U15 s are a very difficult age group to coach

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1 WEB SPECIAL Sander Strik, U15 coach Oss 20: U15 s are a very difficult age group to coach 40 year old Sander Strik has, after coaching several U17 and U15 teams at different clubs, now for the first time taken control of the U15 team from Oss 20, a Dutch amateur club. Strik, who has coached various age groups for the last 15 years (at the age of 15 he was already training the youth keepers), has developed a good outlook of the problems and the possibilities that each age group has. Typical problems you have to cope with at U15 are laziness, stubbornness, attitude and a lack of discipline. They are willing to talk about football, but not on the pitch. Most of the time they are spoiled, but when they arrive at the club they have to do things. They must take turns to prepare the pitch and wash the shirts. They want to train and to be trained. They should do something to accomplish that. That s why I think the U15 is a very hard age group to coach, but on the other hand it s a great challenge to work with such a group. We focus on this. I keep on pointing out their failures and try to change their behavior. It s not easy, but they are showing progress. I have noticed that there has been a change since the beginning of the season. It s disappointing that we ve started the season with 17 players as three players have decided to quit playing due to disciplinary actions. By: Rob Robben Technique/tactics I train a lot with positioning and match drills. With a lot of different position drills I want to train the things that went wrong during the last match. This can differ from week to week. Half the training is based on technique the other half on tactics. These things can t be separated. When you know where to put the ball, but you don t have the technique to put it there, you won t get anywhere. When you turn it around it won t work. When you have the skill to put the ball anywhere you want, but you don t know where, you won t achieve anything. That s why I ve started this season focusing on technique and during the season I ve switched to focus more on tactics. During my match preparation talk it s the other way around. At the start of the season I was using my board a lot, now I don t use it that often. During half time I use my board a lot to visualize some match situations. To enjoy playing soccer, you ve got to take risks Extra Article 1

2 Christmas tree When I have a strong and good striker in my team, my favorite way of playing would be the so-called Christmas Tree. This way of playing is very hard to notice for the opponent. The backs of the opponent should sag. When they refuse to do that a lot of space will be available up front. The problem for the opponent will be: who is covering who. This way I will be playing with one forward, two attacking midfielders, three midfielders and four defenders on a line. The forward should get possession and play the ball to the attacking midfielders. The attacking midfielders have to pass the ball to the outside midfielders. When this system is played like it should be its very effective. Quality soccer Because I don t have a strong striker in my team, I usually play with my other favorite playing style: 1:4:3:3. I use a solid way of playing. I want to build up from the back. I also focus on keeping the ball on the ground. I m very keen on good quality soccer. With a good individual move or good passing play in midfield and up front we should get a numerical advantage. When my defense has the ball, the midfielders should be close to the strikers. I want to create some space between the defense and the midfield. That way my central midfielder can come into the ball. When his opponent doesn t follow him he can control the ball, turn and pass the ball to the striker. When his opponent follows him their will be space available for the striker who should try to become available to receive the ball. Playing the ball to the central striker When trying to get free to receive the ball only two things can happen: your opponent follows you and you won t get free to receive the ball but their will be space available for the other players, or your opponent won t follow you and you get the free space to receive the ball. And that s the problem with our strikers. They just won t get it. Our forwards have to get into action when our midfielders have possession of the ball. Before that they just have to pay attention. They shouldn t move too fast, that way they will close down all the space. It s all about running and looking. You have to look at what you re fellow players are doing and react to it. The central striker should be the first person who gets in to possession when we are building up. It sounds a bit strange, Diagram 1: The Christmas Tree Diagram 2: Way of playing because most of the time in that area the space is limited, but I want that to happen because then there will be space available on the wings. When my wingers get inside their opponents follow them, my midfielder should use the space available on the wings. When my winger s opponent doesn t follow him, he will be free to receive the ball. Extra Article 2

