When your Philosophy clashes with your players development...

Most coaches have it, although they do not always realise it - a philosophy. I have not so much written my philosophy as a coach (as I am not sure if I'm ready), but I know I like my players to play attractive football and most importantly, behave as a team on and off the pitch. 

My team are a TEAM. The picture above is of a final they lost to Manchester City. Can you tell? I certainly can't. They narrowly lost 2-1 and was very unfortunate to not bring it back 2-2 in the last 5 minutes, but in my eyes - the girls look more like they have won.

The attractive football comes with the territory. I ask them to play football, to link up and be creative and 9 times out of 10, they do exactly that. Some of the passages of play are nothing short of outstanding when we play and for 11 year olds, they are fantastic. Nevertheless, my players bring their own attributes individually to the team, but as a whole, they compliment each other.

I hate individual play; I hate players who are only out for themselves. Who can score the most goals? I'm not interested. I always paint the picture to my players... If your team are drawing 1-1 and in the final minute one of your team mates score the winner, are you bothered who it is? Of course you aren't. However, this week I was looking at 1 v 1's in training; something I have only ever touched on a couple of times in the two and a half years I have coached these girls. Wrong of me? Quite possibly.

I'm very open minded as a coach and a colleague/friend of mine taught me the importance of 1 v 1's. The importance of making your players feel comfortable in a 1 v 1 situation and I realised how important that was to my own philosophy, despite however much I thought it contradicted it. In a 1 v 1 situation, you either have to make sure you stay on the ball, or beat your player, its a simple as that. It's OBVIOUSLY about the individual and as a coach, I always ignored this. Now, I've realised that if I can teach my players to be comfortable in a 1 v 1 situation, it will allow my players to be much more confident to receive and play our attractive football even when under pressure, so it is something I looked at this past week. It was simple 1 v 1 variations, recovering defenders etc.

So as always...I took what we had done into training to our weekend game. I asked the players first half to play their normal game - attractive football. Make sure everyone touches the ball. The 2nd half, I wanted them to beat their man and pass it off. What I didn't consider was that we was playing bottom of the league (my team are sitting a very comfortable 2nd place). As a result, my players went 5-0 up very quickly. On the sidelines, I was BORED. Why? Because my players were beating player after player after player in 1 v 1 situations and I hated watching it, so I made them aware that I wanted them to play their passing game. 

However, surely my philosophy has just overrode player development? Surely I should have let them continue or challenged them further, but I just could not stand watching goal hungry players demolish what was a considerably weaker side without (in my eyes) playing good football.

Bad or Good coach? I'll let you be the judge.

How Do I Keep A Losing Side Focused?

On every course I have been on, the debate has always been “you should not be trying to win, but trying to develop the youth of today”. We should be trying to encourage players to stay actively involved in the game. But when does losing begin to hurt? When does it become too demoralising to continue? Realistically, players will either leave a club and go to a better one (which will result in the age group folding and players no longer being able to play) or people will just stop playing because they can’t see the fun in losing every week. This is the reality of coaching. My philosophy is and always will be to develop, but how do I stop players from becoming demoralized if they continue to lose every week?

STRUCTURE YOUR SESSIONS

What do your players need to work on?

I always believe in starting from basics, no matter what stage I take a team. I need to know what I am dealing with. When I first took my U10's side, my first session consisted of them bouncing a ball in a 7x7 yard area. I asked them to get used to the way the ball bounced and how would it make it easier to react if the ball went in a different direction? Eventually I got the answers I was searching for in that the players need to be on the toes and have a low centre of gravity to move quickly.

The session progressed slowly because my players needed to progress slowly. However, if I did the same with an U12's side...I may move the practice a bit quicker. Either way, my focus is still seeing what each individual player is capable of. They need a ball, whether it be in hand or at their feet.

After basic ball familiarity, I started to look at movement - could they move like a footballer? Was anyone struggling with their ABC's? Naturally, some will be better than others but I needed to structure sessions about what my players needed, not what I wanted to coach.

