Soccer Stuff is a collection of youth soccer coaching essays written to help educate novice soccer coaches that are trying to learn more about the great game of soccer.
The Flying "Y" and other strange ideas
What you are about to read is the product of one man and not the opinion of PTSA. As a matter of fact, I’m sure that many very good soccer coaches, not to mention English teachers, would cringe if they took the time to read this. But, since this is America, and since free speech has not yet been banned, and since I maintain the web page, here are some of my ideas on U-8 and U-10 soccer coaching.
I would like to discuss the concept of age specific soccer tactics in the U-8 to "in-house" U-10 age range. I make the distinction of "in house" because at the travel team level, teams are made up of a more consistent level of strong players. This lessens the need to compensate for the weaker players that every "in house" soccer team has. Please don’t get me wrong. It’s not that I have anything against having weaker players on a soccer team, quite the contrary. As a coach, one of the greatest joys is seeing those players, less gifted, develop and excel. As a matter of fact, I feel that one of the greatest accomplishments of my coaching career was that last year, I only had one player that did not score a goal. If you’re a coach, you understand what I’m saying. (More bragging later)
Let me cover my butt here by saying that I believe that a coach should concentrate on the following three things:
1. Make the practices and games fun for the kids. If the kids aren’t having fun, you’ve failed, no matter how many games you’ve won. It’s that simple.
2. Concentrate on developing individual ball skills. Next year’s coach won’t care if a kid won all his games last year. They will care if the kid can trap the ball.
3. Keep the parents happy (off your back). Parents want to see their kids play both offense and defense. (but never goalie) It’s not fair to the kids, and also not good for their development, to stick them in only one position. Let them get a feel for all the positions so that they can become a more well rounded player. There is one other thing that parents like to see. Victories! You don’t have to win all the games, but if you don’t win your fair share, both kids and parents can become discouraged. This brings us to the topic of age specific tactics.
The big picture is this… Adult strategies are too complicated for seven and eight year olds. I know, I know, I know! Decision-making is part of what the kids are supposed to be learning in soccer. I know it’s important. But I really feel the simpler a coach can make the "tactic" the more the kids and coaches can concentrate on skills and the more games the team will win. I am a believer in the fact that children only have a certain window of opportunity to learn foot skills. Past a certain age, people find it much more difficult to learn specific skills, while on the other hand, learning tactics actually becomes easier as the person matures. What I’m suggesting, is that we keep the tactics simple so that more time can be dedicated to skill development. (And… you can win more games)
The Flying "Y"
If you ask the average U-8 coach, what formation they use, they probably will tell you a 2-2-2. (By the way, when you talk formations, the first number is the defense) What they mean is two defensive players, two mid fielders, and two offensive players. I remember asking a fellow coach exactly what the duties where of each position. He told me that the wings were supposed to stay up near the goals so that they could score. The midfielders control the field (I’m still not sure what that means) and the defense protects the goal. And… Oh ya, the kids are supposed to stay on their own sides of the field (left / right). My big problem with this strategy was that the position responsibilities were a little too vague for me to understand, let alone explain to the kids. As the season went along, I noticed a few weak points with this formation.
Weak point #1: I noticed that by insisting that the kids stay on their own sides, my weaker players were always being exploited while my stronger players waited helplessly for the ball to come across some imaginary line to their side of the field.
Weak point #2: When we moved the ball up close to scoring position, we would eventually loose the ball and would pretty much give up the middle of the field. The other team would have the same problem. It was sort of like watching a Ping-Pong match between two very tired teams.
My solution to these two weaknesses was solved with the development of the flying "T" formation, which eventually evolved into the flying "Y". Here’s the idea. The basic formation is a 2-1-3, and it’s based on the concept of "layers". The more layers the better.
The three offensive players (layer #1) are taught that they can go pretty much anywhere to steal the ball from the opponent. But once we get possession of the ball, the players "release" and get apart and hopefully receive a pass from their teammate. What this does is to let the stronger players come to the rescue of the weaker players, therefore distributing strength where it is needed. To keep all three players from all attacking the ball at the same time, a coach needs to emphasize the need to "stay out of the pile". Let them know that if one of their players is attacking, they should stay off to the side so that when the ball squirts out of the pile, they are far enough away from the pile so that the ball doesn’t squirt past them. The original "T" was transformed to a "Y" to illustrate to the kids that the wings need to be down field of the ball, and not to the side the ball. It’s better to pass down field rather that sideways. The real key to this formation is the one loan midfielder. (layer #2) They have one very important job. Stay centered behind the ball. Wherever the ball goes, they stay about 15 yards behind it. This solves the problem of constantly loosing possession. If you teach that midfielder (I call them "bottom of the Y") to stay behind and out of the pile, you’ll be amazed at the amount of time you spend near the other teams goal. Don’t underestimate the importance of this position! In my opinion, it’s the key to success. If you should feel the need to "stack" your team, this is the position to put your strongest player. When I moved up to U-10, I added the extra player (U-8 play 7 players and U-10 pay 8 players) as another midfielder creating the flying "W".
