Tuesday
CBA Blog hits the big time!
The CBA Soccer Blog was evidently the topic of discussion in the women's restroom at a local high school match this evening. That's hitting the big time, right there! Women discussing this blog in a public restroom! LOL I understand it wasn't all flattering, but that's fine with me. Controversy is good for generating hits on the site. Thanks ladies! Much appreciated.
Shot on goal
The official definition;
A shot on goal is a shot that is on net. The results of a shot on goal must be either a save by the goalkeeper or defending team or a goal scored by the attacking team. A shot that hits the post or the crossbar without being deflected by a goalkeeper or defender and that does not cross the goal line is not a shot on goal.
A shot on goal is a shot that is on net. The results of a shot on goal must be either a save by the goalkeeper or defending team or a goal scored by the attacking team. A shot that hits the post or the crossbar without being deflected by a goalkeeper or defender and that does not cross the goal line is not a shot on goal.
Coaching Tree
Had the pleasure of watching Grant's U9 Worthington United Boys team play in tournament action this past weekend. later that evening we were able to take in his Thomas Worthington JVA team's match against Strongsville.
Great job Coach Grant! Great job TEAMs!
Sunday
When they break your press.
This is a companion article to Tactical Cues for Pressing
Zonal defenses by design are meant to get as many people behind the ball as possible. That is, a zonal defense wants to keep the ball in front of it and force opponents to attempt their attack through multiple layers of defenders. It is very much a style of defense that seeks to intercept passes and win 50 / 50 balls to then counter from to goal. Pressing from a zonal defense can be an effective strategy when executed as a coordinated team effort.
There are, however, some associated risks with pressing and those must be accounted and planned for as part of a teams overall strategy. I think it will help to think of pressing as the defense being numbers up around the ball and / or the ball carrier. Logic then dictates that if both sides are playing with equal numbers the defense will then be numbers down elsewhere on the field.
Zonal defenses by design are meant to get as many people behind the ball as possible. That is, a zonal defense wants to keep the ball in front of it and force opponents to attempt their attack through multiple layers of defenders. It is very much a style of defense that seeks to intercept passes and win 50 / 50 balls to then counter from to goal. Pressing from a zonal defense can be an effective strategy when executed as a coordinated team effort.
There are, however, some associated risks with pressing and those must be accounted and planned for as part of a teams overall strategy. I think it will help to think of pressing as the defense being numbers up around the ball and / or the ball carrier. Logic then dictates that if both sides are playing with equal numbers the defense will then be numbers down elsewhere on the field.
Saturday
Wednesday
Glossary of Soccer Terms
Several readers have requested a glossary of soccer terms be added to the website. Your request is my command. Access to the Glossary of Soccer Terms can be found on the tool bar above the articles. If you have any additions, edits or changes, please advise by using the comments section at the end of this article.
Sunday
Thank you for reading!
It has been a record setting day here at the Conceive Believe Achieve Soccer blog. This after a record setting month of August. Thanks so much for reading! Although the majority of views come from the United States we really do have a world wide following and that continues to amaze me.
Let's keep the momentum going!
Coach Brown.
Let's keep the momentum going!
Coach Brown.
Move. Control. Pass. Move.
A couple weeks ago during a discussion analyzing a teams play I made the following statement, "I don't know that they have the technical excellence to play possession soccer." That comment has haunted me for several days. I awoke this morning with a better understanding of why.
Possession soccer is actually quite simple to play from the standpoint of technical skill.
Technically all a player must have in his arsenal are two basic skills he has been working on since his very first practices. 1) The ability to control the ball and 2) the ability to pass the ball.
The picture of possession soccer many of us have involves a series of short secure passes that move the ball about the pitch quickly in a variety of directions. This description infers possession soccer is a slow probing style of attacking soccer. That does not have to be the case at all. The pace of play sessions I conduct at camps are all about possessing the ball at pace after all. In fact, we have achieved some very good results in increasing the pace of play with teams whose technical skill level could be described as average at best.
Why?
Possession soccer is actually quite simple to play from the standpoint of technical skill.
Technically all a player must have in his arsenal are two basic skills he has been working on since his very first practices. 1) The ability to control the ball and 2) the ability to pass the ball.
The picture of possession soccer many of us have involves a series of short secure passes that move the ball about the pitch quickly in a variety of directions. This description infers possession soccer is a slow probing style of attacking soccer. That does not have to be the case at all. The pace of play sessions I conduct at camps are all about possessing the ball at pace after all. In fact, we have achieved some very good results in increasing the pace of play with teams whose technical skill level could be described as average at best.
Why?
Friday
This wasn't a Send Off / Red Card?
Maxi Rodriguez nutmegs this guy several times in a row. The player retaliates by sweeping Rodriguez's legs. I think it is a straight red. The referee gave a yellow.
What goes round comes round.
They say, what goes round comes round.
Some years ago during a conversation with Steve Burns, then head men's coach at the University of Michigan I asked, "In what one area of the game would you like to see club and high school coaches do a better job of preparing players to play in college?" Coach Burns' immediate response was "First touch."
