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Football Academy: Coaching for the Future

"Learn the moves of the great players"
The future of soccer depends on imaginative and effective coaching. In order to produce exciting, skilled players who are attack - minded, skills and attitudes must he learned at a young age through constant repetition. Some of the skills of of the world’s greatest and best technical players are the basis of this coaching method. What better models can young players have?

Football Academy Skills:

Learning all aspects of ball control
Becoming as effective and as skillful as possible in the many one-on-one situations.
Beating opponents either individually or with the help of other players in order to create chances and score more goals.
Finishing on goal.

Stage 1: Ball Control
Most of the world’s greatest players developed their skills as children, by constantly playing soccer and by being in contact with the ball for hours at a time. They acquired the same feeling in their feet as successful basket ball players have in their hands for a basketball, and they acquired this feeling through play.
These solid skills, "ball feeling,” can only be acquired through repeatedly touching the ball. A Few touches each practice session or in games is not enough to produce ball feeling.

Good coordination in soccer, as in other sports, is very important. Here, the many different practices with the ball are divided into two categories.
The first is aimed at developing a "feeling” for the ball in both feet at the earliest possible age.
The second consists of those movements with the ball used by the superstar models in real match situations against opposition. These are exercises designed for very young players. Coaches can adapt them as needed and make them fun - young children have very limited concentration spans so it is best to alternate these ball exercises with small, enjoyable games.
Most of the exercises are suitable for young players to practice on their own - a fun kind of home work.

The first steps will, of course, be difficult but, with encouragement and practice young players will improve and acquire a natural feel for the ball.
Then, the more skillfull they become, the more fun they will derive from the game.
Constant repetition is the key to ball control. Using both feet is essential. Young players have tremendous energy and a thirst for knowledge. As long as the coach is imaginative and encouraging, these repetition exercises will be the key to improvement. They are designed to be done slowly at the start: then each exercise or movement is gradually brought up to speed. More.....