An FA Level 2 In Coaching Football Project.
By Stuart Grimshaw
I have been a volunteer coach for roughly 6 or 7 years, I’m currently coaching AFC Hallamshire’s U15s and in May 2018 I attended the 3rd module of the FA’s Level 2 In Coaching Football course put on by the Sheffield and Hallamshire FA. I had previously completed the old Level 1 and Level 2 Youth Modules, which under the new curriculum equate to the 1st 2 modules of the Level 2 course, so I only attended the 3rd and final module, “How We Coach”.
This represents my FA Level 2 In Coaching Football project, and represents my own views and opinions, not those of the FA or AFC Hallamshire.
- Who we are.
- How We Play.
- The Future Player
- How We Coach
- How We Support.
1) Who We Are.
AFC Hallamshire have a page on their website that describes our philosophy and core values.
I have coached AFC Hallamshire’s U15 team since they were U9's, along with another coach. I have coached junior football for the past 8 years.
We train and play at Hillsborough Arena, we use the grass during the summer and switch to astroturf just before the season starts in September.
My Core Values
I think I fall into the most common category of coach, those who started because their children played the game. I started to coach when the manager at the team my son played for asked for volunteers. When he left I ended up managing the team. It was a very difficult time and I gave up coaching for a year before starting again with a new club. I realise now that the stress was caused mainly by a difference in my values and that of the club.
- Respect — For me, respect is the value that underpins the rest of my core beliefs. Everyone involved in the club deserves respect, the coaches, players, volunteers and parents. Without mutual respect of the roles we play it’s very hard for a team to function.
- Learning — A coach is a “person who teaches people to improve at sport, skill or school subject”. I play a very similar role to a teacher. I expect my players to turn up and be ready to be coached, I turn up ready to coach and similarly I try and learn as much as I can about being a better coach as I can.
- Positivity — I’m a firm believer in having a positive mental attitude in everything that you do, I try to instil that in my players both through the coaching I give them and the example I set.
These represent my core values as they stand today, they have changed over the years and will no doubt change in the future as I learn more.
2) How We Play.
Principles of play shape every training session and game we play, they try and train players to react in certain ways to different triggers and game situations. Training games should always keep these principles in mind.
The team in possession should look to move the ball forward quickly, but with purpose, forward movement should always result in the team keeping possession. Players are encouraged to move the ball forward with imagination and take risks.
Out of possession the team should aim to regain the ball as quickly as possible. Putting the opposition under lots of pressure and recognising triggers to really press the player with the ball and when to try and slow them down.
3) The Future Player
As a coach I am very aware that my philosophy and the way that I coach has a large effect on the players, especially at such a young age. To make sure that what I coach is as inclusive as possible and interesting to the players, we run a survey to find out what the players think. Here are a selection of the questions and some of the answers from the start of the 2018 season.
When we reviewed the responses to the survey we were pleased to see the players all had a very healthy view of their abilities, none of them seemed to rate themselves too high or too low.
Once the players filled in the results the coaches completed the same exercise for each player and we used the results of this survey to help plan our training and to a certain extent we used it to help decide who would mainly play where, we tried to fit each player into the position they wanted. We are able to do this because the club constitution is all about providing kids the opportunity to play rather than focusing solely on results, but other clubs may vary.
4) How We Coach
My Style
My coaching style is very much toward the guided learning end of the scale. I like to set up my sessions with a goal in mind, explain the setup and what the goal is, lay down some basic rules and then let the players work out the best solution.
When I intervene in any session, I usually begin by asking the player what they could do better, or differently in the situation I’ve observed. I’ll let they try out their ideas before intervening again and offering some suggestions of my own. The players are getting to an age now where they take direction on board so I’ve started to add a little 1-to-1 coaching to sessions where I think individual players need the help and it’s not worth interrupting the whole session.
Playing out from the ‘keeper — In Possession Drill
We use this drill to coach playing the ball out from the ‘keeper, using 2 wingbacks and a defensive midfielder.
Our ‘keeper signals when he is ready to play the ball and the 2 wing backs push forward to the half way line, the 2 centre backs spread to the corners of the 18 yard box or wider.
Sometimes the forwards won’t notice whats going on and the keeper has a choice of all 4 defenders to play to, if 1 reacts quickly the keeper has 3 players to play to and optionally if both centre backs are marked the defensive midfielder can drop and receive the ball.
The ‘keeper also always has the option of playing to the 2 wing backs if the pass is on.
We coach other variations of this with 1 wing back and no CDM, 1 center back pushing wide and other combinations, but this is the main one we use in a game situation.
Once we have walked through the various options we can introduce the opposition players in a full contact role, at this point once the defending player with the ball has passed the half way line they become
Under Pressure — Out of possession drill
This is a small sided game we use to impress on the players the importance of closing down and pressuring the opposition when out of possession.
Play starts with 4v4 and 2 floating players who play for the team with the ball. There are no special rules at this point.
When the red team scores they lead 1–0 and the two floating yellow players join the blue team and the blues have a sixty second “power play”.