Another area that I decided to tinker with was the defense. Most coaches insist on playing their two defensive players in a side by side formation. As a matter of fact, if you go to any used U-8 soccer field, you will find two "bare spots" fifteen yards in front of the goal. These are the areas rubbed bare from the defenders of loosing soccer teams. First of all, if you do decide to use a side by side formation, make sure that the defenders play up at the fifty yard line when the ball is down near the other team’s goal. This prevents the opposing team from having 35 yards of free real-estate every time they gain possession of the ball. I noticed that side by side defenses had one big weak point. It seams as though very few kids at this age are instinctive enough to float back in support of their fellow player under pressure. But, on the other hand, pretty much any kid can understand the instruction "you’re back defense, stay behind the front defense". This is a much easier to teach and understand. Here’s what I teach the kids. The front defense (layer #3) is responsible for not letting the ball get past the fifty-yard line. They are supposed to "hang out" on the 50 waiting for the ball. If the ball is on the left side of the field, they are to be on the left side of the field. I tell the defense that if they draw a line between the ball and our goal, they should be on that line. The back defense (layer #4) is to stay behind the front defense about fifteen yards, waiting to see if the ball gets past the front defender. If it does, the rear defense immediately closes on the ball to try to steal the ball. At this point, the beaten front defender runs around behind the pile, between the ball and the goal, and waits to see if the ball gets past the other defender. The whole concept is based on the idea of "layers of defense." If two defenders try for the ball at the same time and fail, the ball ends up past both of them. By using layers, the defense is more likely to delay the ball’s advance so that the rest of the team has a chance to come back help out. The side by side defense seems to be much more vulnerable to a "fast break". Often if you get past one defender, the goalie is all that stands between the ball and the goal. In higher levels of play, when a team has fewer weak players, side by side makes a lot of sense, but at this level of competition, a front / back formation woks best. Out of six U-10 coaches, only two, Tim Thomas (very good coach and great with the kids) and myself use the front / back formation. The other four coaches use the side by side formation. At the time of this writing, after the eight game fall season, Tim’s team has given up only 6 points and my team has given up 3. The number of points given up by the other four teams was 22,22,29,and 31. Is this a coincidence? (naaaa)
Not to brag, but… In the fall season of my first year at coaching U-8, we lost over half of our games. In the spring after implementing the flying "Y" and the front/back defense, my team only one game. My second year coaching U-8, my team only lost one game in both spring and fall seasons combined. In my first fall season on coaching U-10, my team is undefeated.
Besides the formation, these are the other keys to winning games
1. Distribute your strongest (and weakest) players as evenly as possible between offence and defense. If you look over and see your three best players on the sidelines at the same time, you know you’re in trouble.
2. Remind (read – yell from sidelines) the midfielder to stay out of the pile and behind the ball.
3. Remind the wings to get to "far bar" when the other wing or midfielder has the ball.
4. Keep your strongest player either in front defense or midfield for the first quarter. Coaches usually stack their offence the first quarter.
5. Train your kids to be aggressive! Did you know it’s legal for a soccer player to push with their shoulders? Not only is it legal, it’s a huge advantage. I’ve been told that this technique is very highly regarded with the people who select the travel teams.
6. Remind all your kids to "stay out of the pile." Kids seemed to get sucked into the battle unless they’re constantly reminded.
I would like to close by apologizing for the poor grammar and the kooky ideas. If you're a coach and you want to learn more about coaching soccer, here are lots of great soccer resources out there. As a matter of fact, PTSA is working on creating it’s own library of books and videos for it’s aspiring new coaches. If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions regarding any aspect of coaching in Peters Township, feel free to contact me. There are many passionate individuals dying for the chance to converse with any one interested in soccer coaching. Contact me and I’ll put you in touch with them. If you would like to contribute any articles to this collection in the coaching section of the PTSA web page, please contact me and I’ll get your material up on the web.
Remember, the fastest way to improve the quality of soccer here in Peters Township, is to improve the quality of it’s coaching staff. The way to improve the coaching stall is through education and the free exchange of related ideas.