Progression Socially as much as Technically

Posted on March 19, 2012 by admin

This week with our keepers we tried as much as possible to let the games be the teacher. Our keepers were put in a variety of games and situations that are normally reserved for the end of sessions when they have been practicing a skill. We wanted to just put them in those situations and see how much they had retained from previous sessions.

I remember doing a goalkeeping course and the coach educator who still works with top level goalkeepers, saying that he used go in set up the sessions and the two keepers would coach each other.

That’s the level of understanding we aim for in our sessions, not just “this is what you do”, but to ask questions of them to ensure understanding of the “WHY?” we do things a particular way. The fact that when we are now delivering our goalkeeping sessions and we just say something like “hands” or “posts” the keepers will look and correct themselves. This alone shows such a progression in their understanding from when they first started. Of course their abilities to catch, make saves, deal with crosses has all improved too not just the kids understanding, after all it is players we are developing, not coaches.

What I love just as much as the development of all their abilities as keepers is how they have come together as a group. I am very proud of how the groups have not only expanded their knowledge but how they have gelled together and interact with each other. Watching our groups from different clubs and different ages get on at weekends, asking how games have gone, what they have done during the week and the banter they have between each other, brings as much joy to us as hearing the keepers have had a clean sheet or received a man of the match award in their last game. As much as possible we try to create an atmosphere of fun and learning, where there is never any fear of getting things wrong. I always try to create an environment for players to learn, by meeting mistakes with encouragement not criticism.

By making your players aware that when they make a mistake you’ve got their back, not that you’ll get on their back, your players will play with freedom, be relaxed, learn more and subsequently perform better…

We have been fortunate to have Mo (coach assistant) with us at weekends. Having been someone who has taken our courses and progressed onto being a member of our staff he knows what it’s like when you have bonded with your group, what it’s like if it’s your first day and he has been an immeasurable asset to help us deliver.

 

Real Players show support for Mumaba & Abidal

To finish, I’m just going to make a quick mention as to why football took a back seat for everyone this weekend, the shocking incident concerning Bolton Wanderers player Fabrice Muamba collapsing during the FA Cup match against Spurs on Saturday. He has been in intensive care ever since and thankfully today he is breathing without medication and his arms and legs have shown signs of movement.

Another player the Barcelona defender Eric Abidal will be soon undergoing a liver transplant.

Our thoughts and prayers are with them and their families at this time.

 

 

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Goalkeepers & Goalkicks

Posted on March 13, 2012 by admin

the goal kick

This week’s goalkeeping session our warm-up was a passing warm-up. Today’s goalkeepers are outfield players who can use their hands and you need to have the ability to play with your feet as often you can be asked to build attacks from the back.

We moved onto one of the things some keepers find really difficult but it’s an essential part of goalkeeping position, the kick out off the ground.

Depending on what league you play in you may be asked to kick the ball off the ground, out of your hands or may be only allowed to roll the ball out. At some stage you are going to have to take goal kicks from the ground.

I am disappointed in managers (many of whom know better and preach about the development of their players) who get someone else on the team to take goal kicks. Forget about the implications of being a man light further up the field or playing people onside if a number of them attack. what about the development of that goalkeeper?

If a striker misses a shot at the goal does the manger stop them from shooting anymore?
If a defender gives away a free kick for a mistimed tackle do we tell him to stop trying?

I doubt it but a few bad kick outs and all of a sudden it’s ‘you’re not doing that very well and we’ll get someone else to do it’.

I’m all for getting someone else to do it if the keeper doesn’t actually want to take them. By forcing them your backing them into a corner, the goal kick is something that lots of people are watching and when it goes wrong it can go horribly wrong.

BUT… we need to address the issue! If you get someone else to take the kick outs did you do something about it at the next training session? Did you spend any of the time of that session to allow the keeper to go off and practice their goal kicks? If not then how can you expect them to get better?

Improving distance on goal kicks like most things in football takes practice and like most things in football there will be some on your team who naturally do it really well. If that’s not your keeper then let them (or make them) practice.

Give them a routine so they get used to how to place the ball, address it, run up and how to get the most from their striking action. Tell them to go through a routine every time, so their goal kicks are great every time. Get it so their routine becomes second nature (a learned action that’s performed automatically outside their working memory) so they don’t even have to think about them.  Obviously they will experience some bad kick outs but if you don’t believe in them they won’t be able to believe in themselves.

