U12 Training Reflection (2.4.22)

Dominant Contraction: Speed

Principle: Possession

Sub-Principle: Finishing with Numerical Superiority

Sub-Sub Principle: Wide Possession

First Part - Warm Up/Activation

Fun little activation game. Players were slow to catch on to the rhythm which shows to me either I am poor at explaining or we are just slow to react. We definitely tend to ball watch a lot and are slow in transitions. Also given that the next activity was a crossing and finishing exercise perhaps it would have made sense to build aerial passes into the activity. Then again we did have this planned but the poor transitioning and awareness from the players during the basic ground pass portion made it difficult to make this activity much more complex.

Second Part - Technical Game

Introduction of back-post and front-post runs. Players again very slow to grasp the basic movements. Again this perhaps is a reflection of the complexity that was implied in the practice design. Given it was a a speed/activation type of practice perhaps the complexity should have been even lower that what it already was.

We had some decent delivery's and finishing but the tempo of play remains to be a weak point. We need to continue to train quick movements off the ball and playing with one touch.

Final Part - Tactical Game

In the final part of the practice we did a wave exercise where we played 3v2 with 10 seconds to score. The mobility in the attacking was very basic and we failed to make dynamic runs.

Overall

The quality of the practice was poor. Perhaps I am part to blame here as the complexity of exercises were too high relative to the MD timing.

There are a load of external factors which could easily be laid to blame, perhaps ones that are more of a problem but I can't sit here and pretend that everything I do and say is perfect. I am far from where I want to be as a coach and a session like this humbling. Now is not the time to throw my hands up and lay blame to others, now is the time to roll my sleeves up and become an even better professional. The challenge is definitely set before me, I accept it and am ready to face what lies ahead through the ups and downs.