Soccer Coaching Question

[The Chandos]

I'm coaching U8 soccer this spring and we had our first games today (double header). My team looks good and controlled the ball probably 90% of the time but only scored one goal the entire day. Meanwhile, the other teams scored 10 goals on us (7 in the first game and 3 in the second). Basically, my players are doing great but when the other team eventually gets the ball they are just bulldozing the ball down the field with all of their players behind the ball. You know how these kids play at this age, they all swarm the ball, and although my players are getting in there and fighting for the ball, 5 on 1 or 5 on 2 is uneven odds and eventually the other team is just pushing it down into our goal. My question is whether I continue to reinforce the skills I've been teaching - ball control, passing, taking shots when the opportunity is there, protecting the ball, etc. - or let them do what comes naturally. They look great, honestly, but losing games isn't fun and I don't want to kill the spirit of soccer for them. Does anyone have any advice?

[Doc4]

Tough one.

It's great that you are teaching the kids "good skills" rather than rugby-scrum-soccer ... but 90% possession leading to 10% of the goals ... something isn't right. Sounds like they need to be learning more skills of putting the ball in the net once they have control (rather than just playing keep-away), and perhaps a new tactic to defend against the "scrum offence" would help. Maybe have them play a man-on-man defence, so that when the other team bunches up your team has numbers there too, and focus on having a few guys whose job it is to stay outside the scrum no matter what, and the others are trying to get them the ball.

[The Chandos]

Iknow, I know, I'm totally shocked, too. Don't get me wrong, we're talking 6-7 year olds and ball control is more like "ball control" but they hustled and protected the ball amazingly well - and kept the ball on the offensive side of the field almost the entire time. But you're right, and it's my dilemma, the ball only reached the net once.

I'd thought about a man-on-man, actually, but wasn't sure 6 year olds would get it. I even thought about a V-formation, just put five kids in a V and the sixth inside with the ball. But that's really getting into scrum territory. I think I'll try the man-on-man at the next practice and see how that goes. Thanks for the idea.

[SalvadorMontenegro]

As I've not watched the team, I can't tell you exactly what's wrong, but my theory is this:

Soccer is generally a low scoring game. Usually there is more than one goal scored, but very, very rarely does a team score 10 goals. I know we're talking children here, but, still, soccer is usually low scoring. My thought is that the problem is more defense than offense. More often a team wins a game by scoring one goal than loses when another team scores 10. Think about it: Even if your team scored 9 goals, a staggering number, they STILL would have lost. Doesn't really matter how long they have the ball for if they give up goals when the opposing team does get it.

I've not seen them, but, my thought is that maybe when the opposing team DOES get the ball, all of your guys rush the opposing player with the ball and he just passes it to a wide open, undefended teammate who has an open field to trot down. If that's the case, yeah, I would suggest the man on man tactic recommended by Doc. I think preventing the other team from scoring should be as much of the focus as scoring.

[The Chandos]

Thanks, SalvadorMontenegro, but we're talking 6 year olds and there's not a lot of passing. For the most part, players are just kicking the ball too hard. Although I say my kids are showing good ball control, they are effectively dribbling into and out of traffic but on occasion the ball gets kicked out of reach or is deflected off of someone else. There is very little communication and very little intentional passing.

Our problem is definitely defense, there's not doubt about that. Our offense is good at controlling and protecting the ball upfield, for sure. However, my guess is that perhaps there are too many players upfield and when the other team gets the ball they are already past my offense and on top of the defense - and outnumbered.

I do think a man-on-man approach will work and I'm wondering about my formation. I recall the other teams sending all players down the field when they had the ball, so it's essentially 6 vs 3 on our end - outnumbered - and the other team does not spread out, they just cluster around the ball. A mob like that is hard to penetrate much less extract the ball.

And frankly, let me confess that I have some real duds on the team - but everyone plays. Some of my players have absolutely no skills at all and would be better at golf or bowling - but I'm hoping everyone will improve by the end of the season, even the duds. I do want them to win some games, though. It's hard on their self-esteem if they lack skills AND they lose. It's nice to be on a winning team if you are a lousy player.

What are your thoughts (anyone) about formations. I was using a 3-2-G formation and keeping my fullbacks back behind the half-field line in case their offense should break but keeping them back didn't seem to help. Should I try a 2-3-G formation? or just cut them all loose in a man-on-man approach? or put the forwards on man-on-man only? Or what about a 2-1-2-G and putting a dedicated halfback in there? Problem is that I don't think these kids get positions yet. "Down the line" throw-ins are already difficult enough and that's about as basic as it gets.

