Jamie:
Hello and welcome to CoachCast by England Football Learning. The brand new coaching podcast designed to give you expert insight, session ideas and a platform to discuss your coaching questions and challenges. I'm Jamie.
Louise:
And I'm Louise. In each episode of this series, one of our experts will dissect a specific topic and then speak to a grassroots coach with the aim of helping them and you develop more skilful players. So here we are again, Jamie.
Jamie:
Yeah, it's great to be back. Got another fun episode for you all.
Louise:
Yep, definitely. So this episode we're going to be talking about the art of passing and receiving and how you can work on it with your players.
Jamie:
And the expert who's going to take us through this topic, actually joins us live in the studio now. It's Loz Lock. Hi Loz, how are you?
Loz:
Hi, good morning.
Louise:
Thanks for your time today. Before we start, do you want to tell our listeners a little bit more about yourself and your role at the FA?
Loz:
Yeah, I've been at the FA now for six years. My current role, I'm a coach development officer, focusing on diversity and inclusion and I cover the Southwest region.
Louise:
Okay, so to get us started, can you give us a definition of passing and receiving?
Loz:
Yeah, the definition of passing and receiving for me is how you get the ball from one area to another one. Whether it be to a teammate to some space or just to get to an area where you and your team can move up the field or move back on the field. So it's essentially in possession, retaining the ball.
Louise:
And what are some
of the different ways you can pass and receive the ball?
Loz:
For me, there are loads of different ways and it's really important we don't just do one way. You know, whether it be using the inside of your foot, the outside of your foot, your back heel, your toe, it's been really creative in, you know, getting the ball from me to my teammate and making sure it's effective, whether it be in regaining possession or trying to make a move up the pitch to go and score.
Jamie:
Can you think of any footballers who showcase any of those techniquesparticularly well that could be a good example for kids to learn from?
Loz:
Yeah, I think, in terms of what's happened in the last probably four years and thinking like, to the England DNA around, loving the ball, loving the game, if you look at Phil Foden whose lower centre of gravity really helps him to play off his front foot. But also the way he prepares before the ball even comes, he's always scanning and he's always looking for those opportunities to play forward. I think what happened in the past was we used to get told to play to the side or play backwards, whereas if you look at Foden he always looks to try and go forward, which is really exciting to see. There's also, you know, Fran Kirby who works in real, real tight spaces in her position, especially when she's playing for the England Lionesses, you know, she's always looking to play forward and I think the more we build that into our practices and, you know, being creative in allowing the players to go and do that, we're going to start creating more Fran Kirby's and Phil Fodens.
Jamie:
How important is it to get players to be comfortable kind of in those tight areas and playing forward at all?
Loz:
I think it's allowing the kids to have that repetition and understanding that it's okay, especially when kids are really young to encourage them to be on the ball. I think that's really important and we don't need to necessarily go in and tell them how to do it as soon as they might have lost it in a tight area, but actually we want to encourage that as much as possible.
Jamie:
So, are passing and receiving key skills? And if so, why?
Loz:
Yeah, essentially, you know, you've got to be able to pass and receive. I think that the combination of the two, you've got to be able to receive it and control the ball and make sure you're comfortable with the ball before you look to pass and I think sometimes we've got to incorporate that so that, you know, players at times might play first time, and if we can do that, that's even better to play quickly. But it's essentially allowing the players to make that decision themselves. I think often we see coaches on the sideline going, "Pass, pass, pass, pass, pass!" and actually the kids might not want to pass, they might want to dribble and retain it and then play the ball forward or to the side. So it's really important we allow the kids to have that repetition. I think one of the things I say to coaches, it's repetition without repetition. So we're not essentially saying, you know, stand in front of each and just pass the ball back and forth for half an hour in a session, actually can you create opportunities where they have a lot of reposition and it's within a game situation?
Louise:
So there's the term 'two-player connections'. Can you explain what that means and how important it is in passing and receiving?