FOR EXAMPLE

I want my players to play out from the back. 

This didn't mean I had my U10's doing a SSG on playing out from the back. I had to develop the individual before the team. How was I going to get the players to receive on their back foot to actually play out from the back efficiently? They have to check their shoulder before receiving and have an overall awareness.

Too many coaches throw their players in the deep end and ask their players to practice something they are not capable of. Start from basic - link your sessions together..this will allow you to..

GIVE YOUR PLAYERS REALISTIC TARGETS

If they are not going to win the game, how can you challenge them?

How can you challenge your players without asking them to win the game? If I have been working on possession prior to a game at the weekend, I may time how long my players are in possession during the game with a stopwatch. As a result, before a game, I may give them a target to either half time (recommended) or to full time. My target might be: I want my players to have a total of 5 minutes possession in the first half. 

This gives the players something to achieve. If they're losing 5-0, they still have a focus and if they achieve their targets they are not only developing but they are gaining confidence from it. You will be surprised at how much a players reaction reflects their coach reactions. If you're happy, they're happy. If you're impressed, they know they have done well.

However, you have to make sure your targets are realistic. Give them something they can achieve. You may even challenge individual players if they are finding their focus too easy, but give the players a focus on something other than winning.

Know your players; Know your formation

I am a firm believer that with anything in life, you start from the bottom and work your way up. You have to work with what you have. If you don't have a car and you work 30 miles away; deal with it. Get the train. Change your methods of transport. If you don't have a whistle at a coaching session...Clap. Improvise. You will never get anywhere if you do not adapt to what you are given and change your beliefs to suit what you particularly need at that moment in time. Which leads me to my next blog...

"7 v 7? U10's? I'm gonna play a 2,2,1,1"
"9 v 9 - flying wingbacks"

You can never teach a team to run before they can walk.

When I first started with my current U12's team over 2 years ago, thinks looked bleak. I entered a local tournament and got beat every game bar one. I was starting from basic and I knew that. I had limited resources, players that had never played competitively before but what I did have was players that wanted to learn. However, when you start from basic, you have to do basic things.

In my first competitive season with my team, we constantly played (7 v 7) a standard 2-3-1. I did not have any specific instructions for my players. No central midfielder lying forward, or defenders bombing on. This is not to say the players did not know their role, but I did not play anything out the ordinary because my players had to learn to play the basic way before I could throw anything advanced at them. That being said, my team finished 4th out of 12 teams that year in a very strong league. I'm never one to judge on a league position but considering our starting point, the position did highlight just how far the team had come in the space of a season.

Because I had done the basics and in my eyes it was done successfully, the following year I had chance to build on that. Despite a positive finish, I remained the same with a basic 2-3-1 at U11's. I thought of other ways to challenge my players rather than changing the formation. As the season progressed, I gained two new players who offered us a completely different dimension. As a result of the two new additions, from time to time I changed my formation. My team had played a year and a half at 2-3-1, they knew their roles in that formation and when I went back to it, nothing had changed. They learnt the foundations of the game by playing it.

In the season at U11's, my team played Manchester City in the cup final. By this stage, we had adopted a brand new formation in the shape of a 2-1-2-1. We lost the game 2-1 in the end, but it was a match that could have gone either way, especially in the dying minutes. I was extremely pleased with the performance. Anyone that follows women's football can understand that Manchester City are not an easy side, so for a team like mine to come out with a runners up medal and compete with a technical side such as City for a full 50 minutes was nothing short of magical in my eyes.

The new 2-1-2-1 formation suited us and we have managed to adopt it into a diamond at 9aside. However, does that mean a box standard 2-3-1 should not be used? DEFINITELY NOT. The formation taught my side the foundations of football. It was basic. It needed to be basic. My players were brand new. But most importantly, when I played that formation it suited the needs of my players.

