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It will interesting to see what the brothers think, but my guess is that these drills can be modified as long as your getting the desired outcome and the spirit of the drill is there.
I think target players is a great idea. Id even consider target players with my U10s.
At U10 we run a 3-2-2 with my group (ran 3-3-1 at U9- now our kids have been exposed to both width by formation and now they have to learn to attack and defend space wide- I think this knowledge is vital). Most teams we play run a 3-3-1 (we have a strong advantage in the middle and a weakness with width- kids are learning how to create width with the outside backs entering the attack and checking back to the ball). We have struggled with the outside back rotating late on foot to foot switched and the opponents outside mids have had time to turn and attack our goal which creates big problems for us. Im considering running the drill with the two outside grid requiring the players to sink back into a balance position when the ball is away and anticipate the switch and quickly apply pressure on the outside back as the ball rotates to their side. The middle grid will have a 2 v 1 as one quick pressures the ball and the other provides support and looks to get in the passing lane in the direction the center player is facing. Same concept, same spirit, modified to fit our current system.
My teams goal analysis off of various styles of corner kicks over the past 3 years. Kids play year round. Very interesting-
We have an outstanding traditional crosser who can regularly place the ball just outside the 6 back post-
Traditional cross- 3 goals out of 71 crosses-
Driving cross that is directed at near post play- 6 goals on 27 attempts-4 of the 6 were one time volleys
Short corner with a cross- 2 goals out of 32 attempts
Dummy short with a back striking it from just outside the 18- 4 goals on 23 attemptsWe averaged 4 corner kicks a game with 12 as our most and 2 without any.
I had kept the data but didnt crunch the numbers until our season ended in November. We will be working on our short game and dummy plays off the the short game. We have only one player that really uses his head well at this age and he is also our crosser. Funny thing is he had 2 of the 3 traditional cross goals when another player sent it in.
The fundamentals that the brothers work on is the art of receiving two and one touch, movement on and off the ball, showing for the ball with proper angles/separation and knowing where to go with the ball in the fastest and most efficient way possible.
Remember that until the brothers moved to Chivas they were with a club that didnt go past U12. These were not college kids. They were doing this from U9 on and with great effectiveness. Nobody would ever accuse these teams of lacking technical skills at the expense of passing and tactics. The drills they run develop these skills very well.
The response from my peers has always been that they worked for a “free to play club” and they got players that were already technically the strongest. While true, they were playing some of the best competition in S California and the level of play in this area is not matched anywhere in the US. No offense to all the other states represented on the forum but I firmly believe it. The teams they played had superior technical skill than most of the population at their given age level.
Finally, the TFA OC affiliate that employs this possession system has replicated the model in a “pay to play” environment with great success over the past 2 season.
I do think this is a club players model with some use for the recreational side, but very challenging to implement when you have players with huge skill discrepancy that is common in an AYSO/recc balanced team environment.
With Rondo v zero and Ghost there is a competition element as teams or individuals are competing for either a number of touches or to not be in the middle
Rondo’s are now part of my teams EDDs (Every Day Drills) along with dynamic warm ups and agility drills/Coerver activities.
At U12 you certainly can have the offensive players learn to build from the back as well. The more they understand what the their teammates are doing to get the ball forward to them the better soccer awareness they will have.
Alfredo- Good point about the 2 v 1s at different parts of the field on top of the 18. Very effective tool.
Our 1st 30 minutes is our warm up phase-
10 minutes of dynamic warm up agility training w and w/o the ball
5 min of rondos 4 v 0 with emphasis on movement and speed of play
5 min 0f rondos 4 v 1 ghost
10 minutes of S drill- NOTE- alternating between S drill and a slightly modified double rondo- we’ve elected to do a 4 v 4 double round with our 8 aside teamsNOTE- as we enter state cup we do play players in set positions- were playing a 4-2-2 with the U10s
20 minutes- Defenders – back 5 ball movement- keeper, back 3 and holding mid-
offensive players- slightly modified lose your man drill- We combined it with our combinations that we were working on so player 1 was losing his man to check to the ball and the other was losing his man for a pass behind the defense15 minutes- whole team movement- combinations- I need to do this better.
25 minutes- team scrimmage- offensive vs defensive players
team relay races with the ball for added conditioningLove the way your girls play! As stated above you have a solid team in the back and middle third. The players look to execute middle third attack patterns in the final 1/3rd. Spend some time working on quick combinations at the top of the 18 and you’ll finish more. I think your doing an amazing job! Wish more HS teams played with this type of skill. It can often be a hack fest in the HS game.
We’ve moved to 3 practices a day to prepare for state cup so Im on my 4th day of Rondo’s. The very short pass is the most challenging aspect of the drill as stated above. The other one is the switch of play. I used Andrews suggestion above when explaining supporting angles and explained that in a game we want space and that is our friend but we cant angles for space. In other words don’t get caught finding space and ending up hiding. Angle of support then space.
