| NSCAA Master Coach Trip to England |
By Lang Wedemeyer, NSCAA Staff Coach
The following is a report from NSCAA Staff Coach Lang Wedemeyer on a recent NSCAA-sponsored trip to England for the Master Coach class. The Master Coach class puts candidates into some high-level soccer experiences. For more information on NSCAA Academy programs, go to nscaa.com.
Tranmere
The trip started at Tranmere FC, where we met with Ronny Moore, the first team manager. Tranmere is in the Coca Cola League 1, which is essentially the second division below the Championship and EPL.
This meeting gave us an eye-opening introduction to the heart of English soccer. Although the clubhouse and stadium were certainly nice, they did not hold the glamour of the clubs that dominate English soccer. This was apparent as Ronny Moore spoke at length about the lack of finances available to the club for paying players, buying players, facility upgrades and staffing needs. A place like Tranmere does not have the draw that the EPL clubs have to bring in the best local youth. They are in a constant battle with the likes of Everton, Liverpool and Manchester United for local players. His point of view is that those clubs are capable of buying many players and should utilize the smaller clubs, like Tranmere, for development purposes more often.
This competition goes beyond the players; it extends to the fan base as well. Tranmere, on average, draws about 6,500 fans to each home game, but need to bring in 9,000 each game to break even. They are constantly working at a loss, which puts more strain on everyone in the club. Moore mentioned that most clubs are working at a loss at this level, and it’s a fight to see which ones can hold on long enough to sell a player to keep the club going another year or two.
The average time at a team for a manager in the English game is 13 months. Moore said, “You know you will get sacked, you just don’t know when.”
Tranmere carries 20 pros with three on developmental contracts; in contrast, an EPL team can carry 40 to 50 pros and 30 on developmental contracts. This led to a discussion of the Academy Program, which has been instituted in England to better develop the youth in the country. The goal is putting more English nationals into the EPL. Moore believes the Academy Program is a waste of time because most of the clubs do not allow enough time for the youth to come up through the ranks. He says there needs to be more options for players when they finish as a U-18 youth.
We then observed a training session. The main objective of the training was to work on getting the ball to the right midfielder, who was very fast and left-footed. He has the ability to run past most defenders at this level, but there is obvious frustration on the manager’s face when he talks about his lack of good decisions in and around the goal area. He said that one of the biggest “keys” to coaching at this level is to not get too frustrated with the players. “There is a reason that they are at this level.” However, his frustration was apparent as he stood near us in the bleachers while his first coach ran the game against the reserve squad.
He mentioned that the other two things that are most important for coaching at this level are knowledge of the game and incorporating lots of repetition into training.
The team also spent some time on set pieces. In Moore’s estimation, “The teams at this level are so close, that set pieces are massive.” They usually work on them up to three times a week.
The game the next day did not go as planned, as Tranmere lost 1-3 away to Oldham. The tactical game plan that the team had worked on the day before did not come into play except for a few sporadic occasions. Their set plays were ineffective and the Tranmere goalkeeper had a few problems.
Carrington
The next stop was the Manchester United training ground at Carrington. The grounds are impressive – up to 12 fields, an artificial turf field, an indoor training center and locker rooms all for the academy youth players. The first team has a building unto itself. Sir Alex Ferguson’s office is situated so that he can look out his window to view youth training grounds and the first team’s ground. It is also interesting to note that the youth fields are situated in such a way that the U-9s play the farthest away with each older age group getting a little closer to the first team’s training ground. It’s kind of an incentive to keep moving up and stay within the program.
The first team’s building housed a weight room, locker rooms, laundry room, kit room, pool/rehab area, a basketball court, a stationary/spinning bike area that the first team uses to warm up before training and an eating area. The training fields have heating pipes underneath them to keep them green and snow free. Sir Alex does not believe in training on the turf or indoors no matter what the weather.
