Single Player Issue

The following article was written by Antonio Saviano and featured in the Scuola Calcio Magazine.

I have been giving some thought about the “single player” issue on a soccer team, which leads me to wonder how many coaches find themselves in the same situation, having one good player on the team?.

I often notice, while I conduct a coaching symposium and when speaking with coaches, that I hear about how most teams have only one good player, or the teams have only one player who tries very hard compared to the other players, or the team has only one player with a good attitude.

One time, just out of curiosity I took this problem and asked a question of the parents. “Are there any ‘special’ players on this team”? The following information was interesting to me and I am sure it will be interesting to all of you also. I could speak with five or six different parents from the same team and in each case there is always one "special" player. And not very surprisingly to me, that “special” player is always the son or daughter of the parent.

While I believe it is a parent’s right to think that their child is special, the fact is that coaches sometimes never stop hearing about how good their child is. This is not all, it can also go on to the next step which now is to hear that there are some players do not play the way they should, but are the coach’s favorites. So I tell my self: “It is just not enough to speak well about their own children but also speak ill of other players”.

Parents have to come to the realization that the team can not be successful unless two golden rules are mandatory on the team:

1. Parents support each other
2. Players support each other

On a related note, players have to participate on a team in which the two rules above are part of the team’s spirit. To be a top soccer player, a player must make all of the other players around him or her feel supported and always give positive feedbacks. And what is true for the players goes for the parents as well as for the coach.

Players can use different ways to help their teammates become better soccer players, and coaches can develop players through a variety of training methods. But one of the first things that must be done by the coach is to educate parents on how important it is to encourage youth players and give them positive feedbacks.

While I agree that it is important to allow parents to approach the coach and ask questions concerning issues such as playing time, I am not so much into an agreement when the conversation turns direction and concerns the quality of different players on the team. Then it becomes unacceptable for me.

This draft was featured in the Scuola Calcio Magazine. To get more information please click here!

Scuola Calcio Coaching Magazine is aimed and dedicated to providing first class soccer information for instructors at all levels throughout the North America and the World.

Instructor’s Responsibilities and Duties

Soccer programs should be offered to youth players of all ages, with the emphasis on fun, fitness, and skill building in an environment in which winning is not the sole focus.

Every child must have the opportunity to participate in every game.
An instructor should be able to define the needs of his youth players. The growth process should emphasize the development of sound skills that can be enjoyed. Players should experience fun and enjoyment every time they come to the soccer field. The instructors should also be able to adapt to each player’s personality, talk to them in a positive manner, lead by example and teach the players to conduct themselves in a controlled manner on the field.

Players need the opportunity to play their own game. Therefore as instructors, we should limit sideline coaching. Teaching should be done at practice rather in games.

Developing a strong sense of self-esteem is as fundamental as a solid technical foundation. It is of great importance that instructors provide an atmosphere of a strong team where players can develop a love of the game as well as environment where players can respect each other.

If we can step back and say to ourselves that our players are developing respect, trust, confidence and a desire to remain actively involved in soccer, then we can honestly say we are doing our job!!!

This article was featured in the Scuola Calcio Magazine - The article was written by Antonio Saviano.

Scuola Calcio Coaching Magazine is aimed to improve youth players from the age of 5 and up. Every activity will be specifically targeted to the appropriate age group.

The Fundamentals of The Goalkeeper (Part 4 of 4)

The following article was featured in the Scuola Calcio Magazine. Was written by Marco Stoini, Director of Coaching for San Luigi Calcio Trieste and Technical Director for the Ascoli Soccer Academy. The article was translated by Antonio Saviano.

The concept of the psychological and technical FUNDAMENTALS of today’s goalkeepers should have a solid base for “attacking the ball”. What ever movement is put into effect, the idea must never be to endure the ball, but to foresee the ball direction, either in a cognitive sense as well as in a geometric sense; the advantages should be visible, from different points of view.

While the technical fundamentals are easily noticed, for the tactical fundamentals to be noticeable, coaches would have to look at the goalkeepers attentively. The tactical decisions goalkeepers make are different from technical executions.

In general, it can be said that every time the goalkeeper makes a decision (i.e.: position in goal, body position on the field, where to send the ball with his feet or when to come out to clear the ball, how to psychologically condition the opponent and help teammates in their positioning on the field, etc.), he performs a tactical behavior that often alone can save a goal. All this may not seem to influential, because many goals are avoided and because most of the time the intelligent and careful goalkeeper makes good decisions.

Just as the technical qualities make a difference, the tactical and attentive aspects also make the difference between goalkeepers. There are many goalkeepers teaching schools and each one of them has a clear and very specialized connotation on how to teach: it is sufficient to look the significant differences of the technical formulation between goalkeepers, in particular between those coming from various areas.

Obviously, all body movements need to be developed because they are part of that technical base, of which it cannot be absolutely left out. The only applicative limitation in the course of the years is constituted by the age of the student, but at the end, the adult goalkeepers must manage all the technical abilities and possibly have good tactical understanding.

The following is a review of the technical and tactical base fundamentals for the goalkeepers. In many of the following seven points you will find different tactical elements. In particular in the following points: 3, 4, 5, 6, 7.

This article was featured in the Scuola Calcio Magazine.

Scuola Calcio Coaching Magazine is aimed and dedicated to providing first class soccer information for instructors at all levels throughout the North America and the World.