It has been about a month that the new team and I have been working together and we are coming together nicely. One of the nicest things about this group is that it always feels like a give and take where the more I put in front of them, the more they put into the session. Our session last night was a prime example of this- we got through all the individual components of the lesson plan and moved on to the team section and the work rate never dropped, never slacked up. At the end of the last session, every player was drenched in sweat and said how great the training was.
I know I may be biased, but I feel I have the best group of players that any coach could ask for. From their attitudes, to their willingness to put themselves out there and try new things, every session has been an absolute joy to work with them. I find that the harder they work, the more I want to do my homework and assure that their time spent on the pitch that the training has relevance and purpose and is time well spent.
Part of any program has to be evaluation of where we are, where we want to go and how we get there. We need to identify what we do well, and make sure we incorporate those things, we need to be honest in our shortcomings, and make a plan to support those areas. One of the things I am going to ask the players to do is to not only evaluate themselves as players, and as a team but to also evaluate me as a coach: am I putting the right type of work in front of them, do they understand what our objectives are, how can I improve so that our limited time together has the most impact on their game.
One of my goals for this side this season is to train well enough that we can play simple soccer. The old saying goes that soccer is one of the simplest of games but one of the most complex games to play simple. I think that is very true and hope we can discover how to keep it simple.
So our training has been simple exercises that build one upon the other and hopefully, we will carry them forward each week to grow and develop as a team. As we go forward, I look forward to seeing what this side puts together and how they define themselves as players and as a team. Exciting times….
till I see you on the pitch
j
soccerlifecoach 