Watching the football coaches on FNF

I have been on an FA coaching course recently and it was a really good way to get into the coaching of my kids football team. The course was very comprehensive and will help me no end on my coaching journey. But what it wasn't was a complete journey. It is meant to set me off to go and learn about what we are doing as coaches and learn and adapt.

One of the tips at the end of the course was to go out and watch other coaches. I have watched some local games to see what other amateur coaches are doing and it all fits quite nicely with the way I want my players to play the game. And this is also the way that the FA want the game to be played in this country.

And I try to watch what the coaches are up to when I watch the big BPL matches like Chelsea v Liverpool tonight. Antonio Conte and Jurgen Klopp are coaches with impressive records behind them and will both be looking for a Champions League place this season.

Obviously you don't get to see as much as you would like of the coaches from a television screen but the glimpses that are shown are fascinating. Players don't hear the vast majority of what a coach says in the heat of the match against the noise from the crowd. But some coaches scream and shout as though their lives depended on it. Meaningful input to players close by would be more effective.

I hope to bring a style of play to my team. We will pass the ball around and stay true to this all the time. Let's hope that the way Chelsea and Liverpool play tonight shows the way!

Changes to training sessions after my FA Coaching course

Regular readers will know that I have recently been on a football coaching course delivered by the Durham FA. I encourage anyone that is interested in football to get along to one of these courses as it gives a great structure to the way you watch and understand football as well as giving you a valuable skill that you can apply.

I have used some of the key points in the course to change the way that I coach my players when it comes around to training sessions on a Wednesday evening. Here are the changes that I have made as part o the learning of my FA Level 1 Coaching course-

Arrival activity
This was  major pain when I started coaching. I was waiting for a all the players to arrive and be ready for training. Some would arrive 15 minutes early while others would be up to 10 minutes late for various reasons. So there could be a 25 minute gap between first to arrive and last to arrive. I used to start the training session on time and then those that were late would just filter in as they arrived. This was disjointed and caused a little chaos. Arrival activities are playing with the ball in games that can be scaled up as more players arrive. Passing with 2 people can become passing with 6; a match with 1 v 1 can quickly upscale to 5 v 5 if needed. These arrival activities means that everyone is involved as soon as they arrive and we don't see the disruption that might happen otherwise.

Progressions
This was a major part of the course and it concerns taking your players along a journey with a particular drill or set of drills to get them better in one or more areas of the game. Take passing, for example, you may have a dill set up to get your players passing. After a few minutes, a few weeks or longer hey become very good at this particular drill. So you need to change it up to make it more difficult for them to achieve success. As this gets more and more difficult and your players get better and better, the progressions that you put in have helped to challenge them and up their skill level. The progression need to be planned out in advance so you can see where you are going with it and how you will give your players the next challenge. This talk of planning leads on to...

Plan, do, review
This is the way that the FA want their coaches to deliver the training they give to their teams. It is part of the England DNA that I have written about before. You are expected to spend as much time planning your training sessions as you do delivering them, and again the same amount of time on reviewing how they went. This means that you are in total control of the way that you want your players to develop and progress. You plan out what each training session looks like and how this fits into the long-term plan for your set of players.

Links between the England game this week and my FA Coaching course

It was interesting to see the England setup from start to finish this week. There was a lot of comment relating to the sections that Sam Allardyce made in both his squad and his team. There were a lot of familiar faces in both and he came in for some criticism for not changing a lot, mainly because-

• It was a team with 8 of the players that played in the last Euro match - a defeat against Iceland
• It was a squad with only one uncapped player - Michail Antonio
• It was a very similar formation to the one Roy Hodgson had used
• Big Sam gave players like Joe Hart and Raheem Sterling a chance when they were awful in the Summer

It was the most difficult match of the campaign on paper - away to a dangerous opponent that had completely stifled us in June. But we came through with three points due to reckless tackling from Martin Skrtel and poor goalkeeping at the end. So on the face of things there was much criticism before and a small celebration after.

But I ask what possibly could have changed?

I was on an FA Level 1 Coaching course the week before and there was a lot of talk about the England DNA. The game in this country is now geared to play a certain way. It would be difficult, if not impossible, for Allardyce to anything different. Where are the future England players that are playing regularly for their club sides?

The formation suits the way we want to play football. It is something that many of the players are familiar with from their clubs. It really is almost a part of the DNA of the game in this country.

The players that form the squad will form the basis of the squad all the way to the next World Cup and beyond. WE need evolution, not revolution. If the academy system is producing players like John Stones then we have to put some faith in it to produce more.

Part of the England DNA of football coaching

With the England match away to Slovakia tonight in mind - first one for Big Sam - it has been interesting doing my Level 1 football coaching course this week. The way that the FA is now structured is that every level feeds into the national team and the way of playing the game. In future you will see the players that have gone through the grassroots of football and through the system to reach the top level of the game. We are now generating players that have played in all positions, have developed the skills that have been identified as essential and will play the game in the right way.

The FA Level 1 Football Coaching course has been really interesting for me to work with other budding coaches and get an insight into the way the FA wants us all to bring our players through and develop them. I am really excited about getting to put all of this into practice with my team. I am ready to get back to my club and put all of this into practice.

Being able to watch and learn from the tutors as well as see practices delivered by others on the course was a great way to get together some ideas about different training sessions, how they fit together and how to adapt them to players of different ages. I am confident that I can start to think about the development needs of my players and how I can put training sessions into place to help them be better players over time.

The way that all of this fits together from grassroots up to the top level of the game is really interesting and will stand the game in this country in good stared in the future. The different phases of the game are looked at in detail to establish the necessary skills-

• In possession
• Out of possession
• Transition

You will see the way that young footballers play the game will change over time. The emphasis on everyone enjoying their game, players swapping roles and being comfortable on the ball are all major factors in this. One other parts that I found will make a massive difference is encouraging your players to take risks and not being afraid of the consequences. The focus has been taken away from winning games at all costs to achieving specific objectives both from a personal and a team point of view.