Registration – www.fremontyouthsoccer.com/registration

Information – www.fremontyouthsoccer.com/springbreakcamp2018/

Level 2 Barcelona Positional Play Coaching Course

Presented by Albert Puig

On January 13^th and 14^th of 2018, Fremont YSC Coaches Travis Cabral and Gavin Carvalho attended the Level 2 Barcelona Positional Play Coaching Course hosted at Las Positas College.

“The ball is ours and I act according to this, I want to dominate, and I always want to go out to win. I force myself to win the ball, keep it and not lose it. If it is lost, I have to recover it as quick as possible. I attack by defending” – Albert Puig

This statement is fundamental to the coaching philosophy that has helped Albert Puig and FC Barcelona to develop world class talents like Lionel Messi, Xavi Hernandez, Andres Iniesta and Sergio Busquets who are all graduates of FC Barcelona’s famed La Masia Youth Academy.

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Teaching Methods

Puig establishes the blueprint for his system of positional play by introducing players to positional games i.e. structured possession play.

He emphasized that “Possession is the instrument, not the objective.” The objective is always to have the ball and create an opportunity to score in that possession. Each practice contains fundamental aspects that are relevant to the real game scenario, in this, Puig encourages players to dribble and take on defenders to create opportunities to score but if there is an opportunity to play a pass forward and beat defenders with the pass, this is strongly encouraged.

This bears a striking similarity to the philosophy that Fremont YSC has adopted in which players from the youngest age groups develop their technical abilities with an emphasis on being comfortable in 1v1 situations on both sides of the ball. This development pathway enables players at the older age groups to flourish in playing a very exciting, creative and attacking style with the same philosophy to have possession of the ball with the objective of creating a scoring opportunity but also to press the ball quickly when it is lost to regain it and attack quickly.

Key qualities in each positional game:

• Direction
• Spaces to attack
• Spaces to protect and defend

The fundamental idea is to give superiority to the “Free man”, the player in space. Players were strongly encouraged to break lines, to play the pass to the supporting player in the space behind the defender in order to achieve the end goal, every pass must have a purpose and every pass is unique and unrepeatable.

To make this achievable, players are to be positioned at different heights in relation to the other supporting players, thus facilitating the creation of passing lanes.

Puig detailed the importance of establishing individual objectives and relating them to the collective objectives that the group is looking to accomplish.collective objectives that the group is looking to accomplish.

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Practice

Each practice session is divided into 3 essential categories

• Warm-up
• SSP (Preferential Situation Simulation)
• Match

The SSP is the transmission of the positional game to the system.

Situation: Creating real game situational scenarios

Simulator: Running through the situational scenarios to impact player ability

Preferential: Performing tasks so that the capacities that we want to optimize are maximized

One of the importance themes of Puig’s practice philosophy is to emphasize quality of practice over quantity. When the intensity of the practice is low, there will be little improvement to be found. If it is too high, we increase the risk of injury and lose quality. Therefore it is essential to find a balance of intensity and quality.

Periodization is key to enabling high quality of practice over a long period of time, at Fremont YSC, our training curriculum from U9 to U19 is organized into 3 sections: Pre-season, in-season and post-season. In the pre-season, we are preparing the players for the season of play ahead addressing the needs of the player by focusing on soccer specific fitness. In-season, each of the 3 weekly practices are sorted into technical sessions that teaches a specific technique relatable to the tactical and coaching in game (8v8 and 11v11) sessions to end the week. In the post-season, our younger age groups have free play which builds creativity and the ability to come up with unique ideas while developing motor planning skills and foster decision-making skills.

The SSP of medium or high loads are the ideal ones to achieve the optimization of the work. The load is not only measured from the conditional capacity, the mental structure has more importance.

Practice sessions must have the following variables:

• Progression: When quality improves – allow for 3-4 repetitions – increase the intensity of the SSP
• Continuity: There must be daily objectives that relate to medium term and eventually the long term objectives.
• Reversibility: Creating positive habits through repetition
• Variability: Sessions can be replicated over a period of time, coaches must find a way to vary the construct of the sessions to avoid monotony and boredom
• Globality: Fitness, moving parts of the body work in unison. Must be specific work as SSP does not apply.
• Individuality: Each player has different functions according to their position on the field. We must take into the account the specificity of the player to add individual instruction.