Loz:
Yeah, I think it's that social connection between players and for me it's really important because if I want to pass a ball to a teammate, I've got to have that social connection with him or her, so I kind of know where he or she is going to move or how he or she likes to receive the ball. So I remember, you know, seeing when I was coaching, there was a player that used to work with and he really loved receiving it on his front foot. So it's then working with his teammates to go, when you're playing to him, you know, always try and play it in front of him rather than try and play behind him. So it's that connection for a coach to recognize that and when you're working with your players on the pitch, they might be the simple challenges you give to your teammates. So you know, it might be, you know, Johnny's got the ball as a centre-back and he's got to play to his left-back, who was his teammate, and connection, that's really important there. But if Johnny's always playing behind, then it's not going help Charlie who's on the left hand side. So they're the things that as a coach, you got to recognize that and allow the challenges that you set, have got a link to each other. So if I'm asking Johnny to play in front for Charlie, Charlie's movements are going to be different and his body position is going to be different. So they're are two things where you start connecting, that's when you'll get that kind of positivity around passing and receiving.
Louise:
So would you say it's down to the coach to get all the players to recognize how they like to pass or receive and then get them to work on that together?
Loz:
Yeah, really good point. And I think that's the bit that it's not always coach-lead and I think as as we shift and as we move forward with how we coach, it's important that it's, you know, sometimes you might ask the players, how do you like to receive the ball? You know, how do you feel when the ball is coming to you? And do you like the ball bouncing or do you like it in the air? So when we talk about receiving it's not always at feet, as well. So going back to when you said like, what are the different ways you can receive? Like, you know, you might work with players to receive, you know, with a thigh or, you know, receive as the ball is traveling in the air or they might receive with their chest and move forward. So they're the things that you might start working with, especially as the players get a bit older and you might go in with a bit more understanding around the players and the more you work with them, you can start building that relationship with your players and that's I think that's really important. As you work with the players for a bit longer you'll understand their kind of traits and to get their buy-in is asking them, as well. I think that's really powerful as a coach, to go, "Actually, you tell me what you want to do. You tell me how you want to get better." And the role of the coach is to then go, "I understand my players, I understand their needs and wants." That's where me as a coach will start planning effectively to ensure that the players learn and develop.
Louise:
How can you help players develop those connections and communication skills?
Loz:
So I think it's important it's on and off the pitch. So, in terms of developing them in the game and in practice it's ensuring that you have lots of opportunities for the players to develop those communication skills. So it might be, one of the games that I love playing is invisible football. So, we don't even have a ball in this game. And essentially the players have got a really communicate to get the ball. So you know, they play into an end zone or a target and essentially the way they pass the ball is to shout each other's name and for them to have possession, if I show you now, they've got their hand on their head, so if I'm passing to Louise, I'll shout, "Louise, you've got the ball." And then Louise will have her hand on the ball which is on her head. And that really gets them to think and it links to that scanning bit because when kids have got their hand on their head, they'll start looking for their teammates and the movement that their friends make will essentially allow them to play that ball forward. And that really helps them with communication and when I do it for the first time, especially with kids I've never worked with, they look at me like, "What are you doing? We're here to play football." But actually as time goes on their movement skills improve, their kind of the types of runs improve. So we talk to kids about, you've got to make forward runs, but what does that mean to a five year old? They don't know. But when there's an object in front of a defender, they will start moving slightly differently. And as the kids develop their movement, which I feel is really important, then you can then bring the ball in and that's when the movement is already there. And we talk a lot around fundamental movements and if we can get that right first then we can incorporate the ball later on. And then I think that kind of social connection which I talked about, that's the other things that you do on and off the pitch. So off the pitch, it's essentially like looking at how they act when you're waiting for a game or, you know, when you give them a water break, like, how they're responding. You know, giving them opportunity and ownership. So, we talk about getting the kids to bring in cones. So, I coach my son at the moment, I say I coach him, I facilitate his sessions. We do a 3-to 5-year-old session once a week and essentially it's not there to teach them to be footballers overnight, it's actually developing those social skills. So even for a three- and four-year-old, getting them to put cones in the right order, in the right colour, putting the bibs in the right colour, putting the balls in a diamond, it's allowing the kids to kind of communicate without you saying, you know, the one that we hear loads is, you know, you've got to talk more. What does that mean for a seven-year-old? We're not sure about that. And when you ask them, you talk like, what you want me to talk about? And I think we hear that a lot, especially in grassroots coaching is you've got to be louder. What does that mean? So it's having those kind of informal opportunities where kids are starting to develop those social skills. So yeah, you got to talk because I've got a green card and you've got a red card, we've got to decide where it's going to go. And they're the things that I feel are really important. If we start encouraging that even at three, four, five years old, as they get older, their communication skills will be better and their empathy for each other will be better. And I think that's really important when we talk about communication and relationships with players, through doing that and embedding that, and investing the time into that, I think over time the kids will be better on the pitch with our communication.