LET THE KIDS PLAY…

Below is a basic run though of what to look for when sorting a routine for your keepers.

Coaching points for the goal kick

Place the ball (not in a hole)
Approach the ball at an angle
Long strides in your run up
Plant foot is slightly behind the ball
Lean back
Take your foot all the way back and kick all the way through (don’t stop on impact with the ball)
Using the hard part of their foot (they should hear a thud)

RELAX AND LET YOUR TECHNIQUE KICK THE BALL

This is a link to a slow motion video of a keeper taking a goal kick just so you can have a look at it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_SQypp_dNm8

Ciaran
BCSSA

www.bcssa.co.uk
www.facebook.com
@Coachciaran
@Bobbies

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GK’s recognition & AVB

Posted on March 6, 2012 by admin

AndreVillasBoas pic courtesy of Sky Sports

I love the recognition the goalkeepers got at the end of Match of the 2 on Sunday. The end sequence was a montage of keepers in full flight making some saves that was awe inspiring for any player who watched it. Not sure where you might be able to see it again but if you get the chance, do, it’s well worth it.

We also had Gary Neville saying that he expected keepers to be able to save everything and if they don’t he’s disappointed. I think may have been exaggerating or that was a little bit harsh on keepers, look at a 1 v 1 situation or what about penalties Gary? Everyone expects the striker to score but he expects keepers to save it? Hmm… he has been brilliant on Sky with his punditry but I think that’s wrong and just like keepers can make mistakes, that statement may have been a slight mistake.

Finally I need to have a quick mention for poor André Villas Boas…
Like I said in one of my Tweets when Chelsea talked about putting in a short term option for AVB a while back, all Chelsea Managers are a short term option. You know things have got bad when your supposedly a top 4 club in the premier league, one of the contenders of Europe and Brendan Rodgers a manager who has just been promoted to the premier league with his club Swansea has said he would not be applying for the Chelsea job as he would like to build his career rather than ‘destroy it’!

At some point people should be looking at players responsibility for things. Now I’m not singling this guy out or think he is solely to blame and I think he has been very unlucky also BUT…. Fernando Torres a player (a striker) who cost the club AVB has just been sacked from £50million for not doing his job properly has apparently had more managers since Jan 2011 than goals! OUCH…

Ciarán

BCSSA

www.bcssa.co.uk
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@Coachciaran
@Bobbies

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Shots in a Crowded Area

Posted on February 27, 2012 by admin

A big hello to everyone reading this, if you would like to find out more about what we do, some of our links are at the bottom:

We had had some of goalkeepers dropping to their knees to a bad position so this week we worked on footwork, footwork, footwork. Moving your feet properly is so important as a keeper. I will continue to say if your feet can’t get you across in time your hands don’t stand a chance. To help progress this we also worked on shots in a crowded area. All our keepers loved the session, although a lot of that enjoyment seemed to come from other keepers got caught out by strange deflections and bounces.
Some of the main coaching points we looked at thoughout the session were:

  • Move your feet to get into line
  • Use the correct techniques to get into line
  • Get set (correctly)
  • Lead with your hands and get them to the ball (if that’s not possible improvise)
  • Don’t stand on your line (narrow the angle)
  • Remember the line, BALL—YOU—MIDDLE of the GOAL

The last point when working in a crowded area may change, can you think why???
Think about a normal session in shot stopping when do you set? How to you know it’s time to stop moving along a line and set to save? You want to be able to see when and where contact is made with the ball… So if you have to move slightly off that line to get a better view of the ball do so!

In games when the ball is in a crowded area its usually goal scoring opportunity so they look at it from different angles. When you’re next watching a match on tv and this scenario comes up look at how the keeper is down low and constantly moving trying to keep eye contact on the ball to give them the best chance of making the save.

If that’s not possible is there anything else that can help you? Are there audio cues? The sound of the ball being kicked defender calling shot?   Use all the information available to you to judge the best way to make a save available. Normally I would say get set with contact on the ball and get into the position to make the save quickly afterwards. But when you see the shot coming through bodies, do you set as if it will come straight through? Do you set later in case it takes a deflection? Do you move your hands to the height of the flight of the ball? These are all things you have to make a decision on yourself based on, the conditions, speed of the ball, how many bodies are in the way, how confident you are and your previous experience.  Deflections take the ball off its ‘normal’ course, so this would suggest for it to do anything else would be abnormal. As a keeper you need to react to what’s thrown at you as best you can.