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General Q and A

When asked about the landscape of US Soccer and their potential leading up to the next world cup, Puig replied by saying that the potential is there but we do not know where the talent is. The talent identification process needs to be improved.

In response to a question regarding the landscape of US youth soccer talent as compared to that coming in at Barcelona, he explained that it primarily a culture difference. The Talent is all around us in the United States with tremendous athletes all over the country but we lack the methodology, formation and tactics of the European clubs.

He also mentioned that it is essential for our professional league(s) to offer promotion and demotion in order to create a higher standard of play.

To continue with further education, Executive Director travelled back to Wales to participate in the UEFA/FAW C Certification. Having already gained USC Premier Diploma (formally NSCAA) it was time to explore another pathway.

A very technical course in the understanding of soccer action mechanics, the course covers the fundamental skills along with coaching through the use of life skills.

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Life Skills

 

‘Not all human beings are players, but all players are human being’

 

The emphasis here, just like the Dutch and German clubs, is the importance of being a good person, and developing the individual’s life skills. Yes, players will improve their soccer ability, but very few will make the elite level, so there must be more in youth soccer than dreams of a professional career.

• 0017% chance of playing in EPL
• 100% chance of being a better person
• Develop the person as well as the player

Life skills developed through youth sports participation can include-

• Respect: other people, yourself, the practice environment
• Confidence: self-belief while being humble
• Open Mindset: appreciation of failure, learning from set backs to further develop, work ethic
• Communication: working with others, listening, leading
• Discipline: attitude towards others, bad language, reaction to referees

Players and coaches shouting at referees ultimately teaches kids to challenge authority, a lack of respect towards the rules and other people’s decisions/opinions. In life the police are authority, the life lesson hear is to no longer respect authority of law.

Life skills are broken down in to categories of skill sets:

Behavioral: verbal and non-verbal

Cognitive: decision making

Interpersonal: dealing with others

Interpersonal: self-driven by setting goals

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Reflective Practice

Coaching players is the main job role of being a youth soccer coach, but players can only develop based upon the knowledge and understanding of the coach. Players are not empty vessels arriving to practice with no knowledge of the game, but all players are filled to a certain amount. The coach must bring out that knowledge and additionally increase the players knowledge and understanding. Coaches must continue their education, and can do through many means –

• Coach education courses
• Literature, around the sport and through additional disciplines (psychology/nutrition)
• Learning from other coaches/organizations
• Learn through doing, advancing on mistakes
• eLearning, podcasts, videos

Coaches should ask themselves 2 key questions and hold themselves accountable to the reflective practice process.

1. What will you take away from this session?
2. Are you committed to reflective practice to develop as a coach?

Evaluation and Reflection Sheet

KNAPPENSCHMIEDE – Schalke Youth

German clubs remain bound to the fans of the club, the members, with most clubs having 51% ownership by the fans, there are a few small exceptions. It is the members who vote for the club’s advisory board, and it is the advisers who in turn vote for the executive board. Money is what corrupts so many clubs, decaying the integrity and values of what clubs represent, distorting the value of the player market, and this can be the biggest challenge to clubs like Schalke who rely on their youth programs to support the senior team.

Schalke proudly boasted 7 players from its youth system in World Cup 2014, including Ozil, Neuer, Kolasinac, Draxler, Matip, and Howedes.

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Secret of Success of German Football

There is no secret hen it comes to understanding the success of German football, and there are no secrets being held back. German clubs are very open with communication, and between clubs and associations the communication channels are open to encourage everyone to continue learning. The negative experience of Euro 2000 was a turning point for German football, with the focus then being put on Formation Centers (centers of excellence), with each center being awarded certification for its elite standard. There are qualities that are evident in achieving success through the academies –

• Fighting Spirit
• Nurturing of Talent
• Long Term Vision
• Patience

The vision held by German football, and Schalke, is in the pursuit of the ultimate goal.