This morning I was asked, "Given all the high school soccer you watch, what do you believe is the weakest part of the high school game?" My immediate reply was, "Lack of intelligent attacking play."
As I reconsider both the question and my response several hours later I find I remain comfortable with my answer. No doubt Coach Burns was spot on with his reply and the quality of first touch remains an area in need of improvement in high school soccer. In some ways that contributes to the lack of intelligent attack in the high school game. There are also many other factors between first touch and the finished product of intelligent attacking play. Still, when I consider the general state of the high school game in our area I find the style of play to be the biggest impediment to improved attacking play.
If you go out to watch nearly any youth soccer game it's all about the biggest, fastest, strongest (bfs) kids. It does not take a lot of skill to whack the ball up the field for that bfs kid to run on to. The vast majority of freshmen entering high school soccer are sorely lacking in basic soccer skills in part because of the kick and run style they have played through the youth ranks.
The first high school staff I was on recognized the weak skill sets kids coming into the program had and would spend their contact days in the summer trying to address this issue. The high school staff would conduct a week long mini-camp consisting of two 2 hour sessions M - F. A couple of weeks later we hosted a team camp conducted by Graham Ramsay. Graham would hold 3 sessions a day M-Th with anywhere from 1 - 3 more sessions on Friday dependent on his travel plans. By the time actual practices began, the kids had a huge head start on almost every other squad in the area. The team played a possession style that was instrumental in establishing a winning tradition and took the team to its only State-semi appearance.
Now it is some years later and the program does some fundamental skill work during the summer months but has also been participating in a team camp at a local college. This team camp involves a session or two of technical work but is largely based around playing two games a day against other teams attending the camp. The high school program has been able to maintain its success but now plays a very direct game reminiscent of youth league bsf kick and run games.
On the one hand, it's easier just to work with the skill sets kids come to the program with. They play kick and run coming up through the youth ranks so instead of expending a lot of time and energy to improve or simply teach them sound fundamentals, why not just go with what they already know how to do? Less work on the part of coaching staffs and probably a lot less stress too.
When a kid does enter high school with a good skill set, they are often promoted directly to the varsity level. Certainly not always, but often enough to consider it the norm. One of the oddest aspects of high school soccer is watching coaches try to turn skilled athletes into kick and run players. More often than not these days the skilled player is found at a forward position waiting to run onto "through balls" or "dump and runs" regardless of if their individual style, physical build or mental make up is suited to a forward position or not.
Where do the rare skilled players come from these days? Club soccer teams where coaches take time to teach techniques, tactics and develop soccer IQ. Our local club has long defined its purpose as preparing kids to play high school soccer. The path we have followed has had strong emphasis on teaching fundamental technique, tactics and developing soccer IQ. As I listen to feedback from players and parents this fall I get the sense many of the local high school coaches do not appreciate our efforts. In general the high school coaches wish to restrict, restrain and simplify the players individual games. Thoughtful and intuitive play is largely eschewed for simple "pass the ball here" and "whack it forward" play devoid of thought or the freedom to take advantage of what an opponent leaves open. It amounts to taking the on-field decision making process away from players which in turn stifles creativity.
On the surface this is a risk aversion approach to attacking play, but upon closer inspection it is not. If a team attacks in the same manner every time it has possession, the attack becomes very predictable and easily game planned for. It actually becomes a higher risk proposition as the attack goes against a defense prepared to defend against it. Then the reliance really does become on having the bsf players or better athletes. This weaves us back around to the lack of intelligent attacking play that I cited earlier. If a team can vary its attack, be unpredictable, they become much more efficient on the attack.
So, Coach Burns was definitely spot on regarding quality of first touch and by extension other fundamental techniques of the game. My answer is also spot on for what I address is how the lack of foundational skills has served to perpetuate the dump and run freeway soccer reliant on big, strong fast kids found in the youth ranks.
I'm not sure of the answer to this situation. I have a suspicion if the high schools do not address some of the issues raised in this article the truly good players of high school age will drift away from playing for their school and choose to play for their club or academy teams year round. That will hurt the high school game even more.
Some years ago during a conversation with Steve Burns, then head men's coach at the University of Michigan I asked, "In what one area of the game would you like to see club and high school coaches do a better job of preparing players to play in college?" Coach Burns' immediate response was "First touch."
This morning I was asked, "Given all the high school soccer you watch, what do you believe is the weakest part of the high school game?" My immediate reply was, "Lack of intelligent attacking play."
As I reconsider both the question and my response several hours later I find I remain comfortable with my answer. No doubt Coach Burns was spot on with his reply and the quality of first touch remains an area in need of improvement in high school soccer. In some ways that contributes to the lack of intelligent attack in the high school game. There are also many other factors between first touch and the finished product of intelligent attacking play. Still, when I consider the general state of the high school game in our area I find the style of play to be the biggest impediment to improved attacking play.