Thanks again for any comments or suggestions.

[Ruston]

My soccer coaching experience is limited but here's what I've learned from coaching that age group. Everybody plays offense and everybody plays defense, no one get to watch if the ball is not near them. The only thing different from forward to defender is their relationship to the ball. In general, forwards are always at or above the ball, midfielders at or behind the ball and defenders always behind the ball (behind meaning between the ball and your goal). The whole team moves with the ball in these relationships. If there are large gaps between the levels (e.g. defenders to midfielders) it will create mismatches and make it easier for the 'scrum' to score.
If the other team is in a pack it should be easy, once you have control of the ball, to score because they are out of position. The key point to teach your kids is the ball always goes out (toward the sideline) before it goes up the field. Teaching them that when on defense, getting the ball out of the middle of the field is critical.
I would recommend a 2-1-2 spreading your skilled players vertically (i.e. defense to offense) as best you can.
It also sounds like your kids need to be a little more aggressive on defense. I've had single players get the ball away from a scrum because they were not afraid to fight for the ball. Do some one-on-one drills where they have to fight for possession of a ball placed between them. They will learn to be aggressive to the ball and use their bodies to shield the opponent. Even kids with no soccer skills can learn to be good defenders.
Coaching kids can be a real challenge. Teaching a couple of basic concepts (relationship to the ball, get the ball outside) and basic defensive and shooting skills is all you can really do. When I was teaching my kids about relationship to the ball I explained the concept and then ran around the field with the ball and coached their movements until they got the concept.
Always remember, coach the errors and praise, praise, praise every little thing they get right. The kids should have fun but they should also learn to play soccer. Running in a mob is not soccer and those kids will be behind when they get to the U11 ranks and start playing on a bigger field.

Good luck and enjoy your experience. Coaching can be frustrating but it can also be very rewarding.

[BingeAndPurge]

Participated in my daughter's practice last night (K girls) and had similar chats with the coaches on how to approach some of these issues. We were trying to get them into spreading out, passing, and fighting the ball through and getting away from the scrum mentality. Couldn't come up with an answer other than to keep working at it.

Chandos, I've seen coaches online strongly encourage teaching your best player to play sweeper to negate similar instances. I had a kid take to it naturally, and all on his own when I coached my son's team at this age. It works. The kids don't have great ball control so they'd come racing down the field with the ball 10ft in front of them and he'd just run up and boot it or take it up. May be worth a thought.

[The Chandos]

Participated in my daughter's practice last night (K girls) and had similar chats with the coaches on how to approach some of these issues. We were trying to get them into spreading out, passing, and fighting the ball through and getting away from the scrum mentality. Couldn't come up with an answer other than to keep working at it.

Chandos, I've seen coaches online strongly encourage teaching your best player to play sweeper to negate similar instances. I had a kid take to it naturally, and all on his own when I coached my son's team at this age. It works. The kids don't have great ball control so they'd come racing down the field with the ball 10ft in front of them and he'd just run up and boot it or take it up. May be worth a thought.

Thanks again, all, for the advice. BingeAndPurge, problem is that my good forwards won't stay back. I tried that in some of the quarters but the ones that can dribble through traffic won't stay back. And I've read that coaches should try not to teach forwards to just kick the ball out or up the field, but to control the ball and move it. I believe what they really mean is to control, dribble, and pass rather than to clean it, but still.

However, you and Ruston both suggest a vertical dispersion of skilled players, which now that I've had a couple of games, I know who they are. And I have one boy that can't stop running. He'll play halfback.

[beginish]

When my daughter started on her U9 travel team, her club stressed the fundamentals of ball control, footwork, passing, etc. the first year, they had a similar experience of bulldozing, physical teams kicking the snot out of them. They did not get discouraged, and in the second half of the season, we're much more competitive, finishing with 3 wins, and even beating the second place team. The following year, all of the skill work paid off, and they won their division handily, with great passing. The coaches combatted the bull rushes by having a single forward, 3 midfield, 3 defenders and keeper. The right and left midfielders would push up on offense, but there was always adequate defense to cover the rush. Keep teaching them the skills, as it will pay off in spades.

[The Chandos]

When my daughter started on her U9 travel team, her club stressed the fundamentals of ball control, footwork, passing, etc. the first year, they had a similar experience of bulldozing, physical teams kicking the snot out of them. They did not get discouraged, and in the second half of the season, we're much more competitive, finishing with 3 wins, and even beating the second place team. The following year, all of the skill work paid off, and they won their division handily, with great passing. The coaches combatted the bull rushes by having a single forward, 3 midfield, 3 defenders and keeper. The right and left midfielders would push up on offense, but there was always adequate defense to cover the rush. Keep teaching them the skills, as it will pay off in spades.

