Serie A 2009/2010 Preview

Lega Calcio Serie A, the highest soccer competition in Italy will begin this week. Twenty clubs will compete to win the scudetto serie A. Which team will be the best in Italy at the end of the sesaon?? Here is my preview about the contenders.
INTERNAZIONALE MILAN
Inter will be the most serious contender this season. They have won the scudetto for times in a row. Their President, Massimo Moratti, already declare that he wants the fifth consecutive Serie A title. To make his ambition into reality, Massimo Moratti strengthen Inter with new classy players. Lucio is ready to help Julio Cesar defending Inter's goal. Samuel Eto'o and Diego Milito will replace Zlatan Ibrahimovic to score goals. Unfortunately, Inter begin this season with a bad start. Loosing to Lazio, they failed to take Italian Super Cup to Giuseppe Meazza. It will be good evaluation matter to The Special One Jose Mourinho. But still, Inter will be the number one contender.
JUVENTUS
The sleeping giant is starting to wake up. After the calciopoli scandal, they return to Serie A but never became champion again. And this season can be the right time to rise again. They have Chiro Ferarra as their head coach. Ferarra was the reliable defender for Juventus in the Marcelo Lippi era. And he also have become Lippi's assistant manager. So, it will be possible that he will be the successor of Juventus glory after Marcelo Lippi. Juventus have landed Diego Ribas da Cunha from Werder Bremen. He is a great playmaker. A playmaker is one of the most important condition to be fulfilled by Serie A clubs to win the Serie A title. And Juventus usually become a great team when they have a great playmaker. Michel Platini, Zinadin Zidane, and Pavel Nedved are the latest playmakers who brought glory to Juventus.
AS ROMA
AS Roma will be chasing Inter and Juve from behind. But it will be not easy for them to win the title. Francesco Totti is not young anymore and sometime has problem with injuries. Aquilani has move to Liverpool. But they have loan Burdisso from Inter to make their defense stronger. Daniele de Rossi will be relied to lead the Rome troops.
AC MILAN
Milan is in the mess this season. They lost at least three central figures of their glorious era. They are Carlo Ancelotti (former head coach), Ricardo Kaka' (former playmaker), and Paolo Maldini (former captain). They also have financial problem to be solved. Leonardo who replace Carlo Ancelotti is not experienced yet. Ronaldinho who will replace Kaka' as playmaker was not in a good performance in last few seasons. And they also need to find Maldini's successor. But there always be a hope. They still have Alexandre Pato and Klas Jan Huntelaar. Those two will be the key of Milan's attack. Pato is a very talented player. Ancelotti really wants to have him in his Chelsea squad. Huntelaar will be very motivated to be the next Marco van Basten. Milan usually very lucky if they have Holland player in their squad.

Heading Drill: Throw, Head, Catch

By David Clarke

When you’ve been coaching headers with Tony Carr’s session you need to put it into a game situation. Here’s one that gives your players more opportunity to attack with their headers but at the same time keeps the session simple so they concentrate on their position and technique.

Remember that heading a thrown ball is easier than heading a kicked one, but it is harder to get power behind a thrown ball, so they will have to use good technique to make it work for them.

Set up a 30 yard x 20 yard pitch with two goals. This is ideal for two teams of four.

Both teams put a player in goal when defending but have all players out on the pitch when attacking.

Both teams attempt to score using attacking headers but can only move the ball by using the following sequence:

• The first player throws the ball to a second teammate who heads it to a third teammate who catches the ball.

• Once thrown the other team can win the ball back by ‘out-heading’ their opponents, or intercepting the ball with their hands in the ‘catching’ phase.

Heading for Goal

By Tony Carr

Ultimately, soccer is all about scoring goals and by improving your team’s attacking heading ability you will boost their chances of finding the back of the net more often.

When you first start to get your players crossing the ball into attacking areas of the pitch you add an extra attacking option. The header.

