MY WORK IN AL ARABI SC U-17...MY WORK IN AL ARABI SC U-17 3. CHOOSE A FOOTBALL FOCUS Once you have looked at what research can tell us about effective coaching practices and also developed

MY WORK IN AL ARABI SC U-17 STEPS TO DESIGN SUCCESSFULL PRACTICE How do you decide what coaching practices to deliver? And what process do you follow when designing the practice? DAMIR VUČIĆ AL ARABI SC U-17 HEAD COACH 11.01.2018

MY WORK IN AL ARABI SC U-17

1.1 INTRODUCTION

For the academy and coaches who devote considerable attention to the design of the game model in relation to players who have or choose players for the desired model of the game they want to practice in their academy, the effectiveness and design of the training process is of crucial importance. In my experience so far I have witnessed various choices of creating an immediate training process based on imitation rather than on the actual quality of the player we possess and the model of the game we want to create as the immediate equivalent of the quality of the players we have at our disposal. We coaches as creators of the training process must be innovative creators and game teachers with a deep understanding of every touch of the ball that our players make during the training process. One of the tools available to trainers as training processors is "Tactical Periodization" which provides a logical reference point framework for creating a training process in relation to the development of the game model and all other factors affecting the decision-making system during the soccer game.


FIRST OF ALL, LET'S REMIND YOU OF 10 TYPES AS AN UPGRADE SESSION:

1. Plan your session in advance 2. Have all areas set up in advance

3. Shake hands with your players when they arrive 4. Pre-select working groups (use bibs )

5. Before you start, explain the purpose of each session lesson 6. Aim to use natural pitch markings

7. Have players play in positions if possible 8. Use goals where possible and include GK-s

9. Play short periods and demand intense work 10. Always keep score (individual or team)


1.2. STEPS FOR DESIGNING MORE EFEKTIVES TRAINING SESSION

Steps for designing

more effective practices

Base your work on research

Develop a practice

philosophy

Choose a football focus

Select a pitch type and

organise the players

Add parameters

Set the demands


1. BASE YOUR WORK ON RESEARCH Before we begin to design practice sessions, it is important to be informed by the latest research, giving us sound reasoning for making the decisions that we do. The practice experience of a developing young player over a period of time could be constructed within three elements:

Deliberate Play may include 1. Self decision making 2. Games for understanding 3. Small sided games These are done for the inherent fun of playing. Try to limit/ eliminate interventions.

Individual approach practice may include 1. Team sessions where players focus on individual objectives 2. Small group sessions where players focus on individual objectives 3. Practice done on players own/at home etc. 4. Pre-hab programmes

Team Practice May Include 1. Activities focused around team objectives 2. Activities focused around unit objectives 3. Match preparation

1. Deliberate play 43%

2. Individual approach31%

3. Team practice 26%


2. HAVE AND DEVELOP PRACTICE PHILOSOPHY Concept of Teaching Games for Understanding is on focus on Skill Development. Returning to these concepts and the relevant

underpinning evidence forms the basis for my own practice philosophy. The following four ideas are the guiding principles from which I structure my practice:

Definition A practice should be constructed within the area of the pitch that it would occur on match-day. For example, if the session theme was playing through midfield, the practice would be delivered in the midfield area of the pitch, if the session was defending around the penalty box, the set up would be constructed around the box and so on. This approach helps the practice have a visible link to the game.

Decisions Within the practice the players should have a cognitive challenge with decisions to make, problems to solve, triggers to read and situations to perceive. By building these ingredients into a practice the execution of any technique is coupled to some kind of visual trigger such as the movements and decisions of the opponents or teammates.

Difference Practices should provide opportunities for players to practise the session theme in a range of varying circumstances such as passing the ball over both short and longer distances. Additionally, the practice should allow the players to practise different themes within the same practice, for example player A practises marking and intercepting whilst player B practises passing forward.