If the blues can score in 60 seconds then they level the score at 1–1, and play continues as before, with the yellow bibs as supporters for whoever has the ball. But if the reds can stop the blues scoring, they get another goal and the score is 2–0.
Coaching Points:
Re-enforce the 1st, 2nd, 3rd defender theory, and pressuring in 2's.
Do the teams change the way they play when not in possession?
Out of Possession Drill
This is a simple drill to introduce the principles of pressing and when to press. It builds on the basic 1,2,3 of defending “Get there quickly, slow down, jostle” by adding in decisions that the defending players need to make.
The blue team aim to keep hold of the ball and the reds try and win it back. Use the drill to explain the principles of pressing and when to press.
Triggers to watch for include a bad pass, bad first touch, player is out wide, player drops their head to look at the ball, is facing their own goal or isolated with no passing options. Ask the players for examples and watch for players applying these triggers during the drill.
Interventions: Call out players applying the triggers above, give the players 5 minutes or so then if needed go through the triggers again, show some examples.
Progression: Make the space smaller to make it harder for the team in possession, increase or reduce the number of players.
Explosive — In Possession Drill.
This drill encourages players to recognise the right time to drive forward with the ball and provides them with plenty of opportunities to do so.
Split your players into 2 teams and spread them evenly across the 3 zones.assign each team a goal to attack and put a player in each goal. Swap ‘keepers every few minutes.
Set the players a target of passes they must make, say 2 or 3, before they can move zones. Normally when this game is played the players have to pass the ball across zones, but in this version they have to dribble the ball into the next zone before they can make a pass. The teams must take the same number of passes in each zone before moving on.
The players must try and keep the same number of players in each zone.
Encourage the players to look for space when they have the right number of passes and really explode with speed into that space.
Coaching points: Are players choosing the right opportunity to move forward, or do they go as soon as they have the number of passes?
1st, 2nd, 3rd Defenders
I use this drill with younger players to introduce the concept of 1st, 2nd & 3rd defenders and it allows a coach to illustrate what is involved with first, second & third defenders.
The first defender in the player closest to the ball, it is their job to close them down and pressure the opposing player. That is their primary role, winning the ball comes later when the player makes a mistake.
The 2nd defender covers the space behind the first defender. It is their job to back up the first defender should the opposing player get past the first defender.
The third defender is everybody else. They cover the space left by the 2nd defender, defend the space in between passes to block them off and mark attackers in danger areas.
The red team are numbered 1 to 6, and to start with the coach plays a ball to one of the reds. The yellows must then quickly close the player down.
The round ends when the yellows play the ball back to the coach or it goes out of play. Keep score of goals for the reds & passes back to the coach for yellows.
Try and give each of the yellows the opportunity to be each of the first, second & third defenders, and then progress the session by increasing the number reds in play. As you increase the attackers, remind the defenders what the drill is about if they start to forget the first, second & third defender roles.
Coaching Points:
What happens when you play the ball to one of the players on the halfway line, how do the defenders decide their roles?
How do the players communicate the role they are taking?
Don’t lose focus on what this drill is coaching, it’s easy to let it slip into a free for all.
Pressure Rising
Each player starts on a cone, the first player has a free run on goal with just the keeper to beat.
Once they have had their shot, they become a defender and the 2nd player tries to score.
It gets harder and harder to score as the game goes on. Repeat the game but start the players one cone along each time so they all have a go at being first.
Watch out for:
- Players standing in front of the next player to go. It’s a valid tactic in a match, they’re man marking. Either introduce a rule that gives them a buffer, or better, challenge the next player to come up with a way to beat them, how can they make more room?
- Players site too deep and let the next attacker come at them. Challenge the defenders to think about where it’s more dangerous to defend, closer, or further away from their goal?
You can then progress on to something closer to a real game situation. Here the players are split in to 2 teams, each with a goal keeper.
The reds start and can score with just the keeper to beat, the red player must then defend their goal against the blue player. Reds then become the attackers again and their second player brings in another ball.
The attackers always outnumber the defenders but it gets more difficult as the rounds continue.
Risky Business
Risky business encourages players to communicate, think tactically as well as react quickly to game situations. It also gives each player responsibility and encourages individual thinking.
Players are split in to two teams, teams take it in turns to attack & defend.
Each player in the attacking team decides how many attachers there will be, the fewer attackers, the more points they score for a goal.
The can choose from:
1 v 1 for 4 points
2 v 1 for 3 points
3 v 2 for 2 points
4 v 3 for 1 point.
Coaching Points:
Observe how the players decide the structure of the attack, who decides, make sure that the less confident players get their say and especially make sure they get to decide when it’s their turn.
Watch how quickly the defending team react, do they follow 1st, 2nd & 3rd defending?
Once all the attaching players have had their choice, swap the teams over.
One v One
Players are split into 2 teams and numbered. Coaches serve balls into the centre & call a number. The two players with the called number race for the ball and compete against each other to play the ball through 2 cones.
Players should use dummies, quick changes of direction, fakes & tricks to catch the other player out, then sprint for a pair of cones.
Another variation on this is to have each team on opposite sides of the 18 yard box & play the ball in, the players then try and score instead of dribble.