Louise:
So if there's a player who's off the ball, how can they help the player who's on the ball?
Loz:
I think it's the bit, again, linking to what I just said earlier about, you know, that connection, I think often when players have got the ball, people start gravitating towards it. And I think again it's opportunities where in your sessions you might create, you know, not barriers, but areas of the pitch where you might say "We're playing in this this area." So a 30 x 40 pitch, but in certain zones, you're only allowed one or two players in there and then you're not necessarily stopping the game and saying, "Louise, you've got to go there. Jamie, you've got to go there." It's essentially, in the game, if there are more than two players in an area or there are more than three players in area, the ball goes back to the opposition. And then as the game goes on, the kids will start recognizing that we can't all go in there and without essentially stopping and starting the game a lot, the kids will start recognizing areas of the pitch where they can and can't go. So for me it's around giving them a problem to solve and your role as a coach is to allow them the opportunity to solve that problem and given them opportunity to develop tactics and strategies to develop that because what you see will be different to what the kids see. And I think what's important for us as coaches is to allow them to work it out themselves. You know, there's no one way of passing the ball. So the common one is inside of your foot, pass to your teammate who's 10 yards away. However, there are loads of different ways and varieties we can do that. So when we talk about allowing kids to create space, it's putting opportunities and challenges within your sessions to allow that. I think if we say to kids, spread out, create space, it really confuses them and I think we've got to allow them to work out themselves because for me the game's changed and they will do it slightly different to how we would talk or how we did when we were younger.
Jamie:
When you're coaching is particularly like primary age players, they could be quite worried about giving the ball away, particularly in dangerous areas of the pitch. So how important is it that coaches create an environment where players, they feel safe, they're encouraged, they're happy to play a pass or receive the ball under pressure?
Loz:
I think it's vital that we create that safe environment where, you know, players, children are encouraged to stay on the ball. I think for me it's about having small-sided games. So, you know, growing up at school, I think we need to play 20-a-side on a tiny pitch and you probably touched the ball once or twice during playtime. And I think as coaches if we can create loads of small-sided games whether they're 2v2s, 1v1s, 3v3s, but make the space not too tight, but tight enough where the kids have got to receive it in a tight space. And essentially, within your session you might have 30 children playing, but there are loads of small-sided games going on. And you as a coach, you can't see everything. So if players make a mistake, it happens on their pitch, and you might spot it, you might not, but it doesn't really matter because you're encouraging that repetition. So going back to that repetition without repetition, it's allowing kids loads of opportunities to play little games, small-sided games where it's 2v2, they've got loads of touch on the ball, the environment means, look, if you lose it, it's fine because more than likely you're going to get the ball back within 10-15 seconds and then you can have another go at, you know, trying to pass and receive the ball with your teammates to get into an end zone or into a target area or into a small goal you've got to score in to. But for me it's around having loads of small-sided games opportunities to score because I think that's important, whether it be dribbling to a line, passing through a gate or scoring into a mini goal. I think that's really important for the children to have an area that they can go in to. And from that, for me, it's allowing them that opportunity to go, "Actually, I've tried to step over and I'm the last player." And it might work, it might not have done, but in practice it's in the game. And then I think it's important we take that into a match, as well. If players are encouraged to receive the ball from the goalkeeper, that's fine, and if they try and play out, that's fine. And I think we don't get on top of them as soon as they make a mistake. And as coaches, to go and step back and go, "Actually, we've tried this in training, can we take it into a game? And if it doesn't work, we can have a look at again next week or we can discuss it during half-time or during the period where we're off." So I think that's important as coaches we look at that.
Jamie:
When should coaches introduce passing and receiving to the players? Is it important to help them to be comfortable in possession first and then introduce them to the idea of sharing?
