Reids Coaching/Management thread

How are wishing well top with a goal difference of +1? I'd say you'll smash them twice.

 

When they win, they only win by a couple of goals. When they lose they get smashed (8-0 and 12-1 against Heathrow 3rds and 6-0 against St Marys). Looking at their results against the teams we've played i'm confident we'll win both games against them. Heathrow 3rds will win the league, with either us/ St Marys/ Willow Park in 2nd.

 

We ended up losing 2-1. Absolutely gutted. 90% of the game was played in their half, they had 3 shots and ended up scoring 2 goals, whereas we had chance after chance but just couldn't stick it in the net.

 

Promotion dream still alive with a 2-1 victory today. Like last week we dominated the game, then in the 60th minute they scored with their first shot. Luckily came back though. Felt like guardiola, changed the formation 4 times during the match to try and change things!

 

Been there... In my crappy little amateur Galaxy supporters league, we played a game against our closest rival last year that was like a human chess match. So nail bitingly edgy all along the way, and each time I changed, the other guy countered. Any time he changed, I countered. It went 1-0, 1-1, 2-1, 2-2, 3-2, 3-3, 3-4 and to our favor with 2 minutes left the play. We went from 4-4-2, to 4-5-1, to 4-4-2 to 3-4-3 when we got the game winning goal. Every player on both teams said that was the greatest game they'd ever been part of, and there were some very accomplished players on both sides. I was coaching and not playing that game due to injury, but by the time it was over and we went to the brewery after the match, that beer went down sooo smoothly.

 

You should apply for the WFC coaches position next time it comes up Fitz

 

Yup, those wins are definitely some of the most rewarding, I still had a grin on my face yesterday. We started with 4231, switched to 442 around 55 minutes, conceded (due to losing the dominance in the middle of the field) so I switched to 352 to re-strengthen midfield whilst keeping 2 up top, we then scored twice in 15 minutes and I switched back to 4231.

 

We've got 1 game left to play and it's still all up in the air whether we'll get promoted or not. The league still haven't decided the amount of teams who'll be getting promoted which is a bit frustrating.



St Marys are 3 games behind us, but their next game is against us, and they've still got to play Heathrow Club 3rds twice. We had an important victory yesterday against Wishing Well Wanderers. Watching back the video from the last time we played them, I could see they never really committed men forward in attack, but they had an absolute lump up top. Fast, strong and built like a brick ****house, and he's the leagues top goalscorer with 26 goals in 16 games. So I made the bold call of playing 3-5-2. This would hopefully nullify the good striker (since he'd be so out-numbered) whilst giving us plenty of numbers in midfield and attack for when they drop deep (which they liked to do a lot in the first game).

So onto the game, they scored after 15 seconds on the clock as our wing-back passed the ball back to the keeper, who lumped it forward but it bounced off their striker and into the net (think Almunia vs Leicester). We pulled it back to 1-1, then they took the lead again, then we equalised again. 2-2 at HT, some instructions to the players and gave one of our CBs the job of constantly calling which of the CBs would be man marking their striker. This worked a treat, they offered absolutely nothing in the 2nd half, we took the lead to take it to 3-2, then bagged again to take it to 4-2. Great stuff.

 

We're all going on a European tour...

 

PS: League win ratio of 64.7%, watch out Guardiola.

 

I love it! Great job...

You would be unhappy with those results, Jim...
I got out coached in our final last week. My 4321 devolved into a 433, and gave up an early goal. I switched to a 442 to settle the defense by halftime. Though I was able to fix the gap between defense and mid where they scored, our guys couldn't connect on offense and settled into trying to ram it up the middle. Then the clock ran out...

Ah well. There's always next year.

 

Talking about finals Fitz, would you be coming over if Watford get to the FA Cup final?

 

The importance of talking on the pitch, well done.

 

I wish... Unfortunately, I couldn't afford to travel just now. Spent a lot working on the house these days. I have a distant Fitz cousin who is a Palace fan. I'd be happy just to get past them!

 

In all of the matches played in your league, there have only been 3 draws, madness!

