Archive for June, 2010

England Manager Fabio Capello Brings Experience And Expertise To World Cup Campaign

Wednesday, June 30th, 2010

Fabio Capello is only the sixth manager to mastermind an England World Cup campaign.  The Italian as a reputation as one of the best tacticians around and has won domestic titles with every club he’s ever managed. As he attempts to chart a steady course through the tournament in South Africa, Capello will be forced to draw on every one of his years of experience.

After graduating from Coverciano, Capello enjoyed pretty much instant success as a manager with AC Milan, leading the Italian giants to the Scudetto four times in five seasons. Since then he has enjoyed success with Real Madrid, Roma and Juventus, collecting an incredible nine league titles in 15 years.

When he took over from Steve McLaren as England manager, Capello brought his years of experience to bear. He stamped his authority by introducing more intensive training and a number of new rules aimed at improving team spirit and making the squad more focused on winning. This new mentality was evident in England’s World Cup qualifying campaign. England won all their matches except one, notching up 34 goals in the process.

A strict disciplinarian and astute tactician, who is highly respected by his players, there are obvious parallels between Fabio Capello and England’s most successful manager, Alf Ramsey. Both Ramsey and Capello would never give any support to the idea that any one player could enjoy a special status within the team. In a famous demonstration of his no-nonsense approach, Ramsey punished a number of England’s players for failing to return to the hotel before a 10.30 curfew by leaving their passports on their beds.

The fondly remembered was one of Alf Ramsey’s successors at Ipswich. Yet Bobby Robson was a different sort of manager to Ramsey and Capello. He enjoyed success at some of Europe’s top clubs, including Barcelona and Porto, motivating his players with his infectious enthusiasm for the game he loved. Robson led England to two World Cup Finals, and at Italia ’90 helped the Three Lions to one of their most successful tournaments since the triumph of 1966.

With his glittering CV and years of experience, Fabio Capello looks well-placed to help Steven Gerrard and the England side repeat the success of Ramsey and Robson.

 

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Can England Captain Steven Gerrard Inspire England To World Cup Performances To Remember?

Wednesday, June 30th, 2010

After what might be described, at best, as two fairly forgettable matches, there might be some value in England fans reminding themselves of more halcyon days. In the past, England sides have played their part in some thrilling World Cup encounters. In a bid to evoke some fonder memories of past achievements, here’s a list of some of the most memorable matches, one which Wayne Rooney and Steven Gerrard will be looking to help England add to this time around.

 

’86 England v Poland, 3-0

England got off to a bad start at the World Cup in Mexico in 1986, losing their first match to Portugal followed by their captain Bryan Robson to a tournament-ending injury. They went into the final group game with Poland in need of a result and, having failed to score against Portugal and Morocco, it looked as though Bobby Robson might drop Everton striker Gary Lineker. But Robson stuck with Lineker, and the prolific marksman repaid this faith with a devastating first-half hat-trick. Lineker’s third goal after just 34 minutes sent England’s fans into raptures and they were roused into a spontaneous conga line in the sparsely populated stands in Monterrey.

’66 England v W Germany, 4-2

Famous for Kenneth Wolstenholme’s oft-quoted commentary, Tofik Bakhramov’s hotly debated decision to award Hurst’s second goal and, of course, the iconic image of Bobby Moore lifting the Jules Rimet Trophy, the final in 1966 certainly lived up to its billing. England recovered from going a goal down to take the lead, only for the West Germans to equalise in the dying minutes.  Cue extra-time and ‘that goal’. Having lost his marker with a neat turn, Geoff Hurst’s shot from the edge of the six-yard box bounced off the underside of the bar and was adjudged to have crossed the line. The West Ham striker went on to complete his hat-trick, sealing the Three Lions’ first ever World Cup triumph.

’54 England v Belgium, 4-4

With a remarkable 140 goals in just 26 matches, the 1954 tournament in Switzerland remains the highest-scoring World Cup. Notably, the West Germans recovered from an 8-3 humiliation at the hands of Hungary’s ‘Golden Team’ to beat the Hungarians, including the prolific Sandor Kocsis and footballing great Ferenc Puskas 3-2 in the final. England were not exempt from the goal-scoring frenzy and were left stunned as opponents Belgium came back to earn a draw after having been 3-1 down. An own goal from Portsmouth defender Jimmy Dickinson in the dying minutes levelled the scores at 4-4. This encounter with Belgium was just one of numerous memorable encounters in this World Cup that has gone down in history for its remarkable scorelines and great comebacks.

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Arsenal FC

Wednesday, June 30th, 2010

Arsenal play a lovely, silky game of football and, when they are in full flight, their matches show them as a team that can match Barcelona. Unfortunately, they don’t match the Catalans in terms of finishing or defending. In fact, in both of those areas they themselves can be matched by quite a few of the ‘lesser’ English Premier League clubs.

It’s such a shame that a team that can pass like the current Arsenal squad for some reason comes up short again and again. Players of the calibre of Cesc Fabegas – if he doesn’t move to Barcelona – and his team mates should have surely bagged some silverware by now.

So where has it gone wrong? Or maybe it hasn’t gone wrong at all – as some Arsenal fans are bound to argue it’s just a question of time. Or economics. Or something else.

