The Football Coaching Thread

[YoungWolf]

He's in my year (and seminar group for a current unit) on my course at university.

It's a very good achievement but it's quite funny because in our coaching units he has actually been far from the best in terms of grades. He is a bit arrogant when he coaches with us and he's not as good as he thinks he is. Spends most of sessions showing everyone how much 'he knows. Needs to drop his ego I suppose. He's known as Mourinho on our course but not because of his knowledge but because people find him quite annoying.

Intelligent lad (academic wise) I think and he does go to games across the country I do know, so fair play. I'd be interested to see how the B and A license differ in those countries (he did them in Norway and Bosnia) as I know they vary in terms of ratio of theoryractical and in terms of assessment too. I think a lot of people find the courses in England difficult to get on to, and then difficult to pass. Fortunately the B license changes next August here - just in time for me to apply...

 

[YoungWolf]

Rather interestingly, he's now a video scout at Wolves (whilst studying in Southampton). That is alongside a couple of other lads at my uni. I had the chance to apply but sadly would not have had time to take on another job!

 

[Lord Knows]

Alexis Sanchez reveals what he learned from Pedro, Iniesta, Messi & Xavi.

“At Barcelona I learned how to play football all over again. From Iniesta I learned how to accelerate, from Xavi how to move, from Leo [Messi] to think ahead, and from Pedro I learned how to shoot," commented the Chilean, who feels he matured 80 percent after the 2010 World Cup.

Hélder Costa “ At Wolves from Dave Edwards and Conor Coady, I learned how to stand, watch and not expect a pass."

http://www.sport-english.com/en/new...learned-from-pedro-iniesta-messi-xavi-5674206

 

[YoungWolf]

5 wins in 6 leaves my under eighteens top at christmas! Boys have been working hard and showed great commitment to train twice a week which has seen our results (and performances) improve!

The coaches I do come across really are a joke. Last week the opposition manager came on the pitch, pushed one of my players, called another a dickhead, spent the whole game swearing. This week the coaches were quite friendly to me but just spent the whole game bemoaning the referee (we won 5-1). The ref rightly sent one of their players off, which set them off with their moaning. This transferred to their players who were just kicking my team off the pitch anyway really. Blamed his 'inconsistency' at the end of the game, whereas really we are just better than them. They actually pushed us for large periods of the game, so they should just focus on the positives and learn from it. But they won't.

 

[Lord Knows]

Just to follow on from the Neil Collins blog, here's a good piece by an ex player who now coaches at Nottm Forest.

https://uk.sports.yahoo.com/news/jack-lester-111330020.html

 

[Lord Knows]

He was still going over it, endlessly, when he heard a knock at the door. “Come in.”

“Hello, míster.”

A small figure poked his head around the door, and spoke calmly. “Don’t worry, míster. We’ll win it all. We’re on the right path. Carry on like this, OK? We’re playing brilliantly, we’re enjoying training. Please, don’t change anything,” said Andrés Iniesta.

Guardiola couldn’t believe it.

The request was short, but heartfelt, deep. It caught Guardiola off guard, barely able even to respond. If it was a surprise that anyone should seek him out to say that, it was even more of a surprise that it was Iniesta, usually the silent man. It came as a shock, even more so when Iniesta closed by saying: “¡Vamos de puta madre!”

“De puta madre,” roughly translated as, “We’re in fucking great shape, we’re playing bloody brilliantly.”

“This year we’re going to steamroller them all,” he added.

And then he closed the door and left.

That’s Andrés. He doesn’t say much, only what he really has to. It’s like scoring goals: he doesn’t score often, either. But when it’s needed, there he is.

https://www.theguardian.com/footbal...andres-iniesta-barcelona-tactics-book-extract

 

[Lord Knows]

One Premier League midfielder approached his manager before a key game to ask whether he and his teammate in the middle of the park were supposed to press the opposition or sit deep to protect the back four. “You’ll sort it out on the pitch”, he was told. Unsurprisingly, his team were relegated. Maybe they could have been saved if the manager’s ineptitude had been more widely known, which could have spurred the board into making a change in good time. Even months later, the player in question would not go on the record about the rank incompetence he had witnessed on the training pitch because he felt the manager in question was a very likeable man.

https://www.redbulletin.com/int/en/sports/why-the-omerta-culture-has-kept-arsene-wenger-in-his-job

 

[YoungWolf]

Beyond just that bit, it's a really good article I think. We have a real closed minded culture in (English) football. We don't learn from our mistakes nor do people feel confident enough to take responsibility when there's a risk involved.

