[Eric DykesParticipant]

I think I mentioned before I have coached the other football in High School (15 years varsity assistant) . Something interesting that I got time and again as our coaching staff visited successful college and professional coaches throughout the country was their attempt to look complicated to the opponent, but actually be very simple in terms of fundamentals and execution. We spent a lot of time around Pete Carroll and staff at USC immersed in their practices and team meetings and they preached the following things-

1) repetition and practicing at a high intensity reduces “paralysis through analysis”- cant do that with different drills every other day
3) Compete everyday- How do you make those drill competetive
2) they wanted to establish an identity and recruited players that met that identity, even if they were not seen as “elite” by others. If they had the tools to fit that identity they received a scholarship or a draft pick

Last note-
Something missing in soccer is the openness to share ideas, allowing people to watch you train. There are so many “secrets” in this sport. American football coaches open their doors to the enemy all the time- High school coaches were welcomed with open arms- they shared everything- The little nuances, the trade secrets were open- just had to ask. They collaborate with one another and there is a real brotherhood. Thats missing in soccer.

This course seems like a good start to opening the doors.

[Eric DykesParticipant]

Hi Frank-

My 2 cents. Gary said that this would trickle out slowly. The course isn’t about giving you a plethora of weapons to work with but a development of a mastery for vital skills to work possession soccer. Layer that with the video of how the coaching is delivered and I think you have a winner. One of the biggest issues with education in general is teachers want the lessons but don’t/can’t take the time to watch it delivered by expert educators. The way you phrase things. Where you stand. How you introduce the concept. Those are the most valuable nuggets a teacher of anything can have.

The forum is a place to collaborate with the journey. Ive spent hunreds on coaching courses. For me this has been by far the best one.

 

Id love to see the brothers release more videos of them coaching the already released stuff. See if I can catch a few more craft rid bits.

ive drunken the cool aide and am all in.

 

[Eric DykesParticipant]

i haven’t had an issue yet with a lack of focus with rondos. My homework assignment to watch 15 minutes of a proffessional game and make hash marks on how many times the players collected across their bodies was a huge help. I told them that if they want to play like a premier player this is where it starts ( barca game had 144 across and 13 not)

kids LOVE double rondos, 4 v ghost rondos and 3v1 so no issue there

playing out from the back basic- we rotate stations- group of 4 practice movement w/o pressure and the others are doing 2v1 and 2v2.

 

[Eric DykesParticipant]

Thanks for the responses. Just got back from training and I’m so fired up with the way my kids are developing and then I read responses that really back up what was going through my mind.

[Eric DykesParticipant]

I really dont think this system is for recc once a week kids. Id love to hear Garys input on this one.

The Barca teams that I played against(free to play kids- 4 of the 8 on the field are amazing) did collect across their body well. Played out from the back well in the later part of the season but they were very direct with their passing patterns. Pattern 1 I saw in early tournaments, pattern 2 in early season games and pattern 3 a year later. They defended with 3 and attacked with 3/4 using width well and had amazing finishers.

[Eric DykesParticipant]

my main question to you Eric is how did you deal with lower numbers at practice to still do the drills? I was thinking I could change the 4v0 to 3v0 in a triangle or join in myself any thought would be appreciated

Hi Sean- We did have a day or two where I had kids out sick and numbers were lower than usual but I have never had less that 8 at practice. I actually have had the opposite problem. We have had 2-3 kids trying out for our team and have had 16 players for an 8 v 8 team on a practice day.

I have several capable people that are willing to help me out. My usual rondo look with our standard 12 man roster is 2 4 v 0 rondos, 1 3v 0 and the keeper at goalie training.

When the goalie comes over I have 1 double rondo adjusted to 4 v 4 and a 3 v 1 rondo run by a parent or one of the high school players whos brother is on my team.

So essentially you a cone where an outside mid/winger would be on the opposing team for your outside backs to shift to?

Ryan- Thats exactly what I do. Pressure with our formation isnt any good if they opponent can get the ball cleanly to the outside winger. Even with an outside in approach to pressure the flight I defender is often crafty enough to release the ball to the waiting winger. If that winger collects the ball with space to turn and run were in trouble. We have very athletic and active outside backs that can run for ever.

• This reply was modified 10 years, 9 months ago by  Gary.

[Eric DykesParticipant]

Progress thus far- 8 v 8 middle of the pack U10 Flight 1 team

What we have done in the last month-
1. Dynamic warm up
2. Rondos 4 v 0
3. One of these variations-
a)Rondos 4 v ghost- A MUST IMO- it really explains the angles of support and players can see why the angles are so important
b) 3 v 1 rondos
c) double rondo
4. One of these tactical pieces
a) playing out from the back basic- Then added pressure with defensive player having numbers up. Also do it with 8 players/ 2 sets facing each other and working on movement while working the ball around the pitch. Lots of kids engaged and replicates offensive movements as well for positional play.
b) Offensive pressure- we added out outside backs pressuring on the rotation vs target players as we play a 3-2-2 with very active outside backs.
– players not in the 3four3 tactical drill are working 1 v 1s and 2 v 1s with assistant/ they then rotate to our drill
5. scrimmage

The real watershed for this group will take place right after st. cup but we have already begun our club wide implementation of Rondos with our youngers program. We have been late to the game with goal kicks and will make a club wide effort in the spring to play out from the back on these situations as well.

