I’m getting used to life with Diego, says Messi

I’m getting used to life with Diego, says Messi
Argentina forward Messi said he and his teammates were getting used to being coached by Diego Maradona, someone they idolised as youngsters. “At first, it was strange to have him as our coach,” he told a television channel. “The truth is he was a little imposing.

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Getting skills and striving to be the best – A David Beckham approach!

Never again must the skills people work towards be taken for granted.  These people strive to be truly great so let’s acknowledge their hard work and dedication.

David Beckham practices free kicks for hours every week, every month, every year.  It’s no wonder that he’s probably the best in the world at kicking a stationary ball, something that pretty much everyone has tried to do in their lives.  That level of skill, dedication and determination is to be admired.  But that’s not what’s most impressive.  You see, what’s great about David Beckham is that although he’s been the best in the world at kicking a ball for many years, he’s not stopped practising and learning new skills and techniques to get better and better.  Now that’s very impressive.

Most people, when they think they’re good, the leader in their local area, county, country, world, they start to relax, take their foot off the gas.  That’s when they get overtaken.

Now, that information on it’s own is interesting, but when it’s combined with the idea that everyone is skilled in something, then it becomes really powerful.  To prove a point, just look at what’s around us.  I stare out of my window as I write this and I see a plumbers van and an electricians van, two great examples on my doorstep.

Now, let’s take these as examples – someone is skilled as a plumber or electrician, they’re the best and they’re running their own business but I reckon success comes down to improving their skills with plumbing courses and electrical courses.

Down my street there’s a Doctor.  Would you go to a Doctor who didn’t keep learning new skills?  I certainly wouldn’t.  His ability and desire to learn new skills keeps me healthy.  He’s been a doctor for about 15 years.  It would have been easy for him not to bother, just put his feet up and give random prescriptions to people.  But he’s not like that at all.  He studies, learns and develops new skills.

The plumbers, electricians, doctors, do skills the David Beckham way – they’re good, the best and they go on learning new skills.  It’s impressive and it’s probably taken for granted by everyone else.  But that’s just the people that I saw down my street.  Great people are learning skills and bettering themselves down everyone’s street, every day.  Who do you know that deserves equal applause?

Getting Thrown Into A Soccer Coaching Position

Did you really sign your child up to play soccer with the intention of becoming the teams coach?  If you are like most of us, that’s not it how it happened.  You signed your child up for a team, only to find out that there are not enough coaches.  After some begging and pleading, and promises that there will be others that are willing to help, you agreed to become the coach.  That’s when the realization sets in that you don’t know how to coach soccer and the help that was promised knows even less about the game than you do.

So now comes the task of learning how to coach soccer, and sounding like you know what you’re talking about when you meet your team.  The good news is, there are a lot of resources that can help you learn how to coach soccer.

Rules of the Game

When you agreed to become the coach your organization should have given you something that explains the rules of the game.  The first step in learning how to coach soccer is to completely understand what is and what is not allowed.  With the exception of the offside rule, most of the rules are very easy to understand.  They are simple, straight forward, and make sense.  The offside rule is a bit tougher to master.

A great resource for understanding the rules is the coaches that are in your organization.  Many of them have experience coaching, and many of them have also played the game.  They will be able to answer any questions about the rules, and explain them in a way that you will understand.

Positions and Formations

Depending on the age of your team you will have from 7 to 11 players on the field during a match.  These players will have a position on the field, depending on which formation you choose for your team.  The basic positions are Keeper, Defender, Midfielder, and Forward. 

The most popular formation, especially among those that are trying to learn how to coach soccer is the 4-4-2.  This formation uses 4-Defenders, 4-Midfielders, and 2-Forwards (the 11th position is the Keeper).  The reason this formation is so popular is that it gives your team a good balance of defense and attacking. 

Early on you need to teach your team what each positions job is, and give them the opportunity to play all of the positions.  Make sure they understand that for the team to be effective, every player must stay in their own position, and do the job that is required for that position.

Skills, Drills, and Tactics

The most important skills you can teach your players are dribbling, passing, shooting, and playing defense.  The majority of other skills they learn as soccer players are a variation on these basic skills.  If you want to be effective on learning how to coach soccer you need to find drills that focus on these 4 areas, and spend time making sure your players are working on improving their skills in these areas.  Every success or failure your team has during a match can be traced back to their ability to perform these skills.

Every team is different, with different physical abilities.  Once you have a good feel for your team you can begin to develop tactics that will take advantage of your player’s abilities.  Whether your style of play is offensive or defensive, or if you prefer to counter-attack, you must be flexible enough to form your tactic around the available players.

You can learn how to coach soccer. It just takes a willingness to learn, and to be able to apply what you have learned onto the practice and game field.  Take the time to learn as much as you can, and your team will show you the results.