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Principles of Schalke

Football is getting quicker, there is no time for a thought process, it’s now important for intuition. To improve the decision making you need a high repetition of soccer situations, U9 to U23 follow all of the same principles, the Schalke way of playing –

• Always look forward, in WE, and They to WE
• Awareness in the moment of WE to THEY
• 1^st touch in movement, always with a direction (towards free space)
• Attack the ball, awareness of speed of action, no touch allowing the ball across hips to speed up play
• Passes and ball movement played at angles
• Defend the space around you, zonal defending, pass players on and take players in to your space.

The principles of Schalke will prepare the player for any system or team. This allows for youth players to fit in to the system and style of any new head coach influencing the senior team.

Learn through experience, play the game so you are in the game situation, learn through doing. Players do not need to understand the knowledge, they need to be able to do it.

The Academy

Development and winning work hand in hand, where players must desire the want to win while the club develops the individual. The club can develop an individual’s personality and technique, but the player must have a winning mentality. It makes sense in Schalke for there to be an investment in the academies, as an efficient youth department will held navigate the club away from sending big on transfers and inflated player salaries. The investment in the player will in turn have the player invest in the club through loyalty.

Conceptions and Philosophy of Knappenschmiede

Schalke believes in the following for a successful youth program.

How to teach football – Game Understanding – Sense of the game – Path from junior to senior – Style of play.

Football has become far more brain focused, requiring more awareness, players have become the tacticians on the field during games. Through coaching, players are now expected to create space on the field, evaluate the dangers, and anticipate the development of the game. The quality of the youth academy is vital when producing these players, and even though results are always perceived to be the critical factor in success, the development of the individual is what’s most valuable at the youth level, there must be a re-balance where development is more important than winning. There is a pathway to achieve success, working on game related practice, using repetition for technical development, and appreciating the many side roads that can be part of the development pathway.

Schalke has principles which reflect the philosophy of the game

• Communicate and have fun when playing
• Enjoy the game
• Innovation and liberty are unremitting for this, and should be embraced by players and coaches

Key areas of focus of the conception and philosophy include –

1. Act instead of react
   1. Impose actions always and everywhere upon opponents. Set the trend of the game with and without the ball.
   2. Excellent pressing, self-confident, determined and strong. Practice every exercise with the ball, practice as serious than games.

2. Train like you play
   1. Respect the principle of differentiated training. Everything a player will do in a game is practiced during training sessions with differences in intensity.

3. Do what you are able to do – but this at 100%
   1. Training sessions must bring potential to the max.
   2. Not looking for magicians, want self-aware and authentic players

4. Train according to methodical principles
   1. From easy to difficult
   2. From slow to fast
   3. From simple to complex

Tactical Guidelines

With Possession of Ball

• Play in depth instead of width, stretch the field
• Limit contact with the ball, let the ball run to increase speed of the game, the ball is quicker than any player
• Attention to the second ball when teams play in a defensive manner
• Transition to attack quickly, good organization behind the ball must be guaranteed

Without Possession of Ball

• Pressing in the midfield third
• In compact way, all together in common action to achieve success
  • One player acting alone is lost, no chance of success
  • Everyone must contribute to the team’s success
• Always be highly focused and involved
• Transition to defense quickly, regain the ball ASAP

Technique

• Is not an end, but a means to score goals in the offensive, and to avoid them in defense
  • Every player must grasp a technical basis, all players develop technical ability for specific positions
  • Positions require different technical strengths to others

Physical Condition

• Players should be in peak conditioning
  • Always move with high intensity
  • All squad players must be in top form for duration of the season

Personality Development

• Developing well rounded individuals on and off the field, not interested in creating machines
  • Importance of education, nurturing the intellect, spirit, and mind of each player
  • Training the brain is integral to development
• Character of an individual is important
  • Think positively and act co-operatively
  • Players must be honest, respectful, intelligent, forward thinking, and willing to take responsibility on and off the pitch

