of loosing change to a 343 and take the tiredest def off and put an attacker player on then if score, change to default formation and take an att off and put a good def on, keep us posted on how it went

"Keep us posted on how it went"

need a win, an under 11s side? Mate, no offence but you need to stop worrying about results and develop your players. If you avoid putting pressure on them and instead set individual and team targets and see how they felt about their performance as a result, compliment them in what they did well and search for parts in the game the boys can improve in the results will follow in time. Under no circumstances should you be putting pressure on them about results. Its not Premier League. Lads this age are learning, and you should be guiding them, not worrying about results.

Fair play to you though, you have asked advice. My advice is ask yourself, what can I do to be a better coach. To be honest the results are not always a reflection on how good a coach you are, but if the boys are happy and enjoy playing for the club, you are doing a good job.

What does 'tomoz' mean?

Would definately do what the person above me said as far as pointing parents in the direction of the soccer parent stuff on the fa website. Parents can also be guilty of putting too much pressure on their children. Talk to them and explain everyone gets on. Also you want to look at attitudes of the children as much as technical ability, reward dedication and hard work. Set out clearly your expectations and how you will decide who starts and who does not. At this level you should support all the children and talk to the parents, which i am sure you already do. I always say that every player thinks they should be starting, but as a coach you make the descisions based on the knowledge you have on the game through coaching and development.

Ensure the parents are not putting pressure on about results. Parents get carried away and do not have the knowledge you will usually about how to get the best out of the children, and remind them that the primary reason for having a junior football team is so the children can enjoy football and improve their game. When there is too much pressure children are more than likely to turn their back on the game.

Forget tinkering with tactics and formations, it is not championship manager. Get the fundamentals right first. You wont have drawn your last match because someone told u to play a 3-4-3 or 4-3-3 or 5-4-1 etc. Bring out the positives of that draw from what players were doing right. Then use the examples for all the children (it will make everyone feel good and positive whilst also giving other players an understanding of what they could add to their game).

Maybe concentrate on different parts of the game. Does the nearest player to the opposition automatically know to apply pressure if they are the nearest man to the opposition player with the ball? This will force, have you explained time and time and time and time and time again and also asked them "When you have the ball and you have time on the ball where nobody is near you, how do you feel?" "When you have the ball and an opposition player is in your way the second you get the ball how do you feel" Probe for the info you are looking for. In example one you should find out that they feel nervous, under pressure and some times even make mistakes because they panic........if they do not say it immediately or feel silly, guide them to it with ur line of question.......or better still, demo it. Get a few players in a little drill and let the rest watch. You then dont need to tackle them, but run around near them to apply pressure to make a quick descision. Then stop and get feed back from the players.............the children will probably have a laugh at the same time at the sight of u running around like a headless chicken. Then do something where you are stood around not making an effort to close the palyers down and let them pass it around themselves.

Once that is done, get their feed back. How did they feel, was it easy, why? Which yould you prefer in a match situation, time or no time on the ball. You should get the response "time". Ok well in that case, what should you do to make the other team feel uncomfortable on the ball etc.

Keep ramming this point in week out, week in. Ensure they get into the habit of the nearest player applying pressure, then bring in the next closest providing support, then the other support.

You may have done this, but is it working, do they need to revisit this? Or is there other things, like players standing still off of the ball in possesion?

Maybe you need to work with the defending principles one week and concentrate on getting the message through first. After all if the other team scores nil, you are going to get at least a point. Do the defenders and keeper communicate, does the keeper shout clearly if he is going for the ball. Do the defenders guide the keeper if he is a little slow coming off of his line etc. Introduce individual targets eg with centre backs, dont let the ball bounce and head the ball. Explain, even if u make a mistake doing this, as long as he is, he is doing his job right. Dont worry about if u mess it up, you did your job right and as long as u keep practicing, as a coach i am very happy with you and explain to the parents the same thing and why.

Its fooball, i go on a bit.

This is what i love about football. So many oppinions and no one is necessarily wrong so i shall offer my humble insight. When i get asked to coach teams be it children or adults (and this is regardless of ability) - i begin with possession of the ball. I work on the basis that if you have the ball then the opposition cant hurt you, its quite a simple principle. I try to make every player comfortable with receiving and passing the ball from the goal keeper to the forward. Work on using various techniques of control such as head, chest, thigh etc. Its an imperitive skill as a greater range of technique will result in more correct decisons of control being made at the correct time. This is also true for methods of passing, ie inside, outside, laces, chip etc.

I use that as the basic grounding and frequently return to it. However, it is important that coaches understand that in all levels of the game only a few teams are capable of winning trophies so in particular with youth football that coaches address the needs of the players and look for overall development and improvements of individuals and teams which may come month after month season after season rather than game by game.

Football is a very simple game. It is we who play it that complicate matters!

strass71 - here here Wont bother quoting a quote from what u said, people should read it all word for word. Couldnt agree with you more.

Thanks for your support rik1276. I must say you make some very valid points yourself. In particular with regards to players needind to feel relaxed and that when children see coaches making a fool of themselves its a very useful tool for getting your coaching points across to them. Bravo my friend and keep up with the good advice.