Coaching Youth Football: What Soccer Coaches Can Learn From The Professional Game

Coaching Youth Football is the highly-anticipated follow-up to the international, best-selling soccer coaching book, Making The Ball Roll, by Ray Power.

With the help of dozens of contributors from across the professional, academy, and grassroots games, Ray delves into the art and science of coaching youth football players, using up-to-date studies, methods, and examples across 360 superb pages.

The book covers not only the technical and tactical aspects of training in detail but also looks at the wider aspects of football coaching – including physical, psychological, and social elements – in clear language that will be of value to both expert and less-experienced youth football coaches.

Coaching Youth Football covers the breadth of the game with compelling specifics, and with illustrations from across the football world – bringing together research, stories, best-practice, and a lifetime of experiences within the game. Chapters cover: Long-Term Player Development, Team Building, Modern Playing Positions, Age-Appropriate Coaching, Football Fitness, Small-Sided Games, Growth Mindset, Footballing Intelligence, Tactics, Coach Reflection, and more.

Across more than 340 focused and insightful pages, this book will inspire coaches to be the best versions of themselves, and enable players under their tutelage to be the best versions of themselves.

If you enjoyed Making The Ball Roll, you will love Coaching Youth Football!

N.B. This book has more than 90% unique material but, as a full-on sequel to Making The Ball Roll, please note that some of the first book’s material is re-presented, or readapted, for this title. This was so that effective continuity between the themes, processes, and research of the two books could be achieved.