3 My backs should be placed forward in possession. This puts us at risk when we lose possession. By taking risks, you will create a lot of changes. To enjoy playing soccer you have to take some risks. We play very offensive football I would rather win 4-3 than 1-0. When you re having fun and you take risks, the results will come eventually. Usually our best part of the competition is the second part. Wingers start on the sideline The problem with our team is the attack. They all can play quiet well, but they just don t know how to run and create space. Their soccer intelligence is not high. Defending and building up isn t the problem, but as mentioned our forwards keep making the wrong decisions. You should say that 1:4:3:3 is more predictable than 1:4:4:2 because you have more players running, but I don t want my wingers to stay on the sidelines. They have to start at the sideline. From that position they have to start playing. I train this by playing 6 v 6 on a half pitch. I divide the pitch into 2 areas; my wingers should always start outside these areas. There are, when they receive the ball, two possibilities. They can control the ball and give a cross or they can start to dribble towards the inside of the pitch. When the last option is used, the player who passed the ball will become the winger. That way they will change a lot. That s what I think is important, because each player should know what is asked of them (See exercise 1). Another drill I use to improve our attacking play is playing 7 v 5. I play with 3 forwards, 3 midfielders and my captain against 3 defenders and 2 midfielders. I interrupt a lot during this drill to point out when the winger should have received the ball or when he should have given a cross. I m doing this, because my striker is more aware of these moments and is going to look for solutions and make decisions. Combination task Strik is very busy with his hobby. Besides his job and training the U15 of Oss 20, he is also trains the selection squad of the Dutch fourth division team Nijnsel. Due to circumstances he has also taken the job of match secretary at Oss 20. Training two teams at the same time isn t as tough as it seems, according to Strik. Last year Nijnsel played most of the time with 9 players behind the ball. I ve turned that around, now we are playing more like the U15s from Oss 20, because I wanted to bring more joy into the team. Off course we don t have many points so far, but I m certain that it will change during the remainder of the season. Because both teams play in the same way I can use almost every training session for both of the teams. That way I save a lot of time. Warming-up I want my players to be ready for a game as late as possible. That s why don t start a warm-up with running and stretching, but with a ball. When we were young and were playing soccer after school we didn t have a warm-up at all. We got a ball and started playing, we never had injuries. During a warm-up I use the same drill over and over again. Passing, controlling and passing and after that using a third person. In training it is followed by a finish on goal exercise, in the warm-up we don t do that. I want my goalkeeper to do his own warm-up. When we finish on goal, the striker shouldn t get his own ball, but after shooting he becomes the player to receive and pass the next ball. I want to accomplish that our striker stays available after an attack breaks down. In this drill it s very important to play the ball to the strong foot; this will improve the ball you will receive. It s very difficult to teach them this, because they keep doing it the wrong way. You have to play to the side you want to receive it at. The player on the receiving end than only has to play it back. Risk in building up We defend, in contrast to most of our opponents, with a zone defense. I do that because I want our defenders to enjoy playing soccer. I think it isn t exciting when you have to cover a player constantly. When I train the build up, I use a drill which consist of a 7 v 6 with one goalkeeper, in fact it is an 8 v 6. The 8 defenders can score a goal by putting the ball in one of the three small goals placed on the half way line. They are building up towards one of the three goals. It is al about coaching the defenders and midfielders (See exercise 2). Extra Article 3

4 6 v 6 with two goalkeepers - Half a field - 6 v 6 with two goalkeepers - The wingers start outside the lines - Scoring only after an action from one of the wingers - The wingers may only move between the halfway line (cone) and the end line - The wingers have the opportunity to receive a pass and cross or to come inside with the ball and continue the attack from there. In this situation the player who passed the ball to the winger will take his position - Coach the winger to make the right decision (come inside or cross) Variation: - Free scoring, when scored from a cross from the winger the goal counts double 7 v 6-7 (defender and midfielders) with a goalkeeper against 6 (attackers and midfielders) on half a field - The attacking team (of 6) scores on the large goal with the goalkeeper. The defending team (of 7) scores on one of the 3 small goals on the halfway line - Good build up from the back - Passing by the midfielder at the right moment - Defending on the ground (no high passes/clearing the ball) - Good runs off the ball by the defenders Passing with the starting (starting) players positioned as illustrated - A passes to B, B receives the ball, turns open and passes to C, continue like this to D, E and F - Concentration! - Good passing (straight) - Correct ball speed - Pass to strong foot - Work with both feet (receive with the weaker foot, pass with the stronger foot) Variations: - A passes to C, C drops the ball to B, B passes to D, D drops the ball to C, C opens on E, E drops the ball to D, D opens to F, F drops to the ball to E and E passes to A again. We are constantly seeking the third man (rotating through 1 position every time) - A passes to C, C drops the ball to B, B passes to D, D drops the ball to C, C opens on E, E drops the ball to D, D opens to F, F drops the ball wide to E, who finishes on goal. F gets the ball and E becomes the new wall passer - Work in both directions with both variations Extra Article 4

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