Команда выглядит сплоченной, сильной, компактной и цeлeустрeмлeнной. Мы знаем чего мы хотим и как этого добиться. У нас есть новые игроки, которые привыкли к совершенно другим методам подготовки в своих старых клубах. Но теперь игроки верят в наши методы, в то как мы готовимся.
::: подробнее :::
Returned from Belek, Turkey where we trained twice a day for 3 weeks. Made good progress in team building, defensive tactics and general fitness. Between sessions, team meetings, individual meetings, videos, had no time to post any updates (sorry to all who wrote to me asking for updates).
Saw Russia U-19s tie 0-0 and lose 0-1 to Turkey. Our match aganst Russia U-19 was canceled because of storms. Played Luwin from Switzerland. Good goals scored by Kurochkina (she just can’t stop scoring) and Apanashenko.
Ksenia Tsybutovich and Masha Dyachkova are like sponges and improving tactically every day. Truntaeva is a warrior, working hard despite cuts, pulls and bruises. Nadia Baranova finally joined us after a surgery and rehab in Germany. She looks fit and her rehab seems ahead of schedule.
Our last night in Belek was marked by a major dance production, directed and choreographed by Kurochkina. She can also dance! I am debating whether to post a 15 minute video of the event.
Wednesday we leave for Kislovodsk, located between the Black and Caspian seas, for high altitude training. Back to Turkey for 2 weeks and hopefully 4 matches in March.
Fatima Leyva and Jessica O’Rourke signed 2 year contracts with Zvezda and moved into their apartment yesterday. Still awaiting arrival of Chiejine and Busi.
We are still 2-3 players away from being a major force in Europe.
A friend emailed me a good article about Red Wings coach Mike Babcock’s high level of commitment, something that the writer contends all good coaches have:
“Some make it to the pinnacle of their sport – the NHL, the NFL, a top-tier college basketball program – while others never quite reach the big time. And so, while that commitment is not a guarantee of anything, it is a requirement of everything.”
According to Babcock:
“That commitment is one of those things you’ve just got to have. I think of it as passion. You’ve got to have that passion to do a job like this, but then if you’ve got that passion, it’s not a job.”
In North America many coaches place premium on physically large, athletic players.
Most of my players tend to be smaller, quicker, with small turning circles. One of my players, Mexico international Fatima Leyva, has played for me for the last 5 seasons and according to 2 WPS coaches is too slow and has “no change of pace”.
Her lack of “change of pace” never bothered me as no player moves faster than the ball and few pass it better than Leyva. She’s clever enough to make the ball do the work. But she’s still one of the quickest midfielders in the world. She can defend, she can create, she can attack, she’s got a good shot with both feet. She does everything I ask of her.
In women’s football as in every sport, there are players who’ve been labeled by scouts and coaches as too slow, too small, too whatever. And yet these players often exceed everyones labels and expectations and do productive things when they actually get on the field. That’s because; they are smart, understand the game, know how to make up for their weaknesses, are fundamentally sound in other facets of the game and most important they know how to compete.
Their size, the Beep test results, how much they can lift, how fast they are in 40s, that stuff doesn’t matter. The only thing that matters is what they do in a 11-on-11 game.
What often happens when college players are evaluated for draft is that coaches evaluate them based on their productivity and effectiveness in college. But one must recognize why they’re productive in their college environment and can they translate that to the next level. In most cases, everything they’ve done in college will be irrelevant in pros. It simply is different.
When evaluating players physically my assistants and I look at only 6 variables.
1. Technique
2. Speed of thought – ability to instantly recognize where all players are on the field and making the best decision when passing and making runs
3. Speed of anticipation – there’s an anticipation when the ball is passed, some players are just faster, they can feel it and they, can sense it, they react quicker. They feel players and ball moving around them.
4. Speed of reaction – ability to physically react quickly to changing circumstances
5. Speed of feet
6. Speed with ball – 30m, straight line sprint is different from running full speed, with the ball and holding off any challenges from opponents.
Players lack of size, speed, their strength tests results have little influence on my decisions when selecting players.