Every time with every shot you face, move your feet quickly, stay square to the shooter, get as much of your body behind the line of flight as you can and give yourself the best possible chance of making the save, deflection or not.

Remember “quick feet never get beat”!

Never get disheartened keep trying if any of you were fortunate enough to see Spurs v Arsenal yesterday, first of all what a game! The opening goal? A major deflection that Szczesny could do nothing about, a dubious penalty given against him to go 2-0 down and he still came out a 5-2 winner. Oh and at the other end? Brad Freidal was in amazing form pulling of some outstanding saves and he still conceded 5! It’s one of the toughest positions to play and can be very unforgiving but remember your so specialised and there’s only one other player on the pitch that can do what you do…

Ciarán

BCSSA

www.bcssa.co.uk
www.facebook.com
@Coachciaran
@Bobbies

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Helping Players Develop Properly

Posted on February 24, 2012 by admin

The main responsibility for coaches above all others is the
safety of the participants, but the roles
of a coach are wide and varied. At BCSSA we may order our priority for the
coaches a little bit different to other Academies and organisations. We want our
coaches to be first and foremost role models for our players. Of course they
have all the other attributes you would expect from a coach such as a great
motivator, a teacher, a good communicator, they are organised and
knowledgeable. The more tools a coach can have in their locker the better
equipped they are to cope in different situations and adapt to different
learning types of their players.

That’s some of the qualities we develop in ourselves, but
when developing players as mere mortal coaches we can have a lot of information
thrown at us, telling us the best way to get the most from our players. Before
we decide on sessions we need to look at the types of sessions that are
appropriate for the players you’re dealing with.

You may have heard of the Long Term Player Athlete Development Model otherwise
abbreviated to LTPAD? Every sporting organisation under sun has introduced a
Long Term Athlete Development Model or Long Term Player Development Model.
You’ll find the FA (http://assets.ngin.com/attachments/document/0001/6827/LTPD_ThePage.pdf),
RFU, Sport England, IRFU the Olympic committee Rentford Rejects they all have
“their own” LTPAD model. All these models are based on the theories and
research of Dr. Istvan Balyi and you’ll find that most of the models say
exactly the same thing.

Basically the model describes the different approaches to
training that you should have with players at the different stages of their
development. An easy although alternative way to think about it is like Chinese
Bamboo… no I haven’t gone off track here.

Chinese Bamboo will only grow 10 inches in 10 years, it then grows 10 feet in 6
months.

So did it grow 10 feet in 6 months or 10 feet 6 inches in 10 years and 6
months?

Although the growth and development of the Bamboo does not look like much in
the early stages it is at this point that the foundations are laid that without
which the bamboo would not be able to develop to its full potential. The LTPAD
models are trying to get across the same message about developing players. The
foundations set in the early stages of a players development through running,
jumping, striking, catching etc. although seem small and insignificant are
vital to the player reaching highest standards in a sport.

There are two kinds depending on what sport you’re working on. For football
it’s the late specialisation model we work with. The Phases can be broken down
even more but we’re not going to look that in depth.

The phases for this Model are:

FUNdamental, Males (6-9yrs, Females 6-8yrs)

At this stage we should be trying to make training as fun as possible while
developing the fundamental movement skills ABCs (Agility, Balance, Coordination
&Speed). Players have their first stage where their bodies are more
receptive to developing speed. As long as you remember to use it the right way,
remember to keep the sessions as fun as possible introduce elements that aren’t
sport specific or elements of different sports. Give the kids lots of linear,
lateral and multidirectional movements and encourage participation in a number
of sports to give them a good overall physical competency. Introduce basic
rules of games as well as ethics and sportsmanship.

Learning to Train, Males (9-12yrs, Females 8-11yrs)

During this phase children are ready to learn overall sports skills that will
form the sound base for their development as a player/athlete. At this stage
their bodies are more receptive to developing motor skills. All general skills
associated with particular sports can be practiced.

