General Rules for players as they develop through MSC
Always see the opponent's goal before receiving a pass
‘Look’ long, ‘See’ short
Square passes are a No-No
Confidence (No fear) to play your way out of difficult situations
If you apply what your trainer is asking from you in practice and you are the hardest working player on the field, then YOU have had a good day
General Rules for our MSC coaches as they look to develop MSC players
‘Learn by playing/doing’ Verbal Instruction: least effective, Watching: more effective, Doing: MOST effective. Every practice should include games going to goal.
Need to instill a work rate and toughness in all players from an early age
‘Scoring goals’ needs to become a culture. Every player, every practice needs to enjoy the feeling of scoring a goal
Need to instill a confidence/No fear attitude in our players from an early age to ‘play’ their way out of difficult situations
1v1 defending is a skill set every player should have, not just defenders
Curriculum Framework
Note that the below framework is a guideline to specific practices for the development of our Core players and that our philosophy will be continued into the older age groups with the addition of tactical work playing a larger, but still not a primary role in warm-ups and training sessions. The focus of the Core curriculum is on individual player development, not developing winning teams at the Core ages. We believe that if you create great individual players, team success will come and all our players will ultimately be better off as a result. The fruits of this philosophy can be witnessed in the performances locally, regionally, and nationally by these same senior teams and in the individual accolades garnered by our players.
U7 and U8
Week 1 – Passing & Receiving
Week 2 – Dribbling
Week 3 – Shooting
Week 4 – Longer Passing & receiving out of the air (age appropriate)
Week 5 – Dribbling to cross, pass, shoot
Week 6 – 1 touch finishing, 2 touch finishing
Week 7 – Receiving on the turn
Week 8 – Dribbling to beat defenders, to pass, cross, shoot
Week 9 – shooting from distance (age appropriate)
Week 10 - Recap
Week 11 – Recap
In-House Game Management
5v5 with Goalkeepers
Encourage and teach technical aspects of the game without stopping the game
Limited or No tactical advice/teaching required
U9-U10
Week 1 – Passing & receiving under pressure
Week 2 – Dribbling to beat defender
Week 3 – Shooting against goalkeeper
Week 4 – 1v1 defending
Week 5 – longer passing & receiving out of the air, under pressure
Week 6 – 1 touch, 2 touch finishing
Week 7 – receiving to turn, pass, dribble, shoot
Week 8 – 2 v 2 defending
Week 9 – 3v2 decision making, when to pass, dribble, shoot
Week 10 – Recap
Week 11 – Recap
Game Management
7v7 including Goalkeepers
Ensure everyone plays at least half a game
Ensure every player tries 2 positions per game
Reward and encourage technical aspects of the game and encourage brave, attacking play
Reward and encourage hard work and toughness
Technical advice and teaching should be first and foremost. With this focus, you will find yourself giving less tactical advice which is a good thing. We can not get into a habit of talking every player through every play and developing robots.
U11-U12
Week 1 – Passing out of the back
Week 2 – Dribbling, when to dribble, when to pass (final third)
Week 3 – Finishing from crosses
Week 4 – 1v1, 2v2 defending
Week 5 – Longer passing, switching play
Week 6 – Finishing from long range
Week 7 – Third man Running
Week 8 – Transition from Attack to defense, From Defense to attack/counter-attack
Week 9 – 2 v 3 defending
Week 10 – recap
Week 11 - recap
Game Management
9v9 including GK
Ensure everyone plays at least half a game
Ensure every player tries 2 positions per game
Reward and encourage technical aspects of the game and encourage brave, attacking play
Reward and encourage hard work and toughness
Tactical advice and teaching is needed but should not be the focus. Technical teaching and encouragement from the sideline.