hi all we got a game on sunday played 3 lost three but did have only 9 players for 1st two games,
we need a win and have to stop letting in goals.we have a good keeper but we going wrong somewhere.
wil be playing a 4 5 1 formation as are striker is on fire but will not pass,but scores lots of goals.
Any ideas would be helpfull
cheers dave

Soz I missed your response time, how did ya get on in the end?

errr lost again lol but played realy well was in front twice but lost 5 2 in end,2nd half we all over the place.

how many players do you have now? of course you are going to find it difficult with just 9 players, especially in the second half (which may explain what you noticed in your last post). Get some more players if u can by advertising, also creates a bit of competition for places.

without seeing them play its difficult to see where the problem lies, but maybe a switch to a simple 4-4-2 may help. Problem with playing 5 in midfield is that you need 2 very very fit wing backs who can tackle and cross, should also be two of the taller players in the team. With two upfront you striker wont be isolated and marked out of the game, so you will have more scoring opportunities.

my personal opinion is that i find 4-5-1 a very negative formation, usually used if you are playing for a 0-0 or 0-1, if the chances of keeping a clean sheet are low, you may as well take a man out of defence and push an extra striker in 3-5-2, or simply go for a 4-4-2 which is the formation most youths seem to find easiest to play. With a 4-4-2 you also have the option to pull a forward into midfield if you want to protect a lead, but you need a forward who can tackle back, maybe one of your midfielders has an eye for goal, and could be used as a forward in a 4-4-2? that way once he is required to drop back, you have the ideal player.

Get some defensive drills practiced in training, where you can work with two or three at the back so they are used to working as a unit. there are plenty of good drills that can be found on the net.

if u use a formation it is a good idea to have the option of a second formation that can be formed during the game as a result of the team and system you have chosen.

good luck, keep us all posted with how you get on.

Why dont you hold a trial day,Inform local schools and they will put a leaflet up in recieption,go to a school assembly,the teachers wont mind if you ask

Your team will have trouble winning if they keep conceding lots of goals. The fewer goals you concede, the fewer you'll need to win. As their coach you will need to teach them the basic principles of defence. Below is a description of the most basic defensive principles, followed by a drill.


1. Retreat
Whenever your team is in possession it should have several players ahead of the ball. The moment your team loses possession your players need to retreat. Those around the ball, usually midfielders, should immediately drop back defence-side of the ball. Those a long way upfield, usually the strikers, will also need to move closer towards their own goal so they wont be isolated from the rest of the team.

2. Positioning
Whilst dropping back defending players need to pick up players to mark. When marking an opponent a defender needs to take up a position on the direct line between his own goal and the attacking player. This is to prevent the opposing player, on receiving the ball, from advancing the ball past the defender towards the goal unopposed.

The distance the defending player should be from his direct depends mainly on where the ball is. The closer he is to the ball, the tighter he should mark.

3. Jockeying
Whenever the direct opponent of a defender has the ball the defender must to jockey. He needs to take up the defensive stance, keep his eyes on the ball, and think of nothing but staying goal-side of the attacker. The jockeying player needs to stay in the attacker's way and hinder him, thus putting the attacker under pressure and slowing down the attack all whilst giving his teammates time to drop back and pick up their marks.


Many young players tend to be drawn to the ball, often forgetting about the other attacking players. There are also those that tend to play to a part of the field. A right back, for example, may stay on the right wing even though the ball's on the left. Many inexperienced players also tend to dive in for the tackle, instead of holding back and jockeying.

Teach your players that the primary aim of defence is not to win the ball, but instead to stop the opposing team from scoring. Teach them the best way to stop the opposing team from scoring is to position themselves between the opposing players and the goal. Teach them how to jockey by using the defensive stance, staying in the attacker's way and keeping their eyes on the ball.

Three simple points; retreat, mark up, and jockey. Teach and emphasise these and your team will start to defend better, conceding fewer goals.



EXAMPLE DRILL: RETREAT, POSITIONING, JOCKEYING

Players: Two equal teams, one attacking and one defending, plus a goalkeeper. I have found it works best with 4-5 players on each side.

Pitch: Whatever size you want to use for the players you have. Divided into two zones. Zone 1 covers two-thirds of the pitch, and contains a full-sized goal. Zone 2 is the third of the pitch farthest from the goal.

Description: One player from the attacking team starts in Zone 1. He is the target striker. One player from the defending team starts in Zone 1, marking him. All other players start in Zone 2. Play begins with the definding team with possession of the ball in Zone 2. They must keep possession of the ball in Zone 2 for as long as possible. When they lose possession of the ball to the attacking team the attacking team must play the ball to their target striker in Zone 1 as quickly as possible, say within 2 passes. After the attackers play the ball into Zone 1 play is unrestricted.

Scoring: The attacking team scores in the goal in Zone 1. The defending team score by passing the ball to a member of their team on the opposite goal line.

Coaching points: When the ball is first played to the attacker in Zone 1 he will be 1-on-1 with the defender in that zone. The defender needs to jockey his opponent, making sure he doesn't get beaten. This should slow down any advance the attacker may make towards goal, giving his teammates time to drop back and cover.

The other defending players should rush back from Zone 2, retreating goal-side of the ball as quickly as possible. They should then pick up players to mark and position themselves goal-side of that player. They will need to communicate so that each defender has a different player to mark, and that there are no attackers left unguarded.

