DC thoughts after dandy thunder game
A short one [by my standards] about the team i coached today:
The boys definitely went out with the intention to implement the lessons learned this week at training.
I was really pleased with this. The boys showed that they are coachable and keen to apply what is practiced. They can do it. They just need more practice to do it more consistently and against the press.
Mistakes will happen as we develop, and we will concede goals and lose games as a result. I am ok with that. The question might be, however, are the players? I hope so.
We could play differently, and take development out of the question. We could press really high, boot the ball forward at every opportunity, take all risk out of the game, take all intelligence out of the game and hope the opportunities come (without actually creating the opportunities through anything that resembles intelligent play). And don't forget - we could hack, kick and make sure that if we don't get the ball, we get the player and if we get both - its a bonus!! To me, none of this is developmental football. But I could be wrong. It won't be the first time.
As soon as the boys conceded a goal you could see the mindset change and as the game went on, old and bad habits started to creep in, especially when the opposition smelt blood and pressed even more. This indicates that the boys are defining themselves as players by a scoreline, even though they mostly have no control over this at an individual level. Players cannot control mistakes other players make. And developing players need to learn that they are not defined by their mistakes but by the way they learn from them and then shake them off.
A few players dropped their heads because of one mistake. If a player is brave and gets the perfect pitch position to receive, checks and scans and reacts accordingly, only then to have a slightly bad touch which results in a goal being conceded. Then it is wrong to look too closely at the touch, without also looking at all the positives too. I see the positives when they are there. So if a player made a mistake that resulted in goal; Can they think about the bigger picture not just the goal conceded. What did they do right? What could they do Better? What can they practice so the mistake is unlikely to happen again? In a years time, when a player's touch is better, then the same moment turns into a great opportunity to play - as long as that player always preservers and works hard at getting it right.
If possession breaks down after one pass. It doesn't undo all the good work done before that moment. There are always positives, and at this point (as a player), one bad moment does not undo all the good moments that came before, and a score line reflects very little at this point in time. Plenty will disagree and argue that winning is all that matters and winning is development.
I have seen a player (who i worked closely with) play in a game where his team got whacked 12-0 (at U16 level). This player is now playing professionally in Japan. Do you think he cares about that score line now. I don't think he even cared about the score line then, to be honest. He just cared about the things he could control.
Cliche time !!!
The only mistake is to not learn from a mistake. The only fear that is debilitating is the fear of making a mistake. Do not let fear of making a mistake make you make the mistake. Accept that mistakes are inevitable, an so embrace the challenge, not of not making a mistake, but of learning from it and then moving beyond it when you do. The biggest failure in life is not to fail, it is to hide from the opportunity to succeed (because you are afraid of exposure to failure).
The game is a game of mistakes. It is not an exact science. Obviously the less mistakes you make the better a player you will be. But as a player develops - mistakes are an essential part of development. And if a young player isn't making mistakes then they are not playing at the very edge of their ability level, and if they are not playing at this level - they wont push the boundaries of their level.
On a side note, i do love the fact that 'no league table' was brought in for a reason (along with a small pitch) - to develop more technical intelligent players - but yet none of this translates to a developmental approach for most teams. A team that sets up purely to win or not loose - achieves 'what' exactly at this point in time? Winning vs development (the 2 playing styles evident (to me anyway) on Sunday) is a lot like party food vs fruit and veg. Which one tastes good and which one is better for you in the long run?
When prioritizing development over winning ( assuming veggies are better in the long run than lollies) we need to prioritize 1 thing. That being:
Awareness
This is a nice little video on the topic.
So this weeks sessions will be on
Checking and Scanning
As a final note, I write these reports to share my philosophical views as obviously I need players and parents to buy into this for it to eventually pay off. I may be wrong of course and as a parent/player you may feel that the aim should be to win (and feel good now) rather than develop.
And prioritizing winning may be the right way to go if your child only ever wants to be a social player (and does not have ambitions to play at higher and higher levels and maybe eventually get paid to play). If your child is just a social player, then development becomes a meaningless concept and i am wasting your child's time. They could be having a much better time elsewhere.
Actually this is the final note; Sundays squads were selected based on how well the players did at training last week.
We looked at the topic, behavior and attitude and selected teams accordingly. Those who did well in all 3 categories were in Dom's team. Those who needed more work on the topic (thinking ahead of the ball) and those who let themselves down in regards to attitude and behavior were in my team. As a result the squad balance was clearly out. We were aware that we had all our recognized CBs in one team and that therefore some players had to play in unfamiliar positions.
Re behavior - some players may have only been dribbling a ball when they should have been listening, or booted someone else's ball away for a laugh (but at the wrong time). This was explained to the boys before the game and will be again this week. Hopefully the penny drops for those who loose focus and undo a lot of good work as a result
Last note: Did you notice we tried a different structure on Sunday. It did not make too much of a difference to suggest structure is an issue.