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In our area (right outside Washington DC), we play 7v7 at U9/U10, 8v8 at U11/U2, and 11v11 at U13 and beyond. The 7v7 and 8v8 pitches vary in size; however, most are about 65-70y long x 50-55y wide and use 3/4 size goals. Most of the game fields are now turf.
The US is a melting pot of so many cultures that its difficult to make sweeping statements. However, I would say that in area, the vast majority of the players in “elite” (well known) clubs are well-off white kids. Among these groups of kids many dont view soccer as their primary sport as parents have them in lacrosse, basketball, etc. as well. Although there are definitely kids and parents who seem to think expectations dont apply to them, I dont think its so much a behavior problem but not enough kids put in or even have the time outside of practice with all the activities they do to make it to highest levels.
just to clarify a few aspects:
Tactical:
– this is the choreography part, so essentially the patterns both offensively and defensively?
– in that 30 minutes do you build up to full pressure with defenders? I coach U9 and U11 by the way.
Play:
– how do you handle this part in terms of teams, 7v7, 8v8 due to numbers?
– how often do you step in at this point?
I think the more I hear about your approach, the respect I have for it. As a special education teacher, you have to use a significant amount of repetition, frequent assessment to measure progress (match play in soccer), and thoughtful approach and understanding of how the skills and content you introduce builds and reinforces previously learned content. In addition, the idea of frequently reviewing learned content (such as playing out of the back or pressing choreography, etc.) is vital. I see many best practices in your approach that are present in the classroom as well. For example, the idea of hour one showing the kids what you want before asking them to perform and putting more of onus of learning on the players to put it into action are identical to the principles of explicit instruction, “I do, we do, you do.”
Makes sense, so for a young group just learning to play out of the back and before losing your man has been introduced, do you just tell the midfielders or wingers to find open space since they haven’t ben explicitly taught losing their man yet?
At 8v8, the 3-3-1 (turning more into a 3-1-3) makes sense to me in how it translates into the 4-3-3. However, I’m still struggling with see which system is best for the 7v7 environment. The way I look at is during those early months/years at U9-U10 when they play 7v7 in our area, we will be focusing on the foundation activities to engrain habits. However, we’ll also start working on playing out of the back and some offensive choreography. Therefore, I’d like to pick Gary, Brian, et. al’s brains to see your opinion in how we can start to introduce those things within the 7v7 environment.
My initial thought is a 3-1-2 where you have a the back 3 and center mid (similar to back 5 at 11v11). The “2” would be more traditional wingers without a CF; however, placing them on the outside starts to introduce them to attacking with overloads down the wings. Is taking out the CF at 7v7 too much?
We play 3-2-1 right now; however, I think its pretty complicated and physically demanding to have the 2 mids tracking horizontally across the midfield as the ball switches.
Thanks in advance for the input!
sorry, meant receiving with the outside of the foot, not passing with outside of the foot. Btw, if you watch the 4v0 and 4v1 rondo video with the players wearing Argentina jerseys, most get close to 100 or more touches on the ball in that 7 minute video.
The way I look at it, I think many of the core activities, such as the 4v1 rondo and s-passing pattern, provide a significant amount of technical repetition in a short amount of time. I think if you watch the 4v1 rondo and S-Pattern Passing activity videos and focus on one player, count how many touches they get in during the length of the videos. Tack on more repetitions as players get more accustomed and used to the activity after lots of exposure.
Does it work on heading or passing with the outside of the foot? No. However, you are practicing the ESSENTIAL skills and habits to be successful in the possession game.
Thanks, that helps put me on the right track!
I agree that we try to impress upon the players that we want overloads based on ball’s location. One relatively simple idea that we talk about from U9+ is creating left/right/split options for whoever has the ball and the 1st attacker must know what their left/right/split options should be before receiving the ball.
I would love to get Gary and Brian’s input on this matter; however, my preference is to get the LB and RB involved up the field so I like giving the possibility of them overlapping, even at 7v7 or 8v8. Therefore, 3 at the back. However, I’ve moved to having our LCM and RCM (in a 3-2-1) shift across the field. For example, the RCM moves wide to the sideline to support the RB when building out of the back or from a goal kick.
Thanks for the reply! You’d be surprised how wide some of these fields can be.
In any case, I tend to have our players imagine a diamond between our GK, LB, RB, and CB (DCM). Therefore, our CB isn’t so much on a line with the outside backs but on a different line at a diagonal.
I appreciate your input.
Hi! Happy to be the first poster!
My name is Ryan and I am currently the DOC for Alexandria Soccer Association (right outside Washington D.C.) and age group director for the current U9s and U11s. I’ve been following the blog for the last few years and excited to educate myself to become a better coach and educator. I’ve been coaching for 10 years now and only in the last few years have I really felt like my coaching education and understanding of the game (despite playing a relatively high level) have only begun to emerge. My training from where I first started and the depth and analysis of my own sessions and games is at a much higher level. However, I have a ton to learn and excited to get started!
