Albuquerque Day 1

Day 1 was a great day in Albuquerque and to my surprise I was sent a photo you are not going to believe. We'll get to that later.

Albuquerque is beautiful. The Rio Grande through the valley with a wall of mountains to the east and Petroglyph National Monument to the west. We're working with players from age 8 to 17 in three 2 hour sessions. It's all Academy stuff, from warm ups to small sided games, and a whole lot in between. Overall the players have done well today - it's tough dealing with a different coach in a short space of time, especially when there is so much to take on board. Across all the practices today the theme was vision and awareness. We're hoping to broaden the players understanding of the need to have an advanced awareness of what is happening around them. Know what you are going to do way ahead of when you receive the ball. It's a tough day because much of what has become autonomous now gets thrown in the 'having to think about it' phase of learning. So, it's tough to complete overlapping complex tasks. Young players at West Ham are given a trial period of about 6 weeks. We are putting these young talented players through their paces in four days. That might equate to one and a half weeks in London.

I'm a great believer in the adaptability of children. Given some logical auditory and visual input most will get it quicker than a 40 year old. I walk the fine line by an 'immersion' style day one introducing a number of activities and then circling back to each and building on the basic groundwork. We hope, by day three, to see some of the concepts come out in open play - but we're also realistic and for many the benefit is the take away from the camp and whether the pieces come together as they continue to play.


Let me give you an example - we'll start with a simple drill inside a large circle. Players around the outside without a ball - the rest dribble into the middle (a maze of markers), change direction while keeping their heads up, and find a player to pass as soon as they leave the middle. The receiver is going to sweep the ball away from the angle the passer has now created and dribble into the middle. The passer joins the ball-less crew around the edge. That's stage one. Then we add...
- a back foot turn option for the passer, called by the perimeter player
- a set option with the same 'sweep' from the perimeter player
- a 'twos' option, which is really shorthand for a one two - played off the back foot again
OK - this runs for a while - with the added expectation that players always 'check' over their shoulder every time the ball is on the way. Watch Frank Lampard, he does it all the time. Checking to see the 'picture' of all around him.

 Additional layers include:
- an 'overlap' option, where the perimeter receiver passes left or right, loops around the back and gets played back into the central area. Now the perimeter players are looking for a ball from the center and both sides.
- a couple of optional players always floating in the middle who can have a one-two played off them at any time. This same drill was run at Littleheath in February.

My favorite question a camps is 'hands up if you are a defender'. Usually, four kids reluctantly raise their hands. One might actually be a center back, the rest are 'defenders' because the others don't want to be. By the end of the day everyone raises their hands. Just watch the midfield and front line of Barcelona as they lose possession. They work tremendously hard to get the ball back. Of course, they spend most the ball with the ball!

Albuquerque soccer players are great kids. Busting it in 90 degrees and at 5,000 feet above sea level. Plus they help put out and clear up equipment. Well done coaches and parents!

We'll see what the week holds in store. After day one I would summarize by saying this about each groups target - apart from the overall objectives:
8:00am - 10:00am U12-U14/15 - vision and awareness
10:30am - 12:30pm U15 - U18 - support play when in possession - vision and awareness
5:00pm - 7:00pm U9 - U11/12 - getting the patterns of the basic practices so they flow

Before Arizona wildfire smoke 3:00pm

Same Mountains at 7:30pm

Smoke - first shot was taken around lunchtime. The smoke started appearing at 6:00pm - by 7:30pm the mountains to the east and sun to the west had disappeared. 

OK - we'll report on progress tomorrow - but for now how about this for a magical moment. Manchester Untied fans take a close look.
You think you won the Premier League this year.
You didn't.
My mum did. Yes, this really is Laurina Mary Self - aka my mum.