A couple of other interesting things to note: there were locks on every door in the complex…something we did not see at the other clubs’ facilities. Also, in the indoor area, they had a UEFA Skills Championship set up for the youth players. The competitions include hitting spots on the wall, shots on a goal painted on the wall, cross bar challenge, head tennis, football squash, ½ volley challenge and one to hit a low square on the bottom corner of the painted goal. I believe that these types of technical challenges are missing from the daily routines of many of our players in the United States.
Everton
We went to watch the Everton U-18 boys play Blackburn Rovers at Blackburn’s new training grounds. In the typical English weather of wind, rain, and cold, we watched an entertaining game. The immediate thing you notice is the game’s intensity. Although a lot of American youth teams play with “toughness,” there is a big difference in how hard these boys play. And it makes sense when you consider that every game they are fighting for their lives. They are trying to move up into the reserve squad and get a pro contract. We did see Everton score midway through the second half and win the game. The three things that stood out most about the differences in play compared with our youth of similar age: the ability to strike a driven long ball; the use of the body to win space and consequently, the ball; and the heading ability.
Finch Farm
We drove to Everton’s training grounds, Finch Farm. We had the opportunity to meet with Neil Dewsnip, the U-18 coach, after their game against Blackburn. He spoke of the network that they have all around Liverpool. They have many “spies” that keep track of their players wherever they go. He used one example of two boys being caught in a restaurant having a bottle of wine. They confessed, were fined and given a three-week suspension. Dewsnip spoke of Wayne Rooney and his time in Everton’s youth academy. They knew where he was 24 hours a day. If he was in some sort of trouble, there was someone close by to pull him out immediately. Although these are examples of taking care of your “product,” there was an overwhelming sense of care and nurturing throughout Everton program. All of the coaches and employees seem to really care about the kids and helping them. They will be the first to admit that there is certainly a business side of producing players for the first team and to sell off to keep the club going, but that doesn’t seem to be the true driving force for most of them.
Finch Farm had just opened recently. The main building that housed the operation is fairly symmetrical. One thing that was important to the Academy coaches was that the Academy players felt as important as the first team. Included in the building are locker rooms for each age group. The U-16s, U-18s, Reserve team and First team all have large screen televisions/video boards where they can watch game clips and highlight tapes…even at halftime of games. There is an equipment room and a laundry room with full-time employees. They had previously been exporting the laundry with a bill totaling more than $100,000 a year. There were offices for the Academy and first-team staff, meeting rooms for coaches and players, a computer study area for the Academy, a weight room, training and rehab room, pool, a relaxation lounge, and kitchen/dining area. All the classroom/meeting room/computer rooms had smart boards with video technology in place as well.
Outside the building, there were nine Academy fields plus two junior fields, three fields for the senior teams, a turf field and a goalkeeper training area. An indoor facility measured 70 x 50, was only one story tall and had a low ceiling. It did have the goal outlines and technical training areas. They had a running ramp that had a very steep side to it and stairs of different levels for plyometrics. They were also in the process of building a running hill and a track that wrapped around the complex. One of the fields for the first team has the exact measurements of the field at Goodison Park with the same grass, the same layers of dirt and sand and is cut on the exact same schedule so that it provides the same feel for pre-match training.
All throughout the tour, two main points kept coming up: first, everyone is extremely proud of the work that they are doing with the Academy and the youth development. Over and over we heard about the extra efforts they take to develop the players and keep them at Everton. They certainly believe they are doing a better job than any one else in England. We had the chance to meet Victor Anachebe, a former youth player who is now a first-team regular. He was working out in the weight room when Tosh Farrell called him over to chat with us. He was very nice and humble and commented on how he didn’t want to be anywhere else but Everton. Tosh then chimed in that giving Victor a ride home after training every day for five years probably help solidify that relationship and loyalty. However, they are quick to note that the “Everton Way” is not the only way to develop youth.
The second point that kept creeping into the conversation was the distaste for Liverpool. There is definitely a lot of tension between those two clubs as they work to outdo one another.
We watched one of the physical training sessions for the U-18s run by an American. He is an employee of Athlete’s Performance Company based in California. It is the same company that Juergan Klinsmann used to prepare the German national team for 2006 World Cup. They brought him over on a one-year contract to work with the Academy players – mainly at the U-16 and U-18 levels. Management wants to incorporate a standard program of physical preparation for each age group from the U-9s up.
