Luis Saurez----Should He Stay or Should He Go.....

Should I stay or should I go now

If I go their will be trouble

If I stay it will be double
So come on and let me know
Should I cool it or should I go

I miss The Clash, but more importantly I miss the loyalty of players to the Club. Steven Gerrard and Carra are probably creatures of a different century, a different upbringing.  Maybe what I really miss is directness. Where a player says something honest, like, " I want more money! That will make me stay ". 

But these are different times. Players say things like "the press are mean to me", "I'm homesick" and then their agent starts to make noise.

So Luis Saurez, what do you do?  He is a fantastic player. Scores goals, is aggressive, has great instincts, terrific pace, and disrupts the defensive lines effortlessly. He also regularly gets banned from games, causes distraction to the development of the squad, and makes noise direct and indirect about leaving the squad.

He makes about 4.5 million pounds per year, and misses on average 6 games (so far) per season. And still score more goals than most players in the EPL.

Today we here that the spendthrift Arsenal were offering €30000000 for Saurez. If true he must surely be worth double! 

My opinion, sell. Just using the Arsenal figure of €30000000 is an amount that could well set up Liverpool's financial stability for the years to come. It would allow for the acquisition , now and in the future, of solid players to get us back into Europe and, more importantly, to stay there.

Tackling a bigger problem.

Actually tackling is the problem. Somehow there is a belief in many parts of soccer parentage and amongst their offspring that soccer is a non-contact sport. If that was the case then tackling, slide, block or poke would only be an intellectual exercise, and something just thought of by soccer philosophers, "if only there was some way to get the ball off of the foot of that striker? Maybe if we had some technique that would block a shot, or take the ball off of their foot, and appendage that would do it. If only...."

The video below is the above  philosophy put into action

So after all of the to'ing and fro'ing, what is tackling all about? It is about tackling a bigger problem. Interrupting the attack of an individual player in possession of a soccer ball (you can't tackle a player without a ball as that is a major foul and is much frowned upon).

Tackling takes three major forms, and all three forms require physical contact, and commitment on the part of the player.

The three types of tackles are:

1. The poke tackle

2. The block tackle

3. The slide tackle.

The first two tackles are relatively simple, but require patience, poise, balance and timing. They also require determination.

This Week

THE POKE TACKLE

This is what it says, the defender looks for an opportunity to poke the ball away from the player with the ball, usually someone who is dribbling.

I will break it down as though the defender is in front of the attacker, and is between the attacker and the net.

1.Firstly he must slow the attacker down by jockeying. He must get close, but not too close, (arms length), and keep his eye on the ball. The defenders weight must be on his toes and one foot must be forward. The defender should be turned slightly and not square on to the defender as it is easier for the attacker to get around the defender, or "nut meg" the defender by playing the ball between his legs.

2. Watch the ball, stay on your toes, wait, wait, wait, and then lunge forward and with your front foot POKE the ball away. A long way away if possible. This requires that the defender commits to a hard challenge on the ball and possibly collide with the attacker.

The collision is fine so long as the ball is contacted first, but the poke must be strong enough to disrupt the attacker. I recommend that the defender then try to take possession of the ball and ultimately go on the attack.

A simple session to develop this skill is to set up a 15 x 15 grid and inside have six players, four with a ball each and two without. Have those  in possession dribble and those without poke tackle the ball off their feet. To be a proper tackle, the ball must leave the grid (this encourages stronger pokes!). Have a competition and see which group of two clears the most balls from the grid. Using a square gives the players an opportunity to jockey as well as tackle from the side. The session also encourages dribbling and shielding on the part of the dribbler. If you think a "losing" squad needs to do a forfeit, have them do push or press ups as upper body strength is always in fashion for defending and shielding.

Now a moment of Liverpool promotion--------Stevie G!!!!!

Next week, the block tackle, and more Liverpool greatness

Looking for hope and Defending as a Unit

Today Liverpool pursuit Stoke 22 to 4, and lost 1-0.what bitter solace can we Liverpool fans take from this sand what concerns should our opponents have?