It takes a lot of practice to get used to heading a ball especially for young attackers when they need to react quickly to a ball at head height.

During this session ideally you want to see your players:

• Move into ball’s line of flight.

• Take off on one foot, land on both.

• Use their arms for elevation.

• At the highest point of their jump, head the top half of the ball to direct it downwards.

• Aim for the corners of the goal.

It's a lot for them to think about but take it slowly and it will eventually fall into place. So you need some simple practice sessions to get them used to doing it.

Set up some square grids with each side equivalent to the width of a goal.

You need four players in each group.

Use at least two balls per group. Two players, acting as servers, stand at opposite sides.

A third player, a passive goalkeeper, stands on one of the other sides facing into the grid.

The servers take it in turns to throw a ball slightly ahead of the remaining player inside the grid, who heads towards goal.

Switch positions so everyone has a go at heading, serving and goalkeeping.

You can then advance the session by playing this game:

1. Split the four players into two teams, with each player standing on a side of the square next to their team mate.

2. A player from team ‘A’ throws the ball slightly ahead of their teammate who runs forward and tries to head it past the opponent acting as a goalkeeper.

3. Repeat so all players have a turn each. The teams must alternate turns.

4. As the players become accustomed to the ball coming from one side, make teammates swap positions and vary the angle and height of service.

Tony Carr is the Academy Director of West Ham United in the English Premier League and the editor of the Smart Sessions soccer coaching plans - they come in advanced and core versions. You can get these sessions dropping into your inbox every week by clicking here.

Goalkeeping Turn Catching Progression Drill

Drill Setup: A small goal is made out of coned 6 yards wide. Two servers are on both sides of the goal 8 yards from the center. Goalkeeper starts in between the two cones Goalkeeper and Server: Keeper receives shot/pass from one server, then immediately turns 180° to receive shot/pass from the other server. After each progress the goalkeeper should rest and stretch Progression: Balls played one touch to feet Ball played low to midrange for basket catch Volley to hands head height One server volleys to hands, other server ball on ground collapse dive either direction One server volleys to hands, other server mid range dive either direction One round free to serve any height and direction source: http://askthegoalkeeper.com

Shooting with Both Feet

By Tony Carr

The ability to shoot across the goal using both feet gives your attackers the edge when they are in good positions, especially if they are confident using their weaker foot.

Examine your players’ shooting technique.

Are they simply toe-punting it with their weaker foot?

Encourage them to use proper technique, even if it feels uncomfortable to them at first.

Also make sure that they are aiming for the opposite corner of the goal, and shooting across it rather straight down the middle. Once they get a few on target, their confidence will soon grow.

Shot 1 – get your players to dribble down the channel to the left of the pitch and shoot with the left foot, aiming for the area on the opposite side of the goal not protected by cones.

Shot 2 – the players now dribble down the channel in the centre of the pitch and shoot with the right foot, again aiming across the goal to the area not protected by cones.

Shot 3 – dribble towards the goal and choose a corner to aim at. Show a disguise.

Tony Carr is the Academy Director of West Ham United in the English Premier League and the editor of the Smart Sessions soccer coaching plans - they come in advanced and core versions. You can get these sessions dropping into your inbox every week by clicking here.

Six Soccer Sins

By David Clarke

1.Stopping the ball standing still

Players that trap balls standing still are easy to target by the opposition.

2.Goalkeeper staying on the line

Goalkeepers must advance towards the ball as attackers close in.

3. Standing waiting for the pass

Players must move to the ball, not wait for it.

4. Arguing with the referee

Those days are gone. Show that as a club you respect officials.

5. Lifting your feet at throw ins

It’s a technique all players should be able to get right.

6. Arguing with the crowd like David Beckham

Just ignore it. We don’t want children seeing any silly antics on the pitch – come on Becks you're paid well enough not to do that.
Click here to read my blog and add a sin yourself, and you can see a clip of David Beckham arguing with the fans at LA Galaxy.

