Where have all the dribblers gone

[mcolwell]

I agree with Baby Baboon, you should be passong and moving, tackling and shooting, keeping your shape and then when you have space in attacking positions encourage some dribbling. I find that this works well and teaches the players how to play properly. You will find those that are more naturally gifted anyway, but head down and dribble is not the way. If Coerver is so good why are not the big clubs adopting it at academy level? I dont see it in London and the South East.

[Jerzy]

I use Coerver and my partner has used footability in the past. The problem stateside is that Coerver disciples tend to have teams of tirck ponies, lots of slick moves, but teams don't advance the ball well as a team. Everybody's fiddling. It takes a lot of time for an entire team to learn Coerver skills so that other principles are ignored. I've used Coerver just to teach my kids some basic turns on the ball, just because that skill was a weakness of mine as a player. I don't much like coaching under 6s and U8s, but it seems to me that dribbling is THE skill set for that crowd. Problem is, we tend to start over-coaching at an early age and try to develop team movement too early.

[GoYouRedDevils]

First of all, buying Coerver DVD's does not make Wiel Coerver rich anymore... the company was purchased by Charlie Cooke and Alfred Galustian a few years back. I am sure THAT sale made Wiel even richer than he was! As for copy cat programs? Sorry, everything Coerver does is fresh and new... you ought to sit in on some of our national meetings and see what is not even offered in the videos. The DVD's represent less than 10% of the total library of moves and exercises in the Coerver Coaching library.

Okay, back on topic. I am a Coerver coach, and I am greatly concerned and involved in the teaching of 1v1 skills. Depending on the age, different types of moves are easier to teach, but all kids should be taught! I have a few games I use with teams I coach, no matter what the age is. These encourage creativity and vision, as well as timing and explosiveness with the ball when dribbling 1v1.

Here they are:

1v2 Keep away in open space - Groups of three, one ball, two minutes. When the coach says "go" whoever has the ball tries to keep it. If one of the other two steals it away, he gets to try to keep it. The only rules are that there are no slide tackles and the player with the ball can not just run away. The dribbler may carry the ball to space, but only for the purpose of turning and taking the other two on.

I have played this with kids as young as 5 and 6 years old, and also with the U23 amature team I coach. Play three seperate two minute long games, and have the players switch to play against someone different each time.

1v1 Cone Soccer in open space - Two players, two cones placed 15 yards apart, one ball, two minute long games. Players score by passing/shooting/dribbling the ball into their opponent's cone. There are no boundries what so ever, so that the ball is contested everywhere. About the only rule you have to stipulate to young players is that there is no "Puppy Guarding", otherwise known as the boring kid who stands and shields his cone the whole time!

I have also played this game to great effect with all ages. My FWUSA Academy program features this game as a warmup for about 1/3 of our training sessions. The kids love it almost as much as my adult players do!

These two games are great ways to warm up, or to follow a tech lesson on moves. The big factor in all of this is to proclaim that the most important thing is being creative and brave.... that means you should do little or no coaching while they play. Let them have at it on a consistant basis and you will be surprised at how much they like it and how much it improves their ability to beat a defender.

[GoYouRedDevils]

Originally Posted by mcolwell

If Coerver is so good why are not the big clubs adopting it at academy level? I dont see it in London and the South East.

Are you kidding me? We are contracted right now with Man Utd, Arsenal, Bayern Munich, the French Federation, the German Federation, the Japanese Federation, the Aussie Federation, and the freaking BRAZILIAN FEDERATION! We are in 37 countries world wide, and at last count - I was told we were contracted to train over 100 professional clubs worldwide.

Tell London and the South East they might want to jump on board!

[Cookie]

Originally Posted by GoYouRedDevils

Are you kidding me? We are contracted right now with Man Utd, Arsenal, Bayern Munich, the French Federation, the German Federation, the Japanese Federation, the Aussie Federation, and the freaking BRAZILIAN FEDERATION! We are in 37 countries world wide, and at last count - I was told we were contracted to train over 100 professional clubs worldwide.

