Ziga-Zoga's Footballers Blog (soccer)

Steps for Success: Chivas USA's Ante Razov's Tips to Help You Score Big

As promised, here are a few tips for aspiring footballers courtesy of Chivas USA's Ante Razov. Razov has three main musts to help pave the way for success:

1) Practice a lot.

2) You have to love the game, and have that competitive edge every day.

3) Have fun and enjoy the game.

These are good words to follow, coming from someone who has 109 MLS goals, which is second behind D.C. United's Jaime Moreno. On a side note, four of the league's all-time leading scorers are here this week: Moreno (112 - 1st), Razov (109 - 2nd), Toronto FC's Jeff Cunningham (96 - 4th), and Chivas USA coach Preki (79 - 9th). On top of that, last year's Golden Boot winner, D.C. United's Luciano Emilio (20 goals) is here as well.

We'll have practice video from the other day up later on today, and keep coming back for more Texas Pro Soccer Festival updates here in San Antonio.

TPSF Update: The Importance of Communication

It's Eddie checking in again, shortly before I head off to catch tonight's TPSF doubleheaders in Cibolo.

This evening, the Texas Pro Soccer Fest kicks off in earnest with the first of three doubleheaders at Steele High School, but if you were out at the Soccer International fields this morning, there was an extremely spirited and intense scrimmage between D.C. United and Chivas USA, who will face off one of tonight's matches, with Houston Dynamo and Toronto FC playing in the other match of the twinbill.

One of the most noticeable things about the scrimmage was not only its intensity, but the way the players were communicating with and encouraging their teammates.

Good communication is very important in sports, and in life in general. In a sport like soccer, when the players have to deal with language barriers sometimes, it's vital to be able to communicate with teammates both on and off the pitch to succeed and have the closest-knit unit as possible.

Speaking of helpful tips for footballers, I got a chance to speak with D.C. United forward Jaime Moreno and head coach Tom Soehn yesterday, and with Chivas USA forward Ante Razov today, and all three provided great tips for aspiring footballers. I'll be posting a video of yesterday's practice and interviews later on, along with the complete transcript from today's interview with Razov.

Moreno and Razov are two of the remaining 'MLS Originals,' who have played in the league since it started in 1996, and both have experienced a lot of success on a personal and team level, so if they have something to say on how to reach your goals, it's definitely worth listening to.

As for coverage from tonight's matches, if I have Internet access at the stadium, I plan to provide live updates of each game, but if not, I will post a recap afterwards.

Interview With Derby County Academy Manager Kevin Thelwell

Coach Gary Littlefield caught up with Kevin Thelwell of Derby County last week to briefly discuss the academy and its assessment practices.  Here's what Kevin had to say.

Can you give the younger Ziga Zoga members an idea of what is expected of a player while on trial at the academy?

The first thing to recognize here is that there is quite a stringent process for trialing at the Academy. Trialists will either be within our development system of support or will have been identified through the scouting process. So they are usually of a good standard on arrival. With this being the case we ask them to do three things; Listen well / work hard / Make sure you enjoy it! And hopefully the rest will take care of itself.

Once accepted to the academy, how often and what forms of assessments are there?

The boys at all age groups are continually being assessed both informally and formally on a weekly basis. This can include; Fitness testing – Assessed in all components on a quarterly basis Technical / Tactical – Weekly review (Informal) / Parent meetings (Quarterly) with a Mental Weekly review document (Formal document).  The review and evaluation process is very important to both the staff and the players to ensure that they are continually on the right road for progressive development. This element is taken very seriously especially at the older age groups.

The emphasis this week has been on self assessment, can you give an example where a player has assessed himself correctly and an example of the opposite?

All players between the Ages of 11 and 16 are issued at the beginning of the season with a self assessment handbook. This allows the players to make comment on specific areas of their game on a weekly basis. The coach will review these comments and add to it on a monthly basis. We feel this process provides players with the opportunity to think seriously about their game and develop their own perception of how they are doing with guidance from the coach on a regular basis. This handbook also allows the player and coach to communicate and discuss on a regular basis to ensure they become of the standards required at the Academy.

