ADVANCE.FOOTBALL international

25/07/2024

3 L’s for children’s football training 🔥⚽

❌ No running laps.
❌ No long queues.
❌ No long lectures.

💪 What we want instead:
Action. Trying things out. Dynamics. Dialog. Fun.

20/06/2024

Our two weeks, from June 3-13 2024, with Chattanooga FC Youth Academy were incredible! 🌟⚽️

Highlights:

📚 Hosted Train the Trainers sessions with VfL Wolfsburg for top-notch coaching education

🏆 Organized a lively soccer festival

📈 Assisted in a 3-day camp packed with elite skills training

We used the play.advance.football platform for all our sessions, and CFC youth coaches loved it! They now have full access and are already using the exercises in real time. 💪

Chattanooga x Advance.Football x VfL Wolfsburg

🚀 Excited to see what’s next for this partnership!

🎉 Want in on the action? Visit our video platform for more details (see profile) and sign up today for 1 month free using code: MONTH1

15/05/2024

💡 A player must decide for him/herself.
🧠 Can only learn for themselves.
📈 And develops individually.

Nevertheless, it is important to form a team intention.

⚙️ That way, the individual players become gears that mesh together. And work together.

How?
1. We use game principles! These are individual instructions that apply everywhere and to everyone.

2. we are guided by an adapted game phase model!
The four phases:
My team has the ball - I have the ball - The opposing team has the ball - My opponent has the ball

This game phase model helps us coaches to focus our coaching on the individual players.

❓ What role does the individual approach play in your training?

12/04/2024

📉 The biggest change in children’s lives

3️⃣ Statements from a world-class striker on the changes in children’s sporting activities
❓ What do you think of Bergkamp’s statements?

⚽ Studies confirm what many have observed:

Sporting activity is shifting from the football pitch to the club.
From unorganized kicking to structured training.
From self-organized to guided exercise.

🔁 However, this change can only be reversed to a limited extent.
Especially not in areas where there is a lack of exercise space.
Or in places where all-day schools and other commitments compete with free play.

⚽ As a result, we have to adapt our training.
🥅 Rethink children’s training.

Tasks and games instead of drills and exercises.
Seeing fun as the most important training goal.
Guarantee plenty of movement for the children, even if it is chaotic here and there.
Allow free play and take a step back as coaches.

Above all, volunteers need to be supported in this.
With our video platform for clubs, we are creating a good basis for this.

Trainers‘ (moms and dads) also tell us that they go into training with a new sense of confidence.

The confidence to deliver the best possible training.

📲 You can find all the information here: play.advance.football

28/03/2024

🗣️ The Spurs coach and former Socceroos national team coach in Australia.

⚽️ But this message applies worldwide: a lack of foresight can often have negative consequences in the future.

Investing in the future is essential - especially when so much has changed in the recent past.

15/03/2024

❌ As a coach, you can't determine what your players learn.

📈 But you can create a climate in training in which your players can develop better!

🔥 Exercises that are fun for more intrinsic motivation
💡Allowing mistakes and independent discovery
⚽️ Lots of ball action with decision-making for lots of learning opportunities
🔝 Individual assistance when players are stuck and can't progress on their own

💻 Our video platform will help you: play.advance.football [Link in bio]
With our support, you can go into everyday training free from pressure and with a new self-confidence. And you can achieve what you actually stand for on the pitch: making your boys and girls better with joy.

28/02/2024

⚽ Tuchel’s training principle: repetition without training in loops

📈 Thomas Tuchel was a youth coach at VfB Stuttgart, FC Augsburg and Mainz 05 before gaining experience in professional soccer.

🏆 How his training has changed over the course of his career: From predetermined passing sequences to exercises close to the game, in which the players always have to make new decisions.

„Train complex, but not complicated!“

You can find the right exercises tailored to your age and stage of development here: ▶️play.advance.football

⚽️

21/02/2024

❌ We never coach when a player has scored a goal!

Because: What is the common response?
“Why? I scored!”
Then it’s difficult for the player to realize a mistake and accept your coaching!
____
Jack Brazil ( ) is an assistant coach for PSV Eindhoven’s U18 team.

If you want to know more about PSV’s coaching philosophies and want to watch exercises where they show practical coaching tips.

Simply go to play.advance.football for exclusive content from PSV Eindhoven.