Let the boys play. Stop play and restart the drill whenever the ball goes out of play or when a goal is scored. Emphasise the coaching points during these stoppages and rotate players and teams so that everyone gets a chance to play at each of the positions.

damn this is gonna be best under 11s team in country,

the simple thing is you will let in goals as its first season in 11 a side (i think) i was there couple years ago. high scoring matches will happen due to short goalies, they cant help it its there age. just get high shots in, worked for me time we went 2 seasons undefeated

hi thanks all for your ideas and info played today and lost 4 2
we now have a full team with 14 players but still losing.
I got a good striker who scores but is greedy and tries to take every defender on all the time,midfield is all over the place/defensive is ok steady back 4 etc.But when we concede all there heads go down etc.
Any info how i can get my goalie to kick dead balls as he no good at this but very brave and skillful apart from that.
Thanks for all your input cheers dave

update played on sunday and lost 4 - 2 worst game yet for us but must be doing sumat right as not as many goals against,had 1 of our parents ref and he gave then 3 pens so if wehad a decent ref we may have won lol

lost again this sunday 1-1 at half time best defensive game we ever playes but 2 nd half was a shambles had another dodgy ref from home team never gave us any offsides etc.i ready for jacking it as we going nowhere fast lol

WOAH STOP RIGHT THERE!

Your coaching under 11's not the premiership.

Kids will be kids, win or lose they will go out and play for you every week. You need to stop worrying about winning or losing at this age, kids do want to win, more than you believe it or not, but look long term. Try not to keep changing formations, maybe you should take a video camera to the next game and analyse the game after the adrenaline has gone, you will be able to see what needs to be worked on before the next training session, do some drills to work on that area and then have a small sided game to show the kids how it can be effective and for them to get some practice using it. Its a gradual process, kids will learn from their mistakes, dont push them into doing everything you want them to, give them some breathing space and let them make their own mistakes so that they know to avoid doing that again.

Another thing, if your striker doesnt want to pass, dont play him regardless of how many goals hes scoring. If he passes he might get himself double the chances every game. Take control of the team and make sure they know that its not a one man show, its a collective effort between you and them, one unit, one team.

If you need any more help PM me and il get back to you asap.

hi thanks for reply we are all still smiling lol and the still enjoy games but we need to try and remember everything we work on in training.I know it is hard for the lads to learn and remember everything we do in training but we will keep trying are best.
Hope to have a pro player coming along to a training session to gee the lads on a bit ,as the pro is a young lad who just turned pro.
Thanks again for your input
Cheers Dave
brunsmeer under 11s

if your players have trouble remembering what you cover in training, then reinforce it with a quick drill simililar to what you did in training as part of the warm ups. this will also help them to focus on the task at hand, if you do this with a few basics your team will see a big improvement, no doubt.

DTR36, where are you based? If you wanna get in touch for some tips on how to lift morale and get the team winning then do so. I love challenges like this, I thrive on them and have been successful everytime

are you a kids footy coach darren?

I have coached from kids to under 18's

quality, iv always wanted to do something like that, think be quite fun seeing how good you are managing a team!!

my friend doe sit for a local team, mite go along and see if he needs help

I manage an under 18's team at the mo and am scout and youth development officer for Thurrock FC. We'll have to meet up soonish

hi i live in chesterfield and my team is in the sheffield and hallamshire area

Arh soz mate, a bit too far. If you do wanna chat though please don't be affraid

dtr,
FIRST,
Formations, systems etc are NOT the issue here.
Step back for one minute.
These are 10 year old boys playing amateur football.
FORGET about motivation for the minute too. This is about YOU first.
Players of this age will reflect how YOU are when you are with them. Show fear and they will too. Show frustration and they will too.
So, review it ALL and start from scratch.
The players NEED to know...
1) WHAT their role is
2) WHAT their responsibilities are for THAT particular role.

In general play, confine ALL your tactics and make them as SIMPLE & BRIEF as you can.
Tell them to remember the 3 G's
GET THE BALL (Win possession if the other team has it)
GET THE BALL FORWARD (Pass forward and get crosses into the opponents Penalty Box as quick as you possibly can)
GET A STRIKE ON TARGET (Get a shot or header on target from EVERY cross)

Then its about telling the players what their roles are.

GK - Gets to EVERY ball the defence misses
C/Halfs - Win EVERY header from opponents crosses and every tackle they go for
R&L Backs. - Win every tackle and then pass it to midfield
Centre Midfield - Constant running from panalty box to paenalty box tackling and passing
Left/Right Wing - Beat one player and get a cross into the opponent's penalty spot (specific)
Forwards - Get contact on the ball with a toe, head or any other legal part of the body and get it ON TARGET, ON TARGET ON TARGET.

Everything they do with the ball or getting it back MUST have an END PRODUCT (strike on opponents goal).

I think thats enough to be getting on with.

update we are now getting somwhere lol last game was a draw at home and now this week we got our 1st win

Well Done Dtr36, congrats

lost 2 0 this weekend but to top of table so i no tto worried lol,but getin grief of parents now cos some lads dont play as much as others.due to them not being as good as others but they all get a game so i battle on see how we go.

keep up the good work you`re team seem to be improving, i`ve been following this thread and i would suggest you talk with the parents.( point them in the direction of soccer parents on the fa website). failing that you`re club should have a code of conduct. i`ve been coaching (managing) my team for 7 years now (u12`s) and i`ve seen the players that were not automatic choices to start improve given time and coaching. ( belive me as a coach it`s just as nice as winning something).

ask someone at your club to assist you at training so you are able to spend a bit more time with the players that are probaly not as good,start them in the games when the opposition is not so strong or introduce them during your other games you will see improvments.