EPL 2009/2010: Who Will Be The Champ?

English Premier League season 2009/2010 will get started this week. All participated clubs have made their preparations, included the giant clubs. Building their squad by bring in new manager or new players. Friendly matches has been arranged to find the best formation, line up and strategy. And who will be the winner at the end of the season?

Looks like the winner will not be far away from the big four: Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, and Manchester United. Chelsea will be the strongest contender. Although the squad is not changing much yet, Carlo Ancelotti, their new manager, bring new exciting atmosphere to the blues squad. He is a manager with great strategies and great experience in winning league and European title. They already made a great start by winning the Charity Shield. They also made great performances in their pre season matches.

Manchester United will be the Next strong contender. Although loosing Cristiano Ronaldo who was their main Actor of their glory for the last two seasons, Manchester United will still be a strong team. Wayne Rooney, Dimitar Berbatov, Michael Carrick and Rio Ferdinand are still reliable for the starting line up. Luis Nani’s performance is getting better and better. Alex Ferguson also has brought new faces to the Theatre of Dreams. Antonio Valencia was transferred from Wigan to fill the position which was left by Cristiano Ronaldo. Michael Owen was signed on a free transfer to replace Carlitos Tevez who moved to Manchester City. Maybe those players are not as good as Cristiano Ronaldo, but Sir Alex Ferguson will be the main actor this season. He is a great manager with various unpredictable strategies in his head to optimize his players to grab victory.

We should not forget Liverpool. They haven’t won the EPL title for more than two decades. The amount of their EPL trophy has been leveled by Manchester United. This could be an additional motivation. But it will not be easy for The Reds to win the title. They depend on Steven Gerard and Fernando Torres is too much. The Reds difficult to maintain their winning streak if those two players are not playing. Plus, they lost Xabi Alonso who moved to Real Madrid. While Alberto Aquilani, as the replacement of Xabi Alonso, needs to adapt with EPL playing style. Rafael Benitez really needs to think hard to solve those problems.

The last but not least is Arsenal. The Gunners still loved to sold their star players. They sold Emmanuel Adebayor and Kolo Toure to Manchester City. To replace Toure, Wenger bought Thomas Vermaelen from Ajax. And for the front line, he trusted it to Robin van Persie, Eduardo da Silva, Niclas Bendtner, and Carlos Vela. Arsene Wenger will rely on those young guns to fill Arsenal’s starting line up this season. This is not good. Without senior players on the field, it will be difficult for them perform consistently. But the main problem is on the midfields. Fabregas maybe will move to Barcelona after Arsenal’s management flattered by Barcelona’s offer worth 50 million pounds. Samir Nasri is not mature yet, and Tomas Rosicky is injured and will not be able to play for couple weeks. Wenger will rely on Arshavin to lead the midfieldMaybe it will be suitable for Arsenal to set their target to be at the big four at the end of the season.

Daniel Jarque Passed Away

By Syamhudi Ari Winarto

Another soccer player died. This time Daniel Jarque who was Espanyol captain passed away. The twenty six year old Spanish defender was founded dying in his room at Coviciana Hotel Italy. Although the Ambulance came a few minutes later, his life could not be saved. He died because of a heart attack.

Before Jarque, Marc Vivian Foe (Cameroon midfielder) was also died for the same reason. He died when he performed for his country in Confederation Cup 2001 semi final match. Cameroon won the match and through to the final. But Cameroon lost to France in the final match. Adios Amigos, the world will not forget you…

Charity Shield

Chelsea Won the Community Shield on Penalty

By Syamhudi Ari Winarto

Chelsea and Manchester United meet in New Wembley Stadium yesterday. Chelsea who won the FA Cup challenged the EPL Champions Manchester United for the Community Shield. It was the opening match before the English Premier League season 2009/20010 begun this week.