Loz:
Yeah. I think as soon as possible, and when we talk about introducing the ball, I think with five- and six-year-olds, we expect them all to be able to play with the ball at their feet and they're going to be the next, you know, Phil Foden or Jack Grealish or Lucy Bronze, getting on the ball and dribbling past everyone. And it goes back to the bit that I said earlier that sometimes the kids need to understand what the ball is. So coming from teaching in primary schools, for me, it used to be giving them an opportunity to understand getting them to think about where they are in their journey. So when you're working with six-year-olds or five-year-olds, some of them might have been playing football since they were two, three years old. So they might go to little sessions in and around their community. You might have kids that have never played football before, so it's really important that we understand their footballing age and as the kids get older, when they get to like seven, eight, nine years old, some of them might have been playing for five years, some might be brand new into it. So it's really important we give them the opportunity to work out themselves. So, when I was coaching and especially, you know, little kids in primary schools, one of the things that I used to say to the kids was, "You've got the ball, you can decide how you travel with the ball. So traveling with the ball or receiving the ball, you decide how you want to do it." So one of the things I used to say to the kids was, "When you've got the ball, you can either carry with your hands, you can bounce it with your hands, you can throw and catch with your hands or you can dribble with the ball at your feet." The activities that we did were always the same. So, you know, it might be, I decided to bounce the ball, Jamie, you decided to dribble the ball at your feet, Louise, you decided to carry it. We're essentially working on that receiving, we're still working on that scanning and then when we pass the ball, I might throw it, Jamie, you might pass it using your feet, and then as the kids get older or as they get more experience and they understand the games, they might go, "Actually, one day I'm going to decide to put the ball at my feet." But we're not saying, you've got 30 kids, it's a brand new session, we don't know the kids and everyone's got the ball at their feet and I think that's where for some kids they might start losing interest in the game and we don't want that. So for me, giving the kids ownership is important and vital, especially for their first experience of football.
Jamie:
You mentioned small-sided games just a little bit back. But how would you work on passing and receiving? Like, going through each of the age groups, how would you advance that?
Loz:
I think small-sided games are essential across age groups and, you know, every kid you chat to that comes to football, the first thing they ask is, "When can we have a game?" So for me it's if we can encourage games and allowing that to develop their learning, I think that's important. So, you know, you modify the rules slightly as they get older, so with with an older age group, it might be, you know, we're working with an under-16 team who are quite advanced and really a strong team that potentially go and play for the County Cup every year. So for them it will be different to working with a group of six0year-olds who are brand new into football. So if we work backwards, so for an under-16, let's say we're working on passing and receiving tonight, it might be actually, I'm going to really encourage you to use different ways to pass the ball. So again, understanding your players individually, it might be every time you've played one pass, you've got to try a different pass the next time. So you might level it up. So, you know, an inside pass might be worth a point. You know, some of it using the outside of your foot that breaks through two defenders that gets to a teammate that's running forward might be worth three points and you might just play a game where you allow them to explore and you show them the different types of passes. And you can still use that same concept where as you get maybe to foundation phase, it might be as a team, you've got to work on different passes. So it might be, we're playing a game and the thought process is getting the kids to work on passing and receiving. And as you build that into different sessions, you might have four games going on, but everyone's playing against each other. An older age group, it's really around the technique of different types of passes. With the younger ones, you might just work on just the number of passes, it doesn't matter which way you do it. So again, hopefully it's given the coaches that are listening a variety of ways that we can work on passing and receiving.
Louise:
How about goalkeepers? Is it important for them to be involved in passing and receiving sessions?
Loz:
Yeah, I would encourage them as much as possible. I was reading some stuff before, I knew this would probably come up that, you know, goalkeepers touch the ball 7-9 times less with their hands, so it's nearly 10 times as much using the feet. So, you know, if you can, just encourage the keepers to playing in those games. So even if we're playing a 3v3, it could be, we've got two players on the outside and there's a n goalkeeper in goal, and it might be every time the keeper plays out with their feet, it's worth a point for that goalkeeper. So it's really important we don't necessarily put the keepers on the side. And also encouraging the goalkeeper, especially at foundation phase to play outfield, as well, because we don't know if they're going to be a goalkeeper in 10 years time. So it's really important, we get them to be confident on the ball and getting them confident to receive the ball even if they're the last player. What tends to happen we see is the ball goes back to a goalkeeper in the game and usually they kick it forward. But actually can we encourage that goalkeeper to receive it, hold on to it and then pick out a pass to their teammates? But again, yeah, for me it's, if we can encourage them as much as possible and get the goalkeeper specialist training, which they might get. However, when it comes to small-sided games or if you're into your session where there's games going on for me it's bring the goalkeepers in. And if you've only got one goalkeeper, you switch the players. So, you know, for 10 minutes in the session we'll defend with the goalkeeper and we've got to try and pass and receive the goalkeeper. And then we switch it and, you know, give the other team an opportunity to do that, as well.
