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The transfer game

Objective: This soccer coaching game is a useful one to help youngsters practice overload situations (4v3, 5v2 and so on).

It also helps solve that old soccer coaching problem – how to pick teams for the end of session scrimmage!

Set up: create a playing area 30 yards wide by 40 yards long and divide your players into teams of four.

Use two teams per playing area.

Coaching note: if you have an odd number of players, you can make teams of either three or four but try not to have more than four players in a team. If you have a spare team, they can work as side supports.

How to play:

Play a normal match in each playing area with the condition that a player who scores a goal immediately transfers to the other team.

If you are playing 4v4, for example, as soon as the first goal is scored, one team will have five players and the other will have three.

Play for a set time or first to a certain number of goals wins.

What to do if you’re being marked

As well as teaching players how to mark, they need to be taught how to react if they are being marked.

For a start, any of your players who are being marked in open play should treat it as a compliment. They are clearly considered to be good players who are a danger to the other team.

Advice to a player being marked

To shake off a marker in open play or at a set piece, try jogging slowly then putting in quick bursts of speed coupled with changes of direction.

If you’re being marked in open play and you can’t get away from your marker, turn the situation to your team’s advantage.

Take your marker somewhere harmless. You can even make him look really silly by taking him to your own goal line or a corner flag at the opposite end of the pitch to the action.

Even better, mark a different opposition player yourself. Now you’ve taken two of the other team’s players out of the game and created a lot of space for your team mates.

How to practise marking and getting away from a marker

Put your players into pairs. One is an attacker, the other is a defender. Tell the defenders to get to within two feet of their attacker (the ideal marking distance) and stay with him as he jogs around a playing area.

Play it like tag. Tell your attackers to try to get away from their marker and all your players to freeze when they hear your whistle.

After 30 seconds, blow the whistle. Check that the defenders are all still close to their attackers.

Switch the roles of each player.

After a couple of repetitions, you can progress by putting a goal at one end of the playing area and asking the defenders to stick close and stay “goal side” (nearer to the goal they are defending) of their attacker. This is the position they should be in when marking at corners and free kicks in and around the penalty box.

Sometimes, however, the marking player needs to be between the marked player and the ball “ball side” rather than goal side. In midfield, for example, and when running back into the penalty box with an attacker.

Progress your soccer drill by playing a small-sided game in which all players except one are allocated a player on the opposite team to mark. This is the only player they are allowed to tackle.

If a player marks or tackles the wrong player, a free kick is awarded.

The spare player on each team has a free role and can mark/tackle whoever they like.

Conclusion

You shouldn’t spend too much time teaching your players how to mark and what to do if they are being marked. But it’s an important part of their football “education” and it must not be neglected.

Take the pressure off

Being a youth soccer coach involves a lot more than taking a bag of balls and cones to your soccer coaching sessions and teaching children how to pass, shoot and tackle.

You are also a counsellor, psychologist, first-aider, secretary and diplomat. You also need to have eyes in the back of your head, be a superb organiser and be an expert at tying laces that are only two inches long and coated with mud. Additionally you have to be able to read minds.

It’s not sufficient to prepare your players technically and tactically to play in matches. You need to understand that their performance on the field is determined, to a surprisingly large extent, by what is going on inside their heads.

Are they feeling confident? Do they really believe they can perform well? Do they feel that they have to win? That losing would let down their significant others – you and their parents?

No matter how skilled a player is, if he is thinking about how other people are reacting to how he plays, he won’t be able to perform to his potential. It’s similar to stage fright and it affects thousands of youngsters every week.

A clear sign that this is a problem for your players is the difference between how they play in coaching sessions and how they play in matches. If you have players who shoot on sight and tackle without fear during training yet when match day comes, they are quiet and won’t take the slightest risk, they are being adversely affected by pressure. And you have to do something about it.

Pressure on young football players comes from two directions – parents and coaches – but most of it comes from parents.

Pressure from parents

Parents are, on the whole, well meaning. Unfortunately they often don’t realise what effect the little chats in the car on the way to matches that they have with their children have on their performance.

Comments like: “Score five goals for me today, John” (to a striker). “Let’s keep a clean sheet” (to a goalie). “No mistakes today!” (to a defender) and “it’s an important game today… let’s make sure we win” (to any player), won’t motivate their children to do well.

Instead, the parents’ words will be rattling around in your players’ heads while they’re playing and if they don’t look like meeting expectations, they will become frustrated and scared to take risks.

What can you do about it? Well, you can’t be in the car with them on the way to the match. But you can take the time to meet with your parents and explain how they can best prepare their children for match days.

Instead of putting pressure on their child to do well (the “or else” is unspoken) it would be better to talk about school, what they’re doing on Sunday, where they’re going for lunch after the game… anything except what they want their child to do on the pitch.

If parents feel they must talk about the game, they need to remind their child the result is not as important as playing their best for the team. That everyone makes mistakes and they will be their most loyal supporter no matter what happens. Exhortations to score goals, avoid mistakes or win the match almost always backfire and must be avoided.