Last of all can you comment on individual goal setting?

Following on from the last question at the end of the month players identify with the coach where they feel they can improve and this is then taken forward through games and training for the next month. This process is really important as it helps players to strive for continual improvement with guidance and support through key individuals. Such goals are very simply; very relevant to the individual, realistic in terms of achievement, recorded (Through the Handbook – allowing progress to be traced) measurable.

So, what are your thoughts and how will you Get Stuck In?

Get Your Self Assessment Profile

How does self assessment (performance profiling) work?

What can it do to help me as a football player?  Read below and follow the link to get your own personal assessment profile.

By evaluating where you are, you will be able to gain an insight into what needs to be done to improve as a player. Self assessing gives the individual a pathway and an aide to obtaining ones goals. Overall improvement can only be measured by looking at the individual components that make the whole player that is you.

For example:

Your Idol is playing at the highest level and you have given him a rating, now you can evaluate the areas you should work on to obtain his professional and performance levels.  Using this form of self assessment you will be able to see and therefore develop areas where improvement is needed. Some areas may only need to be maintained and using the form for re-assessment throughout your career it is possible to evaluate whether you are moving closer or further away from your targets.

e.g. CENTRAL. DEFENDER.
SEASON/YEAR
MONTH
Quality	Ideal Rating	Diff -/+	My current Rating	Diff -/+	Idol- Kolo Toure
SPEED	20/20	7	13/20	7	20/20
STRENGTH	20/20	10	10/20	8	18/20
COMMUNICATION	20/20	2	18/20	-2	16/20
MARKING	20/20	7	13/20	7	20/20
POSITIONAL PLAY	20/20	2	18/20	1	19/20
CONFIDENCE	15/20	5	10/20	5	15/20
AGGRESSION	12/20	-6	18/20	-6	12/20
UNDERSTANDING	20/20	7	13/20	4	17/20
CONTROL	20/20	12	08/20	10	18/20
INTERCEPTING	20/20	2	18/20	2	20/20
TACKLING	20/20	2	18/20	0	18/20
READING THE GAME	20/20	2	18/20	2	20/20
HEADING	20/20	4	16/20	4	20/20
STAMINA	20/20	10	10/20	9	19/20
AWARENESS	20/20	2	18/20	2	20/20
Key:
MAJOR IMPROVEMENT NEED
IMPROVEMENT NEEDED
MAINTAIN

What's the next step? 

Fill out an assessment!  Go to the Assessment & Development Forum and download an assessment form.  Then, you'll want to interact with others inside the forum.  We'll be posting some new information about how to put an improvement plan in place to help you achieve your personal goals.

 

 

Assessing Your Game

What Shape Is Your Game In?

If you read the article below and are interested to improve your performance we are focusing on helping our community with total football assessment.  If you are a member of ZZ you should personally reflect and assign yourself a score based on the short exercise.  Later this week we will be publishing a more comprehensive personal evaluation based on the 3 Key elements of a Total Footballer.

The Key Elements are Game, Body & Mind.  It is our belief that when you have physically, mentally and nutritionally prepared yourself to compete you are much more likely to succeed at being a total footballer. Now, from an assessment standpoint you need to understand where you stand and have some criteria to reflect on before you can make progress.  So, let's breakdown some criteria for assessing your game.

Game Assessment Elements

• Marking – tracking and applying pressure on your opponent.
• Positional Play – consistently being a step ahead of your competitor.
• Ball Control – technical ability to hold, secure, distribute and attack. 
• Intercepting – dispossessing the opponent and transitioning play.
• Tackling – taking the ball directly from your opponent.
• Heading – defensively or offensively, ability to play with your head.
• Attacking - penetrating and threatening your opponents goal.

How do you think you measure up in these areas?  From 1-20 what kinda score would you assign yourself for each area of Your Game?  Take some time to think about this and Gary Littlefield will be introducing the elements of the Body assessment and then we'll follow with Mind.

