By Mike Smith “Why is the other team touching the ball?” This is a great question to ask your team, and while there are obvious reasons the other team gets the ball, many times, it is because we actually play INTO pressure and didn’t use all our options. A team who can learn to relieve pressure
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By Mike Smith Throw ins, Flicks, Trapping a Ball Out of the Air, Volleying and Turning. Have you ever had one of those games where just a little different bounce of the ball would have made a huge difference? Have you ever been the coach caught saying “ Unlucky” at least a dozen times a game?
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By Mike Smith Several years ago I had a high school player who was obsessed with formations. She just had to know what shape we were in, and would usually then argue the 4-3-3 was the answer for everything. I was trying to teach the group to not ALWAYS play so directly and even keep a
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By Mike Smith If there is one point where the beautiful game can get ugly, it is in front of the goal when a team is “crashing” in to score. This is a moment where sheer numbers, size, strength and determination win the day. Often times in the waning seconds of a game, a team will
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By Mike Smith Good defense has several aspects. The most common is just getting back to clog space, and I will take that all the time. However, a team that wishes to play complete defense should also have good marking, players attempting to deny penetrating passes and players focused on winning long services of the ball.
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By Mike Smith I constantly catch myself reminding my team, “it’s” not always about what you are doing, it’s about what you are doing to the other team. Many times, the player in possession of the ball doesn’t look for or see the space that is created by team movement, but IF you have players who
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By Mike Smith In most aspects of life, having a Plan B or even a Plan C is accepted as clever, solid planning. In soccer, often times we put ourselves in positions where it is “ all or nothing “ and don’t think about a Plan B or C should our initial efforts not succeed. The
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By Mike Smith I am just as guilty as anyone for demanding my team follow a script. In my opinion if a team can load the middle, get the ball wide, get it forward and then across the goal, they will be successful. I use this approach as a foundation, but the fact is it is
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By Mike Smith Lesson 1 Make the Pass Make the Run Set-Up This warm up puts into play some simple attacking elements, but requires advanced timing. Set one cone in a 30 yd diagonal to the starting cone and then drop another cone about 15 yds below the diagonal cone, as shown. The starting player serves
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By Mike Smith Having been around this game along time I can comfortably say in almost every soccer match, at every level, there are goals left on the field by not challenging the near post and simply letting the keeper catch the ball and by not crashing the back post for a clean up. This lesson
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By Mike Smith Ever ask your team, “What exactly are you doing to the other team?”? Meaning, are your possessions, movements and tactics really causing a team to make adjustments to deal with you? Often times the answer is “no”, and for those times, a little more focus on lateral play can be the “yes” which
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By Mike Smith “It’s not rocket science.” I’m probably not the only coach to use this phrase when explaining what to do with the ball to my players. Most times, I find myself using this phrase to the teams which are really good at possessing the ball, to the point that’s all they try to do.
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By Mike Smith As a high school coach, I see a wide range of teams and levels of play throughout the season. In addition, as a fan and student of the game, I find myself watching and analyzing all levels of the game year round. One constant at all the levels are the 2 and 3
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By Mike Smith This session is focused on small groups of players working together to defend the space behind them. I am first and foremost a defensive minded coach. I have had tons of success teaching teams to drop back early in two lines of four, essentially playing a 4 man midfield like a 4 man back
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By Mike Smith This session is focused on small groups of players working together to defend the space behind them. The fact is most of a soccer game is played off the ball. Because of this, great technical skill is needed to take advantage of the short time a player does have the ball. However, there is
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