All this might seem pretty obvious to you and me. But, sadly, it isn’t to most parents. So you need to tell them how to talk to their child before matches.

Pressure from coaches

Criticism is an essential part of coaching but it needs to be done in the right way. If you constantly nag at a player: “Joe, I’ve told you loads of times, aim at the corners of the goal when you shoot” or are harsh with them: “Lucy, that’s a terrible pass”, they will carry your words like a millstone around their neck on match days.

Joe will be too scared to shoot at all and Lucy will be tempted to kick the ball anywhere rather than attempt – and fail again – to make a decent pass.

You should always:

a) Focus on what a player does well rather than what they are not so good at. b) Help them to get better by teaching, not criticising. In Joe’s case, that would mean watching him shoot straight at the goalkeeper for the umpteenth time then taking him aside, praising him for getting into a shooting position then showing him how to strike the ball accurately.

Lucy needs to be praised for spotting passing opportunities then shown how to strike the ball more effectively. But even if you consciously avoid unhelpful criticism of your players, there are other ways you can put them under pressure.

If your players feel that you want them to win matches rather than try to win them, they will feel as though they are letting you down if the other team scores more goals than they do.

If your pre-match talk consists of dire warnings not to make mistakes, that they MUST WIN TODAY or includes the words: “Don’t let me down boys… “.

If you prowl the touchline during matches, kicking the ground in disgust every time a player makes the “wrong” choice.

If you substitute a player immediately after they make a mistake.

If you do any of these things your players will be too scared to shoot on sight, go for a tackle or try a long pass.

So make sure your players know that you value effort more than achievement, that the way they play is more important than the final score and you like players who take calculated risks. Impress on your players that the worst shot is the one that isn’t taken and they won’t get better unless they make some mistakes.

Take the pressure off and you’ll free your players to be the best they can be. And that’s what youth football coaching is all about.

Supercharge your team and win more matches

A lot of youth soccer coaches complain that their young players start slowly in matches and take at least five or ten minutes before they start to play, so these soccer coaching tips are designed to help combat this problem.

To deal with this, I suggest changing the pre-match routine and using a simple tactic that will supercharge the way your players start their game.

Having used these soccer coaching tactics with my team, I know they work. The girls don’t always finish up winning the match but at least I can relax a bit more when the whistle blows to start the game!

1. Warm up effectively

The pre-match warm-up is key. Your team is not going to be in the right frame of mind when the match starts if you allow your players to turn up five minutes before kick off and your warm-up consists of a few lazy kicks into the goal.

Make it clear to your parents that you need their sons or daughters at the pitch no later than 30 minutes before kick off.

When your players arrive, keep the balls in the bag. If you allow them to kick a ball about before you’ve had a chance to warm them up, don’t be surprised if they come back to you complaining of aches and pulled muscles.

A simple warm-up routine

Set up two parallel lines of 10 cones about five yards apart. Line your players up in pairs in between the lines of cones.

All these exercises are done in pairs.

Slow jog to end cones and return (a bit quicker) down the outside. Three repetitions.
Jog with knees up high and return. Two repetitions.
Jog with heels up and return. Two repetitions.
Jog forwards to third cone, jog backwards to second cone then forwards to the end cone and return. Two repetitions.
Jog to first cone. Jump shoulder to shoulder with your partner. Repeat at second cone and continue to the end of the line. Return.

You can add a number of other exercises and stretches (such as hip rotations) to these but as useful as this sort of warm-up is, don’t spend too long on it. Your players need to get some touches on the ball as soon as possible.

But I always play keepaway for at least 10 minutes. Play 4v1, 6v2 or 7v3, depending on how many players you have. Put the defenders in bibs and challenge the rest of the players to string at least 10, 15, 20 passes together before they lose possession.

Make sure they pass and move immediately. I tell my players to move to a new patch of grass each time they pass the ball.

Start in a large space (the width of the pitch) then increase the pressure by moving your players into a smaller space marked out with cones.

Set up a couple of cone goals and finish the warm-up with a short match between your outfield players. If they are old enough, limit them to two or three touches and play without anyone in goal.

If you see a good touch or pass during the warm-up, compliment your players. Always tell them how well they are doing. Have a quiet word with individuals while they are playing. Listen to them. Join in the warm-up yourself. Have fun, smile and look confident.

Timing is very important. You should aim to finish the warm-up a minute or so before your players are due on the pitch. You only need enough time for them to have a quick drink and listen to your final few words of encouragement.

If you finish too soon, all the energy you’ve generated in your players will dissipate and you’ll be back to square one.

2. A little psychology

One of the reasons youth soccer teams start their matches slowly is often the pressure players feel from their parents. Parents often don’t realise the effect they can have if young players hear them saying such things as “another win today and we’ll be second in the league” or “you’re much better than the other team – get out there and score me five goals!”.

