GPS TECHNICAL TECHNICAL TACTICAL PHYSICAL PSYCHOLOGICAL

CREATING A CLUB IDENTITY GPS STYLE & SYSTEMOF PLAY

peter bradleyGLOBAL PREMIER SOCCER / /DIRECTOR OF COACHING

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Dear Players and Parents,

I hope that you have all enjoyed the start of the fall season. The weather has been kind and I have seen many of our teams playing so far this fall and have been very impressed with the effort and quality on show.

We have had some exciting initiatives start to take hold this fall, all relating to improving player performance amongst all our players. The new addition of our “Sports Performance Dept (SPD) under the guidance of Diego Borras, has seen the intro-duction of a standardized warm-up and cool down routine across the club. We have also introduced the use of hurdles into the U13 and U14 training program with each player receiving a set of 4 hurdles and weekly education on how to use them. This has given our players an opportunity to be accountable for improving their own performance.

The fall has also seen a much more consistent approach to the education and implementation of the Club’s style of play. Each player received a handbook that outlined the expectations on style of play, system of play appropriate for their age group, and overall expectations on best practice and reinforcing good habits. One shining example has been the desire to see all our teams build from the back and there has already been a significant decrease in aimless punts up the field by our GK’s who are now becoming significantly more integrated into team sessions and using their feet much more in games as befits the modern goalkeeper.

Finally we have asked all the GPS Coaching staff to show a lot more C.A.R.E in dealing with our players. Their development is at the base of the club’s mission statement so we have used the acronym C.A.R.E to reinforce coach best practice in the areas of Communcation, Accountability, Respect and Exceeding Expectations.

I realize that each players development journey is different but we want to make a much more concerted effort to give every single one of our players the opportunity to enjoy their soccer experience with us, be challenged on a regular basis and improve their game. My 1st grader played his first “competitive” game a few weeks back. I told him to “Smile, sweat and do his best”. That is all I can ask of any of our players.

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If we look closely at the best global soccer brands, it clear that their style of play is more important than the

system they choose to implement.

At GPS we have a clear progression that takes a player from 4v4, 6v6, 8v8 to 11v11 and promotes the principles of attack and defense.

We want all of our teams to play a brand of soccer that is attractive, possession based and attack-minded.

All GPS players need to understand the club’s style of play and how to implement it in every game they play.

Here are the 7 components that make up the GPS syyle of play.

CONFIDENTGPS teams are made up of confident players. This confidence comes from self belief, hard work, repetition and team camaraderie, all instilled in a positive coaching environment.

PROACTIVEGPS teams are soccer smart. Players are

students of the game and are able to make adjustments based on what they see on the field.

POSSESSION-BASEDGPS teams play an indirect style of soccer but have an awareness of the most appropriate penetrating pass.

BUILD FROM THE BACKGPS teams always look to build attacks from the back as opposed to playing kick and run soccer.

ATTACK-MINDEDGPS teams play the game with flair and creativity.

DEFENSIVE PRESSUREGPS teams understand how and when to apply pressure in order to regain posses-sion of the ball.

PHYSICALITYGPS teams excel in the physical element of the game - exhibiting pace and power. GPS team§s are hard working, strong in the tackle and always play within the laws of the game.

Ajax, Barcelona and Sporting Lisbon are a few of the better known global clubs who are successful proponents of this concept.

GPS Style of Play

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WHYDOESGPS

USE THE1-4-3-3SYSTEM?

THE | 1-4-3-3 | SYSTEM

+AJAX, BARCELONA AND SPORTING LISBON ARE A FEW

OF THE BETTER KNOWN GLOBAL CLUBS WHO INCORPORATE THE 1-4-3-3 SYSTEM INTO THEIR

CLUB STRUCTURE.

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THE | 1-4-3-3 | SYSTEM

At GPS, we believe that having a clear framework allows us to achieve greater consistency and understanding in the player de-velopment structure.We also believe that it provides more clarity and uniformity in the club’s brand.

In the 11v11 game, GPS teams will play using a 1-4-3-3 system. We believe that this is the best system to use in order to achieve the clubs Style of Play.