14/02/2024

Advance from a trainer to a coach who makes all the kids better ⚽️💯

On play.advance.football, you will find videos explaining exercises as well as coaching videos.
These are videos in which we show typical error patterns and how to address and coach them specifically in front of and with the team.

This way, you become a full-fledged coach. Who recognizes mistakes and can correct them. Which can ultimately help everyone in the team to improve.

12/02/2024

📈Wan to try it for yourself?
Check out www.play.advance.football [Link in Bio]

🔥Always great to hear feedback from our platform users.
🫶Thank you Elijah Evans for your positive feedback.
🤝Lets continue to shape the world of youth football together.

07/02/2024

🚀 Success through education and training!
What do you think of Klopp’s statement? Does it also apply to youth soccer in your country? Is there too much selection and not enough support?

🔥 How can you achieve better success in your training? Here’s a way that will also save you time: play.advance.football [LINK IN BIO]

⚽ Make the difference with your training!

07/02/2024

⚽️What can we as soccer coaches learn from Dutch soccer culture?

Last week we were in the Netherlands. De Herdgang. PSV Eindhoven - one of the top 3 clubs in the country in developing players. 
Along with 40 dedicated youth coaches from grassroots and youth academies - all part of the ADVANCE.FOOTBALL community. 

We discuss the differences between Germany and the Netherlands with U18 coach Vincent Heilmann. Vincent was assistant coach at Wolfsburg under Mark van Bommel, Florian Kohfeldt and Niko Kovac.

On the side - he mentioned Friday training. 
The last training session before the game on the weekend.

As a coach, you’re tempted to press everything you want to see from the players at the weekend into their heads.

Build-up behavior. Patterns of play. Match plan. 

It’s the last time the coach has control over his players without the stressful situation of “competition”. 

But not in the U18s at PSV Eindhoven. Vincent calls it “Training for the feeling”. 

Intensity at the start of training through a transition exercise. 
Playing a few set pieces.
Playing around in small game forms. 
At the end, everyone can do what they want. Or what they need to feel better during the game. 

Going into the game with a good feeling - more important than any tactical content. 

06/02/2024

PSV ✖️ ADVANCE.FOOTBALL

From South Tyrol to East Belgium: 40 German-speaking coaches from the german ADVANCE.FOOTBALL community were guests at one of the most successful training clubs in Europe - PSV Eindhoven.

🔥The excellent training at this club is not just limited to the players: the Interest Days gave the attending coaches a deep insight into the work of the youth academy. They were able to observe training sessions, discuss with the PSV coaches and receive exciting input from the various areas of the youth department.

✌️An open club culture makes it possible. And makes PSV Eindhoven a role model for professional clubs. Because they firmly believe that both parties benefit from exchange and transparency.

Who wants to join us next time?

🤝

04/01/2024

This is our goal for youth football (soccer) training ⚽️💯
It's the first step towards getting children excited about football (soccer) in the long term and at the same time the basis for their sporting development!

🔥 Everything you need for this type of training can be found here: play.advance.football [Link in Bio]

28/12/2023

85% of professional players come from the club's own youth ranks

Wishful thinking for many clubs - a reality in Bilbao.
How do they achieve this?
have made a commitment to themselves to only include players from the Basque Country in their professional squad. Or at least players who played for a Basque club in their youth.

To keep this promise, they are investing in their :
💥 The youth coaches earn the same amount - this puts the focus on training the players rather than on their own careers.
💥 150 "affiliated clubs" that identify with the big brother from Bilbao.
💥 Broad talent development: Bilbao spends around 1 million on coaches who work at the partner clubs.
💥 As a result of the voluntary commitment, more players from the youth team get the chance to prove themselves in the professional team.

Their success? Consistently first-class. 24-time Copa del Rey winner. Numerous professional footballers trained (Laporte, Martinez,...). And that with a population of around 3 million.

Therefore, it also pays off for professional clubs to support amateur clubs. This does not necessarily have to be in the form of personnel: Providing close support to digital partner clubs and clubs from the same city would be a suitable middle ground for broader talent development.
More pressure to train your own players would change many things. What do you think?

13/12/2023

"The players first have to learn the basics in order to be able to play."
This usually refers to isolated technical training - e.g. slalom dribbling around cones or passing lanes. But this can have two major disadvantages in children's soccer:
1️⃣ Such exercises or "drills" are often less fun. "A child learns by playing. However, they never play to learn, but because they enjoy what they do." (Renate Zimmer)
2️⃣ Decisive phases of sporting activity are missing here.
An action in soccer takes place in the following steps:
1. perception of the situation
2. analysis of the situation
3. decision making
4. technical ex*****on of the decision
5. reflection on the result
Phases 1, 2, 3, and 5 do not take place in most isolated exercises, or only in reduced form!

