Category: Coaching

Coaching the 3-2-3 (9v9)

by Rhys Desmond, posted in Coaching, Formations

Over the past year of coaching 9v9 soccer, the 3-2-3 has become my favourite formation to use. I am a firm believer that the formation of any team should not be based around a club identity or a coach's personal style of play, but rather based around the team's style of play and the personnel of the team. However, I have found that the 3-2-3 is fantastic in suiting nearly every type of player and the simple and easy variations that can be created using the formation such as shifting into a 3-1-3-1, allow coaches to tweak and change their style of play to fit the needs of the vast majority of youth soccer players.

Individual Marking & Defensive Awareness – Analytical Activity

by Rhys Desmond, posted in Coaching

As the great Sir Alex Ferguson once said - "Attack wins you games, defence wins you titles." This quotation does a fantastic job in highlighting the importance of a strong defence, but it's also important to note that defense also wins you games, which eventually then leads to those title wins that the legendary former … Continue reading Individual Marking & Defensive Awareness – Analytical Activity

Playing Through the Central Midfielder – Conditioned Game

by Rhys Desmond, posted in Coaching, World Football

Central midfielders are essential to build up play and playing out from the back. As a result, it is necessary to teach players in the position where to be on the pitch during build-up phases. This conditioned game will teach all players how to involve the central midfielder in playing out from the back, in … Continue reading Playing Through the Central Midfielder – Conditioned Game

FIFA Women’s World Cup 2019 – Japan 0-2 England – Tactical Analysis

by Rhys Desmond, posted in Coaching, Formations, Match Analysis, Women's Football, World Football

What many thought to be the Group of Death is now complete with England topping Group D with a stunning nine points from three matches. The Lionness finished their group stage matches with a glorious win over Japan, getting their redemption from 2015 when they were knocked out at the hands of the Japanese in the semi-finals. Here is The Mastermind Site's tactical analysis for Japan vs. England as Group D comes to a close.

FIFA Women’s World Cup – New Zealand 0-1 Netherlands – Tactical Analysis

by Rhys Desmond, posted in Coaching, Match Analysis, Women's Football, World Football

Group E kicked off yesterday with Canada beating Cameroon, and now both opening fixtures of Group E have been played, both ending in 1-0 score-lines. Canada's victory against Cameroon was fairly comfortable, while Netherlands had to really dig this one out and were only able to snatch it right at the end from a resilient New Zealand side. Here is The Mastermind's Tactical Analysis for New Zealand 0-1 Netherlands.

FIFA Women’s World Cup – England 2-1 Scotland – Tactical Analysis

by Rhys Desmond, posted in Coaching, Match Analysis, Women's Football, World Football

Group D, tipped by many to be the Group of Death, is now the fourth group to kick off at the Women's World Cup. Although the score-line looks far from comfortable, in the end England had a comfortable evening as they floated by Scotland with ease and their stars really shone bright. Here is our Tactical Analysis for England's opening group stage match against Scotland.

FIFA Women’s World Cup – Australia 1-2 Italy – Tactical Analysis

by Rhys Desmond, posted in Coaching, Match Analysis, Women's Football, World Football

The 2019 Women's World Cup continues to entertain as Group C becomes the third group to kickoff, with a full-throttled match between Australia and Italy. This opening Group C fixture came up with a bit of a shocking upset as Italy snatched it at the very end to beat the NWSL-powered Australia. Let's get right into … Continue reading FIFA Women’s World Cup – Australia 1-2 Italy – Tactical Analysis

FIFA Women’s World Cup – France 4-0 South Korea – Tactical Analysis

by Rhys Desmond, posted in Coaching, Match Analysis, Women's Football, World Football

The FIFA Women's World Cup is underway and kicked off with a bang today as France smashed South Korea in a 4-0 victory. In truth, there was only ever going to be one winner in this match. Although South Korea were up for the test and gave it what they had, France completely dominated the game, dictated the tempo and outclassed their South Korean opponents in the opening match of Group A. Here is The Mastermind's Tactical Analysis from the opening game of the 2019 Women's World Cup.