⚽️ 6v5+1 SSG

🔴 Looks to create & score from wide areas or thru balls
🔵 Maintains defensive shape, stops crosses, thru balls, can counter attack
🟡 Plays the first pass, acts as target player for counter attacks

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7v7+3 SSG ⚽️

In-possession team must score in one of four mini nets. Neutrals provide overloads.

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🇨🇦 Alistair Johnston is a top talent lighting it up in the Scottish Premiership.

He’s among the league leaders for goals, xG, shot conversion, assists, passing, and dribble success rate. He’ll make a move to a top 5 league soon enough.

Where do you think he lands?

Give fun a chance.

If your training sessions look more like military drills, you might be doing it wrong. If no one is having fun, then why even bother? I’ve seen grassroots coaches burnout because they take themselves far too seriously. Remember - at the end of the day, it’s just football.

Your players will detect BS all too easily.

Sure, I watched a few YouTube videos about Relationism, but did I really understand it? Same goes for the Positionists. Never introduce concepts you don’t fully understand yourself. All you’ll do is confuse your already confused players.

In general, grassroots players are not coached on tactical concepts.

The memeification of football has created players who are not confident enough to apply tactical concepts to their training. Use their vocabulary. Understanding the game from their perspective will unlock new possibilities.

Meet them where they’re at!

As a coach it’s easy to blame your players for not applying your tactical principles but at the grassroots level you can’t expect perfection. Hybridize your training sessions and tactical concepts to allow each player to get what they need out of the session.

Most players view the game in a Positional way.

Players standing still waiting for the game to come to them was a problem not easily solved. It took a lot of encouragement to unshackle them from their set positions. A hybrid approach was therefore necessary…

Don’t spend your time explaining abstract concepts.

I avoid coach speak and allow the training sessions to flow. Toco y me voy, tabela, pitch zones, etc are lost on players who’ve never heard these terms before. I found that players would naturally execute these concepts without much intervention.

Positionism vs Relationism at the Grassroots Level: What I’ve Learned

Having tried both approaches with my U18s and U21s, there were a few interesting observations I made.

Namely…

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