Club vision and direction for Eastern Illinois FC, a youth soccer club located in Central Illinois.

1. Eastern Illinois FC
COACHES MEETING 1/26/14

2. The Question….
Why Do Programs Fail?

3. Clubs/High Schools/Teams Lack…
 Vision
 Specifics
 Clarity
 Consistency
So basically…there is no established
TEAM IDENTITY

4. Vision
 “The basic methodological concepts must be
instilled in both the elite and
the base. At Porto I regularly met
with the youth and reserve team directors to
explain exactly how all the different teams
should play. That way no player gets lost when
making the step up. Everything is already trained
into his mind”
Jose Mourinho, Chelsea FC

5. Vision
 FACT – All teams win, all teams lose
 Can you handle either result and still…
Develop players capable of playing at ‘the
next level’?
Play in a way that’s recognizable, regardless
of talent?

6. Vision
 Programs need to clearly establish a (club)…
Philosophy
Objective(s)
Style of Play
System
Then break each down into specific details

7. Vision - Philosophy

8. Vision – Philosophy – What’s Ours?
Education
Life
• School
• Leadership
• Responsibility
Soccer
• Technical
• Tactical
• Physical
• Psycho-Social
Expression
Creativity
• Fearlessness
• “Flavor”
Passion
• Love of the Game
• “Own your own
development”
Excellence
Building a daily EIFC culture of
• Respect
• Tolerance
• Effort
• Honesty
• Courage

9. Vision - Objectives
Program
 Increasing Participation #’s
 Fielding new teams
 Increasing coaching quality and
benefits
 Standardizing style-of-play
Team
 Learning to build from back
 X% of possession/game
 “Playing short”
 Goals scored/conceded
 League championship
 Tournament championship

10. Vision – Style of Play
Possession, Pressure, Positioning
 Positive, attack-minded possession
 Playing ‘through-the-lines’
 Quick counters
 Everyone into attack
 Orchestrated pressing in opponent’s half
 Develop team to eliminate weaknesses
 Defensive organization and building from the back
 Ball-oriented shifting (zonal marking)
 Pattern Play

11. Vision – System
4-3-3 and variants
 Why?
 Best for youth development
 Inspired by Total Football (Dutch), perfected by Spanish System
 Recommended by US Soccer
 Early age groups vs Older age groups
 4 defenders, OB’s are attack-oriented
 1 holding midfielder, 2 attacking midfielders
 2 wing-forwards, 1 center-forward

13. Specifics
 “I convinced Gullit and Van Basten by telling them that
five organised players would beat ten disorganised ones.
And I proved it to them. I took five players: Giovanni Galli
in goal, Tassotti, Maldini, Costacurta and Baresi. They
had ten players: Gullit, Van Basten, Rijkaard, Virdis, Evani,
Ancelotti, Colombo, Donadoni, Lantignotti and Mannari.
They had 15 minutes to score against my five players. I
did this all the time and they never scored. Not once.”
Arrigo Sacchi, Former Mgr., AC Milan

14. Specifics – Phase Play
 4 Phases of the Game
 In-Possession
 Transition from In-possession to out-of-possession
(Just lost ball)
 Out-of-Possession
 Transition from out-of-possession to in-possession
(Just regained ball)
 “5th phase” – Set pieces

15. Specifics – EXAMPLE U16/U19
4-3-3 In Possession
 Play from the back with composure
 Outside backs push up high and wide to provide width, overlaps,
and crossing
 Holding CM drops deep to receive ball and distribute/keep
possession
 Holding CM also acts as central defender once ball moves up,
providing a 3-4-3 formation in attack
 Attacking Mids create ‘windows’ to receive the ball on the half-turn
and dribble/create
 Wings stretch defenders and cut in for through-balls
 Center Forward acts as false 9, coming back to receive, dribble,
create