 

The league have emailed and said that St Marys can't field a team for next week so we can either postpone or take a default victory....Surely i've gotta take the points and not risk it?

 

By their league position they don't look like cannon fodder so I'd be inclined to, it's not as if they're facing relegation so thank them

The only thing to consider is if you could better your goal difference by playing

 

Doesn't actually look like we have the choice after all. Leagues put it down as a win for us anyway. Just hoping JL Rovers can nab a draw or beat Wishing Well then we're in a great position

 

JL Rovers nabbed a 3-2 victory over Wishing Well! Which means to not get promoted, St Marys need to win 2 out of their last 3 games (and they've got a double header against Heathrow 3rds) or Willow Park need to win both their last games and gain a GD of 11. Either way the odds are in our favour!

Going to get lots of friendlies planned and going to start heavily implementing my philosophy (tbh I haven't really influenced the style of play too much, other than some formational changes for the most part it's been the quality of players that have seen us through) in training over the next few weeks, along with trialling some formations that i've been intrigued about but didn't want to risk trying it in a competitive match. Defensive organisation will also be worked on a lot in the coming weeks, despite having the second best defensive record in the league, I still think some of the goals we conceded were avoidable, so by working on defensive organisation, even if it only improves slightly and we concede 2 less goals over the course of a season, as we've seen this season that could be the difference between promotion and not.

 

if you see Heathrow 3rds' manager driving about in a new car or flashing the cash then start worrying.

BTW how come they've got such a fixture pile up yet haven't forfeited games like St Mary's just did?

 

I think St Marys have struggled to get players which is why they've had to forfeit (that was what they said about forfeiting our game anyway!)

 

Amazingly on Sunday, St Marys lost to JL Rovers and Wishing Well drew to West Drayton Reserves. Which means to not get promoted, Heathrow Club 3rds need to lose both games in a double header against St Marys. Unlikely.

 

Stranger things have happened ... usually by cheating but Heathrow could also play a seriously weakened side.

There's a lot at stake, I would seriously suggest you attend and if it does happen then at least make sure St Mary's players are who they say they are (take photos).

 

That's done anyway, everyone has registration cards that need to be shown to the other team before the match (with pictures on), plus i'm busy on Sunday with a certain FA cup game...

 

Really?? ... will you be taking Jurado's place? (crosses fingers)

 

St Marys forfeited both games. Promotion is ours! :]]

 

We've had a few pre-season friendlies so far and have done well (we're not having an extended break like other teams, I want us to be one of the fittest teams in the league). A 2-1 win against CB Hounslow 3rds (A Saturday team), and a 5-0 victory against a team getting relegated from the division (Div 3) we'll be moving into (a good sign!). This Sunday we're playing a team that finished mid-table in Division 2, so likely to be quite good.

I'm planning for next season already, this season we've primarily used 4231, sometimes using 442 and a variant of 352, I think 4231 suits us really well (both in the playstyle that i'm trying to enforce, and the players we've got), but against some of the better teams in our league and the cups we played in last season, it didn't look effective.

So this season coming (although it's a good 4 months away, I want us to be prepared!), I want us to be well versed in 2 styles, one for when I think there's a strong chance we can win the game (which will be our 4231), and another more defensive formation. We didn't look comfortable during most of the times we played 352 this season, and I don't feel it'll be too beneficial if I force it upon the players when i'm not convinced it'll work either. So i've decided to replicate the team with one of the best defensive records in Europe at the moment - Atletico Madrid. Although they play 442, i'm not a fan of 2 up front (unless it's in a 352 system), and feel like trying to copy Atleticos style at this level with a 442 would end up having the opposite effect (aka conceding more goals). So i've taken that extra striker and moved him into central midfield, making an almost flat 4141 formation, like this:



The idea is to be incredibly disciplined, and try to funnel all of the oppositions attacks down the wings. The 2 wingers that i'll be playing are fantastic on the ball, both very young (around 18/19) and fit, with a high work-rate and desire, the system focuses entirely around them, ideally when we funnel the opponents attack down the wing, they're actually playing the role of full-back, the first line of defence. The full back then tucks inside as a buffer in-case the winger is beaten. This gives us a huge amount of players inside the box, which the opponent is unable to match without leaving themselves very open to a counter attack. An example if you're having a hard time picturing it:



If the LM is too high up the field when the ball is played down the wing, the LB is the first line of defence, and the LM then tucks in to take his place, ensuring we always have that buffer. The winger on the other side of the pitch stays slightly higher up the pitch allowing us to have that counter-attacking threat to limit the numbers that the opponent can push forward.