My formation will always be picked on what I have available on the day of a game. I have a lot of central players in my current squad all of whom are quality players. As their coach, I want to give them the space to play in so I opt for the diamond when I can. If I don't have many central players on the day of a game, I will change it up a bit, BUT I NEVER ASK PLAYERS TO DO AND PERFORM WHAT THEY ARE NOT CAPABLE OF.

I ask my full backs to push on and allow my defensive midfielder to drop in when they do so. I can do that because I have the players to do that. I'm not at a basic level anymore, my players have progressed and advanced in the two years I have coached them. I know what they're capable of. However, for any new coaches that are working with new teams, I would always go with the following formations at 7 v 7 and 9 v 9:

2-3-1 (7aside)
3-4-1 (9aside)

Let your players become famaliar with what different places require of them before asking them to become an attacking midfielder.


You have to know your players, before you know your formation.

What do you mean "Upfront", Coach?

Welcome to my blog. The idea and principle behind this blog is to share ideas, for myself to learn and reflect off sessions and possibly learn from other coaches.

As I write this blog, my U12's girls team have just won 9-0 in a match that they totally dominated. A parent on the side said to me whilst the game was going on..."and you will still find something to say that they can improve on". Yes, I will. My role is to develop and girls of 11 years of age have not yet developed properly and there will always be something for them to work on. I am by no means negative with my girls, I push them to their limits but I guarantee that every training session they will leave with a smile on their face.

My methods of management may not always be admired, but I have a great relationship with the girls I coach. I always plan my sessions in advance in a specific structure. When they turn up on a Tuesday evening for a session, they know that they will be doing the same topic in a more advanced situation when they turn up for Friday's session. They also then know this will be my focus and what I am looking for at weekend. For example, throughout the past week we have looked at our shape when we haven't got the ball and judging by the clean sheet, even outsiders can tell we are hard to break down.

During pre-season, we had a friendly to kick things off before we had even begun training. It was our first attempt at 9aside against a team that was at least a year older than all of our girls and in some cases 2 years older. Considering we had no practice, we put up a good fight but did eventually lose the game 2-1 in what was a very even contest. On the sidelines however, I was frustrated. Not because my team played badly, but because I could not give any feedback to my players. Asking them to keep their 9aside shape when they have been playing 7aside for the past 2 seasons when we have never even attemped a 9aside training session would be extremely difficult. My back 3 were as flat as a pancake, but what else did they know? I had no rights to critique any of them when none of them had played 9aside before...Which will now take me to my point...

How many grassroots coaches at weekend do you see shouting:

"BILLY, YOU'RE UPFRONT!"
"CREATE SPACE, ISAAC"
"GET GOAL SIDE OF YOUR PLAYER, KATIE! NO, NOT THAT SIDE, THE OTHER SIDE....OH NEVERMIND"

Meanwhile, they child is thinking "Well, what is upfront?". Have you told them their role? Do you want the player to press the back 2 defenders? Do you want them to not getting sucked into the crowd when defending? I have witnessed coaches with my own eyes shout "ABI, YOU'RE PLAYING UPFRONT". That's fine, if she understands what that is. But considering she was defending in her own penalty area, took one look at you and moved backwards 2 yards, that does not tell me she knows what you mean. In a situation like this, it might require a more simplified instruction such as "Halfway line, Abi". Be more specific and then explain why you have asked her to do that.

You cannot expect a grassroots footballer to know what you mean (especially at a young age) when you tell them to play upfront. If you are going to give them the freedom, let them play...But by putting them in positions and then shouting at them without telling them what their role is...is beyond me.

The best of all is when I hear coaches shouting "Get goal side!!" and the amount of blank expressions on players faces is just a picture. You cannot shout instructions if you have not coached it. How can you give feedback on something if you have never coached it? How can you critique someone if you have never coached it?

And most of all, how will it make your players feel when they have no idea what their coach expects of them?