Style of Play

• Offensive, aggressive, dominant
• No dependence on system
• Team spirit, Strong passion and a winning mentality

Where there’s a will there’s a way

• The starting point of all ideas is always performance and achievement orientated, not success orientated

 

“Respect people on the way to the top, you may meet them again on the way down”

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Scouting – Uwe Vester

Structure and Recognition of Talent

Throughout Germany there are boundaries in which players can be scouted by teams, throughout the age groups the district boundaries change, these boundaries prevent players from needing to travel excessively to their club. This creates great competition amongst the clubs in the area, and specifically around Schalke with it being one of the densest areas of professional clubs. The Ruhrgebiet is the heartland of the German rustbelt, occupying European giants, Schalke, Borussia Dortmund, Bayer Leverkusen, Koln, and Borussia Monchengladbach. While considered as lower level senior teams within the Bundesliga, these clubs have the highest functioning academies in the country.

These academies do not start team play until the age of U9, everything below this is practice only. The purpose of scouting at the youngest ages regionally is reduce the danger of making poor signings at the senior level. To be a successful scout takes due diligence, experience, and an ability to nextwork with local clubs. The earliest contracts in Germany are at U16, with a maximum of 3 years but allowing for a 2 year extension.

Tasks

• Scout matches and practices of Schalke teams
• Regular contact and discussions with coaches
• Half year assessment of own players
• Organize and observe trials
• Record results of scouting in to database

 

Long Term Observation

Forecasting a player’s development, and future playing ability must be completed with precision, working from trends in player development. The selection is completed with greatest possible perspective, enhancing the optimal composition of the squad.

Short Term Target – creation of performance optimizing environment within the team

Long Term Target – highest possible takeover rate (transfer fee)

 

Recognition of Talent

Ozil is one of many players that have developed and graduated from Schalke. Considered small and weak, but could do anything with a ball, this is recognition of elite talent. It’s important to be able to play football, not work at football.

• Special qualities –

Speed of action under pressure – recognition of tight positions, and avoids them – technical ability, special skills, both footed, speed, 1v1 competent, crucial passes, can score

• Behavior in Match Situations

WE: creates options for themselves and others – understands the game

THEY: accountable, willing to do the ‘dirty work’

TRANSITION: recognizes the situation and acts accordingly

• Physical Condition

Speed (although trainable) – height (keepers and defenders) – physical force, presence on the field – resistance to injuries, trainable

• Personality

Resilient in social and private life – stress resistance against overloading and negative experiences, stability in match (crowd and referee) – straightness, makes decisions and pushes through without hesitation

Where scouts are looking? They observe the warm up behavior, and parent behavior, along with the interaction between players and parents/coaches/scouts.

Outstanding talents can influence a match, only those who can control all areas of life achieve their goals

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Psychology

A holistic approach to psychology including all 3 of the important factors in long term development, the player, coaches, and parents. Psychology is used as a preventative tool, starting as early as U9. A preventative method is more successful and efficient than being used as a tool to repair damage done.

Each factor in the long-term development undergo the same levels of receiving individual, and group sessions, utilizing diagnostic questionnaires.

Merry Christmas, Seasons Greetings, and a Happy New Year to all. See you in 2018!

Volendam is everything you would expect of a community club, a club where the community has etched its traditions and principles in to the identity of the club. The club has a museum and learning center, where a short movie production takes the individual through the history of success’s and difficulties of Volendam. The city has churned out multiple artists, musicians, entrepreneurs, and football players

Currently 6 players in the first team are locals who grew up in Volendam and have come through the academy system.

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Analysis of Opponent and Preparation for Game Day

For every game day there needs to be a game plan, where the basis is around ‘Prevention and Exploit’.

• What is the identity of the opposition
• The weaknesses
• How will our own identity exploit opponent’s weaknesses?

Stopping their Strengths

Prevent the flow of the opponent, do not allow the opposition to get a hold of the game and dictate the tempo of the game. Identify the key players and the phases of play in which the opposition has found success. Each team will have a trigger to which they respond to stimulus on the field in both attack and defense, these need to be highlighted so opposition play can be prevented.