Training to Training (Males 12-16yrs, Females 11-15yrs)

Here your players are starting to look at more sport specific skills as well as
the introduction of tactics. At this stage their bodies are more receptive to
aerobic and strength training. It’s important also at this stage to pay
attention to flexibility and stretching during this stage as there is a sudden
growth in bones, ligaments, tendons and muscles.

It’s also to determine when exactly is best for this stage
as people mature at different ages. Some coaches overcome this by moving a more
physically developed player up an age but we also have to consider are they
emotionally developed and how will the player handle being in a group who are
older? It’s those teenage years which are already going to be difficult for
them as people so we need to be careful to help them to develop without pushing
them too hard.

Training to Compete (Males 16-18yrs, Females 15-17yrs)

Here you can start to develop players technically and tactically for specific
positions. At this point we are trying to get the players ready physically,
tactically and technically to compete for the first time. The players have been
learning how to perform general motor skills and sport specific ones are now in
training to perform these skills in a high intensity competitive environment.

Training to Win (Males 18+yrs, Females 17+yrs)

Players are receiving training to maximise their performances. Here we are
trying to have players peak for competitions. Training sessions are high
intensity factored so the players also get enough rest so as to avoid injuries
and enable repair.

Retirement / retainment

Does what it says in the tin, this phase is about keeping people involved in
the sports either as a coach, administrator committee member etc.

That all might be a little bit heavy but remember it’s just
a general guide as to where players should be and how sessions should be
structured for (chronological) ages. One of the big sins is pushing the little
ones to advance too soon we want them to PLAY football and learn FUNdamentals,
let them play they have the rest of their lives to grow up!

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A busy week for football and Bobby Charltons

Posted on February 17, 2012 by admin

A certain incident from one of last weekend’s Premier League fixtures, in our technological age had stretched across the globe before a ball had even been kicked! I think and hope that times have changed for the better when we seen such a quick out cry from the vast majority of people. The Suarez/Evra-gate incident had the New York Times saying that “If the Fenway Sports Group is to be the responsible team owner in soccer that it has proved to be in baseball, it needs to get hold of Liverpool, its club in England’s Premier League, and repair its global image fast” (by the way the NYT is allegedly the second shareholder in Liverpool FC). Kenny Dalglish didn’t cover himself in glory when he just looked silly denying any knowledge of what went on like he had just been asked to confirm the location of aliens he had been sworn to protect. He also tried to blame the media and their build up for any incidents which may have occurred throughout the match. One thing he did say was spot on though! “how many cards were there?” (2 yellow by the way) how the referee controlled an already volatile fixture with these added extras thrown in is beyond me and he did a wonderful job. Thankfully both Liverpool FC and Dalglish released statements the following day expressing disappointment at what had happened. Suarez made a feeble attempt at an apology that sounded more like a player trying to apologise to his club rather than showing genuine remorse for a shameful act. Time to move on from this but I can see the hierarchy of Liverpool FC wanting to rid them of the controversy that comes with this player, but will anyone else want him? Of course they will he is a really good footballer and if clubs didn’t touch players who had controversy surrounding them at some stage just think of the players that wouldn’t be playing due to their actions over the past 12 months.

This week Bobby Charltons Soccer & Sports Academy have spent the last week delivering some coaching session to nearly 200 kids in Iceland. The Managing Director Geraldine along with Coaches Ryan Skivington, Dean Garrity and I had a great time working with some fantastic players some of which we will be seeing again this summer on our residential.

We were fortunate enough to train in the same facilities as the Iceland premier league team Stjarnan FC unfortunately we didn’t get to see any of their famous goal celebrations during training… If you have never seen any of these have a quick look at this clip, some of them are brilliant!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHpAYlas7lA

At least that’s something fun to look at after a week filled with sour incidents, some English teams not doing so well in Europe and clubs going into administration.

 

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After a cold day in London will David de Gea still be left out in the cold in late February when Lindegaard returns?

Posted on February 6, 2012 by admin

Welcome to Bobby Charlton Soccer & Sports Academy, if you’re new to us check out our website on the link above.

David De Gea

It was another difficult day for David de Gea this weekend, he has got to the point in a Manchester United shirt where he has fans (some who wouldn’t admit it) holding their breath for fear of what will happen. For the first few high balls de Gea had to deal with he desperately punched left, right, and nearly straight up, to groans from United fans everywhere, at least he got something on the crosses but none of them looked convincing.