Jamie:
What skills do players need to be able to pass and receive successfully? You've already mentioned stuff like scanning, so how important are skills like that to this art?
Loz:
Yeah, I think it's that it goes back to the holistic development of our players. I think it's got to link across the four corners. So, physically are they able to move their bodies and manipulate their bodies to potentially get into areas to receive the ball? We talked about scanning, but are they confident to receive it? So, if they don't want to receive it, how can you work with the players to be confident to go, "Actually, I don't mind if you receive it in that area."? And then, again, linking back to that social connection bit, are they calling for it? Are they moving into areas to help their teammates to receive it? So for me it's got to incorporate the holistic approach And it's got a link to the four-corner model when we talk about receiving. You might have a passer that, you know, has got a really great range of passing and you know, they can hit a ball wherever they want, but actually, confidence is, if they make one bad pass, it might really stop them from playing, you know those passes they're really good at. So you as a coach might go, actually, with that player, it might be completely different to someone that is really confident at passing, but, you know, nine times out of 10 the ball goes out of play. So actually, how do you work completely differently? So for the player that is really confident and loves trying different passes, That's great, but how can you work that player then to develop his or her technique to do that? The other one might be really, really good at passing the ball, but, you know, lacks that confidence soon as they've made one bad pass. So again, it's how do you then develop the players and how do you develop the games for those players to thrive in those situations?
Jamie:
Another skill we've not touched too much on I don't believe is kind of being confident enough on the ball to have your head up. Is that quite vital to being able to receive but also look out for where the ball's going next?
Loz:
Yeah, so again, it's that pre, during and post. So, before you get it, what's that player doing? And then the important bit is, when they do receive it are they confident to receive it and look after the ball when marked, as well? So you might have players that receive it in really tight areas, but they already know what they're going to do after the ball comes. So it's again, through those 2v2, 3v3 three games, you've given the kids that repetition where I kind of know what's going to happen in this game, or it might be encouraging the players to play underloaded. So you might, for me it's about, you know, it doesn't always have to be free, sometimes it might be 2v4, 1v2, so how does that player receive it? And then that 1v2 might play to a target player. So again, it's that, giving the kids the opportunity to kind of have that, developing that muscle memory to go, "Actually, when I get the ball here and there are three players on me, I've got to do something different to when I receive it in space." But actually, the games that we do allow that repetition for the players.
Jamie:
And that repetition is what helps develop these core skills to be able to to master the art of passing and receiving.
Loz:
It is, yeah. And again, when we talk about repetition, it's not us, you know, passing with no defenders and it's always that same pass, it's actually, the game is different, the game changes every second. So allowing the kids to have that, you know, mixed, balanced diet around that within the games that we do. So it's not always the same.
Louise:
So can we just summarize it all with some top tips for coaches working on passing and receiving with their players?
Loz:
Yeah, top tips, I think number one is giving them opportunity to practice and work on that. Another tip is for me, it's not just about in training, and it's not just about the game, it's given them like a journey of learning. So if I'm working on passing and receiving, don't just do passing and receiving in week one and then in week two move to something different. Give the kids time. So, if you're working with your players and you only get them for an hour and then you get them for a game, essentially, it's only two hours, potentially 2. 5 hours of passing and receiving. It's how do you incorporate that into your sessions throughout the season? I always say to coaches, it's a bit like teaching kids like we teach numeracy every day in primary schools. For me, passing and receiving could be that, you know, it could be that adding lesson every week. So there's a bit of passing and receiving every week. You might be working on a different skill, however passing and receiving is in there. And the final tip is giving the kids time to develop and don't expect them to be, you know, the next Phil Foden, or the next Fran Kirby overnight. For some kids, especially for the younger ones, it might take them a bit of time to develop that fundamental movement and giving them that time to go and work things out as well rather than going in and stepping in and saying, "Do it this way." because they might not be able to do that.
