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Karl
Senior Member
USA
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 Posted - Jan 28 2003 : 4:53:55 PM
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Charmin
Klinsmann on 'Teaching strikers
Tuesday, January 28, 2003, 2:04:19 PM
This article was copied.
Straight from the NSCAA convention: Klinsmann on teaching strikers
The National Soccer Coaches Association of America’s annual convention took place from January 16-18 in Kansas City. The convention traditionally includes exhibitions, awards banquets, and clinics taught by former and present professional soccer players and coaches. This year’s event also marked the first time that the MLS SuperDraft was open to the public at the same location.
Jurgen Klinsmann, a famed pro soccer player, spent his professional years competing for Stuttgart and Bayern Munich in the German Bundesliga, Sampdoria and Inter Milan in Italy, Monaco in France, and Tottenham Hotspur in England. He retired in 1998 after representing Germany in the World Cup for the third time.
Klinsmann appeared at this year’s NSCAA convention to discuss the striker position with youth coaches and how their attackers can become greater offensive threats.
Klinsmann emphasized that strikers should be taught separately in after-practice sessions to permit coaches and players to concentrate solely on offensive maneuvering rather than worrying about other members of the team (in general, when focusing on individual positions, it is always a good idea to hold position-specific practices).
First, Klinsmann discussed the importance of being vocal on the field to increase communication and therefore speed up the movement of the ball down the field. Players should always refer to one another by names, or even use the third person to refer to themselves, so that there is never any question of who is open while the front line makes runs towards the opponents’ goal.
Another important topic of discussion in Klinsmann’s clinic was the importance of letting players “just go” on the field. He feels that because the striker position relies so much on spontaneity and creativity, too much guidance or instruction by a coach can actually hinder a player during a game. If the player is thinking too much about what he is attempting to execute rather than relying on his or her talent to beat a defender, the player and the offensive attack naturally slows down. He also warns coaches against making naturally aggressive strikers become too cautious; again, this can slow down the game as the player tries to mold to a technique outside of his natural instincts.
Klinsmann discussed many drills for strikers that are ideal for after-practice sessions, but also stressed that drills should not be specific to certain on-field situations. For example, coaches should create a scenario where players have to react to one another on impulse; they should not create a scenario where a defender tries a block stop, or a tackle from the left side, etc., because then half of the lesson is already erased (the striker already knows what to ‘expect’). He suggests a 5 v. 5 drill in which the one side (the offensive team) scores points by making goals, and the other side (the defensive team) ‘scores’ by executing eight uninterrupted passes to one another.
Klinsmann does not favor the 1 v. 1 drill. He believes that strikers should first and foremost rely on their speed when trying to pass a defender; trying to trick or outmaneuver the opponent through fancy footwork again only slows down the action on the field; using speed also decreases the chances that the fast breaks executed by the other forwards will become slowed or stunted. The team’s chance to score will not be hampered when fancy footwork on one side of the field interrupts the fast break on the other side. He suggests giving attackers scoring “options” during the drills—by setting up mini-goals with cones alongside the regulation goal, players increase their mental activity and decision making; this encourages different types of scoring.
In any drill, Klinsmann says that all parts of the body’s “arsenal” should be used, including the strong and weak foot (using both the instep and the top of the foot), the head, and chest. In the smaller after-practice sessions, teammates have more of an opportunity to observe one another and discover one another’s strengths and weaknesses, and can therefore learn how to “channel” their passes to each other (towards their partner’s strong foot, or the head “Brian McBride style,” etc.).
In all, Klinsmann stressed that coaches should avoid too much teaching. Strikers become stronger overall players when they learn to trust and rely upon their own instincts and creativity, therefore building the necessary confidence to put them ahead of the opponent in the mental game.
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Karl |
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Charmin - Klinsmann on 'Teaching strikers
