Assessment – Coaching’s Invisible Ingredient

By Roger Wilkinson

Just as important as preparation, coaching style and session delivery is the coach’s ability to assess on different levels. Assessment is crucial to all parts of the coaching process and yet as a concept is rarely examined and discussed.

Assessment is a vital factor at the beginning of the coaching process. When coaches take over a team or group of players it is imperative that they accurately recognise the ability level and tactical understanding of the players, in order to set up a programme of work that is at the right level for that group. This assessment process will allow the coach to implement improvement and learning and minimise  time wasting.

THE BECKHAM DELUSION

By John Cartwright

Prior to the game between PSG and Barcelona at the Parc des Princs stadium, the ITV presenter Adrian Chiles, against a background of the Eiffel Tower said, “ there you see the second most famous edifice in Paris tonight, the other is David Beckham starting for PSG”………!

PERFECT IMPERFECTION

By John Cartwright

A strange title, especially when concerning football, however, because I consider myself extremely fortunate to have seen the game played as I have always believed it should by the present Barcelona club over the past few years, I am concerned that their ‘obsession’ with perfection may become more of a hindrance than an asset. … opposing clubs have decided that they cannot compete against Barca using normal tactical methods and have resorted to playing an ‘ultra-defensive’ style against them. This problem has been developing for several years but has now become a major tactical situation that Barca must confront if they are to stay as world leaders of the game.

MK Dons – Daily Mail Article

Interesting article in the Daily Mail about MK Dons. A mention for Premier Skill`s John Cartwright as well:

Click on image to see article.

PENETRATION!

The present obsession with ball possession that we see so frequently in our game is due I believe to the mis-applied effect of unrealistic statistics. The real reasons for the use of ‘keep-ball’ tactics in the game of football should not be about the number of passes achieved – but the number of penetrations achieved!

A REPLY TO JAMIE REDKNAPP

By John Cartwright

On Thursday the 10^th January 2013 in the Sports’ section of the Daily Mail, there is an article by Jamie Rednapp, a regular ‘football pundit’ for Sky TV.  His article was entitled: WE’VE GOT LOADS OF KIDS DRIVING RANGE ROVERS, BUT WHERE IS THE ENGLISH — MATA, SILVA OR CAZORLA?

Speed Kills!

Our Highways Authority issued a driving warning that states — ‘SPEED KILLS’.  This evocative statement was delivered to road users as deaths mounted on our roads due to excessive speed. Roads of varying types are designated with appropriate speed limits, but disregard of these warnings is often the cause of road fatalities.

Why have I written about traffic speed violations and the deaths that ensue from speeding in a football ‘blog’?  Well, like the disastrous consequences too much speed has on the road, the over-emphasis given to speed in our football is a paramount cause of the ‘death of our game’ in this country.