Cast your mind back, when was the last time Liverpool had 22 goal attempts in a game, regardless of the result, and without Steven Gerrard. Last year, and the year before there was no way possible for Liverpool to do this when they were down a goal. Heads would have gone down, they would have defended in depth, and attempted goals only on the counter attack.

Today they did it differently, at the Brittania Stadium, against the largest and one of the best defensive teams in the league. The didn't score , but maybe a different call in the box at either end,or a little more patience over tha ball, and it is 1-1 or maybe even a win. They were playing like a team, not afraid to attack

So a loss is a loss is a loss, but the next big challenge is Tottenham, and our defense cannot get split like poor old Wolves did yesterday. They cannot get turned, and they must defend as a unit. So how do we prepare?

DEFENDING AS A UNIT


This is a relatively straight forward training exercise using three defenders and 5 attackers, each group with restrictions.

The first image shows the set up.

Player 1 plays the ball into #3 or #2, and remains in a support position, and cannot go past the edge of the circle. #2 and #3 can only play within the orange zone.. Players  4 and 5 can only play in the outside "channels" outside the orange lines. Red 8,9 and 10 must defend as a unit. 11 is in nets. In fig.1 8 should move towards #3 and 9 and 10 should support #8  on an angle, as in Fig.2 below.

As the drill progresses, the ball should get to the wings, as shown in Fig 3 and Fig 4 (by way of a cross), and the defenders adjust in response to the location of the ball acccordingly.

Fig3.

Here player 8 pushes out to number 4, without crossing the line, and 9 and 10 provide cover and balance  in case the pass goes across.

Fig. 4

Here blue has switched the field and 8,9, and 10 push across, so 10 can pressure #5, with 8 and 9 providing cover and balance.

The key elements are discipline by the defenders, communication by the defenders, and shape of the defenders. Be patient and direct with the players interrupt, re-position players, change body shape (for example the "cover" should be in a diagonal line off of the pressure player). This will take several go throughs before they get the hang of it, but when they do it will become very frustrating for the attackers. 

Make sure that the defenders communicate loudly and clearly as it will make their jobs a lot easier. Praise effective communication. Also make sure to re-inforce the issue of body position of all three defenders so as to maximize their ability to view all attackers (don't block yourself out, don't be too square to the ball, don't get turned etc) and to provide maximum cover to the net.

Walk On 

Hal White

The Power of Dribbling

Now as parents and Coaches we are very familiar with the sausage lines of children dribbling a ball to a cone and then back. "Why?" we ask through clenched teeth do coaches do this, why can't the children just play?
Two things come to mind in this scenario;Lackof creativity onthe part of the coach , and, a lack of appreciation of the fundamentals of soccer by the parents.

I will deal with fundamentals first. Dribbling of a soccer ball is one of the essential player skills that must be developed. Dribbling is what allows a player to control a ball in tight spaces, helps them get around opponents, helps maintain possession of the ball, and is the basic building block for feints, moves and turns to get around opponents. So no dribbling no penetrating runs, no moves around defenders and no possession soccer.

The coach who fails to consider options/drills other than sausage lines will not only risk losing the parents, but the players as well. The coach should consider diagonal runs, simple cross overs, and opportunities to include passing, turns or moves.

At the UEFA training ground page there are several ball control drills I like to use in training sessions to help develop dribbling and movement skills.  The links are included below:

This drill just works the foot skills, and is an excellent warm up.

www.uefa.com/trainingground/training/drills/video/videoid=788371.html?autoplay=true

The following drill is also lot of fun and can engage a lot of players in a very small space:

www.uefa.com/trainingground/training/drills/video/videoid=788378.html?autoplay=true


Now for fun , here is the power dribbler of the world, Mighty Mouse, Lionel Messi:

Too bad Liverpool didn't get him first!

And Before I Forget   March 6, 2011, Liverpool 3 v Manchester United 1,

YNWA

Walk On

Hal White