The match was really interesting. Luis Nani opened the score line in the 10th minutes of the first half match. The Manchester United left winger dribbled the ball from the left side. He cut inside before released a long shot which could not be reached by Petr Cech. The score changed 1-0 for MU.

At the second half, Daniel Carvalho made the score even 1-1 for Chelsea. His effort from diving header following the rebound found the back of the net. After that Frank Lampard drove Chelsea forward. He optimized the cross from the left side and put the ball into the net with his shot. But Wayne Rooney made the score leveled again just a few second before the end of the second half.

The match continued on penalty shoot out. Chelsea got the first turn. Lampard made Chelsea on the lead. Giggs failed to fulfill his duty. His penalty was denied by Cech’s feet. Ballack made the score 2-0 for Chelsea. Then Carrick made it 2-1. Chelsea’s third kicker, Didier Drogba, keep the lead 3-1. Petr Cech showed his class by perfectly stop Evra’s penalty. The score was not change. Deco moved forward to take the penalty. But the referee sent him back because it’s not his turn yet. Then Kalou moved. He took the penalty brilliantly and drove Chelsea won the Community shield by score 6-2.

This was a great start for Carlo Ancelotti as Chelsea new Manager. He made a nice debut by winning the Commnity Shield. This success will boost the confidence of the Chelsea squad to face the EPL. While for Manchester United, this was the second failure in the New Wembley Stadium. Man United was also lost to Everton in the FA Cup Semi Final 2008/2009. This result would be a good evaluation for Sir Alex Ferguson before his squad faces the league.

Super Copa Italia Up Date

Lazio Defeated Inter in Beijing

by Syamhudi Ari Winarto

Lazio fortunate to beat Internazionale 2-1 in Super Copa Italia match. Matuzalem open the score line. He manage to hit the rebound from free kick deflectio . Julio Cesar was able to made a save but the ball came to Matuzalem's face and went in to the net...

Inter try to attack and create few chances..Samuel Eto'o's missed the chance to made the score even. He cut the back pas to Lazio's goal keeper and passed him. But his shot was wide. Luck is not smiling to him..

The Second goal was created by Tomasso Rocchi...Recieving the long range pas from the back line, he manage to make a curling lob shot to defeated Julio Cesar...Then Samuel Eto'o finally scored. His effort to dribble the ball through the Lazio's defender finished by his volley shot.
But, Inter could not make the score even until the final whistle...The final score is 2-1 for Lazio, and Lazio won the Trophy.

Transfer Window

Xabi Alonso, The Last Piece of Los Galacticos Puzzle

By Syamhudi Ari Winarto

Xabi Alonso finally moves to Santiago Bernabeu. After spending 5 seasons in Anfield Stadium playing for Liverpool, he decided to go back home to Spain. He is the fifth player who brought in to El Real this summer. Kaka’, C. Ronaldo, Karim Benzema, and Raul Albiol had arrived before him.
Real Madrid is very pleased to have him in their team this season. His present will bring more balance for the team in the match. As a defensive midfielder, Xabi is very good both to help the defense and to build the offensive move. His high intelligence on the field makes him able to read and cut the opponent attacking movements. It also makes him able to create chances to score goals.
Since the departure of Claude Makalele to Chelsea few years ago, it was difficult for El Real to find a good defensive midfielder. David Beckham, Fernando Gago, Mahamadou Diarra and Lassana Diarra are few players who tried to perform as defensive midfielder for them. And the results were not satisfying. And Xabi Alonso will carry out the duty for Madrid this season. Will he succeed? Let’s find out at the end of the season 2009/2010.

How to become a Faster, Stronger Soccer Player

3 Exercises That Make You a Faster, Stronger Soccer Player

By Jay Bajramovic

Two of the biggest factors in making a good soccer player are speed and strength. In addition to practicing skills with controlling the ball, passing, and shooting, a player must work on conditioning, speed and strength in order to compete with the best on the soccer field.

These following three exercises are a great start to adding to a soccer player's lower body strength in addition to working on agility and speed.