A typical week of training for the U-18s looks like this:
Monday and Tuesday: 8:30 a.m. strength workout; 10 a.m. training, Game analysis after training; 2-3:15 p.m. functional movement training; 4:30-6:30 p.m. College (High School)
Wednesday: College all day
Thursday: Yoga in the morning; 10-11:30 a.m. training; 2-3:15 p.m. training
Friday: Low-intensity day with 9:30 a.m. training and game analysis
Saturday or Sunday: Game day
We had lunch with the American strength and conditioning coach. He spoke of his philosophy about youth strength training and measurement systems. Everton is employing a sophisticated electronic monitoring system. The players wear belts around their chests (like heart-rate monitors), but the field is surrounded by sensors that can pick up on their body systems to report back to a central laptop on the field about each players’ heart rate and muscle reaction. The information indicates when players are properly warmed up and ready to train; if a player is having a hard day physically; or if players are ready to come back from injury. They even go so far as to take small blood samples before or after training to measure the glycogen levels and to monitor the athlete’s health and nutrition.
The group met with James Bell-Walker to go over how Everton handles its match analysis. They use video analysis to monitor performance, live match analysis, retroactive feedback, data basing and trend analysis, coach and player education, and as synergy between departments. They film every first-team training and game and break down the film for the coaches. They film every game for every other age group, break it down and store it for immediate or future reference. The U-16s, U-18s, Reserves and First Team all have video boards in their locker rooms where film from the first half of play is broken down and clips are put up for the coaches to go over elements of the game as part of the halftime talk. Bell-Walker went into detail about how he breaks down the clips and the technology he uses. One of the more eye-opening comments was that they record every game possible that is aired on television (satellite, pay-per-view, individual club television stations, etc.) across Europe and every game played in any major tournament in the world to be able to analyze potential opponents that they may face in a European competition and to scout for potential players to buy.
Back at Everton
The morning session at Everton started off with watching a goalkeeper warm-up session. The session:
Footwork exercise
Four cones set up (off the field). The GK does ladder-like movements through the cones and then catches a ball in between the wide cones. Examples of the movement: sideways in and out, backwards with a turn, backwards with a collapse dive. The GK coach changed the starting positions of the GK for each set. The cones were about two feet apart.
Catching technique work
GK starts between two central cones.
1. GK shuffles, touches one of front cones (gray), shuffles backwards to central cones to catch shot at his hands. Goes right, then left.
2. GK shuffles backwards to white cones and then forwards to central cones to catch shot at his hands. Goes right, then left.
3. Same pattern, but GK goes around the cones.
4. GK goes forward around outside of gray cones then dives to save shot hit between gray cones.
5. GK goes backward around outside of white cones and dives to save shot hit between white cones.
Coaching points: keep weight forward, even when going backward. Keep body angled as steps to move faster, but step and set for shot.
Reaction/shot exercise
Within the six-yard box, the GK has three different colored cones in front of him spaced at about two yards apart. The coach calls out a color, the GK must move off his line, touch the cone and prepare for a hard shot from the top of the box by the coach.
U-18 Training Session
The main objectives of the session were tempo and speed of play. They started off with physical warm-up activities directed by the S&C coach. After warm-up, the team moved into a possession game with gates, then into a 7 v. 7 with GKs.
1. S&C coach put players through a dynamic warm-up with ladder-like exercises and footwork.
2. They did some technical passing activities.
3. Possession game. Two teams of 7, 9 gates created by different colored sticks approximately 2 yards wide. The field was approximately ¼ of a regular field: 60 wide x 40 long.
Objective: keep possession until you are able to dribble or pass penetrate through a gate. (Diagram 4)
After the possession game, they played 7 v. 7 + GKs in approximately the samearea, but with greater length as opposed to width. There were cones marking the midline, and there was a restriction on the game that you could only take one or two touches in your defensive half of the field. If a team scores, it is “make it, take it.” Again, the coaching points were based on tempo, speed of play, and finding penetration balls to the forward’s feet.
