Soccer Coach Weekly Issue 74

Coaches will often talk, before matches, of the need for players to win their individual battles.

Soccer is a team sport, but it is also made up of numerous contests between players - and is why the most meaningful drills are opposed.

Once technical skills have been taught, their in-game application is only tested when pressure is applied.

One key skill is the ability to successfully receive a pass while being tightly marked - and our consulting coach Carl Wild has put together a three-part session to help with that.

We also have a fun standalone practice which combines scoring goals with attacking overloads.

In this week's Coach's Column, Ian Barker discusses the notion of 'form is temporary, class is permanent' and how it applies to youth players, who invariably dip up and down in performance for various reasons.

Understanding youngsters and how they work is also a central theme of our Q&A this week.

Connor McGinn has spent much of his two years in the game developing a passion for inspiring those aged between five and 11.

He speaks to Steph Fairbairn about speaking to the youngest players on their level and how to get the best out of them.

The Q&A is an abridged version of the full audio interview, which you can hear as a podcast by clicking the link on page 10 or by subscribing via your usual pod provider.

Finally, we also have an article about coping with training in the wet.