The switch is a communication issue. Pulled the kids together and asked them to come up with a solution the the lost balls on the switch and they instantly began to communicate when changing direction. Went well.
Im see improvement in the collecting across the body and speed of play in game/ scrimamge situations.
My homework over the weekend-
Watch 15 minutes of a professional match and count the number of times both teams collected the ball across their body. Holy cow! Did the light bulb turn on! they showed up fired up to work on Rondos. Saw much more improvement!
Paul-
Totally understand what your saying. I hope my response was interpreted as a support of teaching kids to win 1v 1’s (especially at the very young ages) as long as there is a plan to progress to the possession style that we are all trying to achieve. Not sure if Gary supports that but Marc does and they are very close. Our U9’s played Marc’s team this year in early spring and they dribbled and almost never passed. The team is now a very possession based system. Watching the video and coaching cues I see why they get along so well.
One of the coaches that the Brothers respect most and I reference often in my posts is Marc Gomez who is currently with Pateadores Irvine but was with Chivas and Cosmos. He starts with individual skills for a month or two and requires his teams to beat opponents in their first couple of games with zero passing (This is at the U8/U9 level) He then implements a bunch of the same ideas the brothers do. His teams play a very good possession style of play and are often amazing at the younger ages (last years U9’s were state cup finalists).
It doesnt HAVE to be under the body and I dont teach it that way, BUT that is often what happens.
Love the response-
I kick my self every time I look back at the way I trained my kids in the past. The time spent on the first touch going forward instead of learning to play it across the body was such a poor judgement call. I was following instruction from coaches that were considered solid in the area but this system just makes so much more sense from both a tactical and technical point of view.
I have also begun to incorporate the lofted ball as well with the Rondo. Just for a short time, but I think its important
Thanks John!
Just conducted my first team training after a short winter break and I think things went pretty well!Rondo- 4 v 0- Used tons of the vocal cues learned from the course- contest on the most touches by a team in 45 seconds
– Old way- 3 person lines facing each other and working on 1st touch going forward, then 1 touch and handling lofted balls
Rondo 4 v 1 ghost- again vocal cues galore
– old way- Old 3 v 1 keepaway
Double Rondo- Kids favorite drill of the day- hyper competitive- they picked it up quick
– old way- 6 v 3 keepaway- Three colored teams
Losing your man- Struggled with timing of the runs on this one and I needed to split into 2 groups (kids got squirrely)
-old way- 2 v 1s combos or overlaps/ or another concept I was trying to teach
Offensive pattern- Kids new to the pattern so there were growing pains, BUT saw improvement as the session went on. Expect strong results after a few more sessions
– Old way- mini game
Finished with a 5 v 5 game- Same as old routineMy Teams experiences against Barcelona USA/ Now TFA and the Marc Gomez Chivas/Cosmos teams. My replies will also answer several of the questions posed by others. Interested in Gary’s commentary – I ve never faced a team coached by the brothers-
Their most dynamic player at the U9 thru U10 is usually the center mid. Teams that give them trouble (few and far between) have a stud center mid that is quicker and defeats their center mid on the dribble. They attack with 4 and defend with 3 unless they meet a team that is equal and then attack with three and defend with four. They differ in that Chivas has had tremendous speed on the outside and TFA has elected to go with a larger team the past 2 years. Chivas overlaps like crazy out of the back(even at U9) and I have never seen TFA ever overlap with the backs until U11.
For all their touch they can be VERY physical and they past 2 years I have only seen them beaten by teams that are tactically equal, but have superior speed. (state Champions Albione- one of the best I have ever seen at U9/U10) By U11 things get real ugly as they have picked up 2/4 players from the other top programs and its the most well oiled machine out there. Glad I dont coach that age.
As stated before they coach from the sidelines as I do. They are not ball watching they are telling the players where the open man is. They may yell find so and so if the switch is open. If they find a 2 vs 1 on the touch line they yell combo. They help the kids understand their advantage.
If you notice from the video they don’t spend a lot of time on defensive principles. Weve had success early and gotten goals off of coordinated pressure and creating mistakes in the back (still lost) . Once the backs settle down (usually about 1/2 way through the season) they are scary good as they defeat pressure easily with their choreographed outs from the back. Teams that play them close pack it in and try to get into their passing lanes and counter with speed. We have a high pressure style that gets us killed in the second half against them. Once the coaches explain to the team what were trying to do they come out and dismantle us in the second half.
They have been most effective against us on counter attacks up the middle as we are very good on the outside. They have some amazing combinations between their point and center mid. Our center mid get caught up in the attack and they have a 2 v 1 at the top of the 18. Id love to see the combination pattern they work up the middle as this is my teams weakness in its attack. We are now overlapping well and creating headaches for teams that cant keep up with our athleticism in a 2 v 1 from the outside, but as said before were lacking that up the middle attack that they have executed so well against us.