Jamie:
Now, this is the part of the show where we're joined by a grassroots coach. We'll hear about their experiences so far and find out what coaching challenge they're currently facing, Our expert will then hopefully be able to provide them with the guidance that they need. And today we're delighted to be joined by Martin from Reading. Hi Martin. Welcome to the show.
Martin:
Hi, thanks for having me.
Louise:
Hi Martin, thanks for joining us. Can you tell us a little bit about your coaching journey so far?
Martin:
Yeah, sure. I'm in the process of doing my B license. I'm currently working with anything between sort of under-10s right up to under-14s and-15s in the setup I'm in at the moment.
Louise:
So, do you have any coaching challenges around passing and receiving?
Martin:
One of the things that we find challenging on the passing side was the thing of timing, angle, distance and speed. And those four things are usually one of those reasons are one of the problems why a pass can break down.
Loz:
And I think there's always one thing that could break down a pass or break down as the ball gets to a player. So, you know, if we look at timing, you know, are players going into quick? Are they going in too slow? What type of movements are they doing as they go and receive it? Are they going too close to their teammates? And you know, what speed are they going in? So especially when we look at younger players, and if you go back to primary school days, the amount of bumps and crashes we see in primary school playgrounds is the kids don't have that in their fundamental movement. They're the fundamental movements we've got to work at. So are players able to run, stop and continue? I said it earlier in the podcast that we might start without the ball and it's getting them to work on those fundamental movements. So are they able to accelerate when there's a space? Are they able to, you know, change direction really quickly to go and receive a pass? So if we work on passing receiving and we're just getting kids to play to each other in a straight line, they're not being able to grow and develop the timing, the angles, distances and the speed. So through playing those 2v2 games, and as they get older, making the area even bit smaller, they have the opportunity to work on their timing and their angles at receiving. Really important that we don't just go, "Actually, we're going to work on timing. We're not just going to isolate, you know, angles and we're not going to isolate distance and speed." They've all got to kind of sync to each other to everything. And if we can get that right through the games that we do through the sessions that we plan, we allow the kids to work on those things.
Martin:
Yeah, okay, that's really good. We're moving on to them the receiving side of things. Some of the problems that we sort of see quite a lot, especially in the younger age groups, you want everyone to want the ball and kind of be comfortable on the ball, but it doesn't give players much time and it can be difficult sometimes because of that time, that a little bit of extra time that they just need to get going so they can receive easier, have they made that scan? You know, so I guess that's definitely a common problem in the receiving.
Loz:
Again, it goes back to those fundamental movements. So you and your teammates need to be able to receive the ball in different ways. So for me, for the younger ones, it's playing those tag games, playing those games where they've got to move, there's someone invading their space. So if someone's invading my space, I've got to either get around them or I've got to get the ball around them and through doing that it allows us to then really have that opportunity to practice. And it allows us that opportunity to get into those areas where actually I've got four players coming against me, there's me and my partner or me and my team mate, we've got to work it out to get out of this because it links to the game. So when we're attacking, you know, nine times out of 10 when we're attacking it's usually less attackers and more defenders. So are we replicating those games where we've got to be able to pass and receive in those tight areas? When we talk about, you know, playing out from the back, actually, that's something that a lot of coaches like doing. Are you allowing the kids to create their own ways to get out? Or are we saying to the kids, "You've got to pass and receive in a certain way, you've got to play in a certain way."? Actually, when the game happens, it all it all changes anyway. So through the practice that we do and allowing them kind of different pictures or different opportunities, that allows us then to go and work on those scanning skills, those social connection skills, as well.
Martin:
I definitely tried not to just get this sort of format uniform structure to try and get patterns of play going. I'm very much more of and one thing I repeat to myself all the time is that play what you see, and just to let them try and make those independent decisions.
Loz:
Yeah, and that links to what we've talked about, you know, the aim of the game is to get the ball in the goal. How you do it is you've got to be creative, you've got to be different to get there and through the different types of passes. So every time a pass comes to it's going to be slightly different. Whether it be a different bounce, a different weight of pass, the speed of the pass, you know, the area that you're playing into, you might be playing on a wet pitch where the ball skids a bit more. They're the things and they're the challenges and the problems that the players need to solve. and if we allow the kids to do that then they are going to develop the body shape, they are going to move it slightly different. We would taught probably, receive on your back foot and open out. But actually if you look at how the game's shifted slightly, we've got goalkeepers receiving with the sole of their foot because it changes the angles of the game. So again it's, we've got to look at how the games developed and we've got to use that to then identify areas that we're going to manipulate our practices to allow the kids to, you know, to thrive.