1. Squats - Squats are a vital exercise in adding to a soccer player's lower body strength and size of thighs. A player should keep his or her feet shoulder width apart, and pretend they are sitting down on a chair while putting their hands behind their head. Players should perform between ten and twelve squats and can work up to two sets for optimal results.

2. Sprints - Sprints are one of the most old school but effective speed exercises in the books. Players should do anywhere between eight and twelve sprints for about fifty yards after every practice. This helps build both speed and endurance for game situations. The more sprints a player does over time, the more used to running their body's muscles will become, and in turn, the more effective they will be.

3. Pogo Jumps - Pogo jumps will increase leg strength and jumping ability of an aspiring soccer player. In order to perform pogo jumps, a player's feet should be shoulder width apart with their arms at a 90 degree angle. Players should then excel themselves upwards and bend their knees to catch the landing. Repeat the process about 15 times very quickly and do this exercise for two or three sets.

Do these exercise and you will become a stronger, faster soccer player.

Dear soccer player, get the latest Football news, scores, stats, latest soccer results/transfers and features from the world's leading soccer teams.

Read more at the International Soccer blog.

For great deals on soccer jerseys and kits check out our Soccer Clothing sale.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jay_Bajramovic

How to become more Explosive Soccer Players

Explosive Change of Direction For Soccer Players

By Gary Christopher

In order to change direction quickly and explosively, a soccer player must learn how to stop properly, effectively and safely. The most dangerous soccer player on the field isn't always the fastest one, but the one one that can stop the fastest and then explode in a new direction.

There are several things to consider and do in order to achieve this success. In order for a soccer player to stop quickly, as a player approaches the spot where they need/want to stop, they will want to take smaller steps and start to drop their hips. By doing this, they are effectively lowering their center of gravity. By lowering their center of gravity, this will allow them to (stop, pause or slow down) explode in a new direction quickly.

To effectively stop however, a soccer player should step into that stopped position rather than jumping into it with both feet. When they come to a stop, their feet should be pointed forward and they should be in an athletic stance. (Athletic stance is their feet are about shoulder width apart). They will want their heels slightly off the ground (allow a piece of paper to go between their heel and the ground) and they are balanced on the front part of the feet ready to explode in a new direction. One important consideration here is to not allow the knee to fly past or be in front of their toes. This puts too much stress on the knee. Soccer players have a higher incidence of knee injury than other sports because of the constant cutting and changing direction. Learning the proper mechanics of direction change will help to mitigate the chance of a soccer player suffering a serious knee injury.

The best way for a soccer player to check to make sure they are in a proper position of deceleration or athletic stance is to once they stop properly, they will stand up nice and tall, go up on their toes and pivot to one side. Then have them drop to their knees. Their one knee should be right in the middle of their other foot. If it is off, they should fix it so that it is correct and then keep their toes where they are, they stand back up, turn to face forward again and then bend their knees and drop their hips....putting them right back into their proper deceleration position.

So to summarize, as a soccer player approaches where they want to stop, take smaller steps, start to bend their knees and drop their hips and stop by stepping into an athletic stance (deceleration position)with them balanced on the front part of their feet.

If a soccer player works on this efficient and safe stopping technique and then works on their next explosive first step in a new direction, they too will become a dangerous player on the soccer field.

Soccer coaches should look to incorporate this change of direction technique into as many of their functional training sessions as possible. Getting soccer players to change direction quickly and powerfully will give them more time and space with the ball allowing them to become even more creative and dangerous on the soccer field!

Have great day!

Gary Christopher
http://www.soccerandspeedcoach.com

To get free weekly insider coaching tips delivered right to your inbox, go to my website, http://www.soccerandspeedcoach.com and register. Every week I'll send you, players and coaches reports and insights on developing soccer skills and speed skills, along with some great audio interviews you can download for free.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Gary_Christopher

How to Improve young Midfielder

The importance of space for midfielders

By David Clarke

When young midfielders have the ball they should be thinking about moving into any space they can find on the pitch. There will always be somewhere to go if players are constantly aware of where their opponents are.