Pressure their Weaknesses

This is the coachers role in identifying the tactics which will exploit the oppositions system and style of play. A step back from the unit weakness is the individual player. Looking at the technical and tactical weakness of certain players, their strongest foot, ability to win the ball in the air, and the speed of thought of the player. Additionally, the mental and emotional strength in players can be exploited to gain an advantage.

System

Every system has a weakness, with certain areas on the field being given away. Systems however are a formation of players to be stood on the field, but the roles and responsibilities are what can change this system throughout the game to where the formation could look like one of many different systems.

        

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Youth Academy

3 full time staff members cover the entire youth academy, working with volunteers who coach the players under the direction and supervision of the academy coaches. To enable this balance the teams practice 4 times a week, where 2 sessions are with the volunteer coach, while the additional 2 sessions are with the full-time academy staff coach. The set up of using part time coaches is from U12 to U17, with the older teams having full time coaches for every session.

Purpose/Aim

• 50% of the senior squad members being from the region
• Sell players to other academies and clubs for profit

The Volendam academy has system in place where all players must have equal playing time up to and including U16’s. This is not a game by game basis, but an overall season plan to ensure players are getting adequate playing time throughout the season. U17 and up, it’s up to players to fight for their position.

There are 4 different learning lines highlighted by the Volendam academy, and each player is exposed to experiencing all 4 to develop as an all-round individual.

• Football – 35%
• Training – 35%
• Mentality – 20%
• Lifestyle – 10%

The principles of Volendam include

• Dominant in attack and defense
• Posses to the attacking half, then create

What are we currently doing that prevents the game from being real? When taking away a goal in practice, can this still be soccer real? Is the pressure of parent’s soccer real? No, neither of these allow the game to be soccer real. Soccer has a philosophy in its set of laws and rules, this is objective and cannot be argued with. It is only in belief that a law can be argued with, but this is subjective and deviates away from the real.

Has to be objective, always with a ball, always opponents, always space, time factor, direction, pressure, and rules.

Aim – always to improve the player, and the individual, through its team effort and co-operation.

How do we do this? We find the problem, or the factor preventing the development, then from here we ask the when, where, who, what.

For this to work it must be player-centric, this is not the coach’s problem. To develop the player, or to find a solution to the problem, it must be made to be the players problem. This will provide a buy in from the player in which they will then invest in the process of learning. One of the most effective ways of learning is to teach others, and this can be achieved by having the player show the coach, teaching the coach what they know. What is it that they must know to find success, and what did they learn through the process.

Coach the whole team, all players involved in the process, but lead to the individual coaching for the player directly involved in the process of finding the solution to the problem. All involved must stay calm, emotions during the process will cloud the judgement and ultimately the decision making.

AZ Alkmaar are one of the leading clubs in soccer for their holistic approach to club and player development, with a proud tradition of fostering its home-grown talent in to the senior squad. In an age of high financial risk and reward, AZ keep to their principles and philosophy, and maintain a successful club. The focus on development from top to bottom of its club structure allows AZ to not prioritize winning outside of its senior squad.

In the senior squad there are 17 homegrown, developed players, 50% of the starting lineup are homegrown while 53% of the playing minutes being performed by players from the academy.

The youth of AZ practice at the same facilities, sharing the same clubhouse, but are always kept separate from the seniors but within touching distance, creating a boundary before the step up to senior level so players know it’s there and achievable, inspiring motivation to succeed.

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The Philosophy

Winning is only a priority at senior level, from U23 and below through its youth system there are no expectations for winning, but players come with a desire and drive to win and compete. At U17 players are coached how to win, not be confused with must win, it’s a mindset that gets instilled in to the players on how to use their development to find success through results. The focus on development enables the club o work towards a club curriculum where the next game is not the priority, but the inclusion of all disciplines through all the Phases in We and They.