Table of Contents

Introduction | 1

Our Coaching Lens. 1

Confirmation Bias. 2

The Professional Game. 2

It’s Your Game. 3

Chapter 1 – Coaching in the Magic | 5

Comfort and Learning. 6

Shape Shifters. 7

Our Coaching Comfort Zone. 8

Coaching in The Learning Zone. 8

Simple ways to tiptoe from Comfort to Learning Zone. 9

Marginal Gains. 11

Marginal Gains in Football 12

Searching for YOUR 1%s. 13

Manchester United Soccer Schools. 13

Bill Beswick. 15

England DNA.. 16

Conclusion – Challenge Yourself to Challenge Your Players. 17

Summary. 17

It’s Your Game #1 – Audio Recording – Alex Trukan. 19

It’s Your Game #2 – Mentor – Brian Nyabvure. 20

It’s Your Game #3 – 24/7 Learner – Laurie McGinley. 21

It’s Your Game #4 – Being Me – Annie Zaidi 22

Chapter 2 – From Participation to Pro | 23

Player–Centred Coaching. 23

Becoming a Professional 25

What do Kids Say?. 26

The Paradox of Winning and Competition. 28

Winning at all Costs. 28

Child–centred Competition. 29

Learning to Lose. 30

The Wider the Base, The Higher the Peak. 31

Your Role within the Pyramid. 33

The Role of Play in Childhood Development 34

Summary. 35

It’s Your Game #1 – A One Man/Boy Team – Anonymous. 36

It’s Your Game #2 – The Holy S**t Effect – Peter Prickett 37

It’s Your Game #3 – Not a Race – Debbie Sayers. 38

Chapter 3 – The Feet Are Just the Tools | 39

The Developing Brain. 39

Coaching 21^st Century Children. 40

Talent and the Brain. 41

Brain–centred Training. 41

Deliberate Soccer Practice. 43

Decision–Making. 45

The Paradox of Praise and ‘Talent’ 46

Fixed v. Growth Mindset 47

Growth v Fixed Mindset Characteristics 49

A Lesson in Mindset – Cristiano Ronaldo. 49

Conclusion. 50

Summary. 51

It’s Your Game #1 – The Quiet Genius – David Sumpter 52

Chapter 4 – A Growth Mindset Environment | 53

Leave a Legacy. 54

Creating a Culture. 55

Age–Appropriate Culture – No Dickheads! 55

Rules, Glorious Rules. 58

Dual Leadership. 60

A Growth Mindset Environment 61

Talking the Talk. 61

Yet! 63

Walking the Walk. 64

Physical Environment 65

Your Environment 66

Conclusion. 67

Summary. 67

It’s Your Game #1 – Fix Your Mindset When You’re Eighty–Five – Ryan Baldi 69

It’s Your Game #2 – Bleak Surroundings – Mick Browne. 70

It’s Your Game #3 – The Cliff, The Call, The Culture – Luke Chadwick. 71

Chapter 5 – The Power of Failing | 73

Systemic Failure – Germany. 74

Complacency Sparks Action. 75

From Short–Term Thinking to Long–Term Revolution. 75

2018. 2018. 76

Implications for Coaches. 77

Lessons from Hoffenheim… 78

Inspiring. 82

Fear of Failure. 82

Managing Players’ Mistakes. 83

Environment 84

Owning Mistakes. 84

Self–Correcting and Skilful Neglect 86

Reframing failure. 88

Rituals. 89

Solution–Focused. 89

Making Mistakes as a Coach. 90

Inducing Mistakes. 90

Results and the Problem with Not Failing. 91

Conclusion. 92

Summary. 92

It’s Your Game #1 – Making a Point – Anonymous. 94

It’s Your Game #2 – Jamie – Tony Mee. 95

Chapter 6 – Building a Player | 97

PPSTT.. 98

The ‘Four Corner’ Model 100

Using the Four Corner Model 100

Age–Appropriate Modelling. 101

PPSTT / Four Corner Model in Action. 102

1. Development Plans. 102
2. Player Profiling. 103
3. Session Planning. 105
4. Coaching Styles and Interventions. 107
5. Player Reviews. 109

Pulling It All Together 112

Cornering and Firing Off 114

Conclusion. 115

Summary. 115

It’s Your Game #1 – The World’s Best Boys Club – Nick Cox. 116

It’s Your Game #2 – Master the Person, the Ball & then the Game – Anonymous. 117

Chapter 7 – Psychology in Action | 119

Rethinking the Model 119

The Power and Problem of Psychology for Coaches. 120

The Five Cs. 122

Over and Over and Over Again. 124

Commitment 125

Communication. 125

Concentration. 127

Control 127

Confidence. 128

The 5Cs Model – In Action. 129

It’s Your Game – The 5Cs in Action. 130

Conclusion – Positive Psychology. 132

Summary. 133

It’s Your Game – COMMITMENT – Changing Buses – Anonymous. 134

It’s Your Game – COMMUNICATION – Football – A Universal Language –
Blaine McKenna. 135

It’s Your Game – CONCENTRATION – Gary Neville’s Preparation Cycle –
David Horrocks. 136

It’s Your Game – CONTROL – A Teenage Steven Gerrard – Bill Beswick. 138

It’s Your Game – CONFIDENCE – If I give up on you now, what sort of man am I? –
Paul Ifill 139

Chapter 8 – Football Fitness | 141

Football Fitness. 141

Isolated Fitness Training. 142

How Simple Can It Be?. 143

1. Replicating the Game. 143
2. Demotivating. 145
3. Wasting Time. 147
4. Fitness, Freshness & Fatigue. 148
5. Other Football–Related Elements. 151