You should be encouraging your players to run into space, rather than always passing first time. In youth games you will see lots of occasions where the opposition midfield sits back and lets your midfielders run at them, rather than close them down. In U9 matches I have also seen players just standing there, watching the opposition with the ball - it is vital your players can see what is going on and take advantage.

Players should also be listening out for shouts from team mates to let them know where they are, so when the space opens up they can surge into it, then pass in the right direction.

In the session below from Tony Carr you can see how to advance your players use of space by turning with the ball into the space around them. When players have time and space it is far easier to pass or shoot accurately.

How to make The winning difference

Control the ball into space away from pressure

By Tony Carr

Controlling the ball quickly, away from defenders and into space will give players more time to assess their options and execute their next technique, whether that is a shot, pass or dribble.

• It improves the ability to keep possession.

• Creates more possession time.

• Increases the team's speed of play.

In this session players need to think about:

• Where your opponents and team-mates are.

• Body position - half-turned in the direction they want to control the ball.

• Ball travels across body to the back foot.

• Contact the ball’s horizontal mid-line or above.

• Cushion the ball to play it again without having to chase or reach for it.

How to play it

• You need a ball and four players in a 10 x 10 yard area.

• 2 players stand one behind the other on one side of the square, with the other 2 players lined-up opposite.

• The first player passes the ball across the square, where the player receiving controls it – using the inside, or arch, of the foot – and passes it back, ideally with their second touch.

• Once a player from either side has played a pass, they turn behind the second player in line, who repeats the drill.

• Keep the ball moving.

• Use the right foot to control to the right, and the left to control to the left.

• Stress the importance of good passing.

Tony Carr is the Academy Director of West Ham United in the English Premier League and the editor of the Smart Sessions soccer coaching plans - they come in advanced and core versions. You can get these sessions dropping into your inbox every week by clicking here.

How to Choose Soccer Shoes

How to Choose Soccer Shoes

By Sammy Winarto

Soccer shoes are one of the main equipment of soccer sport. They makes you run on grass field or kick the ball easier. They also gives protection to your feet from injuries.

There are many soccer apparel companies whose provide soccer shoes, such as Adidas, Lotto, Nike, Puma and Reebok. But if you are wrong in choosing them, you might not be able to get the best support from them during your soccer match. You cannot play your best, or worse, you will get injured. So, you should choose carefully. Here are several tips to choose your best soccer shoes.

1. Comfort is the most important factor in choosing soccer shoes. Wear them on your feet. And do some moves like walking, running, passing, and shooting if it is possible. Or just move your ankles to various directions. Make sure you are not feeling hurt on your feet or ankles when you do the moves wearing them.
2. Choose the right size. Don’t wear to loose or too tight soccer shoes. Try all possible sizes. If you usually wear size number 7, you should also try at least size number 6 and size number 8. Don’t forget to count the thickness of your soccer socks. Make sure they fit well on your feet.
3. Number of spikes. If you are playing on a thick grass field, you may choose soccer shoes with less number spikes (e.g. six spikes). But if you are playing on a hard field with less grass or ground field, it will be better if you wear soccer shoes with more spikes (e.g. ten or twelve spikes).
4. Flexibility. Bend the soccer shoes to know how flexible they are. But be careful, don’t bend them to hard. Or you will break them and you will have to pay for it....
5. Check the sewing. Pull all the sewing to make sure they are strong enough and not break up easily.
6. Easy to wash or clean. Ask the store assistant how to clean those soccer shoes
7. Choose your favorite color. Wearing soccer shoes with your favorite color makes you more confident and happy...
8. The last, make sure your money is enough to buy those shoes.

How to defend better

A sweeper can shore up a shaky defence

By David Clarke

Giving your players a chance to play a sweeper role gets them running all over the pitch and helping them to learn how support play can stop opposition attacks.

