Soccer Coach Weekly Issue 82

Plenty of players switch position as they go through the age groups and into the professional ranks.

For example, prolific strikers at youth level have gone on to be defenders or wingers, depending on the attributes they have shown growing up.

Ederson - the Manchester City goalkeeper who is part of the Brazil squad that have reached, at time of writing, the quarter finals of the World Cup - is one such player.

He started out as a full-back, which goes some way to explaining why he is so comfortable with the ball at his feet.

Read more about Ederson's story, and how you might be able to convert an outfielder into a sweeper 'keeper, on page three - and there is an accompanying practice to go with it.

For those who celebrate it, Christmas is on its way and many teams will be having their last training sessions of the year either this week or next.

Steph Fairbairn has come up with eight suggestions for adding a festive twist to your sessions - and has also designed three really fun and engaging Christmas-themed activities.

Finally, our Q&A this week is with JP Nerbun - an expert in developing healthy team cultures in sport and business.

He recently had a chat with Scott Mowberry, from our friends at the Soccer Coaching Podcast, and we print some of the best bits from the interview on pages 9 and 10.

In a fascinating interview, JP discusses the two key planks of his team culture ethos, how to develop it and the possible pitfalls.

To hear the full podcast, click the link at the bottom of page 10.

We also have two practices around passing - one on the final ball and another on switching the play.