http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/columnists/martin_samuel/article2926251.ece
An Extract
"Croatia did not win because of pride or passion, the famous red herrings of English football. They won because those two elements remain our greatest strength and faced with a team who have them, too — and plenty do in these days of new republics — it comes down to who is better at football; and the good continental team will triumph. "
0
Comments
What the hell are coaches at that level thinking that there in a 'results business'?
Tell me about it. It is very much about winning at kids level. Don't know how it is with academies but certainly is with run of the mill sides.
I've been through the Swedish system for educating coaches. It's excellent. It teaches you that the social side comes first for kids. It has to be equitable and fair. You don't push things too fast, you don't overdo the physical side. You keep it human. Focus on ball skills. They call it being friends with the ball. You encourage them to do their turns and feints. You can do it with a ball in a corridor, you don't need a million pound acadamey. Then there has to be progression for those who want to push themselves a bit further. You introduce stuff about physical strength and preparation and recovery and eating right, at the right ages. There's also a view that there's a set of tactics for the national team that can be copied at any level. They play 4-1-4-1 and the holding midfielder in the current team (Linderoth) was considered the player with the most potential as he was coming through.
But these things are a bit easier for smaller nations with reasonably homogenous populations. They feel they're underdogs in more than half the games they play, so they'll pull together at grass roots very naturally. It's a healthy nationalism. It's also a healthy humility in relation to the sport. They don't consider themselves to have any God given right to be at the top table. They think the English assume this (although to be honest I think that's a bit of red herring. The English are passionate about football and that can come across as arrogance.)
I agree. Has to be some fun in the training. winning at least sometimes makes it more fun but that shouldn't be the be all and end all.
Youth development at Clairefontaine incorporates many principles on football with their students, such as:
Making the player’s movements faster and better
Linking movements efficiently and wisely
Using the weaker foot
Weaknesses in the player’s game
Psychological factors (sports personality tests)
Medical factors
Physical tests (beep test)
Technical skills
Skill Training (Juggling the ball, running with the ball, dribbling, kicking, passing and ball control
Tactical (To help the ball carrier, to get the ball back, to offer support, to pass the ball and follow the pass, positioning and the movement into space
One of the promises of the "blueprint for Football" that the FA used in 1990 to justify the Premier League was strenghtening the national team. Still waiting for it to happen.
Thing about that list is that at any decent level of football how could you NOT include these elements in a young footballers development.
Will be interesting to ask Mark Robson about this on 11 December.
if anything, i think TOO much emphasis could possibly of been put on youth development in recent years. We realised in this country 15-20 years ago that were weren't developing youngsters the right way, and it seems that every effort has been made to change that since.
Certainly no other country in the world could come close to the level of resources, facilities, coaches, players or the general seriousness that we give to youth development here in the UK.
I saw some park football last week and all I heard from the touchline were parents screaming "Lump it" and "hit it long", and winning being everything at a young age
But the FA and PL own report says that we are still not getting it right. Where's Kiglia when you need him as I gave him my copy of the report
But the FA and PL own report says that we are still not getting it right. Where's Kiglia when you need him as I gave him my copy of the report[/quote]
i'm here but currently dealing with a leaking toilet waste pipe that is threatening lighting, electrics and our computer equipment, not to mention several environmental health violations.
Anymore than about 10 or 11 is too many. Better to have two teams if you can get someone to coach one of them.