A sweeper basically covers the defence. At 11-a-side they will be covering the back four, at 7-a-side they will be covering a back two. It means you have extra cover in defence - since they are not burdened by any specific marking assignments the sweeper can go wherever they are needed.

You really want a fast player who can read the game, tackle and pass over long distances. But when you practice this get all your players to try the position because you are developing their soccer brains by getting them to make decisions and organise the team all over the pitch;

• Who do they support?

• Which players are most vulnerable and need help?

• Is the space left behind the defenders covered?

• Who is covering when defenders join the attack?

Make a game of it

Play a game where four attackers are running at four defenders with a sweeper behind them. The sweeper can start in a central position behind the defense, but from there he might chase after a through ball or sprint wide to cover a defender and create a 2v1 situation.

Change the number of attackers and defenders to suit your players - so, if the attackers are struggling to get through to the sweeper, take out a defender. If the defence is struggling take out an attacker.

Let each sweeper cover 4 plays then change them.

If you found this helped your defenders cope better with powerful attacks you can get more tips like this by trying Soccer Coach Weekly for just $1 for 8 weeks.

How To Make The winning difference

Coach your players ice hockey style

By Michael Beale

Using different pitch set ups can help make your coaching easier. You can get the pitch to do the hard work while you watch and talk to your players about how they are performing.

In this case using an ice hockey set up - where the players can run behind the goal - changes the angles players are trying to use to score goals and changes the build up play because players will use the sides to get the ball around the back of the goal.

Set up a 30 x 20 yards pitch with two goals made from cones at either end about 5 yards in from the back line at each end. Use two goalkeepers because this is also a good work out to get your goalkeeper to have 'eyes in the back of their head' as they have to defend their goal from both sides.

The only rule other than normal is that the players can score from in front of or behind the goal.

Play for a set time of five or ten minutes each way depending on the age of your players and how tired they are.

Small-sided games are recommended as one of the best ways to coach your players soccer skills. 64 Small-Sided Soccer Games has all you need to run successful coaching sessions based on this system.

How To Become Soccer Super Player Like Ronaldo, Messi adn Kaka'and

A simple way to start your players juggling with the ball

By David Clarke

Getting young players to juggle with the ball is a great way of getting them used to just kicking and controlling the ball and gives them a headstart when they practice drills and exercises that involve ball control.

Showing them a simple way to juggle and how they start off doing it will help them to develop as players. When they watch players like Ronaldo, Messi and Kaka tell them they started off by juggling the ball on their own, and if they want to be players like them they must do it also.

On my blog is a video which shows a simple way to get your players to start juggling the ball, and a video of Billy Wingrove's freestyle skills to show your players what they are aiming for!

How To Improve Soccer Technique

Learning to control height and pace of volleys

By Tony Carr

This is one of things that if you get right puts the frighteners on your opponents before the game has even kicked off. It is also a lot of fun for your players, seeing if they can put a few volleys together keeping the ball off the floor.

I don't expect you to create ball jugglers straight away! Volleying the ball is hard without expecting players to be able to volley to each other consistently so they can pass it around in the air. But they can practise and if they practise enough they will be able to keep the ball going long enough to get a real kick out of it.

The key to this is to get them to start off slowly just volleying and catching and eventually build up to seeing how long they can keep the ball in the air between them.

Your players will be able to experiment using different parts of their feet to see how it effects the height and pace of the volley.

• Around a 10 x 10 yard grid stand 4 players, the practise begins with the players passing the ball around the grid in the air by throwing up gently to serve themselves and pass with a volley.

• They should use a variety of volleying techniques, predominantly the inside of the foot and the laces of the boot.

• The ball is always played in the air.

• Players should start by staying in their positions, only moving to get misplaced passes, then they can advance to moving around the grid and varying the height and angle of the pass.