The curriculum is split in to blocks of 2 weeks, a periodized structure to where the player can receive all the knowledge and tools to become an all-round player to develop to their full potential. The macro cycle is for WE and THEY, a 2-week block. At the micro level the Phases are separated and worked on in the WE/THEY. The breakdown of a weeks training is as follows –

Monday – 2 hours, movement and skill acquisition, always under the pressure of opposition. Ending with a game.

Tuesday – 1 hour of athleticism, gym technique, exercise movement, 1 hour of soccer specific fitness.

Wednesday – skill acquisition, tactical SSG, work ration of 1:1.

Thursday – 11v11

Friday – Preparation for game – how to play defense and attack.

The players are encouraged to play to win without the importance of the result, creating a desire to perform through discipline, desire, and self-respect for the efforts put in by a player. How to win is important, and is what development is when giving the players the tools that are needed to perform, always a development approach. The proactive development pathway allows the player to work on their own game, reactive coaching is only within the game itself.

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How to Create a High Performance Culture

Marijn Beuker

A key component of instilling a high performance culture is to think differently, be brave to believe in youth process.

There needs to be a buy in from all involved and with capable organization staff who are knowledgeable in the process and structure of the club’s long term development pathway. The vision needs to be clearly defined with an outline for all to follow, a pathway to a defined success, and understanding what is talent. Is talent nurtured or from nature? How can we bring out the best in the natural traits of the player through the nurturing of skill acquisition and game insight?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JC82Il2cjqA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQoJqDi8490 let kids fail, allow them to fall and get up to learn from their mistakes.

Great reading source – The Gold Mine Effect

The culture of a club is important if you want the holistic long-term development approach. The environment needs to be one where everyone can thrive within the organization, where everyday people are working towards their defined goal, and the belief in the culture remains strong and is passed on to others.

The Culture

Standards

1. Raise your bar
2. Focus on the process
3. Use the power of examples

Fun Task, Try It

Raise your hand in the air
Take a note of where your arm is raised to
Now try and reach higher
Get up on your toes, straighten your arm, and point your fingers
Naturally there is always more than what we can give at first, raise your bar

Look for Discomfort

FEAR. Face everything and respond. Work at your fears, challenge then and come out stronger.

‘do not handicap your children by making their lives easy’, Robert A Heinlein

Stimulate Creativity, Solution Focused Learning

Let them know the end outcome, allow them to create the path to get there. Implicit learning.

Understanding

Get to know yourself and get to know the person across the table. Understand what motivates that person, learn what may hold them back and what enables them to work at their optimal level. Knowing and teaching others that being a good human will make you a good player. The All Blacks culture.

Be demanding, honest and direct, but make players believe they can be developed

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AZ Youth Academy

Bart Heuringh

The AZ academy sees the development of players as more than just practices on the field, or the use of tactics within a game. The club philosophy and its principles is to see the bigger picture of the players journey, and the importance of all the different disciplines needed of a player. They also see learning differently, and aim to teach their players why to do things, rather than just the how.

The prevention of issues far outweighs the need to fix a problem. Education is the key to understanding and having people believe in your process.

‘it’s easier to build strong children than repair broken men’ Frederick Douglass

AZ have a learning system where you begin with motivation, using the opportunity to grab the attention of the player, then applying the knowledge. Firstly, find the motivation (wanting to be the best 1v1 player in attack) grab the attention through videos of idols and high performers (Cristiano Ronaldo dribbling a ball at defenders), then help and guide the players with the tools they need to be able to perform. This works great for difficult disciplines such as diet and sleep.

 

“Do not train children to learning by force and harshness, but direct them to it by what amuses their minds, so that you may be better able to discover with accuracy the peculiar bent of the genius of each.” Plato

 

 

Vitesse Academy

The Club and Club Vision

Edwin Peterson

Ambition – best academy of Netherlands

Aim – international academy according to the new certification

To attain and achieve a clubs desired aims, it is important to improve the coaching this is an important factor. The coaches set standards and levels of performance, you can only be as good as your coaches. Overall, the improvement of the level of the players is key to a club.

To set up a pathway to achieving these goals an organization must analyze what exists, and find what needs to change/improve.