 

[Johnny75]

Beyond just that bit, it's a really good article I think. We have a real closed minded culture in (English) football. We don't learn from our mistakes nor do people feel confident enough to take responsibility when there's a risk involved.

You and I sing from the same hymn sheet here, but if football clubs keep employing ex-footballers that culture will keep rolling on. Seems utterly barmy to me that football rarely looks to other industries, not just sports, for ideas. Almost arrogant.

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

If you think about it logically - no disrespect but most footballers aren't the brightest. So why would you, in a blanket manner, entrust management positions to them? Some are going to be clever enough but most of them aren't.

I remember when Sheff Utd appointed Bryan Robson, that plank McCabe said more or less word for word "obviously Bryan was a fantastic player". Yeah, so what?

 

[Johnny75]

It's one of my biggest irritants in football.

 

[Tony Towner]

It's also the quickest rebuttal your average stupid pundit comes up with..."you've never played the game". Ray Parlour and Micky Quinn were 100 times the footballer I ever was, but I can assure you, I and pretty much anyone else on here can analyse the game better than they can.

 

[Deleted Cyber]

http://talksport.com/magazine/featu...-boas-arrigo-sacchi-carlos-alberto-parreira-a

There have been some good ones who didn't play!

 

[YoungWolf]

My under eighteens got promoted today!

We needed to win to secure the league title, ended up drawing 2-2 but it guaranteed a top two finish. Now the team in second have a game left that they need to win (against a team who also need to win, so it's going to be close!).

It's been a real eye opener working at this level and with this age group, but it has certainly developed my coaching ability. I'm the youngest manager by some distance!

 

[Lord Knows]

"I dream of a team where an outsider comes to watch us and can't understand the roles of the players." - Marcelo Bielsa.

In his heart Marcelo Bielsa wishes to be Paul Lambert.

 

[big mean bunny]

http://thesefootballtimes.co/2017/0...my-is-shaping-the-future-of-italian-football/

Really good read that I thought you might appreciate.

 

[YoungWolf]

I Was that the other day - really good article. I liked this quote

"“Praise players that are getting it right and give the kids the opportunity to look around and study the others before moving in to guide and walk them through it step-by-step.”

 

[big mean bunny]

Slightly off topic but did you see the stat everyone was bounding about during the UEFA cup final about how Ajax have spent less than £400 million since the 1940 something. Truly remarkable when you consider there dominance of the Dutch league, especially when seasons like this year where they finish 2nd or 3rd etc, it's usually just a few more points. They rarely get left behind.

It's articles like that, that prove why a sporting director and club ethos and all the other traits that a lot of English fans seem to rally against, are really important. A friend sent me that article because he asked me what I'd do if was made Director of Football of a club like Sunderland recently, as I am always moaning about how I hate other football fans at work. And I told him I'd begin implementing a plan where all the locals grassroots coaches can do their Level 1 and Level 2 for free, via the academy. I'd have that fully funded, teach a blueprint and drive up all standards in the area, also training at academy level would have a focus on inviting teams and coaches from around the league to come and be part of it or receive a similar experience to the academy teams. It's an idea based on what I read about the Japanese FA.

 

[YoungWolf]

When I visited Ajax in September, they said they had partnerships with over 40 clubs around them. They provided educational workshops, played friendlies with them, provided coaching and then also used it for their own benefit to find players and coaches. They are an incredible club to be honest though, I was there for two days and I would go again in a heartbeat.

 

[MARKakaJIM]

There was a decent article on the Sky Sports website the other week about Bilbao, the extra lengths they try and go to in order to squeeze the vest they can from their self imposed limited pool.