Development

1. Players now throw to a partner who volleys the ball for the next pass, the receiver catches and throws another serve; each player taking opportunities to serve and volley.

2. If the volley pass can be volleyed again, or controlled in the air before volleying, without losing quality then there is no need to catch and throw.

3. Eventually see how long the players can keep the ball up in the air using only headers and volleys.

Tony Carr is the Academy Director of West Ham United in the English Premier League.

Fitness, The Main Factor to Play Good Soccer

Are your players ready to sprint at any time in a match not just at the start?

By David Clarke

Fitness is a strange beast. As one coach said to me the other night "why should I waste my training time on fitness? If they're not fit I won't play them!"

Is he right? Is it more important to work on technique, skills and tactics on training night and let the fitness take care of itself?

I have thought about this question a lot since I started coaching. The problem is if your players are not fit enough it can be difficult to tell on training night but easy to see in a match. How often will you have a great first half but get pegged back in the second and wonder why your players are no longer sprinting down the wing or getting on the end of through balls?

If they are not fit then technique and tactics go out of the window as they try to survive the rest of the game. So, the answer to the main question is you do need your players to be fit but you can waste time if you don't target your fitness properly.

In my publication Soccer Coach Weekly subscribers get five minute fitness tips which are ideal for training night and you can run them while you are setting up exercises or small-sided games. In other words you are adding to your training night rather than wasting time.

This is a longer session and one I tend to use once a month because you are specifically working on endurance/stamina during matches, so that if your attacker is put through against a defender in the last minute they will still have the fitness to sprint onto the ball and get a shot away.

Alternating jogging and sprinting

If you set up a course like the top one in the diagram you can get your players using alternate sprints and jogs to practise match-like situations. The sequence will be sprint, jog, sprint, jog.

• Tell your players to run the course alternating between top speed sprinting and slow jogging.

• One complete circle counts as a single repetition.

• Adjust the distance between points in relation to the age of your players and repeat 5 times.

Use the second diagram for sprints.

Tell your players to sprint from 1 to 6 and then back to 1.

• Rest at each point the given amount of time. You can alter the times players wait at each point if they are finding the going tough.

• Repeat 3 times and build up over the weeks. Don’t let your players exhaust themselves.

These exercises are designed to get your players fit quickly. Make it more fun by getting team-mates to shout out the number of seconds the runner has to wait.

Make a Difference

To make difference, Get your players to push harder at key moments in games

By David Clarke

Ask any soccer fan and they will remember early goals, late goals, and goals straight after your team has just scored.There is something about timing in soccer matches that not only means you score a goal but also a psychological blow to your opponents.

But it isn’t just the final minutes that teams should be looking to win games in, there are a lot of important times in matches that you need to make a note of and be prepared for when you take your team out onto the pitch.

Attack straight from kick-off

When the match kicks off you need to tell your players to be first to the ball and get it forward into attacking positions. If you start by kicking off make sure you have prepared them by practising kick-offs so know what they are doing. How many times do you see teams give the ball away straight from kick off?

The last five minutes of the first half

The last five minutes in the first half is your cue to tell your players to turn up the heat on the opposition. Scoring just before half time is a big blow to the opposition. It would be a big blow to your team if you let a late goal in.

The first five minutes of the second half

The start of the second half is key because often a team has been sitting around while the coach lectures them for the whole of half time and they come out to play without stretching and are not quite fully focused. You can create a lot of chances if you make sure your half time talk is structured and you give them five minutes to run around and get ready to play the game.

Immediately after the opposition has scored

One of the other key times is just after scoring. Your players' heads will go down if they let a goal in but if you tell them this is the time to strike back they can take advantage of the situation. Teams think they are in control when they score - make sure your players are aware of this just after they have scored as well.

The last five minutes of the match

When you get to the last five minutes it is often the team that is the fittest that can take advantage. If you follow my fitness exercises below your players will be ready to take advantage of the teams that are tired in the final part of the game.