Direction The design of the practice should allow the teams or players to attack to score in a particular direction using some kind of ‘goal’. The focus for the players may be a traditional goal, an end zone, a target player or other type of target point. By designing practices in this way ensures the principles of attack and defence remain fundamental to the practice.


3. CHOOSE A FOOTBALL FOCUS Once you have looked at what research can tell us about effective coaching practices and also developed some ideas about your own practice philosophy it is important to fit the framework you are developing to a football theme. Coaching session themes develop from lots of different sources. You may work at a club or organisation where there is a coaching programme or syllabus with weekly coaching topics. Alternatively, you may work in a performance environment where preparation for specific opposition provides the theme. Or, similarly, the detail of your session may arise from a particular issue the team or an individual are currently finding difficult. • A Programme Theme: playing forward • A Particular Problem: we are finding it difficult to defend crosses • Performance Preparation: breaking down opposition who defend late in a 4-4-1-1


4. SELECT A PITCH TYPE AND ORGANISE THE PLAYERS I'm working on four types of game space. To the players I explained the purpose and goals I want to achieve by choosing the dimension of the play area and the players have understood and enjoyed the training. A big pitch is useful if you are looking to test defending skills or if you want to create space between the lines to play through or behind the opposition. Similarly, big pitches are effective at generating full game pictures with realistic distances.

A small pitch is a great way to test touch and release skills along with the associated speed of thought and speed of decisions to really put the players under strain to stay with the ball.

Narrow pitches challenge the players to play forward as there is limited width to play around the opposition. Narrow pitches help the players practice themes such as playing through the opposition and breaking the block.

Using a wide pitch (a pitch wider than it is long) can provide a focus for switching play, attacking and defending in wide areas and crossing and finishing

Players After selecting the pitch type, I would consider the best way of organising the players: Even-numbered teams can provide a variety of challenges particularly when the teams are placed into team shapes which create out-numbered circumstances in different parts of the pitch. For example 7 v 7 matched up GK-2-3-1 v GK-2-2-2. Out-numbered teams, can provide a ‘hostile environment’ for practice. For example 5v7 with the team of four defending&mid the goal or 5 v 7 with the team of five attempting to keep possession from the seven. Sometimes odd numbers arriving for training can be an opportunity not a problem. Additionally, if the goalkeepers are available for the full duration or part of the practice, it is important to consider what you want them to practise and how you are you going to build them into the session. For example, you may set up a 6 v 5 possession practice with the goalkeepers acting as additional support players. The team of 6 try to keep the ball and use the goalkeepers to do so allowing the goalkeepers to practice playing with their feet as they receive back-passes before having the opportunity to save counter attacking shots when the team of five regain possession


5. PARAMETERS Pitch size and number of players are vital parameters for organizing high quality training focused on achieving certain coaching poins of training session. I use three methods of pitch markings to restrict areas or to set guidelines to support the practice theme: Horizontal Thirds An effective reference point to help the players play through the thirds, develop their movement ‘between the lines’ and to recognise when to join the attack. Out of possession horizontal thirds can act as a reference point when trying to win the ball back using early/ mid/late pressing techniques.

Vertical Thirds Supportive of wide play, overlapping, crossing, switching play and defending wide areas as the pitch is marked or sectioned length ways.

Halved pitch Similar to a standard football pitch linking well to recognising different ways to play in your own half and the opponents' half both in and out of possession


6. DEMANDS Once the pitch and parameters have been decided and the players are organised, there are a variety of different ways in which a coach can instruct, challenge or brief the players to work. The examples in the diagram below show how a coach can structure and build tasks for teams, units or individuals to practice. The three ways I build challenges in order to link to the theme and to allow the players to practice within both the pitch and parameters selected are:

Restrict A traditional way to constrain practice is to restrict the ball contacts, movements and/or decisions a player or team can make. Adopting this method is an effective way to ensure lots of repetition of the session theme, for example you must play forward when you receive. This method can, however, reduce the realism of the practice, restricting opportunities for decisionmaking and chances to learn from cues and triggers as the constraint enforces only one type of response – and not always the appropriate response – to the unfolding situation.