Between the 36th minute and the 50th Chelsea had opened up a 3-0 seemingly unassailable lead. If you were looking at this as just numbers you would think it was another bad day at the office for De Gea but that wasn’t necessarily the case.
Firstly, Patrice Evra was beaten far too easily for a player of his level to allow Sturridge to run towards the goal and fire in a low cross/shot. Now do you argue that De Gea hands were a little too high for a keeper when someone is that close coming in from that position? well whatever your arguments are for that case, there is no denying what happened next was unlucky for a man who really needs a slice of luck in his favour. Just like in the Champions League match against Basle De Gea decided to poke a foot at the incoming shot, this time it bounced off an unsuspecting Evans and into the net 1-0. De Gea at this point did what every keeper seems do in this situation, turn around and shout at the nearest defender to you.

Goal number two was a contender for goal of the season, a thunderbolt from Mata after a fantastic deep cross from Torres. Some people have suggested that De Gea could have possibly eliminated the danger by coming for the cross. Personally I think staying at home there was the right option. The ball was whipped in with real pace it was very high, possibly too high, to even catch at the point it would have been safe for De Gea to collect it. There were defenders around and how many players in the world have the ability to finish that off first time with that kind of volley. That was a special goal and I’d wonder where the midfielders were to track that run from Mata as he seemed to have a lot of space.

Goal 3 the cross came in, Luiz headed it and again it bounced of a United defender 3-0 and not a lot more the keeper could have done about any of them.

Now those saves at the end, I’m not going to really mention the dipping volley from Cahill because although it’s a great save it’s one I’d expect a Premier League goalkeeper to make, no, I’m more interested in the save from Mata’s free kick. As a goalkeeper you are the last line, you can be the hero, it can also go the other way too. For De Gea this season more often than not it’s gone the other way. What made this special was the team’s performance up to this point, to come back to equalise after being 3-0 down at Stamford Bridge shows great resolve and it’s something United have shown under Alex Fergusson for years. Having got the game back to this point to have it snatched away by another piece of magic by Mata would have possibly been a little bit cruel on the current champions (however much some would have loved to have seen it). As Mata’s shot was heading for the very top corner with everyone waiting for the inevitable rippling of the net this was De Gea’s moment to shine, his moment to prove he was worthy of that United number 1 shirt, worthy to follow in the big footsteps of world class keepers such as Schmeichel, Van de Saar and at this moment, he was. As the ball looked destined for the top corner De Gea moved quickly and soared, stretching as far as his body was capable of to get just enough of his finger tips to divert the ball around the post. From contender of goal of the season to the possible save of the season.

Manchester United’s first team coach ‘René Meulensteen’ has delivered sessions and done a question and answer session for Bobby Charlton Soccer & Sports Academy International Skills Final for the past number of years. This year the topic of De Gea came up, René said he calls De Gea “the Rubber man” as in training he saves some shots that he shouldn’t be able to. This week we all got an insight into the training ground saves De Gea is capable of and why there was such a large price for the acquisition of such a young keeper. These are the type of moments that can change a season for a team, if that shot goes in all that work was for nothing and Manchester United may have left feeling dejected after their efforts. As it finished they can come away with confidence as a point saved from a difficult situation. For De Gea personally these are the moments that can change a game, a season and even a career, he would more than likely have been on the bench if Lindegaard had been fit. Lindegaard wasn’t fit and De Gea did really well. Football fans can be very fickle and with that last save all the flapping throughout seemed to be forgotten in an instant. He hasn’t become the hero yet although no one has ever called his shot stopping into question. Shot stopping ability is the reason United bought him, that’s what he excels at, but he seems to struggle with the physicality of the Premier League. He’s not a big lad and it’s no coincidence that he struggles with the most physical element of goalkeeping dealing with crosses or corners where there are a lot of people bumping into and around him. He is going to face lots of crosses week in week out in the premier league and until he starts to get this right, United fans will continue to have their hearts in their mouths when he’s coming for a cross.

This was by no means a perfect game from the very young (let us not forget TWENTY ONE year old) goalkeeper, but it was a definite step in the right direction and gives him some redemption from the fans through his heroics in the last few minutes. I have said before that part of goalkeeping is your decision making. Crosses are one of the areas where keepers make better decisions as they gain experience. As De Gea faces more crosses in the Premier League I’m sure, if given the chance he’ll improve at that.
We wish him all the best for the rest of the season and thank him for that moment of magic and I’m wondering if that was the moment the future of his career changed.

