Coaching Soccer Weekly: Methods, Trends, Techniques and Tactics from WORLD CLASS COACHING

In this episode

In this special episode, join us on a heartfelt journey as we return to Kansas, where memories and soccer tales intertwine. We share the experience of reconnecting with Tom, the former host of the show, and witnessing the vibrant Kansas Legends practice sessions.

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I only had three games again last weekend; one Friday, one Saturday and one Sunday. The teams all played very well. It doesn’t always work out that way so it’s fun when it does.

We’re at the point in the season where I’m seeing the results of what we’ve worked on in training. It’s great to see them applying concept to games under pressure.

Now it’s time to add on to that. For me, that means spending more time in 1 v 1 and 2 v 2 environments to help the players develop solutions to the problems they face in the game.

They understand the framework that we’ve set up to play now they need to be able to improvise and create. I’ve talked about this in the past. Some coaches start with the skills and then work on the structure. I look at it the other way around. I want the player to understand how music is played before they start to improvise. I don’t think one way or the other is necessarily “Right”. This is just what has worked well for me over the years.

Today’s question comes from Alan. His question is getting forwards to work together.

Alan says, “I’m a girls high school JV coach and I have a senior and a freshmen forward who have never played together. They don’t pass to each other and try to dribble through two or more defenders. Any suggestions on how to fix this. Drills or exercises?”

Thanks for the question Alan!

I would suggest playing 2 v 1 and 2 v 2 games where your two forwards are paired together. Then they’re forced to play together in order to accomplish a common objective. I would also use pattern play to show them how they can work together to break down the defense. Hopeful forcing them to work together will show them how much more effective they can be together.

In This Episode

This week’s topic was suggested by a listener, Ryan. He suggested that I discuss “Game Coaching”. So I’ll share my game day process. I’ll discuss everything from how I prepare for games the night before to how I handle the post-game team talk.

Future Episodes

This week’s episode was inspired by emails that I’ve received from coaches that send in suggestions. If you have a topic that you’d like to hear more about on the show, please let me know.

I took just one team to a tournament last weekend. We had a great schedule; we played at 8 am and noon on Saturday and Sunday and then we headed home. There were only five teams in our group so we played each of them once. Not having to stay around to play a final against a team we had already played was great!

Having only one team allowed me to spend more time with the kids and parents than I’m usually able to so that also made it a fun weekend.

When I travel out of town with my teams we always travel on the Friday before games start so that the kids can get a good night’s sleep before playing the next day. We have a team meeting (parents and kids) on Friday night to go over our schedule for the weekend, my expectations for the team (on and off of the field) and any reminders I want to go over with the players before sending them to bed.

Today’s question comes from John. His question is about commitment.

John says, “I coach a U16 Girls Club team, and this year I am having a hard time getting all the girls to make practice a priority for them. I have 19 girls on the team and have on average 6-7 girls out each practice, last night I was missing 10! The reasons range from sick, to swim meets, to no rides etc. All which seem like normal issues, but its all the time.

How have you dealt with players that want to play but really don’t really commit to practices, where we can get better together? I suppose I could punish them, but that just hurts the team.. Advice?”

Thanks for the question John!

I’m dealing with this issue right now with my U17 girls. They are involved in so many different activities that soccer isn’t usually the priority. The players are supposed to let me know if they aren’t going to attend a training session or game so that I can plan accordingly.

The group I have is the fourth team in our club so they are playing mostly for fun and to prepare for their high school season. They aren’t motivated by playing at the next level or long term development.

I just sent out a message to the team through our group message asking them to make attendance at training a priority for the next two weeks because we have a tournament coming up.

I’m afraid I don’t have any great advice that will get your players to prioritize soccer practice over other activities. I just try to manage it and work with the players that are there.

In This Episode

There’s nothing wrong with wanting to be successful, with wanting your team to be successful. Whether this desire is healthy and helpful or destructive and dangerous depends on WHY you want to be successful, WHAT defines success and HOW you go about it.

Here’s a link to the article by Dave Wright that inspired the topic for this episode:

Get Over Yourself – Dave Wright – Player Development Project.com

Future Episodes

I appreciate everyone who has been sending me suggestions for topics. I’m adding them to my list and I look forward to covering them in the coming weeks.

Last weekend should have been State Cup for my 2005 but it was moved to the November because the facility that was supposed to host it was closed to all non-professional sports. I had blocked out the whole weekend for my other teams so they didn’t have any games scheduled. We ended up moving a reschedule game for my 2005’s into the empty weekend. That gave me just one game last weekend and that one wasn’t until Sunday afternoon. It gave me lots of extra time to tick a bunch of boxes on my ‘Honey-Do” list.

