 Posted 28/08/2008 17:43:01
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| I am running an u8s teams and wondered if anyone has an answer to my problem of encouraging some of my young lads to try and win the ball of the defenders. The lads have loads of confidents and ability when the ball is at there feet but once the defenders have the ball instead of trying to win the ball back they just drop away and let them have it resulting in us only having chances on goal if they are in the open,i also try them in different positions on the field with the same affect ,i dont want to knock there confidence in anyway so i was hoping that someone could give me some advice on how to give them more confidence against the opposition.?
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Posted 30/09/2008 23:22:23
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| One game that I like to use to develop aggressiveness with the ball is keep-away. Mark out a square or use the center circle. Divide your team into two groups. Give half of each group soccer balls. When you say "go" everyone tries to either retain their ball or go after the other team's balls. After a while yell "freeze" and then see which side has the most balls. Then restart and try again. I also like the "Manners" game. Pair the players up. One ball per pair. The person with the ball tries to shield the ball with their body. The other person tries to take it away. When they do they say "sorry about that" or "pardon me". It is then the other person's turn to try to take the ball away. A key point is that the players guard the ball with their bodies and stay in one place (this is not a running drill).
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Posted 30/09/2008 23:33:03
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| For younger players, and for any age I guess, I think it is good to gradually increase the pressure once they learn a skill. This also develops confidence as they can learn the skill and improve on it before going to a full pressure situation. So for 1v1 a sample progression could be: - Player dribbles towards coach and around him to goal.
- Player dribbles towards coach. Coach provides minimal level of opposition (maybe kicking at it a little) but the player can recover and go towards the goal.
- Same as before except coach tries harder. You can add more attackers or defenders. You could also make them do a "faking" move to get past you.
Once in a while I have a "jellybean day" where I give out a small candy when players complete tasks. If the kids know that they get a jellybean if they get past you (even if it takes them a few tries) then they tend to try harder. Oddly, it works pretty well for older players too.
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Posted 14/10/2008 10:56:36
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| HI JMDale - I have the same situation! I coach an under 8's team and we had our first league game last weekend. We were beaten and what struck me most was that when our boys were not in possession they weren't too clear on how to win it back. I have some ideas on how to remedy this, but would welcome more.... Idea 1. Mark the opposition. I know it sounds obvious. But having (over!) analysed the game I remember dead ball situations, particularly, where our boys did not 'mark up'. This was in situations where there was sufficient time to do it also, so clearly an issue. It should be pretty easy to coach / teach this. 2. Jockey, don't jump in. Again our guys committed themselves willingly to challenges. If we won the ball great. If not, as was often the case, the opposition found themselves with extra numbers. Again, our boys also committed themselves in our defending third and the loss of the challenge led to a number of goals. Again, there are drills available through Dave Clarke on this. In closing I would say, in defence of the coach! I spent five sessions coaching skills, passing and paying a bit of extra attention to our brand new, never played before goalie. But you learn as you go. Having seen our guys try their absolute hardest but really with little idea on defending, guess what we are doing this week? 
nzcrawf
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Posted 14/10/2008 15:11:12
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| I also coach u8-u9. What I was noticing more times than not was when my defenders tried to win the ball they would loose the challenge and the opposing player would have a free path to goal. What I asked them to do now is in the attacking half of the field be as aggressive as they want to try and win the ball. On the defensive half of the field be patient. Keep your body between the ball and the goal. Force the attacking player to either pass or take what will probably be a bad shot. Then your other players, who should be positioned properly and anticipating this, can steal the ball and start the counterattack. Obviously if the attacking player loses the ball on his own you can steal it. It's kind of a bend but don't break strategy. With the boys who get it it has work very good. With the ones that are a little slower to pick it up it is still better than the results they were getting.
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Posted 14/10/2008 15:16:11
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| We also do a lot of 1v1, 2v1, 2v2, and 3v2 drills and I don't think anything can replace the experience of live fire. We scrimmage other teams as much as possible.
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Posted 16/10/2008 10:58:56
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Hi DY - thanks for the advice. I was with you 100% right up until you mentioned 'scrimmage'. Then you lost me for a minute!  I'm guessing you mean pressuring them as a group? The need for patience in our own half is a good way of articulating to the boys and I'll use it on the weekend. cheers NZCRAWF
nzcrawf
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