The systems we promote at the younger ages (the 4v4, 6v6 and 8v8 game formats) all provide the building blocks for our young players as they move through their development pyramid to-wards the 11v11 game.

The Technical Department will provide an insight to our systems of play and why we believe they are the best teaching methods for developing our young players.

The 4v4 game: 1-2-1 System

The introductory system is the 1-2-1. The 1-2-1 is used by all GPS teams U8 and below - the arrangement of players provides the fundamental attacking prin-ciples: -• Length• Width• Depth

BENEFITS OF THE 1-2-1 SYSTEM

• The system provides natural length, width and depth.

• Encourages players to take risks in 1v1 situations.

• Teaches basic roles for de-fense, midfield and attack.

• Encourages players to inter-change roles.

• Teaches the importance of spacial awareness (make the field big in possession, make the field small when not in possession).

The 6v6 game: 1-2-1-2 System

The 6v6 game is the played by U9 & U10 GPS teams and is the

smallest manifestation of the 11v11 game. 6v6 is where we start to lay the foundations towards the 1-4-3-3 game.

The 1-2-1-2 system sees the intro-duction of the goalkeeper role, defensive partnerships, develop-ing center midfielders and at-tackers.

The team set-up naturally gen-erates triangles which encour-ages combination play but more importantly, develops the pass decisions required to be success-ful in the 11v11 game.

BENEFITS OF THE 1-2-1-2 SYSTEM

• The system provides natural length, width and depth.

• Naturally creates partner-ships (defenders, forwards) and triangles (Defenders + center midfielder).

• Teaches roles & responsi-bilities (1st defender & 2nd defender, 1st & 2nd attacker, center midfielder).

• Develops center midfielders who can play under pressure.

• Encourages defenders to join the attack.

WEAKNESSES OF PLAYING THE 1-2-1-2 SYSTEM

The center midfielder can be-come overloaded against a 1-2-2-1 if not given support.

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THE | 1-4-3-3 | SYSTEM

Defenders can become exposed if the center midfielder does not carry out defensive responibili-ties.

The 8v8 game: 1-2-4-1 system

At U11 & U12, GPS teams adopt the 1-2-4-1 system. With the introduction of wing-backs, the system begins to teach wide play in addition to develop-ing the #9.

BENEFITS OF THE 1-2-4-1 SYSTEM

• The system provides natural height, width and depth.

• Introduces wide play. • Develops attacking wing-

backs. • Develops a target striker. • Introduces the ‘balance’ prin-

ciple of defending. • Encourages mobility.

WEAKNESSES OF PLAYING THE 1-2-4-1 SYSTEM

• Is an ultra-attacking system of play and can leave the defense exposed if players do not understand their roles.

• Striker can be isolated if sup-port is not given from mid-field.

• Defenders can be overloaded if wing-backs do not provide support.

• The team is left vunerable to counter-attacks in wide areas when wing-backs go forward.

The 11v11 game: 1-4-3-3 System

This is the chosen system for GPS teams in the 11v11 game. The system encourages posses-sion based soccer which makes it an obvious choice as this is in line with the GPS Style of Play. The system is versatile as it can be easily adjusted based on what is happing on the field.

BENEFITS OF PLAYING THE 1-4-3-3 SYSTEM

• Encourages attack-minded soccer.

• Provides natural width in at-tack.

• 3 target forwards as opposed to 2.

• High pressure on inferior op-position.

• Numerical advantage in center midfield.

• Forces teams who play a back 3 or a sweeper defensive sys-tem to adjust.

WEAKNESSES OF PLAYING THE 1-4-3-3 SYSTEM

• 3 forwards can be bypassed with one pass.

• Midfield can be outnumbered in counter-attack situations.

• The space in front of the full back can cause problems.

It is imperative that all GPS play-ers understand the roles and re-sponsibilities of ALL positions in order to develop to be successful.

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APPARELThe 2013-14 season sees a major step towards creating a club identity with a number of GPS teams moving to red uniforms.