If you go out to watch nearly any youth soccer game it's all about the biggest, fastest, strongest (bfs) kids. It does not take a lot of skill to whack the ball up the field for that bfs kid to run on to. The vast majority of freshmen entering high school soccer are sorely lacking in basic soccer skills in part because of the kick and run style they have played through the youth ranks.
The first high school staff I was on recognized the weak skill sets kids coming into the program had and would spend their contact days in the summer trying to address this issue. The high school staff would conduct a week long mini-camp consisting of two 2 hour sessions M - F. A couple of weeks later we hosted a team camp conducted by Graham Ramsay. Graham would hold 3 sessions a day M-Th with anywhere from 1 - 3 more sessions on Friday dependent on his travel plans. By the time actual practices began, the kids had a huge head start on almost every other squad in the area. The team played a possession style that was instrumental in establishing a winning tradition and took the team to its only State-semi appearance.
Now it is some years later and the program does some fundamental skill work during the summer months but has also been participating in a team camp at a local college. This team camp involves a session or two of technical work but is largely based around playing two games a day against other teams attending the camp. The high school program has been able to maintain its success but now plays a very direct game reminiscent of youth league bsf kick and run games.
On the one hand, it's easier just to work with the skill sets kids come to the program with. They play kick and run coming up through the youth ranks so instead of expending a lot of time and energy to improve or simply teach them sound fundamentals, why not just go with what they already know how to do? Less work on the part of coaching staffs and probably a lot less stress too.
When a kid does enter high school with a good skill set, they are often promoted directly to the varsity level. Certainly not always, but often enough to consider it the norm. One of the oddest aspects of high school soccer is watching coaches try to turn skilled athletes into kick and run players. More often than not these days the skilled player is found at a forward position waiting to run onto "through balls" or "dump and runs" regardless of if their individual style, physical build or mental make up is suited to a forward position or not.
Where do the rare skilled players come from these days? Club soccer teams where coaches take time to teach techniques, tactics and develop soccer IQ. Our local club has long defined its purpose as preparing kids to play high school soccer. The path we have followed has had strong emphasis on teaching fundamental technique, tactics and developing soccer IQ. As I listen to feedback from players and parents this fall I get the sense many of the local high school coaches do not appreciate our efforts. In general the high school coaches wish to restrict, restrain and simplify the players individual games. Thoughtful and intuitive play is largely eschewed for simple "pass the ball here" and "whack it forward" play devoid of thought or the freedom to take advantage of what an opponent leaves open. It amounts to taking the on-field decision making process away from players which in turn stifles creativity.
On the surface this is a risk aversion approach to attacking play, but upon closer inspection it is not. If a team attacks in the same manner every time it has possession, the attack becomes very predictable and easily game planned for. It actually becomes a higher risk proposition as the attack goes against a defense prepared to defend against it. Then the reliance really does become on having the bsf players or better athletes. This weaves us back around to the lack of intelligent attacking play that I cited earlier. If a team can vary its attack, be unpredictable, they become much more efficient on the attack.
So, Coach Burns was definitely spot on regarding quality of first touch and by extension other fundamental techniques of the game. My answer is also spot on for what I address is how the lack of foundational skills has served to perpetuate the dump and run freeway soccer reliant on big, strong fast kids found in the youth ranks.
I'm not sure of the answer to this situation. I have a suspicion if the high schools do not address some of the issues raised in this article the truly good players of high school age will drift away from playing for their school and choose to play for their club or academy teams year round. That will hurt the high school game even more.
Thursday
Lima Senior 1 Van Wert 0
I stopped in at Lima Stadium tonight to check up on the Lima Senior Spartans Men's Soccer team. Early this summer, at the request of coach Mitch Monfort, I helped the Spartans implement a zonal defense. On a rain soaked turf the Spartans pitched a shut out behind goalkeeper Aaron Reed and a stout back line of Nick Jolliff, Taylor Mericle, Will Jolliff and Levi Quintero.
Early in the first half forward Danny Grundisch got in behind the Cougar's defense off a great header from Will Jolliff to score the only goal of the match. The shot came from a near impossible angle beating the Goalkeeper at the back post side netting.
With the win the Spartans move to 4-3-0 on the season. Lima is 1-1-0 in the TRAC.
Shout out to Will Jolliff who played an outstanding game at center back. Eyon Berney, Hunter Vermillion, Alex Ehora and Taylor Mericle also turned in strong performances for Lima Senior tonight.
Good job Spartans! And Good Luck against St Francis DeSales next Tuesday!
Early in the first half forward Danny Grundisch got in behind the Cougar's defense off a great header from Will Jolliff to score the only goal of the match. The shot came from a near impossible angle beating the Goalkeeper at the back post side netting.
With the win the Spartans move to 4-3-0 on the season. Lima is 1-1-0 in the TRAC.
Shout out to Will Jolliff who played an outstanding game at center back. Eyon Berney, Hunter Vermillion, Alex Ehora and Taylor Mericle also turned in strong performances for Lima Senior tonight.
Good job Spartans! And Good Luck against St Francis DeSales next Tuesday!
Agoge!
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