Your Game: Strengthen Your Ability to Create Attacks

To me getting better at whatever facet of the game you want to improve in requires repetitive and high-intensity practice, i.e. game pace practice.  It does no good to practice at a lower intensity that what you can expect in a match.  In my opinion, players and teams would be better served to compete if practices are consistently made more intense than matches.

With that, let's look at a few match situational drills that can certainly be very intense and help to improve your opportunities to score.  The diagram to the right represents a speed and conditioning drill performed by Liverpool and I'm sure many other professional squads.

In this situation, player A distributes the ball to player B who is making a run toward the cones.  Player B receives the ball and plays it back immediately to player A.  Player B then sprints around the last set of cones and checks back to player A, who serves another ball into B.  Player B one touches the ball back and then makes a sprinting run around the pole or flag.  In the process of the run player A serves a ball into space for Player B to run onto.  At this point, Player B receives the ball and dribbles back to the original starting point for the next player to run through the drill.

Now, we could involve more players into this drill to increase touches on the ball and make it more match.  For instance, a player who is resting at the starting point could placed a few yards/meters directly back from the pole/flag directly in line with Player B as they make the first run to start the sequence.  So, when player A drives the first ball in for Player B, B would then make a one touch lay  off pass to a Player C (this would be diagonally right from A).  Player C would then control and play the ball back to A.  Going forward, player B proceeds around the cones and checks back to player A and A serves the ball to B, B touches off to A and then makes the sprint around the flag/pole.

With player B sprinting around the flag, our add-in friend player C then tracks player B like a mark so that B feels match pressure coming on right behind him.  Then again, player B dribbles back to the starting point where the sequence begins again.

Ok, we can build on this further and I will with the next post, which will be about a high intensity crossing & shooting drill.  Until then, get stuck in!

Your Game: 3 v 3 with a neutral player

Man I'm so excited about some of the recent things happening here at Ziga-Zoga.  We have been in discussions with Soccer Coaching International, one of the leading coaching organizations in the world, and we recently agreed to a content partnership where we will be featuring some high-end training content and today's post is just an example of things to come.  Below is an example of a training game that can be used at various levels of play. 

This game is called 3 v3 with a neutral player.  Generally, you may want to build up to this game by beginning with 3 v 3 with no goal keepers.  Then, add goal keepers once players have established defensively that they are doing all they can to protect their goal.

When you do add in the keeper, make sure he/she understands they are also there to provide support and communication.  Keepers in this situational game should be very vocal, demanding field players stay on their marks and work hard off the ball.

As a coach or players, you might want to run games in 10 minute intervals.  Adding elements and focus based on various situations presented.  The game will teach a lot as will the opposition. 

Once you have had a couple of rounds then you should add in the neutral player.  This is where things will get interesting.  The neutral player should focus on creating opportunities as much as he can.  To make things more interesting you can limit touches throughout the sequence of play (for the neutral player or other players).  Taking this a step further, you could add in neutral outside supporting midfielders or add in another player for 4 v 4 or do both (add in 4th player and neutral outside mids).

You could probably spend a solid hour training in this space, which would be about 40m x 30m.  Next week we'll showcase some control and conditioning drills used by AC Milan & Liverpool.  This game was featured by Soccer Coaching International and if you are interested to learn more about their coaching subscriptions visit SCI here.

If you have comments or suggestions about this game, feel free to leave them here.

Cheers,

Jason

Is Our Best Good Enough - What needs to happen?

I feel like I’ve been slacking a bit since I have not posted much this past week but, I have my reasons. I’ve been working on a few projects lately and its been pretty hectic but that's life sometimes...eh?  Now, back to our regularly schedule program.

Steve and I traveled up to Austin the other night to shoot some video footage of his youngest son Scott to post on the ZZ video portal as an example for other players so they can benefit from this feature by showcasing their skills to college coaches and pro scouts.  On the way up I was talking with Scott about his playing experiences with the Lonestars, which is a Nike Premier Club in Texas who were recently featured on FSC’s Youth Soccer Review.

I wanted to learn first hand how players like Scott are currently trying to develop themselves and what resources they are currently using to do so. Talking with Scott was interesting, when asked about how he was learning and growing in the game he said,

 
“I learn most by watching the pros when I can and from the club”. When Scott said, “when I can”, that caught my attention.