Martin:
Yeah, one thing I do is to try and really simplify the game a little bit and just say, you know, when you do receive the ball, what's the order of your thought process? And what really resonated with me was the first thing that should come into your head is, can you score? Because that's what we're there for essentially. And then secondly it's, "Can I play forwards?" Then it's, "Oh, I can't play forwards. Can I carry the ball forwards?" and finally, "I can't do any of those things. Can I retain that possession?"
Loz:
Yeah, and I think it's really important we allow the kids to take risks. I think too often we ask the kids to play safe, you know, play the way you're facing. Sometimes if the kids got their back to goal and they can only play backwards, but actually, can they receive it and turn and play forward? But we've got to allow the kids the opportunity to do that. You know, we talk about stealing, there's a colleague of ours, Vinnie Halsall, he loves calling it, he says to his kids, "Play like a meerkat."because he's always got the head up. So that might be something we work with players and actually link it to animals,like, what animals love scanning. That encourages them to scan. So when you say to a six-year-old, "I need you to scan before you get the ball." for them, it could really confuse them. But actually, and I've seen him do this, you know, play like a meerkat, you got the kids looking around and, you know, you see it, you see meerkats are always looking. So again, they're the things that we start encouraging the kids to do. And I think that, like you said, there's no one way to receive, there's no one way to pass and we've got to allow kids opportunities to do that and you know, if we can get them to play forward, that's great. And if they can't, can they retain, receive it in tight areas to then play forward when they can or to retain possession of the ball?
Jamie:
Well, thank you very much for your time, Martin. Hopefully that advice will help you be able to put some of that interaction at your next session.
Martin:
That's been very helpful. Thank you.
Jamie:
We're coming up to the end of the episode now, but before we blow the full-time whistle, we're going to trial a little feature we like to call 'Swift Session'. This is where we challenge our guests to come up with a session idea that relates to the theme of the episode.
Louise:
So we're looking for something that's based on passing and receiving and it also needs to be a session that's fun, engaging and gives players a chance to be skilful. It can involve any number of activities but you'll only have 30 seconds to explain your ideas. Are you up for that, Loz?
Loz:
Let's go.
Louise:
Okay, let me just get the timer ready. Okay, your time starts... now.
Loz:
Okay, so the game is called 'Football Darts'. What you do, you split your team or your group into groups of threes and fours. Loads of pitches, aim the game is the number of passes that they do equals the number of goals that they score. So four passes equals four goals. Both teams. or all the teams start on 21, when they score a goal, they can either add it to a different team or they can take it away from theirs. The aim of the game is to get down to zero, as close to zero as soon as possible.
Louise:
And that's time. I think you've pretty much done it.
Loz:
I'll take that, perfect.
Louise:
Anything else that you want to add in there that you didn't manage to fit in?
Loz:
I think I've got it.
Louise:
Yeah? Sounded good. Okay, so before we finish, do you have any last key messages for coaches to take away?
Loz:
Experience and exposure. Give your players as much as that as possible.
Jamie:
Brilliant. Well, great stuff, Loz. It's been brilliant. Some really insightful stuff and great that we managed to get the session right just in there. Brilliant timing that is. But it's been an absolute pleasure to chat to you. Thank you very much.
Loz:
Thank you. Thank you very much.
Jamie:
Right, that's all we have time for today. But if you want to find out more about what we've discussed in this episode, head over to thebootroom. thefa. com and check out Spotlight on Receiving, and Michael Carrick: The Art of Passing. You can also head over to our YouTube channel, England Football Learning to watch all three parts of Movement to Receive, a session by FA Youth Coach Developer Matt Joseph.
Louise:
While you're on our YouTube channel, make sure you hit that subscribe button and you can also follow us on Twitter where our handle is @EnglandLearning. That way, you can keep in touch with all of our content. And finally, if you want to chat about today's episode or just want to jump into a coaching conversation, you can do so by swinging over to the FA community. We'll be back soon with another episode of CoachCast. So keep an eye on our social media channels and wherever you get your podcast from. All that's left to say from all of us at England Football Learning, Thanks for listening.