In Massachusetts, all players were invited to the first ‘MPS Kit Room’ for fitting and distribution of uniform!

2013 GPS home game jersey 2013 GPS away game jersey 2013 GPS warm-up sweater

[ wegotsoccer ]continues its long-standing partnership with MPS.

wegotsoccer have dedicat-ed a section of their web-site for customized adidas apparel which is available to players and their fami-lies.

For more info visit: -

www.wegotsoccer.com/mps

wegotsoccer

+

ONE of the key defining attributes of a GPS team is playing out from the back.

In order to play attack-minded, possession based soccer all of our players must be comfortable with the ball at their feet and have the ability to build from the back.

All players need to understand the movements and decisions should be made when on the ball.

Using Coach FX, the GPS Technical Department are creating a series of videos that will illustrate building from the back.

Click on the link below in order to see the animated video.

Building out from the back video

VIDEO

OTHER VIDEOS ON THE

WEB

Derby County goal from patient build up play. PLAY

Excellent explanation on the 1-4-3-3 when in possession. PLAY

Supreme pass control from Barcelona during their warm up. PLAY

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At GPS we aim to ensure that our players are well hydrated and looked-after. It has been found that male players can lose between 33 and 51 oz. of fluid during a 1 hour session of soccer - female players can lose anywhere between 20 and 33 oz. p/h. Players need to rehydrate not only the fluids lost in this process, but also the essential salts that are sweated out during performance. Studies have shown that every 15 minutes of exercise players must drink at least: • 5oz. of fluid if they are <90lbs • 9oz. of fluid if they are >90lbs90lbs is the weight of the average American 12 year old.

Quantities of fluid show that 9oz. is 266ml – this should be consumed every 15 minutes of intense soccer.Prior to the game or training session, players must try to consume 12-16oz. of fluid approximately 30 minutes before exercise to ensure players are hydrated as soon as they start exercise.

GPS SPORTS PERFORMANCEDEPARTMENT

HYDRATION GUIDELINES:

WHAT?

AND WHEN?

Players should drink every 15-20 minutes after exercise has finished. 24 oz. of fluid needs to be consumed per lb of weight lost during exercise – players will on average lose 1-2% of body weight per session – coaches, players and par-ents are all responsible for rehydrating.Parents and players should be aware how much, and how frequently players need to rehydrate – coaches should try to enforce a player having their own water bottle to monitor their consumption. Knowing how much to rehydrate, will al-low the coach to follow up.DO NOT let them drink Energy Drinks or carbonated drinks as the sugars that they contain will slow down the digestion – the sugars in fruit juices will have the same effect.

References

http://www.usyouthsoccer.org/assets/1/15/Heat_Hydration_GuidelinesUSSF.pdfhttp://www.cdc.gov/growthcharts/data/set1clinical/cj41l022.pdf

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=hydration+soccer

HYDRATION GUIDELINES:

WHAT?

AND WHEN?

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PARENTEDUCATION

WHAT MAKES A NIGHTMARE SPORTS PARENT?AND WHAT MAKES A GREAT ONE?Hundreds of college athletes were asked to think back: “What is your worst memory from playing youth and high school sports?”

Their overwhelming response: “The ride home from games with my parents.”

The informal survey lasted three decades, initiated by two former longtime coaches who over time became staunch advocates for the player, for the adolescent, for the child. Bruce E. Brown and Rob Miller of Proactive Coaching LLC are devoted to helping adults avoid becoming a nightmare sports parent, speaking at colleges, high schools and youth leagues to more than a million athletes, coaches and parents in the last 12 years.

Those same college athletes were asked what their parents said that made them feel great, that amplified their joy during and after a ballgame.

Their overwhelming response: “I love to watch you play.”

There it is, from the mouths of babes who grew up to become col-lege and professional athletes. Whether your child is just beginning T-ball or is a travel-team soccer all-star or survived the cuts for the high school varsity, parents take heed.

Extract taken from ThePostGame. For the full article, click on the link below.

http://www.thepostgame.com/blog/more-family-fun/201202/what-makes-night-mare-sports-parent