Coaching points:
1: Lots of fakes, tricks etc.
2: Quick thinking.
3: Sprint.
5) How We Support
This season has been one of the longest and hardest I’ve had as a coach. As the players have grown up I’ve had different challenges and I’ve had to adapt the way I approach situations. More so this year I’ve had to adapt my coaching style for individual players and deal with personality clashes not just between players but between myself and players. I’ve tried my best to empathise with them and understand what I’ve been doing as a coach and how that might have affected their reactions and learning.
It was an awful year for injuries, we’ve had 3 players in the squad out for extended periods of time with various injuries, which meant some of the games I reflect on below were played with 11 or less players and no substitutes.
Home Game — 3–3 Draw
In this game we had taken a 2–0 lead by half time and I could see by the players reaction they thought they had the game won already, we were playing a team that we normally beat and their body language at half time was that they had already won.
We spoke about not letting them back into the game, but it was too late, the attitude had set in among most of the players.
We played 4–4–2, which is our usual formation.
Away Game — 4–0 Loss
Another game where we were short of players, and a another game where we suffered a heavy defeat, but we did at least start (and finish) with 11. We played 4–4–2 and tried to keep possession to try and avoid being tired too early in the game but it was too much.
We tried to play some of the forward players in defence in the 2nd half because they weren’t as tired but I hadn’t explained why I was going to do this at half time and heads went down when they were moved out of their normal positions, to them it looked random and desperate rather than the effect I was going for.
Home Game — 5–0 Loss
After a recent game where players had been played out of their favorite or usual positions we had done some work in training to get them used to playing out of position, even if they weren’t as effective in that position we went through the basics in each area and at least tried to make them more comfortable in each area of the pitch.
Again we had a bare 11 and were playing a top side. Individually players were happier out of position but overall we were beaten by a better team.
I could see however that players were getting disheartened by having to play with a minimum number of players. I checked with the league and it was too late to sign any more players.
Away Game — 3–1 Win
This game was a real surprise. We had a full squad and were playing top of the league who were undefeated at the time, and we were bottom of the league, mainly due to a fixture backlog, but it was playing heavy on the players minds, I could tell by their attitude in training. We spoke before the game about that and agreed that it was a false position, and they shouldn’t let it influence their mood or approach to the game.
I’m a big believer in the role of psychology and attitude in sport, no matter what level you play at, and instances like this are a great example of how it can impact positively and negatively.
We managed to beat them, though they only had 9 players, they were a team from a lot higher division last year (they changed name and the league rules say they have to start in the bottom division as a new team.) They would still have expected to beat us with 9 or 10 players though.
We played our usual 4–4–2 formation, with one of our midfielders told to play deeper than usual and play more defensive. You might say we were really playing 5–3–2.
Home Game — 3–3 Draw
This week it was our turn to play short sided. We started with 2 players short and ended up with just 8 due to injury.
We played 4–4–2 (4–3–1) and the 1 good thing playing short sided is that every player plays the maximum amount of time. It also gave one player who normally plays in defence to play as our lone striker. He told me after the game he preferred playing in defence, which is good to know.
Away Game — 2–1 Loss
This game came after a long wait, mainly because of the poor weather, but it did mean that we had all our players fit again, however there was an incident during the game where one of our players was elbowed in his forehead, deliberately, which required him to be taken to hospital. This was about midway through the 1st half so I missed most of the game.
It did give me a chance to think about the season we’d had, while sat in A&E. My initial reaction was that I was going to pack in at the end of the season, fed up not having enough players, fed up having teams parachuted in to our division that should have been higher up for changing name, fed up arguing with other managers and if I’m honest fed up of not winning more games.
Home Game — 3–2 Win
In the end though I decided I would carry on, I volunteer as IT officer at a local club and during a conversation with the chairman he suggested we move and become a feeder club for them, giving the boys a pathway into senior football. We discussed it as a team and support for the move was overwhelmingly positive. It had a dramatic effect on training and games.
We switched our formation to 4–3–3 for this game, we have tried it in the past but the players have always said they didn’t like it. We’ve worked on drills in training over the season for other formations and the players are keen to try it.
The new formation and the more upbeat air around the squad really helped. We were playing a team chasing promotion and were 2–0 down at half time. At half time I gave the players a couple of minutes to talk among themselves, and after that had a couple of 1 to 1 chats with a few players, to remind them of some of the things they needed to do in our new formation, and then sent them back out to play, we won the game 3–2.
The players looked a lot more comfortable playing 4–3–3, perhaps it was a bit of new found confidence from having everyone playing again, perhaps the work we’d done over the season finally clicked.
Home Game — 3–1 Win
For our final game of the season we kept the 4–3–3 formation, the players have a little more experience and the comeback in the last game gave them more confidence. We’d worked on a small change to change to 3–4–3 when in possession and we played this for the first time today.
All in all a very disappointing season, we finished lower than I expected and while you can’t blame players for being injured it makes things very difficult for a coach when you have multiple players unavailable.
For next season we’re going to be working on using the 2 full backs and wing backs and developing 4–3–3 further.
