The coaching blog

Notes from the touchline

Short, practical pieces for anyone coaching kids: what to do on Tuesday, what to say on Saturday and what to stop worrying about entirely.

All posts 60 Club life 4 Coaching 10 Development 12 Goalkeeping 4 Match day 10 Parents 7 Sessions 13
Match dayWhat to say at half time when you are losing 3-0
Match day29 July 20263 min

What to say at half time when you are losing 3-0

Eleven kids, three minutes, one adult who is annoyed. The half-time talk is the easiest thing in youth football to get badly wrong.

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Match dayPenalty shootouts with kids: drama, tears and how to train for both
Match day11 July 20262 min

Penalty shootouts with kids: drama, tears and how to train for both

Sooner or later a tournament ends in penalties and a ten-year-old walks eighty metres alone. How to prepare young players for shootouts - technically, and for the feelings.

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Match dayPlaying time is not a reward
Match day4 July 20263 min

Playing time is not a reward

The kid who needs the minutes most is the kid getting the fewest. A look at why fair rotation is a development decision, not a kindness, and how to build one nobody argues with.

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Match dayWarming up for a match without exhausting them
Match day8 April 20262 min

Warming up for a match without exhausting them

Twenty minutes of sprints and shooting practice, then a kick-off with eleven tired children. The match warm-up has one job and it is not fitness.

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Match daySubstitutions: when to change it and when to leave it alone
Match day25 March 20262 min

Substitutions: when to change it and when to leave it alone

Half of all youth substitutions are made because the coach needs to feel useful. A short guide to the ones that are actually worth making.

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Match dayWhat to do about the referee
Match day11 March 20262 min

What to do about the referee

He is fifteen years old, he is being paid twelve euros, and he has just given a decision that was clearly wrong. Everything your team learns about respect happens in the next four seconds.

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Match daySix games in one day: surviving a tournament
Match day25 February 20262 min

Six games in one day: surviving a tournament

Tournaments are the best day of the season and the easiest to get wrong. A plan for the whole day, from the car park at eight to the medals at four.

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Match dayPicking a formation that teaches, not one that wins Saturday
Match day21 January 20262 min

Picking a formation that teaches, not one that wins Saturday

7v7 and 9v9 formats are not miniature 11-a-side. How to choose a shape that develops players, why the strongest formation is often the wrong one, and what to fix before blaming the system.

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Match dayWhen the score gets embarrassing: coaching through an 11-0
Match day26 November 20252 min

When the score gets embarrassing: coaching through an 11-0

Every coach ends up on both ends of a hammering eventually. What to change at 5-0, what to say at full-time, and how to win or lose big without anyone learning the wrong lesson.

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