Tag Archives: coaching youth soccer

Whitecaps vs Red Bulls: ridiculous defending on corner

Posted on June 21, 2012 by

As I’ve mentioned before the best thing that Martin Rennie has done for this team is enable them to compete in tight games and not drop points due to senseless defending that leads to goals being conceded. So often last … Continue reading →

Posted in Coaching, Vancouver Whitecaps | Tagged , , , , | 5 Comments

More pie? Inherent and learned traits of elite players

Posted on May 15, 2012 by

Something @JoeRReid said on Twitter made me think that it would be interesting to perhaps first define what traits most of us would see an elite level player as needing or having. And by the way, when I say elite … Continue reading →

Posted in Coaching | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

What are the ingredients to make an elite soccer player?

Posted on May 15, 2012 by

So much goes into making a really good soccer player. Beyond the players involvement are many other agents in the formula from coaches to parents to peers. Which ones matter and which ones matter most? Hard to say and undoubtedly … Continue reading →

Posted in Coaching | Tagged , , | 17 Comments

Kompany v Smalling: no contest

Posted on May 1, 2012 by

When you spent most of your playing days competing for headers, you tend to recognize little things that suggest one player wanted to get a head on the ball considerably more than the other. Vincent Kompany wanted to win that … Continue reading →

Posted in Coaching, Video highlights | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

BCSA: Grassroots soccer and LTPD Volume 2

Posted on October 28, 2011 by

Went to a meeting last night for the rollout of BCSA’s new plan for grassroots soccer (defined as anything below BCPL) and the Long Term Player Development Curriculum. I’ll do a longer post later but just wanted to put it … Continue reading →

Posted in BCSA, Coaching | Tagged , , , , , | 8 Comments

3-4-3: The rationale for use with U13 to U18 girls

Posted on April 24, 2011 by

We’ve seen a move from the traditional 4-4-2 to a somewhat brief flirtation with 3-5-2 and now the trend is to either 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3 which, to me, can be indistinguishable. I still don’t know which one Spain was playing … Continue reading →

Posted in Coaching | Tagged , , | 84 Comments

Attacking corner kick

Posted on February 9, 2011 by

While you’re here for your HPL fix I might as well offer up another corner kick. We mix this one in every now and then to unsettle defenders. Works well against teams that mark a fairly strict ‘man to man’ … Continue reading →

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Free coaching seminars: Feb 13

Posted on February 7, 2011 by

For the third straight year, Dunbar, Kerrisdale and Pt. Grey Soccer Clubs will be hosting an afternoon of free coaching seminars. These are open to all interested coaches and parents and feature a combination of on field sessions and classroom … Continue reading →

Posted in Coaching | Tagged , , | 6 Comments

The language of coaching

Posted on January 31, 2011 by

The Guardian has a really good article on how the terminology coaches use can be counter-productive to help players (and the comments from readers about some of their favourite ‘shouts’ is even more entertaining). I’ve touched on this before about … Continue reading →

Posted in Coaching | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

Attacking corner: for use against man to man defending

Posted on January 17, 2011 by

What’s important to remember (and it was really the subtext in the last post on defending corners) is that the success of your coaching is not defined by the drills or set pieces you put together but rather knowing why … Continue reading →

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