Relate Challenging players to relate a particular task to the situation occurring – such as ‘Recognise when to play forward’ - is an effective method to help support players to build situational awareness and respond to what is going on in the game. The intention is that the players relate the task to the situation. This very much supports a trial and error coaching style. When supported by effective questioning the players can start to review their decisions which in turn helps the players make sense of the situations they find themselves in. - Tell me about some of the times you played forward? - What things helped you to play forward? - Why did you find it tough to play forward in those situations? - What can you try that may help you to solve that problem? It is important however to recognise that using the relate method may mean less repetition of the session theme (as players don’t do it every time). However, it is an effective mechanism for supporting the development of genuine understanding as players begin to recognise when to do something.

Reward Coaches can use the idea of a ‘reward’ in order to encourage aspects of play linked to the session theme. For example, to encourage an early press you may use a halved pitch and task the players to win the ball back in the opponents half. If they do so they are rewarded with 3 goals. The reward method can act as a middle ground between the restrict and relate methods. This can also take on the form of game situational challenges. For example: you are winning/lose 2-0, there are 10 minutes left, win the game using apropriate tactic.


Possession Parameter Restrict Relate Reward

1. Playing Forward Narrow pitch central circle

Must play through central circle to set up attacks

Recognise when to play between the opposition

Any pass/dribble between opposition Unit = 1 point

2. Changing Speed of Attack

Thirds – Horizontal All forward passes into next third must be 1 touch

Try to inject speed into attacks (if it’s the right thing to do)

However many 1 touch passes used in attack = that number of goals when scoring (5 x 1 touch passes = 5 points)

3. Attacking Wide Thirds – Vertical (pitch wider than it is long)

Must enter wide area before scoring a goal

Use wide areas to set up attacks FB – Recognise when to join the attack

Goal from a cross = 2 points Goal from overlap/ underlap = 3 points

4. Combination Play Halved pitch small

Must use a 1-2 (3rd man run, round the corner, overlap etc.) before scoring

Use quick combinations in the opposition half

1-2 = 1 points 3rd man run = 2 points Round the corner = 3 points

MY WORK IN AL ARABI SC U-17 Out of Possession Parameter Restrict Relate Reward

1. Early press Halved pitch Must win ball back in opponents' half to score

Recognise when to press in opponents' half

Win ball back in opponents' half and score = 3 points

2. Mid press Thirds (Horizontal) 2v1 in their third (their favour) 3v4 in mid third (our favour) 2v2 in our third (equal) Locked into zones

Use a team strategy to apply pressure and regain in the middle third

Win ball back: mid third and score = 3 points; attacking third = 2 points; defensive third = 1 point;

3. Late press Halved pitch Win ball back in own half and finish within seven seconds of regain to score

8v6 – Establish a counter-attacking strategy against a team with 2 additional players

You are 2-0 up – Play a 5 minute game – Win the game using a apropriate tactic

4. Defend wide areas Thirds vertical (pitch wider than it is long)

Locked into channels 2v2 in wide areas 3v3 central must score from a cross

Try to spot when to show inside and when to show outside

GK – every cross claimed = 1 point Full backs/Wide midfielder – every regain in final third = 1 point


This process of creating football training has proved to be an effective tool for the development of young football players. Such a process of creating football training is in constant development and it develops according to the degree of quality and needs

of players and in accordance with the development of the game model.


For good team work it is not necessary for all coaches to have the same thinking about the football problem, but it is of utmost importance to follow the team decision made. The effectiveness of the football training is in great correlation with the

homogeneous professional coaching staff and therefore I dedicate this work to my assistants with whom we develop the quality of the players in all football and life aspects.

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MY WORK IN AL ARABI SC U-17...MY WORK IN AL ARABI SC U-17 3. CHOOSE A FOOTBALL FOCUS Once you have looked at what research can tell us about effective coaching practices and also developed