Coaching Sessions

The ability for players to receive the ball, to pass accurately and quickly over short distances and to move to support the player on the ball are basic fundamentals of football.

That’s it then. England’s World Cup is over. The inquests and rumours have started. There is no doubt that England’s overall performance during the World Cup was very, very poor.

We continue to look at ways in which we can coach players to improve their techniques. Dribbling is one of the hardest techniques to master. It requires and understanding of when and where to dribble. Players need to be positive and brave, as the easy option is always to pass to a team mate, rather than take a chance. If the dribble goes wrong, too often the player attempting the dribble is blamed for being too greedy or not passing. As football coaches, we need to provide a positive environment where players are encouraged to dribble. But, we also need to ensure players have a good understanding of the techniques involved in dribbling and to have lots of opportunities to practice these basic techniques. So that when they are in a position to dribble in a game situation and they have all the basic technical tools to succeed.