Results (Committed to the program 100% so negatives are just struggles and we know mastery takes lots of time)-KEY technical and tactical outcomes of the drills

collecting across the body-
Practice- VAST improvement- no mastery- in the double rondos count the number of times the players lose the ball when failing to collect across the body vs. proper collection. ITS CRAZY!!!!!!!!!! about a 4 to 1 margin with my group. Almost all loses of the ball when collecting correctly are poor touches on the pass or failing to lift their head when making a pass and the ball carries out of the play area. Not uncommon for some groups to string 10-15 passes together.
games- much improved but making mistakes in high pressure situations. Several of our U10s played up in U11 flight 1 friendly. The opposing coach said that my U10s were technically the most skilled players on the field. Mentioned their focus on collecting across the body as one of the compliments.

angles of support
Practice- VAST improvement with lack of pressure- Playing out from the back basic looks like the video often. Added pressure- outside backs not getting wide enough yet and the center back favors right foot so much that it gets him in trouble when pressured. Have to fix that.
games- some improvement- replicated the ball movement well out of the back a few times. All players entering the attack too early and leaving proper angles of support. Results in a lot of turn overs as players cover themselves up.

Offensive pressure-
Practice- Improvement- The drill vs cones looks pretty good. Add players to pressure and kids stall when the defense escapes. Especially if the outside back gets the ball to our center back as the player pressuring the center back stops allowing him to play wide or push up the middle of the field to relieve . This is an area where we need much improvement as we let the defense out too easily and we tend to attack from our defensive 1/3 and not the middle or their third, thus goals are harder to come by
games- Got a goal off of proper pressure vs a State Cup favorite to take an early lead. Inconsistent pressure though. I have found a kid or two we may have to drop to the flight II team as they score goals but refuse to have a pressure mindset. Ill keep demanding it and see if they improve.

Overall- I am seeing the progress and am excited about our development. The parents that get it are loving it. Will continue to work on the above things every practice.

[Eric DykesParticipant]

I really like both drills. Especially since they are more positional. Nice variation.

[Eric DykesParticipant]

The weakness of the 4-3-3 is the switch of the field- in the air. The college coaches that I know like the gamble if you pressure correctly. Also if the ball does make it to the back door the defense should be able to rotate- late but they should be able too.

[Eric DykesParticipant]

I just posted this on the goal kick thread so I apologize for the double post but it probably fits here better. At 7v7 – this is pretty much exactly how I set my U9 team up tactically when we are playing 7v7: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MJlH4_GEluY. It is a 2-3-1 with the OMs playing endline to endline, dropping deep to defend and help with the buildup, and then getting all the way forward into the attack. The CMF also does double duty, playing as both a Holding Mid and Attacking Mid.

As we have improved our ability to hold possession, I have gradually encouraged the CBs to get forward more in support of the attack by having one at a time step up to act as an extra MF. For example when the ball is on the right wing, the RCB comes forward to offer support and help us circulate the ball if needed, while the LCB shifts centrally and stays around midfield. When the ball shifts left, the 2 CBs shift as well, with the RCB dropping centrally and the LCB moving forward in support.

In general this has worked well for us. As some have pointed out it does require a very high work-rate from the lone CMF at 7v7. He not only has to cover the whole field laterally but also (in 7v7) plays as both a “6″, “8″ and “10″ (I encourage mine to interchange with the striker). Defensively he has to press high and also drop deep and help cover the space in front of the CBs. At 8v8 this isn’t as much of concern because the holding mid and attacking mid roles can be split b/n 2 players.

As far as how this transitions to the future, 0ne of the reasons I like playing with a 2 CB system is it allows us to practice playing out of the back exactly as shown in STT activities in this course. Even at 7v7, we play out with a back 4 + D-Mid, and this will stay the same as we progress to 8v8, 9v9 and 11v11.

There are obviously a lot of different ways to do it, and as many have suggested you can play the same way with 1 CB (back 3) instead of 2 (back 4). A lot depends on the passing range of the players as well, so what works at U11 may not work as well at U9.

Nice post! Notice to the time that the Barca players have to make decisions vs the opponent. Very telling!

[Eric DykesParticipant]

Not sure if your club has a player pass, but in SoCal the players are allowed to play on any team each given week. We practice our groups together and the players that are showing improvement get a shot at playing with the higher team and players that miss, need a slower speed of play to master a concept etc. play down that given week. If your upfront from the beginning then things go well. If you surprise the family and one day they are moved down or cut then your not going to have a happy family.

Passing data would be awesome but difficult to track. Do you track each pass currently? and if so how do you do it?

[Eric DykesParticipant]

Like your solution to the neutral player

[Eric DykesParticipant]

Funny you mentioned pressure. Met with the director today and told him my plan and he wanted organized pressure added to the mix too. Done.

Looking forward to getting started with it.

This will be the core. assured.

Thanks again!

[Eric DykesParticipant]

Thanks Gary-

Ive been such a stickler to the US curriculum in the past. 2 weeks of this then 2 weeks of that. I agree that we often move on before mastery. There has been improvement but the term mastery is not one Id use.

Revised training outline- 4 weeks until state cup is not a good water shed moment and I am a meticulous planner. So here we go.

Spring Season-

Technical- Continue as planned Rondos and support angles
Tactical- Playing out from the back/ basic combination play

Well use your philosophy and play down when scheduling our friendlies to build success and then ramp up our competition near the end of spring.

[Eric DykesParticipant]

Maybe I didnt ask the question clearly.

Now that we have put the rondos in place and established a technical base to do the rest what session progression would you recommend from there and suggested length of time on each task.

Example- If you choose playing out from the back

Do you hammer playing our from the back day in and day out over and over with little session variation until they get it? Or is there a amount of time to spend and then revisit.

Example-

2 week theme playing out from the back
2 weeks combinations
2 weeks lose your man

then maybe in week 8 you revisit playing out from the back

OR

maybe a session or two on playing out from the back move on and then teach another similar session a week and a 1/2 later

Whats it look over time when your train this age?

[Author]

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