Explain to your players’ parents that their children will play better on match days – and have a bigger smile on their faces – if they just let them play without the “encouragement”. When parental comments are confined to “where shall we go for lunch today?” instead of “you need to get stuck in more, you’re not playing tough enough”, you’ll see a big difference in your players’ approach to the game.

3. Tactics

If you want your team to score an early goal you have to put your opponents under pressure straight from the kick off.

A simple way to do this is for one of your wide midfielders to run down the line as soon as the whistle blows. The players taking the kick off should then kick the ball hard in the direction of the running player and immediately run towards the goal.

If the midfielder manages to control the ball, great, she is in a good position to cross the ball towards the two players who are now arriving in the box.

If she fails to control the ball and it goes out for a throw in, that’s a good result too. Your opponents will have a throw near to their goal line and they may well find it difficult to get the ball away.

It’s a tactic that has worked for me on more than one occasion. Give it a try!

Conclusion

Plan your pre-match warm-up routine carefully, explain to your parents how their well-meaning comments can stop their child from playing to their potential and practise putting the opposition on the back foot as soon as the ref blows the whistle.

Your supercharged team will soon be racing around the field!

How to help new or weaker players

One problem that often causes problems for youth soccer coaches is pitching the session at the right level, so that it has something for everyone – the new or weaker players, the “average” players and the most skilful players.

If your coaching sessions follow the traditional pattern of technical instruction/demonstration, followed by unopposed or 1v1 practice, then a small-sided game (SSG) and finally a scrimmage (match), there are some things you can do to keep all your players – no matter what their level of skill – fully engaged.

The technical instruction phase should be as short as possible. All children will soon get bored with being told what to do (they get enough of that at school all day!) and the more skilled players will get bored and switch off very quickly indeed.

When you practise a skill, pair your players up according to their ability, for example, weaker v weaker, stronger v stronger. This will enable all the players to achieve some success and it won’t allow the better players to relax. You could also play 2v1 instead of 1v1 with two average players pitted against one stronger player.

Small-sided games are the best way to provide something for everyone. If you have some players that are naturally more gifted, these children will come to life when presented with a football-like game to use their skills in, while all the players will enjoy the game itself.

You just need to be careful how you pick the teams when you are concentrating on keeping children of varying abilities equally happy. Don’t allow all the better players to play together and if your team selection for the small-sided games causes arguments, add the condition that whoever scores a goal, immediately changes sides.

Share the glory!

If you coach a young team, you will undoubtedly have come across a youngster who is a talented player and striker but doesn’t like to share the glory and pass to teammates.

These soccer coaching tips look at how to tackle this problem, without squashing your player’s enthusiasm for the game.

One simple solution, and an approach that works well with young players, is to reward the behaviour you want to see in your team. Where a player won’t pass the ball to his teammates, you could set up a situation where you can praise this player for assisting others to score.

In training, play a small-sided game (4v4) where players can only score with their first touch. This will force your talented striker to pass. When he makes an assist, make sure you stop the game and congratulate him in front of his team mates.

In matches, give a Player of the Match award to whoever assists his team mates to score.

If you consistently make it clear to all your players that you are as impressed by good teamwork as individual skills, the message that you don’t need to score to be a star will eventually get across.

Build a team for the future, not the next match!

Do you manage a team of U7s and use a policy of rotating players through every position on match days but find that some of the players will always automatically revert to their favoured position of attacker or defender, regardless of where they are asked to play?

This is a typical coaching problem with this age group and parents often like to add an extra complication by requesting that their child should play in their favoured position.

However, the policy of rotating players through all positions is good practice and definitely appropriate for six and seven-year-old players.

It is also a good policy to include the goalkeeper in this rotation. Many coaches keep the same “volunteer” in goal all season and at U7 level it’s really a job that should be shared out equally among the team.

If you have a couple of players who seem to like playing in a particular position, by all means let them play most games in that position. But at such a young age it’s impossible to know which players are going to be your strikers, goalkeepers, midfielders or defenders of the future. So it’s wrong to put a label on them just yet.

It’s also not a good idea to bow to parental pressure when you’re drawing up the team. You are the coach, not the parents.

You understand that all your players need to be exposed to all positions (how else can they know what it’s like to score goals or make great goal-saving tackles?) and that it doesn’t matter a jot if you lose a few matches at U7 level.

Explain to your parents that you’re building a team for the future, not the next match!

Don’t talk!

A soccer coach contacted me concerned that his 11-year-old players were not communicating on the pitch, although they had been playing together for four years.

Very young children are too busy chasing the ball to talk but 11-year-olds should be able to warn their team mates when there’s a “man on” or call for a pass.

You can encourage your players to talk to each other while they’re playing by warming up with games that require them to call for the ball.

The best game I’ve come across for improving communication skills is a small-sided game where talking is banned!

Talk about the importance of good communication with your players then play a “match” where your players are not allowed to speak at all. If anyone does say anything, award a free kick to the other team. After a few minutes, remove the condition and see what happens. They will start talking!

Play this game regularly and pretty soon you’ll see a big improvement in the way they talk to each other during matches.