All Posts by Mike Saif

0 The Tactics I Used To Win a National Championship

I share how I developed a group of 7 year old girls over 6 years and went on to win a national championship at the U14 age group.  I talk about how we developed technique in the younger the years and the tactics, formation and style of play we used during the season.

0 Communication Between Different Lines

By Philip Cauchi This session is designed towards improving the team’s collaboration during the build-up phase. High levels of communication between the different lines and sectors of the team are highly required for a successful outcome. The players are put in situations that are challenging and which requires them to perceive, select and execute the

0 Playing With Angles

By Keith Scarlett This activity works on playing with angles. Set-up: Three players are playing as strikers. Four players are playing as midfielders. The ball starts with one of the midfield players. Play begins with a midfielder playing a ball to a striker. The striker then return the ball back to any of the midfielders,

0 The Shape Has to Match Style

By Mike Smith This past off season one of my former players was speaking with the new coach for her old school and mentioned calling me for some help as when I was there ( it is a very small, rural area ) the team she played on was able to establish the program as a

0 Debate – What Should Be Done About VAR? – Video

A discussion on the problems football is facing with VAR and how it can be improved.

1 Debate – A Back Four or a Back Three? – Video

This was a live debate with Alex Mason and Keith Scarlett where we discussed the strengths and weaknesses of a back four or a back three.

0 Using Futsal to Train Fundamentals

By Mike Smith Question - Are there drills I can use on a Futsal court to train the overall fundamentals of soccer? Absolutely! Our local YMCA used to section off their basketball courts for the winter Futsal league – and it was packed with players of all ages. I decided to coach a group of

0 2v2+2 Continuous Possession Grid

By Anthony Hazelwood The following directional activity has a playing area where two teams of four possess or defend. Players will be working to adapt their anaerobic capacity through phases of intermittent endurance. Each grid will be a 16 x 16 yd. area. To begin, two players from each team will be placed on the

0 The Jermaine Jones Drill

By Matthew Carroll - Description: The Jermaine Jones Drill recreates the spectacular goal Jermaine Jones had in the 2014 World Cup for the US. It combines tight combination play in the box with realistic shooting opportunities from the top of the 18. Setup: Two lines are set up on the top of the 18, starting

0 Debate – Liverpool or Manchester City-Klopp or Guardiola – Video

This was a live debate with Barry Walmsley and Steve Breakell, both ex soccer players and coaches...and most importantly, Barry is a big Manchester City fan and Steve is a big Liverpool fan.We discussed who had the better season in 2018/19, who plays the better style, who are the key players and more.  If you

0 Debate – Direct Play or Possession – Video

This discussion with Alex Mason, DOC, Sporting Omaha and Mike Smith, Head Coach, University Heights Academy Boys Soccer, Hopkinsville, KY, breaks down the strengths and weaknesses of the 4-3-3 and the 4-2-3-1. Both share how they line up defensively and how that changes when in possession.  They also explain how their line ups and tactics

0 Positional Specific Shape

By Mike Smith My middle school soccer coach was the first coach to really introduce me to the concepts behind what we were actually trying to do on the field and I credit this for my interest in an overall tactical approach. I remember thumbing through one of his old soccer books and noting the difference

0 Anticipate Blind Shots

By Mike Smith - I often times challenge my field players to hit “ blind” crosses to space, anticipating a target player will get there. The searching ball/shot is a staple of every soccer game at every level; however few keepers actually regularly train to save these “ blind” shots during the run of play.

0 1 and 2 Touch Combination Play

By Arthur Bell - Setup: 14 players - 7 Black, 7 Yellow working in a 30 x 30 area. 3 End Zone players for each team. 4 v 4 in the central area. Area should be age and stage appropriate, example shown. Wide enough to create space for penetrative passes through spaces in between players.

0 Developing Soccer Intelligence Through 7v7 Vol 2 eBook

3 Debate – 4-3-3 v 4-2-3-1 Which Is Better – Video

This discussion with Alex Mason, DOC, Sporting Omaha and Mike Smith, Head Coach, University Heights Academy Boys Soccer, Hopkinsville, KY, breaks down the strengths and weaknesses of the 4-3-3 and the 4-2-3-1. Both share how they line up defensively and how that changes when in possession.  They also explain how their line ups and tactics

0 Coaching Discussion With John Murphy

John Murphy, head coach at Georgia Southern University shares his views on tactics, systems of play, training sessions, his favorite practice sessions and more. Murphy has authored these two goalkeeper coaching books. Full Season Goalkeeper Training Program Team Training For the Goalkeeper

0 Principles of Defending in Youth Soccer

By Philip Cauchi Introduction: In our sixth session on the series about the principles of defending, we focus on denying the opponents the opportunity of constructing a well-executed build-up. This requires our players to identify how to deny the opponents space and cut off the supply of passes to the forwards. It is of great

0 Different Types of Combination Play

By Keith Scarlett This activity works on combination play. Set-up: Half of the team is in a circle without balls. The other half is inside the circle with balls. The players jog around doing random combinations with players on the outside. Combination 1: Wall-pass – Inside player plays the ball to an outside player then

0 Build From the Back With 7v7

By Mike Smith Question - We play 7v7 in our U12 league here in Sweden. We run a 2-3-1 and want to train build up play from the back. We also need to work on attacking from this system as well. Are there some drills which help with both? The only real issue with build

0 Speed Development With Shadow Play 3vGK

By Anthony Hazelwood The following activity has three lines of players working on patterns of play. Players will be working to adapt their speed production within the creatine phosphate system. Play will begin from the attacking middle third area. To begin, three lines of players will work on different patterns of play to goal. The

0 9 In the Middle

By Matthew Carroll - Description: The 9 in the Middle game is to recreate a team’s 9 (or 10) playing within the oppositions 6 5 and 4. The 9 plays as a target man who is receiving in the triangle and then redistributing to a “runner” that would be coming through to break the back

0 Forget the Ball, Control the Space

By Mike Smith No, don’t totally forget the ball in regards to soccer in general, however, a critical part of implementing a defensive style of play is perfecting body position, spacing, angles and timing; all of which have very little to do with the ball. The short version is “ don’t stab” but since the purpose

0 Work Up from the Ground

By Mike Smith - While most of the time I am a huge advocate of running training sessions which replicate actual match conditions, the need for players and coaches to take the time and breakdown / develop individual skills is the foundation which any match success is built on. From a keeping standpoint, a goalie