The keepers with BCSSA dealt with free kicks the other week in our sessions and I said I thought some free kicks were unstoppable, I felt that Mata’s shot was probably unstoppable.
In this short clip Just look at his footwork for making the save – little skip into position, step with his left leg and dives over that left knee. Without this brilliant piece of footwork his hands don’t stand a chance of getting to the ball.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L90kyJTqN3s

Rooney said in his post match interview that this one point may win United the league which could make De Gea’s spectacular save a defining moment in the season.

Ciarán
BCSSA

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Free-kicks and walls

Posted on January 31, 2012 by admin

This week we looked at free kicks, how and where to set up a wall properly.

The main thing about setting up walls for free kicks that we tell our keepers is, in the end it’s entirely up to them.

Before we go into anything about how, why, when or where, make sure the opposition team don’t want to take it quickly. Nothing looks as silly than a keeper going across to a post to line up a wall, only to see the striker place the ball in the opposite corner.

In different situations some keepers are happier with more people in the wall, some prefer less and some don’t want a wall at all. I would advise that when the free kick is in a shooting position and you line the wall up with the near post, make sure you can see the ball. Wall or no wall, more or less players, attacking team stepping over dummy run or not, if you can see when and where contact is made by the person hitting the ball it will give you a better chance of making the save. The best way to do this is, is to line the wall up so it is covering the nearest half of the goal and you cover the other half.

There are lots of different people that can give you lots of advice but in the end it’s down to you, the goalkeeper…

My thoughts are on some of this advice is:

Maybe the best leader on the pitch should line it up?… You’re the goalkeeper you’re already standing at the goal. All you have to do is point left or right not much leadership qualities needed for this exercise, plus you know what your are comfortable with and if the shot goes in people look at you.

Line up the tallest to shortest?… How long does your club practice defending opposition free kicks to get organised lining up like this?. What if there are two people standing over the ball who strike with different feet, they will curl the ball in different directions. Wouldn’t you want the taller players defending in case the ball is crossed on some occasions (I’m not saying the tallest are always the best in the air).

Line the last man of the wall up with the nearest post. Think about how and when this would change?
What if you were lining up the wall with your left post and the taker was right footed?
Maybe here you would line 1 or maybe even 2 players (depending on the ability of the taker) outside the line of the post so they can’t bend the ball around the outside of the wall!
Maybe there is a left footed and right footed kicker standing over the ball so do you want one more? Will you just move the wall?
There’s always going to be the chance of them hitting a free kick like Roberto Carlos (however slim) or David Beckham in which case there is not a lot you can do, these free kciks are famous because they don’t happen all the time.

Lining up a wall

Lining up a wall

Or maybe it’s far enough away that you don’t want a wall just a good sight of the ball?

Something else you may hear is a guideline as to how many players in the wall depending on the angle of the free kick! We like to challenge all our players to think about why they are doing particular things during sessions. So when you’re taking part in your own sessions, at seminars or trawling the internet for advice look at it, take it all in and then don’t take it as the definitive answer. Ask yourself how will this help my game? Feel free at times to say no this suits me better. There is a general guideline for the number of players in the wall. You may have heard it as the diagram shown: 2 for free kicks really wide, 3 from a less narrow angle, 4 for a closer to central area and 5 for central areas.

Number in a wall

This is a good general rule of thumb but when would this change for you?
Maybe you play in smaller goals and if you use these numbers for a wall will this guard the entire goal?
What if you don’t play 11-a-side? Will putting 5 in a wall have most of your outfield if not all of your outfield players in the wall? When someone is giving you advice they always are saying it because they want to help you. If you watch it or read it on the internet it’s to improve the game of whoever is sees it. NO ONE giving coaching advice is trying to mess up anyone else’s game. Just make sure the advice is right for you!

Decide how many YOU want or need in the wall, the wall covers half the goal YOU cover the other half. YOU set where YOU want the wall to be positioned and if YOU want one at all, because YOU need to be comfortable YOU can deal with this threat on your team’s goal. It’s up to you as the goalkeeper to protect the goal so give yourself the best possible chance of doing that.

