In creating a thorough report for a pro club, your inclination might be to include all the information you can possibly find. I often thought the same way, writing 4,000 word articles detailing insights into every player. But contrary to popular belief, you don't need to detail everything there is to know about a particular team when writing a report. It's important to distill the most relevant information for the team, taking into account their own style and principles of play.
9v9 is one of the most exciting stages in the development of young players and can often be the first time they are truly able to understand positioning, formations and how to play to the strengths of their teammates. This Ebook gives coaches an opportunity to learn all the in's and out's of coaching 9v9, including tactics, formations, and game management.
Clubs, and certainly professional players, are not currently accessing this to the extent that would truly take their game to the next level. Yet so many youth coaches and younger athletes at the youth level remain unafraid to make that leap. Soon it will be those coaches and players who are already investing in their development as they work through the game, that will leapfrog those that continue to fall behind. Whoever takes the shot first will reap the rewards, and it's now up to the clubs and players to see the value.
Borussia Dortmund have been slowly creeping up the table, knocking at the door of league leaders Bayern Munich as they slip away and fall victim to their own fallacies in 2023. Now with a commanding performance and signal of intent against RB Leipzig, the Black & Yellows currently sit top of the table with Bayern still to play this weekend. Here is our analysis of how Dortmund beat Leipzig.
Eyebrows were raised over the swift appointment of Barcelona legend Xavi, following Ronald Koeman’s departure in October 2021. Yet, fifteen months into the Spaniard’s tenure at Camp Nou, Xavi has reinvigorated the fanbase with beautiful possession-oriented football. Barca have picked up 59 points from twenty-two games so far in La Liga, and are running away with what would be the club’s first league title in four years. This, even despite the horrors off the pitch captivating the media’s attention. Here is our analysis of Xavi’s Barcelona in 2022-23.
Out of all the CPL clubs, Forge FC have enjoyed the quietest off-season. It feels as though that's for good reason, having just won the CPL Playoffs for the third time in the league's four season existence. It might be the sign of a settled squad and players having no inclinations toward seeking pastures new. But for the Canadian Premier League, this is uncharacteristic. With the season just under two months away from kicking off, Forge are without a back-up keeper, or anyone to challenge the Canadian for a place.
On the one hand, it's nice that those in the community are continuously challenging each other to improve. On the other hand, I wish there was more of a recognition toward the simple fact that there is no right or wrong way to conducting analysis in football. This week the debates stemmed around the notion that simple language is obviously, unequivocally, the best approach when it comes to writing and analyzing football. I'm not sure which one of us wrote the article that tipped the scale and confused everyone, but I'm here to say that complex language can be incredibly useful if used correctly.
Erik Ten Hag has deployed brilliant implementations of positional play all season long, putting on an absolute masterclass of how to confuddle the opposition into oblivion against Leicester City.
The art of timing runs effectively as a forward is never an easy task, as it requires adequate scanning of the four pillars to the game: ball, opposition, teammates and space (BOTS). Most notably, the timing of the run has to match the timing of the pass from their teammate, and the timing of the movement from the opposition defensive players up or down. Both of these factors often remain out of the control of the centre-forward, and so it is not entirely their fault for an inability to stay onside. However, with proper scanning and adjustment, offsides can be avoided almost entirely.
I've long been a defender of Sean Dyche's intensive and defensive, "long-ball" style. But there's perhaps no greater victory in his entire career than starting off at Everton with an absolute bang, beating the league leaders in Arsenal, who had previously only lost a single league game. Everton themselves had not won under Frank Lampard since October. But Sean Dyche would have relished the challenge of his first match, and would have taken all the pressure off his players to perform on the opening day. It showed in their performance, with the Toffees achieving a shock 1-0 win over the current title favourites. Here is how Sean Dyche's Everton beat Arsenal.
Luciano Spalletti has worked wonders since arriving to the scene of Naples in 2021. The Italian manager helped Napoli to a third-place finish last season, and now prepares to lead the closing stages of their title charge in 2023. With some supremely smart acquisitions in the summer working their magic, Gli Azzurri currently sit ten points clear atop the table, and have more than double the points of Serie A's historical dominator - Juventus. If Spalletti can continue to get his tactics right and maintain the remarkably positive culture he's built since arriving, Napoli will walk away with the title this year. So with that, here is our analysis of the club from Naples so far in 2022-23.
We all know the importance of warming up the body in the proper ways, but many novice (or dinosaur) coaches fail to adequately know how to warm up the body in the proper ways specific to the sport. As a young gun in the soccer world, I can recall running laps around the field, static stretching, and even hill sprints prior to practice sessions and games. None of these are particularly helpful, even if they can work 1-3% of times in specific contexts (hill sprints aside of course). With that, I present the elements of an effective warm-up and how coaches can structure the warm-up to fit into the grander scheme of their session plans.
Unai Emery has been one of the most esteemed managers of the modern era, to little fanfare given that much of his managerial success has come in competitions like the Europa League and Ligue 1. But Emery is yet to truly fail in a managerial role, and looks prepared to only continue his incredible reputation at Aston Villa. When he took over from Steven Gerrard, Villa were hovering around the relegation zone, desperately trying to stay afloat. Now they've attained four wins from their last six matches, in a robust 4-4-2 system that has dragged them all the way toward the top ten. Here is our analysis of how Emery has achieved so much success in his early days at Villa Park.
The MastermindSite 