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Welcome, Hans.
My team is currently training on Tuesday and Thursday night from 6:45 to 8:15. I am waiting to get my updated training calendar from our club for the month of February as lacrosse causes havoc with field availability for us. Hopefully I will have it soon and see of I can make a Tuesday work.
I think Paul nailed it on the head. Possession soccer is about making and executing decisions that keep possession of the ball with the objective of scoring goals. If a team has committed 8 players to high pressure and left my team with 2v2 at the half way line then playing the ball to the forward or into a good space for him to run onto is a good choice, maybe even the best choice at the moment to maintain possession and move the team into a position to score a goal. This type of tactical recognition is a sign you are starting to make real strides in the tactical development of a player and team. Isn’t the goal to develop teams and players that are smart enough to recognize and execute the option that has low risk and high return with a level of precision and purpose. What I would be watching for is a purposeful and well placed pass either on the ground or in the air to the forward or into space for the forward easily run onto. This is much different than jungle ball or boot ball where the defenders are instructed to boot it forward. I would not make this part of my normal tactical.
So time to schedule our first Portland area chapter meeting.
What days and times generally work for everyone and does anyone have a meeting location suggestion? One meeting location idea is Rose City Futsal since we have people coming from both sides of Portland. Send me your thoughts and I will get something scheduled.
Oregon members thus far (6):
Christopher Cramer – TFA Barcelona Oregon (Gresham area of Portland Metro)
Sean Monaghan – TFA Barcelona Oregon (Gresham area of Portland Metro)
Rene Gonzalez – Laurelhusrt Rec and Independent (Hawthorne area of Portland Metro)
Kevin Murray – Northeast United (Northeast Portland area of Portland Metro)
Andrew Crollard – Eastern Oregon University and Union County United (LeGrande, Oregon)
Wolfgang Hoffman – Aloha United (Aloha area of Portland Metro)
Washington members thus far(3):
Liviu Bird –Seattle
Scott Nelson – Tacoma
Justin Almquist – Tri-Cities (Richland)
Not sure it will let me edit the thread title to make it read Northwest Chapter but I am glad to track both Washington and Oregon members. Haven’t seen anyone from Idaho in the Intro thread but have seen at least one BC person. I will have to go track that person down and see if they want to join this thread as well.
Andrew,
Per the other post I made today and your follow up comment. I didn’t think I was judging people unfairly or inaccurately. I was grouping everyone in saying we all need to keep it simple and focus on the fundamentals. The lack of other posts like the one you provided above is what I was getting at. There are a lot of topics started and conversations that spin away from the core curriculum that Gary has presented. From what I have seen of your interactions in the forums I would say you are one of the few that is staying on topic and really diving into the material Gary has presented. I wish there were more voices and discussion like the 4v0 rondo thread that you contributed to where angles versus spacing was discussed. I loved your contribution in helping others digest how to coach and teach a key element of that exercise.
The below is a quote directly from Gary in response to a question asked in the “Receiving the Ball” topic thread.
In regards to your question, we give no additional info.
The golden rule of our methodology. Our guiding principle if you will, is this:
Do less, not more.There’s a million different skills a player can learn or be taught. But if we try to teach too many of them, nothing gets mastered, and any hope for a consistent well structured possession team goes out the window.
What we do is give them a rock solid foundation with this curriculum, upon which details like you suggest can be layered in later in time with us, or it is to be done independently outside the team environment.
Now, that’s not to say you can’t try and teach them your detail concurrently with this possession framework, but I suggest you be very careful how many things you work on. Because you run a high risk of curriculum overload.
I am going to follow Gary’s council and spend my time digesting and striving to master the foundation he has provided.
I was reading thru the other topic folders that have been started in the past weeks since the member site opened up. And I feel strongly that this topic thread needs to get pulled back up to the top and be where we spend most of our time, FUNDAMENTALS. Mastering the fundamentals is where we should be spending all our time. Do your kids receive across their bodies as automatically as they walk down the street or brush their teeth? If not then spend most of your time on that step first. Just like our kids need to master the fundamentals, we as coached need to master the fundamentals. Yes there have been some insightful questions. But many of them are delving deeper than any of are truly ready to go as a coach. We need to master the fundamentals. There is a reason Gary posted only so much material. More is just more. We don’t need more yet.
I know what I am about to say is counter to some very basic “truths” taught here in the USA. And before you all call me out as nuts please watch closely some Barca video. I would suggest that the ball SHOULD be under your body when you trap it and when you strike it. Regarding dead and live touches I see plenty of both in the pro game and in Barca videos depending on the situation. but even in the live touches the players keep themselves over the ball. It is when the ball gets out in front of them that the get in the most trouble.
Andrew definitely! When you are in the Portland area give a shout and we will schedule time to connect.
Welcome Kevin!
Found the edit button on my profile page. It lets me change my password and other info. Still haven’t figured out how to upload a photo locally to my profile. Anyone figures that out let me know.
First to get the bio out of the way:
Wolfgang Hoffman, West side of Portland Oregon, Aloha to be specific. Started playing soccer when I was 5 years old back on Texas and have been playing non-stop for 38 years. Still play 4 times a week. Played college and at the semi pro level here in the USA which is nothing really to brag about. Spent time refereeing (don’t hold it against me) up to the college level. Started coaching back when I was 13 because we knew more than the parents so they asked us to coach the U8 kids. Got back into coaching about 15 years ago when my oldest started U6 kick and chase. Have been coaching ever since, partly because I can’t stand watching bad coaches coach my kids. But also because soccer is in my blood.
I have been an active participant on the blog for a while now and am excited to dive deeper and leverage the material that Gary and team are making available. I am looking forward to meeting many like minded coaches and individuals thru this interaction.
Twitter: @wolfganghoffman
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This reply was modified 10 years, 10 months ago by
Wolfgang Hoffman.
Would be good to have a way to manage my profile directly on this sight. I might want to update my profile pic or change my password or even change my email address at some point. Gravatar looks neat but I want to have a site relevant profile pick rather than one that shows up everywhere on the web.
Hello Andrew and Chris,
Guessing Andrew is thinking of me as the person he met at the license course. I am actually in Aloha rather than Molalla. I am registered just haven’t had a chance to write an intro post. I will be doing that later tonight.
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This reply was modified 10 years, 10 months ago by