I describe the details of the game in this episode.

Today’s question comes from Greg. He’s asking a pretty personal question but I thought that I’d share it because I think it’s a challenge that many coaches have.

Greg asks,

“How does your spouse feel of all the time you spend coaching? It’s your job so there probably won’t be much of dispute but how does one balance time coaching?”

Thanks for your question Greg!

I met my wife at an indoor soccer facility in town. I was coaching when we started dating so she knew what she was getting into. There’s no question that I miss a lot of time with my family but coaching is something that I’ve always been passionate about and it’s how I provide for my family so they understand. I’m not going to say it isn’t challenging but it’s what she’s used to so we make it work.

My advice to coaches trying to find a balance between coaching and their personal life is to involve those important to you in the process. Ask them how they feel about the time you spend coaching. This is especially important if you’re not coaching your own kids. Any time we spend coaching other people’s kids is time away from our family so it’s important to take their feelings into consideration.

If it’s a job for you then creating boundaries is important. Carve out family time and don’t take calls, answer emails or even talk about coaching. It’s not only important for your family but also for your own mental health.

As we all know, a problem for many soccer players (and for us coaches too!) is knowing how to get fitter, faster and stronger.

That is exactly why PLAYR By Catapult was created.

PLAYR is a soccer GPS tracker and training app which uses GPS technology to track players’ physical performance with key metrics like total distance, sprint distance, top speed, and power.

As a coach, the thing I love the most about PLAYR is that it’s focussed on finding improvement. The app educates users on how to train smarter and recover faster. From nutrition tips to training sessions designed by the top Premier League coaches, PLAYR personalises coaching advice based on your schedule.

And best of all, it works. On average, the thousands of people who train with PLAYR, increased their sprint distance by 26%, their total distance by 11.7% and their top speed by 3.5% after just three months.

If you’re trying to become a better player, make the travel team, or just contribute more on the pitch then PLAYR by Catapult is for you.

Head to catapultsports.com/csw to learn more. In case you missed it, that’s catapultsports.com/csw.

In this Episode

I’m often asked about coaching courses and licenses. Today I’ll talk about who should get them (spoiler – everyone) but more importantly why you should and which one you should get for the type of coaching you do.

Future Episodes

Next week I’m going to discuss my approach to player evaluations and how those have developed over the years. Thanks to Mike Wilson, a member of our Patreon Coaching Staff for the topic suggestion. Thanks Mike!

I had a huge tournament weekend a week ago. Having four teams in a tournament makes for a busy weekend but it’s the best way for me to give all of my teams a chance to play with the least amount of disruption to our league schedule.

This was the last tournament for one of my teams while the other still have one or two events to play. For those teams that are still playing, this tournament was a preparation for bigger events to come.

This year my teams have had trouble with Friday night games. I think it’s a combination a long week of school coupled with an unusual night game that always seems to find us having a slow start. We talked about it going into this tournament. We discussed what the issue could be and decided on ways that we could better prepare. It worked well because our performances were far better than they have been in the past.

This week’s question comes from Nancy. She’s asking about grouping players to play together.

Nancy says,

“My daughter plays on a u10 “A” team with around 14 kids on the roster for 7v7. The coach and program preach development over winning at this age which I agree with. However, he currently has 2 lines. The first line is comprised of the top players on the team and they start every game. He then makes wholesale line changes throughout the game. Playing time is even no issues there. However the 2 lines never commingle even in blowouts. Wouldn’t it benefit the players in line 2 to play with the top line every once in a while? When asked about this the response was the 2nd line can’t do things as quickly as the first line and the top kids would get frustrated. To me that sounds like winning over development rather then vice versa and that he doesn’t want to taint the first line with girls who aren’t as strong currently.”

Thanks for the question Nancy!

To me, this approach is about winning and showing that his top line is good so if the team loses it’s the fault of the 2nd line.

Two balanced lines (rotating who starts and which positions they play) would show more of a focus on development.

In This Episode

Today I talk about how we can provide USEFUL feedback to our players that will highlight what they’re doing well, give suggestions for WHAT and HOW they can improve as well as give them an idea of what may happen during the upcoming tryouts.

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Next Week

I won’t have a new podcast to release next week because I’m traveling with three of my teams to a tournament in Chicago. I’ve been taking teams to that area over Memorial Day weekend for a number of years but this is the first time attending this specific tournament. I’ll let you know what it when in a couple of weeks.