As with ‘When and how far to come off your line?’ you will get better with experience and Practice.
Remember when you play generally none of the big tv or satellite companies are there to see anything you do. So save or goal, enjoy every second of being on that pitch.

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Keepers, when and how far to come off your line?

Posted on January 23, 2012 by admin

This weekend our keepers worked on their positioning. We looked at and talked about not only where we should be when the ball is in certain areas of the pitch but how that affects our body position (shape) and our ‘set’ position. This is just a brief outline of where I like keepers to start from in relation to the balls position on the pitch.

There are a number of factors to take into account when making the decision to come off your line. Things like the opponents abilities, each individual player of the oppositions abilities (e.g. can they score from the half way line ala Beckham?) or the keepers confidence in their own abilities. The decision to come and attack the ball can be made a little bit easier if you have a good starting position.

The easiest way to figure this out is to break the pitch and the penalty area into 3rds and match the balls position on the field with your position in the box. If the ball is in the furthest 3rd of the pitch away from your goal, then you should be in the furthest 3rd of your penalty area. In this situation any long balls over the top or through balls you will be high enough to play a sweeper role for the team should the ball be over hit, eliminating danger before it starts. As the ball comes closer to the goal your teams defending, you move closer to your goal line, If the ball is in the middle 3rd of the pitch then you should go to the middle 3rd of the penalty area. Here you’re close enough to your goal to retreat for a speculative shot but still able to rush out on any over hit through balls. (If the balls is in the blue area on the pitch then be in the blue area in the box and the same for the other colors.)
AGAIN there are other factors like your speed or height!
If you are really quick then they can come out or recover to the line faster.
If you are not very tall they may have to stay a bit closer to your goal so you can’t get lobbed. The best way to find out your best positions in relation to the ball is your own experience. That’s why keepers tend to have an older average age than outfield players because all pro’s have a good technique and abilities but it’s their decision making that lets them down or sets them apart.

Keepers should deal with coming off their line for through balls or 1v1s like they deal with coming for crosses. If they make the decision to come for the ball they should be strong, brave and commit to it, so don’t hesitate. If you come and hesitate not only do you give the attacker time but you give them time on an unguarded net. The above diagram represents starting positions where the attacking team have the ball. If your own team has the ball you may push up a little higher, in today’s game the keeper is used as an extra player to retain possession.

Remember even top keepers can get it wrong, look at Joe Hart at the weekend, for Defoe’s goal he came didn’t get there = open net! At least he didn’t clean out Defoe and get himself sent off along with it As with everything in goalkeeping, football or life, if we make mistakes there is nothing that can be done to fix it, let it go. If you are thinking about what just happened, you’re not thinking about what is happening. Fix what you can fix and make up for errors by being better next time.

 

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Using Video to improve individuals and the Game

Posted on January 17, 2012 by admin

This past week we have been trying out some video analysis of the players performance and technique. Just looking over the footage this morning it’s already clear that it will be useful for us in looking over sessions and how our keepers performed. We are going to take these clips analyse them draw some lines as directions and give them back to the keepers to review.
(Sample above and video will be posted on our facebook page http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1657741856&sk=wall)

What about at the top level though?
Can video be used for more than allowing the general public to look at something again? Or for coaches and managers to study their own and opponents weaknesses and strengths?
Again this weekend we have had managers criticising decisions made by officials but a lot of these are decisions the managers have had the luxury of a slow motion replay from 5 different angles…
Give the refs a break it’s a split second decision when there’s a lot more going on around them and with some part of a crowd (made up of thousands of people) about to be made unhappy just by blowing a whistle!!!

There was an incident I think it was in a World Cup with Howard Webb where the fourth official seen a penalty claim on a monitor and informed the referee. The right decision was made, but not done within the laws of the game. This only came out a after the match, so if it was so quick that no-one either in the stadium on the pitch or commentating noticed how would that interfere with the flow of the game.

Some changes have been good for the game and without them where would we be? Heavier balls so no wonder goals, no substitutions, cards introduced to stop dangerous play, straight red cards and everyone loves penalties except the losing team.

The best thing about progress and change in the game is that we no longer use heads as footballs (there’s five minutes of fame I wouldn’t fancy)

For now we are going to use video on our lads to improve their game even further and that’s progress for us. Progression, innovation and development in what we deliver is one of the things we strive for every day we come to the office.

 

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