I think this will be highly effective at this level (where fullbacks are always less adventurous and tend to be the lesser skilled players on the pitch). So i'll be working on this in training tonight, hopefully everyone will get the idea before we put it into practice on Sunday.

 

Just secured myself a job as the assistant soccer coach at a Houston high school. I'm excited for a number of reasons:

1) The program reached the State semi-finals this year and has a history of being successful at a high-level.
2) Experience gained here should stand me in good stead for a head coach position within the next couple of years - more money, implement my own playing philosophy, stepping stone to joining a college program if I decide to try and move up.
3) I don't have to teach as much in the classroom and now get to spend 2 hours of my working day on the soccer field.
4) I can play FM at home and legitimately claim it's work when my wife gets on my back.

 

Good post Reids - One thing I would be aware of if you are having the LB tuck in and LM watching the man is that if the LM wins the ball, you need an out ball otherwise you will have wave after wave.

Could you have your RM tuck in field and the ST drop between their Right CB and LB? That way, your two most offensive players in the picture are there to o****er and would be closer than what you currently have shown

Im sure you have thought of it, but just a thought of my own.

 

I think Reids' intentions are to keep ball and move up through the thirds as a block but still with a countering threat through the middle. At this level the out ball you speak of is generally little more than a hoof upfield and you really can't cover the whole width of the pitch without leaving holes.

 

Once he wins the ball, he can either run with it (the preferable option), or use the nearest CM as a safer option, or even safer option of pass to the LB, who then has options to play out from the back. I focused on this in training yesterday doing a drill like this:


(excuse the crude paint drawing)

The 2 teams in red have to pass the ball between each other, whilst the team in blue have to keep their shape and discipline and not let the pass through, because of the tight shape, simply trying to pass through the blues won't work. So you need movement and simple passes from the reds to create space whilst the blues shuffle across. Then after a couple of minutes switch the blues with one of the red teams and repeat. Focuses on both the defensive side of what i'm trying to achieve, as well as the offensive side (basically when we've won the ball back). Were some fantastic passing moves in the match at the end of training yesterday so hopefully that'll continue onto Sunday. The actual explanation and demonstration of what I want our team to do sorta failed, it's pretty hard trying to get 20 or so 18-25 year olds to stand still and pay attention, so i'll have to do it the hard way, by doing it on the fly during the match.

 

Lo lo lo lo lo lo lo, Riedsque Sanchez Flores!

 

Had the game today, ended up winning 4-3, but not fussed about whether we won or not, was focused on the shape and how many we conceded. The first goal was an absolute worldie from 25 yards into the top corner that there wasn't much we could do about. The second was lax and poor on our part, and the final goal was a shocking own goal from our right back. So despite shipping 3 goals, 2 were flukey and near unpreventable. But overall I'm happy considering it was our first game playing this style against a tricky opponent. Attacking wise I was very impressed, we looked dangerous everytime we countered (which I had faith in us to do anyway)

 

FA is changing the "coaching" pathway which means if you hold the FA level 2, you no longer need to do the youth modules 1 + 2 to be able to get onto the UEFA B (these will now be incorporated into the Level 2 qualification).

 

I'm bit of a layman in regard to all these formations and tactics, thingies. My managers in the past just gave me one of two instructions. Either "get changed, you're on" then I'd find a space on the pitch no one else wanted, or "Don't forget to bring out the oranges".

Diagrams look interesting though. Even with my inexperience I can see that if you can get them blues to play right where you want them on that chart, you've got it sorted!

Congrats on the promotion, though, Reids.