Source: Arsenal Website
Arsène Wenger’s first home game 19 October 1996
Not a classic match by any means, but a significant day in Arsenal's history.
Arsène Wenger was officially in charge of the Gunners for the first time a week earlier when two clinical strikes from Ian Wright earned a 2-0 win over Blackburn Rovers. But this was the first time he had met the Highbury crowd.
The Frenchman received a rapturous reception as he headed for the dugouts before the game gainst Coventry. However, Wenger could not inspire his players to a second successive victory despite a host of chances.
By now, Patrick Vieira was already a favourite with the Arsenal crowd. The midfielder started the game while another early Wenger signing, Remi Garde, was on the bench.
The new manager kept faith with the 3-5-2 formation favoured by his predecessor, Bruce Rioch. Wenger brought Dennis Bergkamp off the bench but even he was unable to engineer a breakthrough as the Sky Blues defended stoutly.
In fact, the most notable incident was an injury to Steve Ogrizovic. The Coventry goalkeeper was stretchered off four minutes from time after a collision with Wright.
Wenger did not have to wait long for his first win at Highbury. A week later, goals from Lee Dixon, Bergkamp and Wright saw Arsenal overcome Leeds, managed at the time by former Gunners boss George Graham.
Monday, July 13, 2009
Arsène Wenger's first Highbury game
REAL TARGET LIVERPOOL MIDFIELDER
ESPN reports "Pellegrini hopeful over Alonso deal"
Real Madrid coach Manuel Pellegrini has not given up hope of signing Liverpool midfielder Xabi Alonso, although the Bernabeu boss knows it will not be easy.
Reds manager Rafa Benitez is eager to keep the Spanish international at Anfield and has already called on the player he plucked from relative obscurity at Real Sociedad to stay "loyal" to Liverpool.
Real are looking to strengthen the centre of midfield following their spending spree on the likes of Portuguese winger Cristiano Ronaldo and Brazilian playmaker Kaka and may also sign another fullback, Pellegrini said at a news conference. "It's not a mystery that Real Madrid are interested in signing him (Alonso) but it won't be easy," he said. "We are looking at alternatives for some positions," he added. "The attack is complete and perhaps a central midfielder or fullback is still missing but the rest of the positions are covered."
Spanish daily Marca reported earlier this week that Alonso had telephoned Benitez to ask his permission to leave Liverpool and move to Madrid. The newspaper also speculated that €35m would be enough to secure the signing of the 27-year-old.
But the Premier League club are apparently asking for up to €50m and although negotiations are yet to agree a compromise figure, Real sporting director Miguel Pardeza said that the deal was certainly not dead.
"Madrid don't discard an option until it is truly impossible," Pardeza said. "Right now there is an insurmountable economic barrier but that is something that can change." Meanwhile, Pellegrini, in his first news conference since the players began pre-season training last week, also said media reports that Real's entire contingent of six Dutch players, including Ruud van Nistelrooy, Arjen Robben and Wesley Sneijder, would be leaving were inaccurate.
"When there is some news the club will announce it," he said when asked which players were on their way out. "But it's not true that all the Dutch players are going to leave as has been reported in the media."
Pellegrini also responded to criticism of Real's spending policies published in Vatican newspaper Osservatore Romano on Saturday.
The club's splurge of more than €200m on four players risks inflating transfer fees and pushing clubs towards bankruptcy or into the hands of organised crime, the paper said.
"Everyone has the right to give their opinion, right or wrong," Pellegrini said. "I am not the one responsible for talking about comments by the Vatican. If someone thinks that it's not good they also have the right to express an opinion."
Separately, Kaka said in a newspaper interview published on Sunday that Real were spending such vast sums because the players involved were value for money.
"If Real Madrid has decided to spend so much money on us it's because we are worth it, no?" Kaka said. "In the particular case of Cristiano Ronaldo, who is the most expensive, he has shown he is number one and that he is worth the money."
More on soccer latest news go to http://soccernet.espn.go.com/
Fundamentals of Shooting
There are many different ways to shoot the ball in soccer. Like passing, some of them are basic and some more advanced. You can shoot with the instep, with the inside of the foot, the outside, and yes, even the toe. You can drive the ball out flat, make it curve in or out, chip it, loft it etc.
What we’ll be concerned with here initially are the fundamentals of basic shooting what you would teach to a 7 year old (and up) to build a foundation for more advanced techniques.
The basic coaching points for basic instep drive shooting , From the Nose to the Toes are:
1. Head down – eye on the ball
2. Plant non-kicking foot along side the ball
3. Pick a spot near the center of the ball, strike ball at, or slightly above, this spot.
4. Knee of kicking leg is over the ball
5. Instep is “locked” Toe down and ankle flexed up in direction of calf
6. Approach is slightly from the side.. not dead on
7. Follow through Sounds simple right? Well lets break them down one by one and then suggest ways and means of teaching this technique.
First, head down, just like in passing The “head up” component of shooting precedes the actual execution of the skill. In other words the player must already have his target picked out before he executes the shot. Why head down? Because your eyes cannot affect the flight of the ball. It is more important that you strike the ball correctly and that is done by eye-foot coordination. In the best case, and with a lot of practice, the head is down for only a split second. As the players get older, peripheral vision comes into play and only the eyes move.
Second... the plant foot. Important because if you plant your foot behind the ball your kicking foot is coming up as you strike leading to undercutting the ball. Now in advanced shooting that is sometimes what you want to do but when we’re teaching the younger ages we just want the ball to travel in a straight line with some “weight” on it.
