Do you have a Strategy

Every coach, whatever age group, has to decide which
formation best suits his team. If it’s 7-a-side should
you play 2-2-2 or 3-2-1 or 2-3-1, or at under 11 and
12 when you have gone to 11-a-side you need to
decide between, say, 4-4-2 or 4-3-3.

When that’s decided, you need to think about strategy.

At the most basic level, you have two choices:

1. a counter-attacking style; or
2. a play-making style.

The counter-attacking style depends on your
opponents carrying the game forward and for your
team to react to their mistakes, which at youth level
will be quite often. Discipline and patience are key. It
is not as effective when your team is losing or if the
other team is sitting back waiting for your team to do
the work. The downside is that it can lead to lack of
initiative by your players so that they cannot turn the
match in their favour.

The play-making style means that your team controls
the pace of the game and the atmosphere it is played
in. It requires confident players who have a good
command of the basic skills. Your team must work
hard and be able to communicate with one another
because if you lose control of the ball you will be hit
hard by a counter-attacking team.

Of course, in reality every game ends up being a
compromise between the two approaches. The style
you adopt is largely dictated by the talents of the
players you have at your disposal. When you have
decided how your team should play, your job is to
communicate each player’s role within that strategy.