Ahhh! This is what I've (secretly) wanted to hear! It also falls in line with the vertical spread of more skillful players, but I have been considering a 1-3-1-G lineup, putting my strongest players in front and back and making my less skilled players run. I'll make the forward stay above centerfield and the fullback stay behind it and let the others "roam," encouraging a man-on-man strategy. That way I have a roaming scrum of three with a dedicated defender and a dedicated attacker.

But I'm also glad to hear that the skills drills pays off in the end. I know it pays off but I want my kids to win some games,too. Interestingly, I had to miss practice last night but my "assistant" took over and my wife told me that she noticed the coach from one of the teams we played last week (and lost to) was using our drills. Apparently the skills of my players are not going unnoticed. It's flattering at least.

So, tomorrow is game day and we'll see.

Again, I appreciate all the comments, suggestions, and advice. I'm just trying to do the best I can to teach these kids and provide wonderful soccer experiences.

[The Chandos]

Ah, success! I talked the other coach into playing sevens (instead of sixes) and I pulled a 2-2-2-G formation AND I made each position stay together in pairs. In other words, because these kids don't pass well but can control the ball well, I made them stay in pairs and lined up like a snake. We lost 2-0 but that was in the third quarter when I had no choice but to put some kids in that would rather be playing paddy-cake than soccer. What was the ultimate compliment was in that the coach of the other team beefed up his defense at the start of the second half. You could tell! He needed it! He was playing a 2-1-3-G!

In each of my pairs, I had a strong player and a weak player and said STAY TOGETHER AT ALL TIMES! And they did. And I told my defense to always stay on the same side of the field as the ball no matter how far down the field it is (so if it breaks down the field they'll be there). Backs could NOT cross midfield. Forwards could not come back across midfield. And Halfs had to follow the ball everywhere. I'm telling you, it worked!

Only we didn't score. We'll be working on following up on the kick at practice this week because that was the only weak link I saw. We took shots and turned around even if the ball was still in play and if we'd followed up on the ball we'd've had at least 5 goals. But talk about progress! It was cool and exciting to see.

[BingeAndPurge]

Nice to hear, Chris. Our game was scratched yesterday.

[beginish]

That's great to hear. When they start passing with intent, the other teams won't know what to do with them. My daughter's team, which was 3-6-1 the first year, finished 7-2-1 the second year, and play in the state semifinals in 2 weeks. Watching them maintain their spacing, make backpasses, etc is really fun to watch, and more than makes up for those 9-0 losses the first year.

[global_dev]

welcome to soccer at that level... my girls teeter on understanding and not aware at all... some are so out of position i just shake my head...

while they need basic strategy, they need to score, regardless of what anyone says... playing is not fun for them if they don't score.. at times, i tell my girls to bulldoze and at others i ask them to play with passing and getting open.. guess what? once they bulldoze a bit, they are so much happier and enthusiastic, and they start to understand a little bit more.. it's exciting to see the fire in their eyes..

my girls play 4x4 no goalies... you can imagine how hard it is if one girl can kick hard or is fast... it's disheartening and at practice while i try to integrate some skills, these girls need scrimmaging to replicate game play to understand defense and basic control...

I had 6 of 8 girls return from last year and was crossing my fingers a couple wouldn't return, but since i played them and coached them positively, they couldn't wait to return... ughh...

or game today was cancelled...

we don't play positions well yet... just offense & defense...

[beginish]

welcome to soccer at that level... my girls teeter on understanding and not aware at all... some are so out of position i just shake my head...

while they need basic strategy, they need to score, regardless of what anyone says... playing is not fun for them if they don't score.. at times, i tell my girls to bulldoze and at others i ask them to play with passing and getting open.. guess what? once they bulldoze a bit, they are so much happier and enthusiastic, and they start to understand a little bit more.. it's exciting to see the fire in their eyes..

my girls play 4x4 no goalies... you can imagine how hard it is if one girl can kick hard or is fast... it's disheartening and at practice while i try to integrate some skills, these girls need scrimmaging to replicate game play to understand defense and basic control...

I had 6 of 8 girls return from last year and was crossing my fingers a couple wouldn't return, but since i played them and coached them positively, they couldn't wait to return... ughh...

or game today was cancelled...

we don't play positions well yet... just offense & defense...

How old is your team, Jon?

[global_dev]

Girls 7 and under

[beginish]

Girls 7 and under

I completely agree. The game has to be more about the fun and less about the drills at that age.