Tactical Periodization. 151

Relating Tactical Periodization to the Grassroots Coach. 154

8: Critical One v One. 155

PURPOSE OF SESSION: 155

INITIAL SET–UP: 155

INSTRUCTIONS: 155

21: Centre–Backs Defending Box | Screening Forward Passes. 156

PURPOSE OF SESSION: 156

INITIAL SET–UP: 156

INSTRUCTIONS: 156

The Need for Speed?. 157

Conclusion. 158

Summary. 158

It’s Your Game #1 – Rethinking Conditioning – Brian Shrum… 160

It’s Your Game #2 – Let’s Pick Two Teams – Shane Smith. 161

Chapter 9 – Age & Development | 163

Relative Age Effect 163

Example 1 – U17 European Championships. 164

Example 2 – Chelsea Under–18s. 165

Evidence from the Professional Game. 166

The Underdog. 167

Harry Kane. 168

Antoine Griezmann. 169

Up and Down. 170

To Move or Not to Move. 171

Playing Down. 173

Jesse Lingard. 174

Bio–Banding. 175

Predicted Adult Height 176

Benefits. 177

Flaws. 177

Conclusion. 178

Summary. 178

It’s Your Game #1 – Thinking Differently – Nick Levett 180

It’s Your Game #2 – ‘Wee’ John McGinn – Graeme Mathie. 181

Chapter 10 – Football Intelligence | 183

Instinctive Intelligence. 184

How intelligence Displays Itself in Football 184

Scanning. 186

Looking and Seeing. 188

Search – Decide – Execute. 190

Compromise and Justify. 190

‘Constant’ Practices. 191

Celtic Shooting Drill – example of a constant practice. 191

‘Variable’ Practices. 192

Continuous Overloads (Chelsea FC) – example of a variable practice. 192

‘Random’ Practices. 193

Creativity. 193

Repetition, Without Repetition. 195

The Wider Influence. 196

Conclusion. 196

Summary. 197

It’s Your Game #1 – New Ball Please – Wayne Harrison. 198

It’s Your Game #2 – Live, Full Speed, Dramatic – Anonymous. 199

It’s Your Game #3 – A Letter to My Younger Self – Sean O’Driscoll 200

Chapter 11 – The ‘I’ in Team | 201

Priorities. 201

Embedding the Individual in Your Program… 203

Know the Person. 204

Know Their Game. 206

They Know Their Game. 206

Individual Development Plans. 208

The Review Process. 208

Developing an Individual Development Process. 209

Embedding the Individual in Your Sessions. 212

Player–Led. 212

Small Group Work. 212

Whole–Group IDP Sessions. 213

Connecting Players Within the Game. 214

Conclusion. 214

Summary. 215

It’s Your Game #1 – For Us, It’s Just Common Sense – Chris Ramsey. 216

It’s Your Game #2 – The Master & The Student – Dan Fieldsend. 217

It’s Your Game #3 – Yannick Bolasie and ‘Match Scripts’ – Dan Abrahams. 218

It’s Your Game #4 – Knowing the Person – Jeff Brazier 219

Mid–Season Review Template. 220

End of Season Review.. 221

Chapter 12 – The ‘We’ in Team | 223

Bringing a Team Together 224

Forming to Performing – A Process. 224

The Power of ‘We’ 225

Team Identity & Cohesion. 227

Creating a Connection. 228

Connecting Coach to Players. 228

Player Leadership. 229

Connecting Players with Each Other 230

Conclusion – Tactical Connections. 232

Summary. 233

It’s Your Game #1 – Standing With Us – Matt Ward. 234

It’s Your Game #2 – Shapes & Numbers – David Sumpter 235

It’s Your Game #3 – A Tale of an Untucked Shirt – Anonymous. 237

It’s Your Game #4 – Bringing People Together – Dr Matt Slater 238

Chapter 13 – Modern Playing Positions | 239

Trends and Counter–Trends. 239

Pigeon–Holing Youth Players. 239

Versatility in Youth Football 240

Positions. 241

Goalkeepers. 242

Defenders. 245

Centre–Backs. 245

Overlapping. 246

Defenders, Defending. 247

Full–Backs (Wing–Backs) 248

Inverted Full–Backs. 249

Midfielders. 250

Deep–Lying Midfielders. 251

8s and Free ‘8s’ 252

Attackers. 253

Multi–Purpose Attackers. 253