Tell London and the South East they might want to jump on board!

Since the London clubs tend to win most domestic trophies of late they probably don't need it.........

[GoYouRedDevils]

Domestic.... yeah, that's really helping you on the international stage though, right? What is the constant observation of the English national team over the last decade and a half? NO CREATIVITY. Since Gazza you have had nothing but route 1 footballers who have a difficult time beating the organized defenses that most continental teams offer these days.

Let's face it, beating someone 1v1 is not just for crowd enjoyment. Coerver is the authority on this topic, everything else is just a copy of what we do. That said, I am not particularly concerned about London footie - so we will have to agree to disagree on this one I think. Seems as if there is no convincing you.

[ian.curry]

No convincing me with the argument thats for sure.

What have we done on the international stage recently?
Well, contrary to general opinion, we've done fairly well, quarter finals in the last 3 major tournaments entered. Can you name the other(in this case European) countries that have done the same?

No creative players since Gazza

these following players according to you are route one

Joe Cole
Wayne Rooney
Steven Gerrard
Gary Neville
Frank Lampard
Scott Parker
James Milner
Theo Walcott

Can't beat a player? I bet they can

[GoYouRedDevils]

Joe Cole
Wayne Rooney
Steven Gerrard
Gary Neville
Frank Lampard
Scott Parker
James Milner
Theo Walcott

Not a one of them that I have seen dribble circles against anybody, including that friendly against us before the WC.... I'll take that back, Cole looked inspired that day, and so did Richardson.

But I am talking about the big game here, not friendlies and easy pickings. The fact is, England is so good at route one that yes they do indeed play late into tourneys.... then they get knocked out because they are the most uncreative looking bunch of pale pasties you would ever want to see on a field! If you are so proud of their creative play, name the last big game they won on a fantastic individual run? Owen against the argies in '98? Woops, that didn't get them anywhere either did it? Hell, name the last big game that you actually could stand to watch and not groan as they did the same thing over and over and over and over...

And don't think I am just accusing the english nats of this, our US team is disgustingly predictable. As is every other country that puts a higher value on tactics than artistry.

As a Coerver coach, I have heard plenty of complaints that we place artistry above tactics.... truth is I bet they are right in many cases. But that is not what our curriculum dictates, and it is not what we teach at our camps and clinics. That some coaches pick up the vids and decide to go overboard is not at all surprising.... this stuff looks like a winner. The way we see it (Coerver that is), 1v1 is just one section of a six chapter curiculum on how to play the game well. Watch the DVD's and tell me that you don't see how much emphasis is placed on the additional sections.

[Cookie]

Originally Posted by GoYouRedDevils

Domestic.... yeah, that's really helping you on the international stage though, right? What is the constant observation of the English national team over the last decade and a half? NO CREATIVITY. Since Gazza you have had nothing but route 1 footballers who have a difficult time beating the organized defenses that most continental teams offer these days.

Let's face it, beating someone 1v1 is not just for crowd enjoyment. Coerver is the authority on this topic, everything else is just a copy of what we do. That said, I am not particularly concerned about London footie - so we will have to agree to disagree on this one I think. Seems as if there is no convincing you.

Ummm, and there I was thinking this must be an Italian, Frenchman, German or Brazillian lecturing me on the world scene.....

When are the US team going to live up to the hype and finally deliver something?

[ian.curry]

Come on, you've never seen Rooney beat a player? Do you even know who James Milner is, or Theo Walcott? These are players who can only play by beating their man.

I suggest that you are a coach looking for entertaining football more than results - which at the end of the day, is what football is about.

If you are so proud of their creative play, name the last big game they won on a fantastic individual run?

Name some other teams who have done this? Is a individual run the definition of creative play? Or can we include crosses for Crouch/Owen, through balls for his hat trick in 01, corners for Rio's header in 02, fast attacking playing against Brazil in 02, Rooneys 4 goals in 2 games in 04?
I'm not disagreeing with the use of Coerver(I'm interested in it) but don't tell me that England are rubbish and produce poor quality players, especially not because Coerver isn't used.