Everton Support Staff
Carmel Triggs has been at Everton full-time for only two years. She commented that her role and job description was a “work in progress.” She didn’t want a plaque on her door that states “Sports Psychologist” because it gives a negative connotation to the boys. She has a doctorate in emotional intelligence. She works with the youth players in a combination of formal (team in the classroom) and informal training sessions (individuals and groups). She travels with the U-18s and tries to get to at least one training session or game per week for every age group so she can see how the players are reacting during their practices instead of always depending on the coach for reports. Her basic modus operandi is to find out the players’ thoughts and feelings, gauge the responses; exact out a time/phase of change and track the results. Her motto is, “You cannot change what you are not aware of.” She also assists in the bereavement process when a player is cut from the team.
Phil Hewitt is the strength and conditioning coach. He has broken down the characteristics and personalities of the different players he comes across: Genius, Speed, Power, Mental Toughness, Endurance, Agility, Strength, Mongrel (the player who does the dirty work).
He has also broken down the year into phases for physical development:
1. First day of individual off-season plan after the last game of the season.
2. Individual workout program.
3. Pre-pre-season.
4. Pre-season for whole squad.
5. In season.
To build an effective program, he must take into consideration:
1. The number of days vs. the number of games in a week
2. Weather
3. Facilities available
4. Injuries
5. Winning or losing the last game
6. The weekly goals of the coaches
He showed film clips of some different kinds of strength work that he does with the youth teams. They include:
1. Sumo wrestling in a circle
2. Pushing a tractor
3. Running through coaches with bumper pads
Crewe Alexandra
Crewe is a second-division team that prides itself on developing players and selling them for big profits. Over the past few years on average, there was about 3 million pounds invested in players that turned a 30 million pound profit.
The Academy program and player development run the club. For years, scouts would send skillful players with less athleticism because they could become more effective players at Crewe. But the game is too athletic now, so Crewe gets a more athletic player and they try to teach him the game. Crewe has a reputation for playing skillful soccer. Owner Dario Gradi was quoted as saying, “Only Manchester United tries to match Crewe for skill.” People often comment that Crewe plays a “different way.” But they still are fighting for the best kids with Man U, Everton, Liverpool, and Manchester City to name a few. There are just not enough top players. This, he says, has forced many of the top clubs to go abroad looking for players. He is proud of the player development. But the club loses up to 1 million pounds every year in operating expenses that must be made up by the selling of their top players. It is a “footballer production business.”
CREWE U-18 TRAINING
Warm-up: Dynamic movement
1) Driving balls over medium distance with a little backspin and the timing of a run in behind.
• The server on each end would prepare a ball
• The runner would check and spin out and the server would send a driven ball into the space.
• The server would follow his pass and become a runner
• The runner would play the ball into a waiting server and fall into line.
2) In a more game-like activity, they set things up functionally; an outside back would start the game by sending a long ball into a forward to start off 2 v. 2+1 to goal. When the ball was won or out of play, the game would continue with the opposing outside backs doing the same in the opposite direction. The plus player was a central midfielder who always played with the attacking forwards who were marked by two center backs.
Any time a player won the ball, it would be played wide to the outside back, who would hit a driven ball into the feet of the forward who would lay it off to the center mid to start the attack to goal. There were no GKs, so goals must be scored by hitting the net “in the air.”
After playing this for about 20 minutes, the players juggled in pairs, then got into a 6 v. 6 game.
London
After a morning tour of London, we traveled to the offices of the FA to listen to a talk on the FA coach and player development. We were told that there is one plan and a shared philosophy for player development in the country. This was contrary to what we heard from the different clubs each of whom claim to be better than everyone else in youth development.
An interesting comparison to our four elements of soccer (technical, tactical, physical and mental) is that the FA (and Everton) broke the four components into technical (which includes some tactical elements), psychological, physical and social.
