A team talk will vary considerably depending upon the team that you are coaching, the age group, the level of competition, what you’ve worked on in training etc. For this example, we are to assume we are working with a senior competitive team. I’d first say that the the vast majority of the “hard work” should already have been done. Over the days, weeks and/or months... »
Football is all about goals, you need to score more goals than your opponent to win the game. Likewise, if you want to improve, you will want to score your own personal goals. Goals don’t just have to be the big white posts at the end of the football pitch, they can be anything which leads you on the pathway to success. How do we set our goals and what should we do when we figure them out? F... »
The reason we come to football training is to play football, to learn and to have fun. This needs to be in a controlled environment by the coach and finding a perfect balance between learning and having fun is a delicate skill and an act. The first thing you must always remind yourself before any lesson is “Who am I coaching?” Are you coaching 6 year old players? Are you coaching 18 ye... »
Discipline is the suppression of base desires, and is usually understood to be synonymous with restraint and control. Self-discipline is to some extent a substitute for motivation. To be able to be successful with anything we need to be clear about our goals and with this knowledge, set the rules for the discipline we expect during our football training. I like to start most of my sessions to remi... »
Rasmus Ankerson’s book is a must read for anyone that coaches sport and/or anyone that is looking to develop themselves as an individual. You can read the books reviews and find out where to buy this from HERE. The chapters are broken own to some very interesting “Key Learning Points” and I’ve shared these with you here: TALENT Talent is not race-linked. It is everywhere. ... »
Marcel “Marco” van Basten is a Dutch football manager and former football player, who played for AFC Ajax and A.C. Milan, as well as the Dutch national team, in the 1980s and early 1990s. He is regarded as one of the greatest forwards of all time and has scored 277 goals in a high-profile career cut short by injury. Known for his strength on the ball, his tactical awareness and spectac... »
I recently stumbled across a great article in the New York times about Ajax Academy, you can have a look at that here. But before you do that, have a look behind the scenes in this little video. »
I’ve seen groups of people masquerading as teams. But I don’t believe that they are teams. There isn’t a team spirit. They’re simply groups of people that have been asked, or more likely told to work together on something. You don’t build teams. You grow them. And in the right environment their growth is a natural phenomenon. As a team grows, you start to see cohesion. The people in the team bond ... »
In Hong Kong we have just been spoilt with what I would describe as one of the most exciting weekend football tournaments events in the world. The Hong Kong Soccer Sevens is an annual event that invites some of the best young talent from around the world, to play against each other and along side some of the greatest stars of days gone by. In the main tournament this year we saw, Aston Villa, Celt... »
I had the pleasure to listen to an interview with Sir Alex Ferguson the other day, an interview with Spoony (The Guardian football podcaster). What it delivered was a fresh change of a football insight, into how the great manager goes about his business conducting himself and the club. I’ll pick up from the point about dealing with your squad and letting your squad know about team selection.... »
