 Posted 15/05/2007 12:54:51
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Hiya guys  I've spent the last few months desperately trying to get my players to communicate on the pitch to no avail. We played our best game yet on Sunday, but I still hear no more than the odd "Man-On" throughout the game. Our opposition were constantly letting each other know they were free or someone else was free and they enjoyed the majority of possession because of it. How can I get this mentality into my players?
Big Dave
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Posted 15/05/2007 17:57:18
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I know exactly what you mean I have spent most of the season trying to get them to communicate, especially between goalkeeper and defence, telling them to listen for the keepers call, away or keepers etc, what happened sunday? keeper shouts "away" to a ball delivered in to a packed area landing short of the near post only for the defender to think oh thats my keeper and leaves it .....1-0.
Marvelous, all season he as been clearing because of no calls, gets his first proper clear it call, and leaves the thing. A lesson learnt though I think it is all down to patience with them........ I hope.
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Posted 15/05/2007 18:13:34
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| Great question, Dave. Tough one to teach. Might try more 3 v. 3 drills, which isolates players as smaller units where they have to reply more heavily on one another. On the big field, I don't know if kids fully understand the connectivity to the game. They don't think of it as a series of smaller games within the game, and it's only by winning those smaller games that they'll win the big one. I've used 3 v 3 or 4 v 4 drills for years, as I'm sure you have, too. Maybe try them in this context. Good luck!
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Posted 15/05/2007 20:46:09
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| Dave, I had a similar problem with a group of U-12's that I was training. I finally asked them what they wanted to do, they came up with a "secret language". Blue for an overlap, green for a wall pass, orange for a short corner etc... We worked it in practice, got a bit frustrated because everyone was forgetting what was what. The cool thing was that they were all talking, the not so cool thing was that they forgot what color meant what. By the end of the week's practice they had decided to forgo the colors and just stick with using the tried and true, "overlap" -"wall" - "square" etc... Cool thing was that the first game they talked more not enough but a big improvement, it helped quite a bit. I think that the problem was solved by the third game.
Coach Andy CV Wanderers, U-11G Class III
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Posted 29/05/2007 15:07:03
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Dave
One of the things I have done with my Under 11s is concentrate on getting the goalie to talk to the defenders. Get him to organise at free kicks and corners, tell him it is his job to do so. He's going to have to shout to get their attention, and the more he does this in practice the more it becomes second nature in matches. When you have the goalie communicating then get the midfielders and attackers involved.
During training get your team to walk through a move started by the goalie who is shouting to his defenders "Dave's on" or "John's made a run". Get them calling to each other so they begin to realise that getting the ball from A to B is a lot easier if everyone is shouting their positions on the pitch or telling each other who is in a good position.
Your goalkeeper is very important in communicating with the rest of the team, if he is a good communicator the team as a whole will communicate so much better.
Dave Clarke Soccer Coach Weekly Editor
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Posted 05/06/2007 23:56:45
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| Hi there, I'm a step-parent of a child in an under 8s team who is interested in maybe stepping up into coaching a team in a few years. The thing i notice with my lad's team is the communication is very poor, it basically consists of: (1) Team-mates arguing and even wrestling over throw-ins, and (2) Kids screaming for a pass from a team-mate when they are not actually in a good position, i.e. 2 yards further away from the penalty area, or surrounded by 4 opponents. I've made a mental note of it, and would deal with it if i ever coached a side.
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Posted 06/06/2007 09:33:45
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Wrestling over throw-ins is a familiar scenario. Everybody yelling for the ball all the time in inappropriate situations might be a by-product of the incessant yelling of parents and coaches from the sidelines. This is why I think it's important to speak to parents at the outset to let them know that too much yelling can be confusing and counter-productive for youngsters.
Dwyer
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Posted 06/06/2007 09:40:04
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| Try football golf in training Two teams that run in pairs -objective to pass the ball between the two players & hit the golf flag at the other end of the pitch. The receiving player must call for the ball or suffer a 5 second penalty. We progress this by only allowing one touch for each player. Great warm up game
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Posted 06/06/2007 11:32:37
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| Hi Big Mike that sound's interesting. Can you give me a more detailed description about this warm up, im sure it's something they will find fun and benificial too. Cheers
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Posted 06/06/2007 13:35:51
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| we came up with this idea after the infamous craig bellamy incident Its quite simple really ; place a pole or cone say 100 yds away - this is the golf hole idea is to hit the hole in as few passes as possible for example you could make it a par 3 (max 3 passes) if doing in pairs and racing against another team then pairs have to pass between each other whilst communicating (calling for the ball) - the quickest team to hit the hole(pole) & return to the starting point wins - progress to one touch to emphasise control/first touch head up out of feet etc & get the receiving player calling for the ball & moving in to space closer to the hole - penalties for not communicating (time delays) This one is great fun & a big favourite with our u11s though the passing & moving game with eggs goes down better !! especially when some are not hard boiled !!!
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