Wingers & Wide Forwards. 253

The False 9. 255

Strikers. 255

Conclusion. 256

Summary. 257

It’s Your Game #1 – The Other Team Doesn’t Score – Craig Short 259

It’s Your Game #2 – Multi–Purpose – Gary Taylor–Fletcher 260

Chapter 14 – Modern Team Tactics | 261

Formations – A Starting Point 262

One Formation or Multi–Formations?. 263

For a Club or For the Game?. 263

Game Model 266

YOUR Game Model 268

In Possession. 269

Playing Out From The Back. 269

Positional Play. 270

Out of Possession. 271

Pressing. 271

Compactness. 272

Critical Moments. 273

Goals. 273

Assists. 275

Transitions. 276

Transition to Attack. 277

Transition to Defend. 277

The Fifth Phase – Set–Pieces. 278

Attacking Set–Pieces. 278

Defending Set–Plays. 279

Zonal v. Man–to–Man Marking. 279

Conclusion. 280

Summary. 281

It’s Your Game #1 – One Tweak, Many Outcomes – Gareth Jennings. 282

It’s Your Game #2 – Analysing Set–Pieces at The Den – Stuart Reid. 283

It’s Your Game #3 – What the Game is Telling Us – Anonymous. 285

Chapter 15 – Small–Sided Games | 287

Street Football 287

Can We Have a Game Now?. 288

Ball Mastery and 1v1s. 289

Ball Mastery at Home. 290

1v1. 292

1v1s – Before, During and After 292

Smaller Small–Sided Games (2v2 – 5v5) 293

Two v Two. 294

Three v Three. 295

Funiño 3v3 Format 295

Four v Four 295

Five v Five & Futsal 296

Larger Small–Sided Games (6v6 – 10v10) 297

Six v Six – Ten v Ten. 298

Playing Positions in Large Small–Sided Games. 298

Constraints–Led SSGs. 298

Constraining The Individual (Players) – Example: Overloads and Underloads. 299

Constraining the Task – Example: Scenarios. 300

Constraining the Environment – Example: Pitches. 301

Restrict, Relate, Reward. 301

Conclusion. 302

Summary. 302

It’s Your Game #1 – Another Tool for Your Coaching Toolbox – Radek Mozyrko. 304

It’s Your Game #2 – Constraints – Ben Bartlett 305

It’s Your Game #3 – We Need the Game – Pete Augustine. 306

It’s Your Game #4 – Wants and Needs; Freedom & Playfulness – Michael Beale. 307

Chapter 16 – Més que un … Academy | 309

Vision and Values. 310

Playing Style. 312

Winning … But Our Way. 315

Training Methodology. 317

Around the Rondo. 318

Lionel Messi 323

Conclusion. 325

Summary. 326

It’s Your Game #1 – The Day Pep Came to Class – Todd Beane. 327

It’s Your Game #2 – Calm, Controlled & Patient – Sam Vincent 328

It’s Your Game #3 – More than a Club – Alex Clapham… 329

It’s Your Game #4 – Changing Habits – Agustin Peraita. 330

Conclusion – For the Love of the Game | 331

In Conclusion. 331

It’s Your Game #1 – I Just Want to Play – Bastien Hery. 332

It’s Your Game #2 – The Starfish and the Soccer Coach – Ian Barker. 333

It’s Your Game #3 – The Round Ball – John Davies. 334

It’s Your Game #4 – That’ll Do Me – Bobby Madley. 335

About Ray Power. Ray Power is one of the bestselling football authors in the world. With over a decade of experience working in football and education, coaching players from non-league to Premier League levels, and internationally, he is the author of Making the Ball Roll, and the Deliberate Soccer Practice series.

As a coach developer and educator, Ray has worked for, and consulted with, numerous national FAs, as well as governing bodies from other sports, including the NBA. He also works as a consultant – mentor – educator on a freelance basis, working with grassroots coaches all the way to professional teams.

Author: Ray Power

Published March 2020 | ISBN-13: 9781910515846 | 360 pages in paperback format.

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Book Categories: Ray Power, Soccer and Soccer Coaching Books.