There are three things that stand out: the first is that thinking back to that truly great Arsenal team of a few years ago it’s not just their quality of passing that is remembered. Yes, Pires, Henry, Bergkamp, Ljungberg, etc could pass the ball – but the whole team had a solidity and physicality about it that just doesn’t seem to be there in the present one. When you remember Patrick Vieira, you remember his hardness as much as his undoubted skill. So often now when you see the two teams lining up for pre-match civilities the Arsenal team looks like a junior side compared to the team they’re playing against. That so-important spine running through the team doesn’t seem to be quite right.

Secondly, when you remember Ian Wright, Thierry Henry and Dennis Bergkamp you remember their ruthless precision in making almost every chance count; something today’s strikers are a long way from achieving.

The final thing is that thhis lack of winning trophies has coincided with moving to the new stadium. It’s wonderful to watch Arsenal fixtures at the the stadium – but Arsenal left Highbury in May, 2006 and haven’t won anything since. In the current economic climate with so many clubs having suffered, has the cost of the stadium affected the budget for new players?

Although Arsene Wenger can take players of whom we know very little and make them into superstars, is it possible that this policy has rather been forced on him because most of the money is tied up elsewhere? Find out in the 2010/11 season by reserving your Arsenal tickets now.

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Barcelona FC Stars – Victor Valdés

Wednesday, June 30th, 2010

FC Barcelona Tickets

Victor Valdés is one of those players that supporters always hold especially close to their hearts – the local lad playing for his ‘own’ team. Catalan through and through and a true fanatic of FC Barcelona, Valdés was signed in 1992 – at the age of ten – and has worked his way through to the first team, making the goalkeeper’s spot his own – to see his legendary talent you can order FC Barcelona Tickets online.

Valdés, like his Real Madrid opposite number, Iker Casillas, made his way through the youth ranks at the club and was given the opportunity of first team football perhaps earlier than might have been expected.

In fact, joining the first team squad for the 2002-2003 season, Valdés became a regular in his second year – in place of Turkish keeper, Rustu Recber. The next season saw Valdés pick up the Zamora Trophy – annually awarded to the goalie with the best stats in the Spanish League.

To begin with, Valdés was often criticised by the media. Clearly lacking experience and initially reluctant to leave his goal line or guide the defence, many observers considered him to be the weakest link in the Barça squad. Gradually, however, won the critics round. Internationally, he will perhaps be remembered for two fabulous saves from current team mate Thierry Henry when Barça defeated Arsenal in the Champions’ league Final of 2006.

It was the 2005 – 2006 season in general that ensured Valdés was accepted more by the football pundits of Spain as well as the Barcelona supporters. Helping the team win the outstanding double of Champions’ League and La Liga, Valdés truly came of age, with some memorable performances.

One of his strongest assets has always been his temperment – enabling him to quickly put aside the inevitable mistakes goalkeepers make and to maintain his focus at all times. His reputation continues to grow in stature and to pass new milestones.

Although FC Barcelona fans love to see the goals brought on by Leo Messi, they always reserve a special place for Victor Valdés – they feel that he is ‘their’ representative in the team – the local lad made good.

Victor Valdés would certainly be a hard act to follow in the eyes of the FC Barcelona faithful.

 

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Free Soccer Training Drills: How To Switch The Ball

Wednesday, June 30th, 2010

Free soccer training drills

You can disagree, but I would like to give some useful tips. During free soccer training drills, the best strategy is to keep the ball rolling within your own players, watching a loop hole in the defense of the opposite team in order to attack. Follow the techniques given below, during the soccer coaching drills, and train the players accordingly to impart these skills.

A match-winning line of attack: Get your team to keep the game flowing and divide defenses by swaying the ball from one side to the other to make space and outnumber the defense. Swapping the ball between the team players also helps reducing the stress.

The Fast switch or the Blind Pass: Teach one or two mid-fielders to throw the blind pass by moving the ball using right foot, and hitting it to the left.Rapid Switching or the Blind Pass: Develop a skill in one or two mid-fielders to move the ball with right foot while kicking it to the left, showing almost a blind pass. Left-footed mid-fielder, can perform the trick by moving the ball using the left foot and throwing it back to the right side using left foot.

The defender of the opposite team will be surprised to see the pass and your team will catch them sleeping.

Soccer Drills

This technique should frequently be used, and all of the players should become accustomed to it. This is one of the difficult techniques in soccer drills, but it will assure everyone’s full involvement in the soccer practice.

You need to setup six small goals on either side of the ground in order to carry on the drill. A point is scored by the team when the player runs through the goals placed in the middle when playing out from the back. To encourage switching, set two points for passing through the last goals.

Throughout free soccer training drills, the goals should be made adequately wide to teach that there is not much use only to put a player between them to avoid a run or pass. One player should be assigned to run through the point A to B. Staying between the goal would prevent attackers to score a goal.

When young defenders are engaged in a game, they are often drawn away from their position. They have tendency to move towards the ball. Thus the attackers should always be alert of the target areas and try to switch the game to the other area while making use of the defenders absence in that area.

In the next session of football drills, dedicate some time to show them how they can cover the entire width of the field. Practicing this skills multiple  time will yield a good understanding of the threat area.

You have quite a lot of knowledge now, don’t forget to add these drills to your free soccer training drills, so your players are always ready and the opposition mid-fielders find it difficult to catch your defenders out. Subscribe to our community that has a plethora of informative articles, newsletters, and videos to acquire more knowledge on coaching techniques.

 

Andre Botelho is the author of “The Expert Youth Soccer Coaching Guide” and he’s a recognized expert in the subject of youth soccer coaching. Learn  how to explode your players’ skills and make coaching sessions fun in less than 29 days! Download your free pdf guide at: Soccer Training.

 

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