Coaching Soccer - Your Guide to Establishing a Winning Team...

For a second, forget everything you've heard about coaching soccer... Forget the X's and O's, the terminology, the rules of the game... Now imagine that this is the first time you are meeting your players, in the gym, on a late afternoon.

What's the first thing you're gonna say to them? How are you going to greet them? What are you going to do in that first meeting? Discuss X's and O's? Of course you're not...





The point is, you need to establish a relationship with your players. Not just any relationship, but you need to be a father, a leader, and a trusted friend. Without this, your players will not have the love and respect to follow you and play hard. All the hearts on the team must beat as one heart.

This section of the website is completely dedicated to coaching soccer. We'll help you learn the ins and outs of being a highly effective coach, from developing yourself, to reaching your players, to establishing your offensive and defensive philosophy. Click here to subscribe to our Elite Soccer E-Newsletter (full of soccer tips, drills, routines & of course your favorite team's latest news).

As a coach, you have one goal, and thats to win games. But, as you already know, talent rarely brings victory... What wins games is organization, discipline, and desire...

You need to make sure that as a coach, your own motivation and desire are on point.

X's and O's will only take you so far, and we've got plenty of soccer plays for you, but first... You should know about the four distinct states in which your soccer team can be in, at any given time of a match.

In offense, your players could be either trying to score or maintaining possession. In defense, your team could be delaying the opposition or pressuring in order to regain possession.

- Trying to score (finishing)

- Maintaining possession (buildup)

- Regaining possession (pressure)

- Delaying the opposition

The modern soccer coach is not merely a disciplinarian who just imposes his own will. An overly-authoritative mentality can actually impede the control which a coach has over a team.

At the youth level, for example, coaching is primarily about teaching rather than placing demands. Inspiring youngsters to read and interpret the game requires persuasion. Also, it is practically impossible to 'program' your players to react in every possible situation. The same idea holds true at the higher levels of the game where military-style coaching may affect intrinsic motivation. Quality of performance will likely decrease when players are reminded that they are working for someone else. The modern coach must also be persuasive when it is necessary.

Below you can check out the drills and practical examples of how players should work together, geared towards helping you establish your fundamentals and strategy:

- Basic soccer strategy

- Practice drills

- Passing and plays

- Team tactics

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