 
As a competitive soccer player and dad, Scott & Steve don’t have much time to really enjoy live matches. So, they have to record pretty much everything and watch it later.

Scott and Steve, drive up to Austin every Tuesday and Thursday night, which averages an hour and a ½ with traffic or 3 hours round-trip in order for Scott to train with one of the most competitive clubs in the US. This does not include the travel on the weekend to Austin, Houston or Dallas that they may do. Hmmm sounds familiar huh Clint?

Getting further into the conversation about how Scott really depends on the club, I asked about the ancillary things the club does to educate its players. I was interested to know if coaches do video/film sessions or provide nutritional guidance. Scott indicated that the club did some nutritional sessions in the past but, the focus was primarily more on tactical and technical training. Of course, I expected that since most competitive club coaches are primarily educated to provide a high quality physical training environment. Such is the distinction between professional youth development systems like an Ajax.

Question: when will US players have wide-spread youth Academy systems like those of Ajax in America that teach about a holistic football life?  Answer:  this has started on a small level with in MLS here but we have a long way to go still to reach the level of professional football training received over seas.  But, how far is it that we have to go?  What are the other countries doing to create their edge like Brazil, Italy, Germany, England, etc., and will they share?

Speaking of, I'd really love to travel the world and study how different clubs train their players.  Since that probably won't happen real soon, I'm wondering if you read this if you might contribute a couple of comments about the club/academys systems you have knowledge of...that would be really cool.

For your enjoyment, here is a short clip of the Lonestars practicing direct attacking and transitional play for their showcase they just won this past weekend.

 

Find more videos like this on Ziga-Zoga

Your Game: You got behind the defense...now what?

Last week I posted about one way how to get behind the defense quickly.  I said I would follow-up with some advice on how to consider all options once you get behind the defense and how to create other opportunities and here is one to consider.

So, you got behind the backs and you're an outside mid gunning down on goal.  You have your mark chasing you and the sweeper is on his way over to tackle you.  You hopefully should have some support coming down the middle and opposite wing.  Take the ball as fast and as far as you can toward that near pole.  Remain cognizant of the options that open up along the way.  You would be amazed what happens to defenders that ball watch and don't track their marks.

Doing this will pull the keep to one side thus exposing the net for an oncoming teammate if you decide to slot the ball over for them to finish in an open goal.  Although, timing is critical and you have to be in control at pace!

If you've advanced quick enough - it's you and keeps 1 v 1.  The two most likely options will be, beat the keeper and score or lay it off across the box to your support.  Easy right?  Let's see how these guys get it done!

~ Jason

Your Game: Getting behind the defense quickly!

One of the things I really enjoyed about my college team was our direct style of play and how quickly we were able to break done our opponents.  Granted we had some very talented players, we also had a strategy that always caused havoc.  This strategy was nothing more than playing a long, short, then long ball. 

Most of our goals were scored by our outside backs playing a long and direct pass from our final third to a sticker in the opponents final third (that's the first long ball).  That attacker, as they were checking back to receive the ball, would play a one-touch short pass back to an oncoming mid fielder who would then dump the ball into the corner for the outside mid, who was making a blazing run down the flank while the opposite side outside mid made a similar run.  Then, once under control the outside mid began gunning at the near pole drawing the opponent over and would then slot the ball back across the goal mouth for the oncoming runners or could sometimes take on the opponent 1 v 1 to put the ball in the back of the net.

This series of play happens in about 8-10 seconds with at most 1-2 touches and if done technically right the opponent was on their heals and usually did not know what hit them.   The are limitless combinations of how this happens but to keep it simple - its a long, short, long sequence.  If you watch a lot of EPL you'll see this sequence quite a bit.  However, it does not happen so easily to very good, quick and organized defensive backs.  Still, mistakes can be forced easily with this direct attacking strategy that can quickly put lots of pressure on the other side.

Later, I plan discuss some of the strategies to create this opportunity and how to capitalize when you get behind the defense.  If their fast enough you'll need to have other options.  So, until next time "get stuck in!"

~ Jason