In the coaching education in the United States, we discuss the Social aspect in the youth courses, but often leave it out in our more advanced curriculum. He discussed the different UEFA licenses that the FA offers for its coaches: Level 1: UEFA Leaders = Moms and Dads. Level 2: UEFA C = Volunteers. Level 3: UEFA B = Academy Coaches. Level 4: UEFA A = Professional Coaches. There is also a license in the works of a UEFA A Youth License.
We also heard information on the FA Skills Program. It has 66 full-time coaches who are experts at working with youth. They get involved with school programs, skill centers and online education. They have a support system of nine Regional Coach Development Managers, nine regional 5-11 coaches, 520 FA tutors, Coaching Associations, a Club in-service program, prep courses for the licenses, and Talent ID.
The FA has grown astronomically in recent years. Fifteen years ago, it had 150 full-time staff. Today, there are more than 400. One of its goals is to heighten the retention of players that go through the different avenues of football in the UK and encourage them to come back to the sport as coaches, volunteers, referees and administrators. The FA also is increasing its involvement on the female side and has 43 centers of excellence throughout the country.
The FA representative stated that other than the royal family and the prime minister, the FA is the most quoted organization in the UK. After England did not qualify for Euro 2008, everyone, including the tea lady, was blamed for the national team’s misfortune.
Fulham
We watched the first team train. The GKs (first team, reserve and U-18s all warmed up together).
The field players did a dynamic warm-up followed by some time on their own with the ball. They soon got into a 7 v. 3 to goal that started with a goal kick to stationary backs, who played the center midfielder, who started the attack vs. three backs. One of the outside backs can release late into the attack. Initially, the only coaching point for the attack was that the pace remain at a high tempo. Then the starting points started to differ a bit, and the manager added that the attack needed a combination on the flank before the cross or shot. When this exercise was finished, they played 11 v. 11.
They were not going particularly hard, and the coaches did not want high intensity because the team had gone very hard the day before. The players all wore heart-rate monitors, and Clint Dempsey was the only one who peaked “above the red zone” because, according to Roy Hodges, the manager, he is not fit enough.
After training, a few players stayed around to work on their finishing, signed autographs and took pictures with game-shirt sponsors.
Hodges came up into the bleachers to talk with us for a few moments. He stated that he was not happy with Dempsey and questioned his life style and work ethic. He said that Brian McBride was a consummate professional, Carlos Bocanegra was doing OK but he couldn’t discern if he was a left back or a center back. He said that Eddie Johnson was young, but doing well. He also said that what Fulham really needed was not only more versatile players, but also better ones. As a pro coach, you know what you are getting into with the pressure so it’s important to have interests outside soccer. He said he had too many players on the first team (36) and that made it hard to deal with all of them. He did a lot of the coaching himself.
In their first team, they have 36 players ranging in age from 17-38 and from 20 different countries. So they have all come from different backgrounds of strength training, which is a huge issue in putting all of them on the same page for training. They use the heart-rate monitors to not only measure the effort levels on the day, but also test the taxing of the body.
As an example, the strength coach told of when Brian McBride came back after the World Cup. His heart rate peaked too soon with low-impact training; this told the staff that he was over-trained and needed rest. They do a variety of tests including skin fold, strength tests, anaerobic threshold, bike tests, blood analysis and muscle thickness tests.
The hierarchy in the club is the first-team coach, then the technical director. The technical director oversees the following departments: academy manager, medical staff, academy coaches, talent and ID section, equipment, and sports science. This reflects that everyone is on equal footing and all have a say as to the development of the players.
They are working to set up a school where the youth players can train twice a day, but it is tough taking talented students out of good schools when they may not make it as a professional. Most youth players are on one-year contracts, but “special players” can be signed on multi-year contracts.
By U-11, players should be able to master the ball and body movements. They should be two-footed and good in 2 v. 1 situations. They teach that the game and training are two different facets. The game is an event. They use 4 v. 4 and make the kids play only with their weak foot. They will often mix age groups. For example, they may have the U-9s play the U-10s. This gives the U-9s a great challenge and can build the U-10s confidence at the same time. The club has a 30-second rule for stopping the play to make a coaching point.
