - when the ball is outside the attackers feet (being layed off to set up a shot) or when the attacker plays the ball more than a step ahead.
At halftime or at the first opportunity practice a couple of collapse dives.

Delayed:
Practice collapse dives alone.
Practice collapse dives with a partner - both of you going to the same stationary ball to get used to congestion about you when performing this technique.
Place 2 benches on their sides approximately 25 yards out from goal with flat surfaces facing goal and seperated about 10 yards. Have a partner stand another 5 yards in back of the benches. Serve the ball against a bench. When the ball touches the bench, the partner moves forward to play the ball creating a 1 v 1 situation.  Working on breakaways in this manner allows the GK to control the pace of the activity.