February 2012
If you stopped by our booth at the NSCAA Convention we would like to thank you. As I am no longer with the NSCAA I had the chance to spend quite some time in the exhibit area and was struck by the number and variety of services offered at the Convention.
Sixteen people won prizes from our various raffles, drawings and competitions and they will receive my new book in the mail in the next week. To find out more about the new book please access www.jefftipping.com
Palm Beach and Soccer Culture
I will be assisting Palm Beach Soccer Academy for the next few months in beautiful Palm Beach County. My telephone number will stay the same. I have been working with The Palm Beach Soccer Academy for a number of years and have been struck by the many initiatives of President, Gary Walker, to get the various area clubs together for receptions and social occasions. Not only is Gary committed to the development of players and coaches but he is, also, committed to the development of a soccer culture in southern Florida. In addition his work in the local community has brought together an unusual combination of Parks and Recreation departments with 5 star hotels like the PGA National Resort Hotel and he has raised the profile of soccer in the Palm Beach area with the establishment of the Palm Beach Soccer Cup. The fifth annual Palm Beach Soccer Cup is being played May 11th – 13th and information can be accessed by clicking onto www.palmbeachcup.com
Gary has, also, asked me to be the Technical Advisor of the Palm Beach Soccer Academy and, if you participate in the tournament I will have the good fortune of seeing you. This is an outstanding tournament in a beautiful part of the country.
“Learning From The Legends” and “UK Premier League Master Class Tour.”
Please access http://www.jefftipping.com/ for information on two other spring coaching education opportunities. The first will be February 24 – 26th in Palm Beach County featuring the Irish FA Director of Performance, Nigel Best who, will be presenting a USSoccer approved CEU event called “Learning From the Legends.” Nigel will be looking at the latest developments in coaching education from Europe. He will be joined by myself and Dr. Bill Steffen, faculty member of Ohio University, who will explore Ohio University’s online coaching degree and conduct lectures and field presentations on goalkeeping and sports psychology. USSoccer are awarding 2 CEU's for this event.
The second event is the March “UK Premier League Master Class Tour” of British Premier League clubs where we will be looking at their player and coach development programs. The tour runs from March 17th - 26th, includes visits to the academies of Everton, Liverpool and Glasgow Rangers and culminates with the world famous Glasgow “Old Firm Derby” between Rangers and Celtic. We will see at least three professional matches and participate in the Everton “Master Class” coaching education program. Call 816 309 6411 for details or email jeff@jefftipping.com
Transition
We have been looking at counter attacking over the course of the last few blogs. This clip from an FC Porto versus Monaco game features the second most important aspect of counter attacking which is recognizing that the ball has been won and swiftly moving the ball forward before the opposition can recover.
The video highlights the importance of the first movement once the ball is won. That movement will consist of three, basic, choices for the player who first gets the ball after the interception;
1. Play the ball over the top of the opposition’s back line for the forward to run on to.
2. Play the ball into the feet of a forward who can turn and attack the opposing backs or combine with supporting players.
3. Run the ball forward at great speed and attack the oppositions back line.
The decision will depend on the disposition of the opponents and supporting team mates. In this sequence the player who initiates the counter attack has chosen the second option. This was the correct choice because the opposition was laying too deep for a ball over the top and there would be too much pressure on the ball if the attacker wanted to run it himself. This is a great video clip as it covers every aspect of counter attacking and I shall refer to it several times in the future.
The tactical decisions listed above can be replicated in the four versus four exercise featured below. The key to the exercise is that the teams drop back and defend with three leaving one player high. The goal should be fairly narrow so the defenders can drop back and defend in a triangle forcing the opposition to keep passing the ball. We do not want the attackers to have an easy chance to score – we want the defenders to intercept a pass or a dribble and make a snap decision whether to play the ball over the top of the forward, into feet or run it. This exercise will present the players with many opportunities to counter attack and force them to make the decisions they will have to make in a game. Do not forget to make sure there are side players just off the field who serve balls back in quickly to develop the mentality of continual transition opportunities or threats. We are, not only, developing a tactical strategy, we are, also developing a mindset.
Hoping that you enjoy your coaching and we get to see you in Palm Beach.
Best wishes, Tipp