Third.. picking a spot on the ball. Again if you kick too low you’ll undercut the ball, pick too high and you’ll “top” it. With a lot of practice a child will automatically pick the sweet spot on the ball.
Fourth.. the knee of the kicking leg is over the ball. This technique determines the correct body position. If the knee is forward of the ball (which rarely happens) the weight is too far forward and the ball is mis-kicked. If the knee is behind the ball, a far more common occurrence, the player tends to arch their back away from the ball. This results in too little power.
Fifth.. instep is locked. A wobbly foot leads to inaccurate and low power shots. Locking the instep (sometimes referred to as locking the ankle) is not a natural thing for the kids to do. You have to break this down into steps and be vigilant when they shoot. It is very easy to back slide after this technique is taught.
Sixth… approach from the side. The biggest fault in the instep drive is coming straight at the ball. This leads to toe kicking. At the younger ages toe kicking is quite common and natural. They will enjoy more success kicking with their toes than with their instep. They will seem to get more power on the ball. This is illusionary. It is a simple matter of physics. The more surface area applied to the ball (instep) all other things being equal, the more accurate and the more powerful will be the shot.
But the biggest reason not to let them toe kick is that it is a bad habit that is extremely difficult to break in later years. Teach them the right way now and there will be far less problems in the future. By moving in slightly from the side you naturally tend to want to kick with the instep instead of the toe
Last.. follow through. A common mistake made at the younger ages is the lack of a follow through…kick through the ball. They tend to jerk back as they strike the ball and consequently do not get a lot of power on the pass.
Friday, July 10, 2009
No Barca deal for Robinho
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Basic Pass/Receive Drill U10: No Where to Hide
This is an exercise for reinforcing moving to space, good passing and receiving skills, and communication. It was suggested by Pam Konrad of the soccercoach-l e mail list.
Split your group into 2 teams, give each a different color pinnie and play in one
half of the field with a keeper.
The goal is for EVERY player to first make a good reception from a teammate
(not just win a 50/50 ball), then make a good pass to a teammate.
Once the player has done this s/he can flip the front of the pinnie behind their
neck. Players who have already "flipped" their pinnies and the GK can be used
for passing to relieve pressure, but EVERY player must have his or her pinnie
flipped before their team can shoot on goal.
This game has a very good work rate, especially when each team gets down to
one or two players left who need to receive/pass.
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Things that you as a coach should strive NOT to be
Source: Fifa Training Material
• concerning your willingness to listen to others
− You must not display a general lack of interest in other people and show little willingness to listen to the personal and psychological problems of others.
− You must not feel ill at ease in your position as an “agony aunt/mentor”.
• concerning your attitude of open-mindedness
− You must not be afraid of change or wary of innovations.
− You must not harbour doubts about yourself after a series of defeats or in confl ict situations.
− You must remain open to all constructive proposals.
• concerning your time management
− You must not be too preoccupied by football.
− You must not have too little time available to improve yourself and widen your knowledge.
− You must not have too little time available for yourself.
• concerning the reinforcement of your ideas and opinions (external feedback)
− You must not give too little or no encouragement, or praise too little or not at all (in particular with young players).
− You must ensure that you give positive feedback as well.
− You must not show a tendency to generalise too much.
Monday, July 6, 2009
TACTICAL EXERCISES- PURPOSE
(A)2v1
ONE ACTS, ONE SUPPORTS, IN ATTACK OR WHEN DEFENDING.IN ATTACK, PLAYER WITH THE BALL COMMITS THE LONE DEFENDER THEN EITHER GOES PAST THEM OR PASSES TO THE SECOND ATTACKER.IN DEFENSE, NEAREST CHALLENGES, THE OTHER COVERS
(B) 3v1
IN DEFENSE, ONE CHALLENGES, ONE COVERS, THE THIRD BALANCESIN ATTACK, ONE COMMITS AN OPPONENT, ONE POSITIONS TO RECIEVE A POSSIBLE PASS, THE THIRD MAKES AN ATTACK RUN.
(C) 4v2
DEFENDING - IS ABOUT THE 2 WORKING AS A PAIR TO CUT DOWN QUICKLY ANY POSSIBLE EASY SPACE FOR THE OPPONENT WITH THE BALL TO PASS TO ONE OF THE OTHER THREE ATTACKERSATTACKING - IS ABOUT THE PLAYER WITH THE BALL HAVING THREE OPTIONS TO PASS IF THEY WISH TO (SUPPORT, PASS OPTIONS).
(D) 5v2
AS c. ONLY DEFENDING BECOMES MORE OF A POSITIONING TO FORCE THE BALL TO WHERE YOU CAN ATTACK ITFOT ATTACKING ITS ABOUT PLAYERS TAKING CONSTANT GOOD POSITIONS TO RECEIVE A POSSIBLE PASS.
(E)6v6
IS ABOUT WHERE PLAYERS ARE TO EITHER ATTACK OR DEFEND2-1-2 FORMATION CAN SHOW DEFENDERS COACHING POINTS, THE LONE MIDFIELDER ABOUT HOW TO SUPPORT THE DEFENSE AND ATTACK, THE FORWARDS, HOW TO DEFEND FROM THE FRONT AND HOW TO MAKE ATTACK RUNS WHEN IN POSSESSION.
(F) 8v8
BUILDING ON THE 6V6 COACHING POINTS, YOU CAN NOW PLAY MORE PHASE OF PLAY ROUTINES BUT IN A SSG FORMAT.
