Articles
The Principles of Play
Understanding the principles of any activity is crucial in the learning process. Football is no different…
Football doesn't need individual training, U.S. Soccer does
As coaches, why would we waste our valuable time and resources training a sport, which by definition is a social sport, in an individual manner? We are not training athletes to run or swim in the Olympics...
Sevilla's Shapeless Form
Of course there are many aspects which contribute to the success of a team; physical, psychological, technical, and tactical. Each of the aforementioned aspects can be divided into different segments, and within the tactical aspects I’d like to direct my attention to his formations, or shall we say the lack of formations...
The Morality of Youth Football
Alejandro is a typical 11 year old Spanish boy. He attends the local primary school, he hangs out with his friends, he watches Real Madrid on the weekends, he plays for the local football club with all of his friends. But there is something very special about Alejandro...
Progression: Why Simple Doesn't Mean Easy
Progression: easy to complicated, simple to complex. In reality, do we really know what this means?...
Coaching in Context: Teaching Tactics and Technique
When examining the tiquitaca playing style at a superficial level, it appears that it is just short, pointless passing. But in fact, there is so much more to it...
Coaching the ‘Uncoachable’ Creativity
We get so hung up on finding the perfect drill that we forget to let the player play. Youth players fall victim to their coaches’ line drills and subsequently lose the ability to think and create...