December 29, 2009 – 3:49 amDraft
WPS draft day is only weeks away and everyone is wondering who will be picked first. Will it be Cheney, Heath, Nogueira or O’Hara?
Draft is like Cinco de Mayo: everyone is happy and not thinking about tomorrow. But eventually once pre-season begins, reality will set in. Coaches will immediately see that some players are much better prepared for the pro game while others struggle.
The most pressure, as you’d expect, is with top picks. There will be intense pressure on the coach, GM, and player, for her to produce immediately. Many highly rated players will be drafted with big expectations only to find out it’s much harder than they expected or their teams have different ideas of how to use them.
I remember last year when the Breakers drafted Amy Rodriguez, the league’s first-ever draft. Highly rated based on her college final four performance and national team play, she struggled in Boston and played sporadically.
What happened with Rodriguez is no different than what happens with a lot of top picks in other sports. The coaches, fans and players realize that expectations are unreasonably high for top rookies and in the end, it wasn’t that the player wasn’t “good.” It was that expectations were simply unrealistic.
Playing against 19 year old college defenders is different from facing Rampone. And there is a gulf between playing for the US WNT; surrounded by very good players, playing against outmatched opponents, and facing seasoned WPS pros every weekend.
Rodriguez will probably go on to have long, productive career with another team (or teams) where the expectations of the team and fans will be different and the system might be better-suited to her style.
Usually, if a player can play right now, she’s going to be on the field. If not, it’s the responsibility of the head coach and his staff to develop the player, creating a plan for helping her develop – in her first year and beyond.
As a coach, I really appreciate midfielders who can create, score, defend, and make her teammates better. Here are the five best mids in the league, in my opinion (in no particular order):
Camille Abily – Good player who put a stamp on her team’s style and identity. Perhaps the best box-to-box midfielder in the WPS.
Aya Miyama – Continues her rapid improvement. Terrific at running at players and combining with Marta. Quickly improving defensively.
Sonia Bompastor – Multi-dimensional player who, because of her experience can play anywhere in midfield and could even play in the back if needed. Competes every night.
Kacey White – Perhaps a bit underrated but reads the game well, good movement, technically strong. Expect her to blossom in 2010.
Lori Chalupny – Incredibly quick and strong. Smart player who can create, score and defend. Gets her teammates involved. A winner.
BONUS: Yael Averbuch – one of the keys to Sky Blues post season success, she doesn’t get enough props but she can play.
Phil Simms, who led the NY Giants to two Super Bowl victories in the late ’80s and early ’90s, has this simple advice for Cowboys QB Tony Romo:
“When you are the starting quarterback of a NFL team, there will always be factions on your team that don’t like you. Some players are jealous of your status. Others think you are overrated. Still others won’t like your personality. That’s fine. As a quarterback you have to ignore that. You have to lead. You can’t worry about being liked.
[Former Giants coach] Bill Parcells once took me aside and told me how disappointed he was in me. He said, “You used to be a leader but now you are trying to be everyone’s friend.” He made the point.”
From PitchInvasion.net:
“So Messi won the FIFA Men’s Player of the Year Award, and Marta won the FIFA Women’s Player of the Year Award, and no-one was surprised. But should we have been? There’s enough out there about Messi, so let’s look at Marta and the women’s award for a moment. Shek Borkowski, former Indiana FC head coach and current head coach of WFC Zvezda-2005 in Russia, criticised FIFA’s shortlist a couple of weeks ago. A little harsh, perhaps, but Shek is sure on who the best women’s player of 2009 was, and it’s hard to disagree: “the Euro champion and top scorer, and the UEFA Champions League winner Inka Grings should win the award…. I vote we just go with the Shek award in future.”
I second that.. read more here>>
I like this quote by California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, a seven-time Mr. Olympia in Barbara Walters’ autobiography:
“What makes one guy a champion and the other one not?” Walters asked.
Schwarzenegger:
“It’s drive. It’s the will. There are certain people that grow up with a tremendous hunger and it’s usually kids that have struggled when they were young. When you grow up comfortable and in peace and happiness, all those things will produce a very balanced person and a good person, but it will not create the will and determination and hunger that you need to be the best in the world.”