16. 4-3-3 w/rotational movement video

17. Specifics – EXAMPLE U16/U19
4-3-3 Transition from “In” to “Out”
 6 Second Rule/3 Pass Rule – person closest to the ball puts
immediate pressure on the opponent
 Anyone close enough may double-team
 Back 3 or 4 step up to form a high line and offside trap
 Everyone steps within 1 yard of their mark/nearest opponent
 All must happen IMMEDIATELY
 If still out-of-possession after 6 seconds/3 passes, go ‘home’ and
settle into defensive organization and utilize ball-oriented shifting by
position

18. Barca 6 second rule video

19. Specifics – EXAMPLE U16/U19
4-3-3 Out-of-Possession
 Organize back from 3-4-3 into regular 4-3-3
shape as quickly as possible, if necessary
 Shift and apply pressure as a team in the correct
format
 Maintain high defensive block (if possible) along
with pressing so as to shrink the field to one side

20. Ajax pressing vs barca video

21. Specifics – EXAMPLE U16/U19
4-3-3 Transition from “Out” to “In”
 Outside backs and wingers get wide quickly to
stretch the opposition and provide outlets
 Look for quick outlets high up the field to initiate
immediate counter-attacks
 If no option, play 1-2 touch and find the safe
pass until we have proper shape and/or
opposition settles back from initial pressure

22. Guardiola counter-pressing video

23. Clarity
 “The single biggest problem in
communication is the illusion that it has
taken place.”
George Bernard Shaw

24. Clarity
Expectations

25. Clarity
Player Roles, Responsibilities
 Education
 “Soccer Homework”
 Matches on TV
 EIU/CHS games or similar
 Building the Culture
 Focus and Effort at practice – How much? When? Why?
 Accountability – positive and negative encouragement
 From Coach?
 Player to Player?

26. Clarity
Coach’s Roles, Responsibilities
 Organization
 Training
 Game-Day
 Correspondence
 With Players
 With Parents
 Parent Manager
 Attitude

27. Consistency
 "We are what we repeatedly do, therefore excellence is not an act
but a habit”
Aristotle
 “Under pressure we become our habits”
Unknown

29. 3four3 development vs no development video

30. Mls jungle ball video

33. Consistency
The Rondo
 Rondos (4v0,4v1, 3v1, 5v2, 7v2, 9v2)
 Seen in England as ‘having a laugh’
 Seen in Spain as the most important activity from U9 to 1st team
 “Rondo, Rondo, Rondo. Every. Single. Day. It’s the best exercise there is”
– Xavi Hernandez
 “If god wanted us to play football in the sky, he’d have put grass up there”
– Brian Clough
 “In a small space a player has to be able to act quickly. A good player who
needs too much time can suddenly become a bad player” – Johan Cruyff

34. Barca rondo video
Bayern rondo video
AVB rondo video
3Four3 rondo video

35. Consistency
Rondo – On Field Application

36. The Importance of Overloads
By Kieran Smith, AD Alcorcon (ESP)
Many people believe that players only have to be good technically and have some kind of
support in order to retain possession or to play a possession style of play. The most
commonly misunderstood aspect of the possession style of play is the need to create
overloads all over the pitch.
An overload is when you have more players than the opposition in the particular area of the
field you are playing in. This is one of the main reasons playing with only one striker has
become popular, because teams want to overload the midfield.
Coaches and managers can set up their teams to have an overload in a particular area, like
midfield, but you need to coach your players to have the tactical intelligence to know when
to move “out of position” to create an overload.
We saw in the last slide how rondos can appear in match form and how we can create
overloads in each area. These are not exhaustive solutions and players need to be able to
understand when/how to create an overload anywhere

38. Identity
 Vision
 Philosophy
 Objectives
 Style of Play
 System
 Specifics
 Clarity
 Consistency
“With every kick of the ball, there must be a thought.”
Dennis Bergkamp, Current Asst. Coach of AFC Ajax, former player of Arsenal FC, AFC
Ajax, Inter Milan