Improve soccer performance, confidence on the ball and increase overall skill

Sir Alex Ferguson to retire at the end of the season

Alex_Ferguson

Alex Ferguson is retiring at the end of the season, bringing a close to a trophy-filled career of more than 26 years at Manchester United that established him as the most successful coach in British football history. Whether you are a ManU fan or not Ferguson is a Legend.

 

 

http://espnfc.com/news/story/_/id/1438939/manchester-united-manager-alex-ferguson-retire-season-end?cc=5901

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alex_Ferguson

 

MLS alters designated player rule

From ESPN.Com

Major League Soccer is adjusting its designated player rules in the hopes of bringing in more young international talent, an area in which the league has struggled to gain a foothold.
MLS teams are currently allowed to have three designated players on their rosters — players whose salaries don’t fully count against the salary cap. But the decision by MLS to adjust the charge for younger players gives teams the latitude to take chances on younger international players where they may have been hesitant in the past.

International designated players age 20 or younger will be charged just $150,000 against the team’s salary cap. Players aged 21 to 23 will count $200,000 against the salary cap. Both of those numbers are down from the $335,000 charge for all other designated players.
“Our designated players are anywhere from their mid- to late-20s to their mid-30s. We’re getting players that are good players, veteran players, but we’ve been out of the market for the most part in young, promising players,” Durbin said. “If we want to continue our growth and continue the improvement of our on-field product, this is an area we have to be in.”

The rule will take effect for the 2012 season, but there are no plans right now to add any designated player slots. Durbin said the markets most likely to be tapped were South America, Central America and Mexico.

The league also will increase its scouting department to supplement what each individual team already does. Durbin said that would come in the form of more overseas consultants and a technological component at the league headquarters.

“The idea is not to become the scouting network for the teams but to provide a resource for the teams to do their jobs as effectively as they need to,” Durbin said.

Final act looms

It’s down to this

http://espn.go.com/sports/soccer/blog/_/name/martin_james/id/6467084/final-act-hell-clasico-looms

Project Play; A soccer ball for every child

“Não há no planeta um lugar onde a pobreza extrema seja mais evidente do que na Africa Sub-Saariana. Quase 50% da população vive com menos de US$ 1 por dia, a mais alta taxa de miséria no mundo. Trinta e dois países entre os 48 mais pobres do mundo estão localizados nesta região, que está infestada de conflitos, falta a presença do estado, e tem alta incidência de terríveis doenças como AIDS e malária. A África Sub-Saariana é um dos poucos lugares onde não houve nenhum progresso nas Metas de Desenvolvimento do Milênio – o número de miseráveis dobrou desde 1981 nesta que é a região do planeta onde é mais importante a luta contra a pobreza”.


‘There is no place on the planet where extreme poverty is more evident than sub-Saharan Africa.  Almost 50% of the population live on under $1 a day, the highest rate of extreme poverty in the world.  Thirty-two of the 48 poorest countries are located in this region, which is plagued by conflicts, lack of functional governments, and terrible diseases such as HIV/AIDS and malaria. Sub-Saharan Africa is one of the few places that is not making progress on the Millennium Development Goals-the number of impoverished people has doubled since 1981-and perhaps the most important region on the planet in the fight against poverty`.

Project Play.

Benin 2010 195

To Those With Nothing, A BALL Is Everything!

HOW THE PROJECT BEGAN: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6pZh8K7wXM

Soccer Training

Soccer Skills; Passing drills – supporting the ball

Soccer Skills; Passing drills – supporting the ball

Learning the fundamentals of passing and getting open to receive a pass or support your teammate is critical.  Emphasizing good passing disciplines will help develop players and allow then to compete at higher levels.

Developing the passing game in increments is the best way to create good solid fundamentals. Emphasize good technique, well paced and well placed balls that lead a player away from pressure or enable a good trap under pressure.

Receiving, or trapping the ball, is the other side of a good passing game. Without a good trap a good pass means little and without a good trap it is very difficult to find time and space to make the next good pass.

Below is a simple drill that can work on all the basics; passing, trapping moving without the ball and anticipating space.

Set up a square grid;12 yrds x 12 yrds. Place cones at each corner for reference.

3 offensive players and 1 defender – 1 ball.

Offensive players start at the cones, defender is in the middle (if the defender steals the ball or a bad pass is made then there is a switch and the defender replaces the offensive play that made the bad pass or trap)

Offenders play 2 or 3 touch keep-away. The key is to support the ball by having players at either cone adjacent to where the ball is, or building a triangle, leaving the diagonal cone open. Passing to the cones opens up the widest angles available in the given grid thereby making it easier on the passer.

Offensive players without the ball will have to work hard to fill both cones either side of the ball. When the ball gets moving quickly the offenders will be working hard to fill space.

If the offenders can manage to always fill the proper space it will be impossible for the defender to intercept a GOOD pass as there will always be two lanes to cover.

Coaching points:

Move ball quickly but make passes at a pace that can be handled by the receiver.

Passes may have to lead offensive player to the cone as the runner is filling the proper cone (read space instead of cone) to support the ball.

Traps should be made facing the field to afford the reciever/player a view of the field and offer the best opportunity to make a pass (meaning the receiver will see or have available two passing lanes or cones to pass to). Trapping facing the field is harder than it sounds. If a player is running to a ball played to the cone more than likely he is running with his back to the field, certainly not in full view of the field. So to trap facing the field the player will have to trap and turn in the same motion, in a way dancing around the ball.

Playing one touch will have an advantage at times, but will make play too fast to fully and properly support the ball.

If the defender fails to pressure the ball and instead attempts to cut off a passing lane then the player should step on the ball to force the defender to play the ball. In this case the players in support should creep up the line toward the ball (heels on the line ) to create an even wider angle. Of course this closes space but might be necessary to solve the trap. A short pass to the player creeping up the line toward the ball would dictate a one-touch pass to relieve pressure from operating in a tight space.

Great stuff. Good fitness. Lots of touches on the ball under pressure. Good decision making drill.

Soccer: Juggle for fun and go wild

Juggling is an awesome way to develop wild soccer skills. Juggling develops eye-foot coordination, increases focus, and will get you more comfortable with the ball.

Use all different parts of your body to keep the ball alive, let it bounce as part of your routine. be creative. Be ambidextrous. work on moves and work on moving with the ball.

Make the ball work for you. It’s not how many touches you get, but what you do with those touches that count. But get lots of touches, it helps.

Spending quality time with the ball will help you improve your juggling skills.

Commit to it. You will see a difference and it will translate into game play.

Training with a smaller ball

Soccer Skills Development; Training with a smaller ball to refine focus and achieve confidence on the ball.

Using a smaller ball such as the Brasilian Futebol can be of great benefit if used consistently in training sessions. It’s a tool for any situation including warm-ups, individual training, technical training and small games or game like situations.

The Brasilian Futebol can be plugged into sessions to add focus on touch and control which is essential to every training session. Control is key to developing possession which allows tactics to be employed. Emphasizing first touch is an essential element to control/possession and should be emphasized in every drill regarding ball control and passing.

Training does not have to be so regimented as to take the fun out of play. Jugging can be of great benefit to skills

evelopment as an individual, in pairs or in groups and is a fun way to train given a little attention and some instruction. Set short term goals and be consistent with testing and challenging new levels. Players can juggle at home and will find it an enjoyable part of their training.

Soccer: Couldit be true?

Boca Juniors superstar Juan Roman Riquleme is looking for revenge against his home country’s current coach, and he sees his best opportunity lying with the Yanks.

Just thinking about it is fun.