When coaching stoppages, do you only focus on the player on the ball?

For example, the player is struggling to win their 1v1. You stop, coach them, and then restart play?

What about looking at the bigger picture?

The player on the ball, the players around the ball, and the players away from the ball.

🧵 2/

To break this example down further:

Your wide player struggles to beat their defender, so you coach them on how to do that.

They then cross, and if your furthest away wide player is standing still instead of making a back post run, do you stop the play again to coach their movement?

And if the type of cross is wrong, do you stop again to coach the cross?

It's a flippant example, but everything is connected in football.

Most coaches can set up a 2v2 exercise.

But when it comes to coaching the technique behind winning small-sided play?

They can explain WHAT a player should do, but many struggle to explain HOW it should be done in teachable technical detail.

Here are some different examples of how to coach attacking technique from 1v1 through 4v4...

@SundayShare #SundayShare

🧵 1v1 Technique: "Explode Away"

How to coach this:

1 - Assess the Space:
"Scan ahead to identify open spaces and potential blockers, such as 2nd or 3rd defenders or the touchline."

2 - Big First Touch into Space:
"Take a larger initial touch with the instep to push the ball into open space (away from the blockers), allowing for quick acceleration."

3 - Accelerate After the Ball:
"Quickly follow your first touch with an explosive burst of speed to gain ground and separation from the defender. Turn on your jetpack"

Most 1v1 sessions stumble before they begin.

There are long lines, too many bored players, and too few reps.

Here are 3 ways to build better 1v1 sessions 👇 1) Use the carousel method to have multiple players working at the same time

At the development stage, formations are often used to help try and win a game of football. However, I was always a big believer in using formations as a further developmental tool.

But how? ⤵ Changing your formation to place your players in different 1v1 and 1v2 scenarios on the pitch will always have a longer-term developmental impact than not doing so.

Here's a handy graphic that helps break down how you can do that

DM me if you would like a PDF version instead

Lots of chat around clubs advertising for youth players to play in a certain position.

but this chat rarely explains why playing one position at youth level can potentially harm a player's development

🧵⤵ At grassroots level, players sometimes get placed in positions based on their physical makeup – the fast kid is a winger or striker, the slow kid is a defender or goalkeeper, and so on.

At a young age, if you label a player as a defender then what's the problem?

🧵 In response to some fans of other teams dismissing Arbroaths season, here's a thread breaking down my take on why it is *the* Scottish Football fairytale.

Dick Campbell, with his staff, was appointed 6 years ago this week. Arbroath were 3rd bottom of league 2. His first game ended in a 3-0 defeat to Berwick Rangers, who leapfrogged Arbroath into 8th.

Kilmarnock, Inverness, Hamilton, & Partick all played in the Scottish Premiership during this season (and the next season).

The financial gap between these leagues must be/is massive.