• 4 fundamentals needed at every club
  1. Good players
  2. Good coaches (dedicated and passionate)
  3. Policies and structure
  4. Resources/facilities

The Vitesse Academy creates a tailor-made approach to each player, a player pathway for individual development and player accountability. The objective is to field players in to the first team, creating a platform to showcase their talents. Vitesse philosophy is that ‘Teams are important, but not most important’, players are important, they need to fail and learn. Teams don’t get debuts as first team and National players! The players need to be allowed to play, over coaching stifles creativity.

For Vitesse to grow they must become an attractive power, hold themselves to higher standards, and to make a connection to the top.

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Performance Lab

Jan Van Nord and Tim Arends

Training Facility Set Up

• Individual and specific performance report for players
• Compare throughout the team, and game by game

The set up of the field shown with 10 cameras surrounding the perimeter, allows for greater accuracy in recording and monitoring a players date, with immediate feedback from pitch side rather than bouncing of satellites.

 

Performance lab allows coaches to get to know the player, this enables the already mentioned player pathway to be created. Important player features include football ability, mindset, physical performance, personal lifestyle, rehab and recovery. A player’s performance and rate of development can be hindered by any of the factors. A player could be experiencing emotional distress at home, or a loss in confidence.

 

 

Functional Movement Test

Specific training for the player dependent on test results. Red zones for certain injury concerns, i.e tight hips, player performs daily exercises at home to loosen the hips.

Periodization is subject to the amount of stress on the player through game frequency. A rest day will follow a match day, with adjustments in % of intensity throughout the week. A game week with a Friday fixture will enable a low intensity Wednesday, sessions that take place on these days may include recovery, game preparation, or psychological sessions.

 

 

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Talent Identification

Bart von Rooijen

• “Good is not good enough” there is always room for improvement.
• “You don’t have to be ill to get better”, a proactive approach to individual development.

Vitesse have traits which they believe are needed in every player to be able to grow:

• Proactive
  • Always looking to reach new levels without the push of outside influences. An intrinsic desire to be successful
• Quick Learning
  • Is a player attentive and open to learning, a commitment to improvement.
• Athleticism
  • Physical attributes and performance qualities.
• Winner Mentality
  • The want to win at all cost, will go that step further than others for success.
• Technical Players
  • An ability to player and perform soccer actions.
• Own Character
  • They have that something that separates them from the crowd

Position specific understanding is not expected until the older ages.

Players are not part of the Vitesse academy until U8, and up to U10 they will practice twice a week with the club and coach. Once U11 they will practice 3 times a week, and this is for each older age group also.

U8 Player Identification Session

2 activities that challenge the players 1v1 capability.

Player 1 passes the ball to player 2. Player 2 must dribble around the goal to score. Player 1 attempts to win the ball back before player 2 can score.

 

 

 

As above, but player 2 must dribble though a yellow gate before scoring in any 1 of the 2 goals. The player may turn and attack the opposite side if the space is available.

 

Soccer Language

Soccer is a world wide sport, and while the culture in while lies may change, or the methodology in its coaching system may differ, the soccer language is consistent. The soccer language is a base for all that we do within the sport.

 

The sport never changes no matter where you are, the philosophy of soccer is something that cannot be argued. Soccer is attack (we have the ball), defend (they have the ball), and transition.

Within the philosophy of soccer there are phases in which the game is played, with these phases providing the basis for team tasks and player roles. These phases are commonly categorized as Phase’s 1, 2, 3, and 4, both being we and they, have the ball.

Vision of the soccer club should be evident through the execution of the soccer movements, within the framework of phases. Where and when on the field do you press the ball? How do you prevent penetration and creative actions from opposition? How does the team play to break down defensive opposition, and to then make goal scoring opportunities?

Your aims should be clear within the structure, do you play to win or focus on development? The kind of soccer played will indicate whether your aim is to win, or whether the club is focused on development.

Using the soccer language to construct and break down styles of play, as shown in the above diagram, the individual player profile can be created. From the moment within the game at which team functions can be defined, a teams task through its organization, will highlight the basic task as needed to be executed by the player.