Soccer Coach Weekly Issue 89

Thiago Silva is 38, the oldest player to appear in the Premier League this season.

He is three years the senior of the next oldest centre-back in England's top flight (Fulham's Tim Ream) - and yet has started 18 of Chelsea's 20 league games, playing the full 90 minutes in all bar one of them.

That he is relied upon so heavily by the Blues is due to his consistent performances at the heart of the defence - and such is his reading of the game, he often seems like a ball magnet.

Hannah Duncan pens a glowing tribute to the Brazil centre-back and explains how his attributes can be trained - plus we provide two defensive practices that will help you.

The other activity this week is an intriguing one. When one team scores, you then give the opposition a two-man advantage - it is then up to the players in each group to come up with tactics for either maintaining the lead (or adding to it) or equalising.

We also have the third of our four-part 'GroupThink' feature. In this issue, a panel of seven coaches give their advice to those who are short on time.

This week's Q&A is with Sarah Gonzalez, who for 18 years has been a math teacher and head coach of the girls’ soccer team at Shawnee Mission West High School in Kansas.

She spoke to our editor-in-chief Steph Fairbairn about returning to her alma mater, overcoming challenges, helping others to find their voice and her advice on how to deal with parents.

To hear the full interview as a podcast, click the link at the bottom of page 10 or subscribe for free via your usual provider.