“The transition to the big pitch. This is a critical stage where athleticism meets technique. U13 training introduces 11v11 Tactical Concepts, emphasizing stamina, using the full width of the pitch, and understanding specific positional roles (e.g., how a fullback overlaps).”
Element Why it Matters 1. Pressure Unopposed shooting lines do not exist in games. You must add a defender or a time limit. 2. Consequence In a game, a miss hurts. In practice, add a “score or sprint” rule to…
It is every coach’s nightmare. It’s raining, it’s cold, and only three players show up. You have no goalkeeper and a bag full of balls. The temptation to cancel the session is high. Don’t do it. Training with just three…
In our previous session, we worked on The “Defensive Block” to make your team impossible to break down centrally. Now, we flip the script. If the middle is blocked, you must go around. One of the biggest problems in youth…
We all love coaching attacking patterns, but championships are usually won by the teams that know how to suffer together without breaking. In our last session, we taught attackers how to use width in the 4-Goal Width Game. Today, we…
The hardest thing to teach in soccer isn’t passing; it’s vision. Most young players suffer from “Ball Watching.” They get sucked toward the ball like a magnet, creating a clump of players in one small area. When the pitch gets…
Possession without penetration is pointless. We have all seen it: a team that plays beautiful “tiki-taka” in the middle of the pitch but freezes the moment they get near the goal. This happens when you train possession (Rondos) and finishing…
The moment you lose the ball is not a moment to rest—it is your best opportunity to score. Jurgen Klopp famously said, “No playmaker in the world can be as good as a good counter-pressing situation.” When you win the…
Stop stopping the game every 30 seconds to lecture your players. If you find yourself constantly shouting instructions like “Pass wide!” or “Press him!”, you are doing the thinking for your players. In a match, they won’t hear you. They…
If the 8v8 (MD-3) is about the “Engine,” the Continuous 2v2 (MD-4) is about the “Turbo.” In modern football, the ability to press, recover, and explode over short distances (0-10m) differentiates elite players from the rest. This isn’t aerobic jogging;…
If you want your team to dominate possession, understand triangulation, and intuitively find the “free player,” you cannot rely on 11v11 scrimmages. You need to isolate the concepts in small sided games. The 4v4 + 3 Neutrals (often called the…
The driven pass (often called a “ping” or “low drive”) is the hallmark of elite distribution. Unlike a standard side-foot pass, the driven pass travels at high speed, cuts through grass, and bypasses defensive lines before the opponent can react….
Time is your most valuable asset. Most youth coaches only have 60 to 90 minutes of pitch time per week. If you spend 15 minutes setting up cones and 10 minutes lecturing, you have wasted nearly half your development time….