Leading Issues in English Soccer
England has an identity crisis because the culture is changing with influx of foreign talent in the EPL. Here are some concerns:
FA coaches do not need a syllabus, but need an understanding of player development. England needs better coaches who understand players. Too much of the coaching culture in England is assessment-driven. Too many coaches look at the practice rather than at the players themselves.
The relatively new Academy Structure continues to debate many issues:
• Winning vs. development
• Not enough of a variety of competition
• School vs. club development
• Parental pressure
• Society’s view of soccer
The Academy teams play around 40 games a year. In Valencia, Spain, youth teams are playing 136 games per year!
Movement is a fundamental aspect in the development of youth players. It must be relevant, realistic and suitable to the age, ability, and maturity of the group. It must be interesting, varied and challenging.
There are concerns:
• 95 percent of all neural development is completed by age 12 (movements)
• 85 percent of learning is achieved by doing (repetition)
• Players must visualize how they use a training item and how it incorporates into the game.
• 90 percent of the learning happens with the player, not the coach, so don’t talk too much!
Female Soccer in England
Women’s soccer in England is still in its infancy, even though the national team did well in the most recent World Cup. There is a semi-professional league, but apparently Arsenal is the only club that really associates and funds a women’s team. All of the other women’s teams are essentially separate entities from the all-male clubs. They are given permission to wear the uniform and are allowed to train or use the facilities only on Fridays (because all the boy’s teams are finished or off).
Tranmere has a youth program and women’s team. Louise Edwards is the manager and women’s youth program coordinator. Contrary to the other clubs, she is housed in the main complex. She related the frustrations of being a woman in a male-dominated sport in England. They run developmental centers all around England for women’s soccer, but the fields they get to use often are of poor quality because the boys or men are using the better facilities. She is hopeful and feels that the female game in the UK is getting better and that there are more and more girls playing.
At Everton, it is a similar situation. They “support” a girl’s youth program and a women’s team, but only in “kit and name.” The funding comes from outside sources and they use the facilities only on Fridays and for an occasional game. There was a little pride in the club because the Everton team had just beaten Arsenal, the reigning champions.
At Fulham, they “support” a female youth system, but only up to U-16s. At one point, the owner, Al Fayed, sponsored a full women’s team, but not anymore. The Center of Excellence program that develops and identifies young players still is geared only for boys. The girls must gain sponsorship and fields for themselves.
Conclusion
An interesting note on coaching youth players from the FA: a 10-year-old boy could be 10 in age, but could be more similar to a 9-year-old in soccer development, similar to an 11-year-old mentally, and similar to a 12-year-old emotionally. When combining that with 10 or more other 10-year-olds, it warrants taking these things into consideration when developing them.
At Everton and Fulham, there was a very open feeling about both clubs and their willingness to share. While at Everton, there were three Icelandic coaches visiting the club as well as a gentleman getting a masters in sports education from Liverpool that sat in on the presentations. Everyone was very open and honest with their jobs, the joys and the difficulties that made it very genuine. At Fulham, there was a large contingent of coaches from a club in Denmark that has established a partnership with FFC and were with us for most of the day.
None of the older (U-16 and up) players wore shinguards during training sessions. It was surprising because it’s required in the game. But, we were told it is not part of the “English mentality” to wear guards.
The four-corner philosophy that mirrors our four components of soccer had the interesting element of a “social” aspect. Is that something we should focus on?
Coaching Education: The FA says that it is controlling it and has determined the “best” way, but each club – Man U, Crewe, Everton, and Fulham – boasted about the quality of its Academy program process.
Everton’s “spy system” was certainly eye-opening, but makes sense when you are investing thousands, if not millions, into a developmental plan and can’t afford to have the young players make mistakes that will cost the club and the players millions. The club feels that it works very hard to place players into an environment where they can be most successful – even if that means taking them away from home to achieve this.
Craig Brown. We all know that every coach likes to talk, but I was impressed with his desire to share his knowledge and know that he would have been just fine to sit with us coaches and share stories all night long. It was a pleasure to see the passion so vibrant in him after so many years of coaching.
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