Day 5: Managing the Performance Environment and 3v3

Originally posted on January 3, 2020 on playbeautifulsoccer.net

With my voice quite horse by this point, it was up to Davis to deliver the lesson. We talked about systems of play and setting up a culture for your team that upholds a standard of excellence. In talking about the system of play for Barcelona we referred to winning the ball back within three seconds of losing the ball in transition, working in connected lines defensively, and “tiki taka” offensively to disorganize and unbalance the opposition. We also talked about varying your system of play according to the sophistication/level of play of your team with examples of the system of play we used at John Paul II Preparatory School versus the system of play we used with the 2004 Boys for the Missouri State Olympic Development Program.

The coaches then ran one more 10-minute activity (in the solution/learning phase) as a practical in the late morning before heading for lunch. The coaches were instructed to arrive back at the field by 2:45 pm to start constructing the fields for the 3v3 tournament.

As we arrived back to the field, the coaches and players were already laying lines with strings and chalk in plastic soda containers. It was an incredible process to see. Better yet, Davis brought long pieces of wood to construct the goals, which the coaches cut in equal pieces with a machete to assemble, fastened with two or three nails per goal that were hammered in with a rock. The orchestrated effort made a team of those both great and small and set up for a festive environment of solidarity as the teams put on their jerseys and came out to the