👇 How often do you use isolated forms of technique without time or opponent pressure in your training?

11/12/2023

⚽ The U15s to U18s at AFC Sunderland no longer have head coaches.

Instead, they have a pool of coaches for this age group.

🔴⚪ Adam Asghar was the coach of the U18s and has accepted a new position as U21 coach at Southampton.

As a result, those responsible at the "Academy of Light" have opted for a new model.

Two coaches who worked at U13-U16 level last season are taking over.

They are now responsible for all teams from U15 to U18 and will be supported by co-coaches.

💡 The idea behind the club:
Shared responsibility for several teams is intended to focus on individual player development.

Away from the idea of "me and my team" and towards "us and our players".

❓ Do you think the changes make sense?

26/10/2023

⚽ He is the top scorer of his old club, captain of the national team & scored the most goals in the 2018 World Cup. He recently moved to the Bundesliga for €100m.

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Harry

❌ In his youth he didn't necessarily look like he was going to have that kind of career.

At the age of 9, he was kicked out of Arsenal FC's academy. After that, he played 2 years in an amateur club before moving to Tottenham at 11. Even there he was not considered one of the best for a long time.

"Who's that little fat kid there?" - That was the first question asked by Tottenham's Academy Director when he saw Kane almost 20 years ago.
Kane was the "weakest out of the pack." And yet he's now one of the best. Despite that? Or maybe even because of it?!

The Underdog Effect reveals this:
Ironically, many world-class athletes are late bloomers. For a long time they were the smallest, weakest or youngest. Studies show: True, early-born players have a greater chance of turning pro. Late-borns, however, have higher market values and longer careers.

The theory behind this? Underdogs need to develop exceptional skills that compensate for their weaknesses.

🏃🏻 Messi outplayed bigger opponents with tight dribbling and surprising changes of direction.

👁️ Xavi & Iniesta developed an extraordinary perception. "When you're 12 years old, at 1.50 m, and you're always playing against players 20 cm taller than you, you grow an eye in the back of your head: you develop a sixth sense with which you can guess your opponents' movements." (Jordi Cruyff)

So what do they ALL need to develop to get to the top? Resilience, frustration tolerance, the ability to overcome difficulties.

The physical weaknesses will be compensated when the players are fully grown. The acquired mental & soccer skills remain.

So:
📈 Talent development is not linear. Sometimes paradoxical. Too quickly we decide who is a talent & who is not.
With more humility in talent selection, we would deal with talent differently. Also in popular sports. Children should never be told, "Please find another sport!" because of their performance in U9.

19/10/2023

⚽ How Liverpool FC is integrating street soccer into training.

Inspired by the Portuguese "Gaiolas" ( Portuguese for "cage"), co-trainer Pep Lijnders is bringing a bit of street soccer to Liverpool's new training center.

🥅 The "Melwood Arena" is a 20 x 40 m pitch with boards, nets and large goals. High intensity and creativity in a confined space are required.

The ball cannot go out of bounds. 5v5. The winner stays on the field.

Lijnders' vision for this arena was also about reviving the spirit of street soccer: Only winning matters.

🗣️ "I really believe the player has to be with all he has into the session. Not just the legs, not just the lungs, but also the brain, the heart."
🗣️ "We can develop 100 exercises, but the best thing would be if we create the street."
🗣️ "I really believe that we need to be better in the final third, more creative, [that] in the small space we need to hold the ball better."

📈 More and more "innovative" methods. Constantly increasing spending on training materials. And yet, even in high-performance sports, there are developments that return to the essentials of soccer:
Play, competition, fun & lots of action.

15/08/2023

❓What actions are you taking to reach the next level? What do you think of Thomas Tuchel as a coach?

08/08/2023

The overall goal should be the optimal development of each player.

Instead, more often than not there is too much focus on results in youth soccer.

What do you think about Johan Cruyff's statement?

01/08/2023

❓Are you spending countless unnecessary hours trying to prepare or create new, fun, and dynamic exercises for your youth soccer team?

❓Is this taking away from having a smooth efficient training session?

If you would like, feel free to check out our platform play.advance.football
A platform that is dedicated completely to youth football (soccer) coaches to help save time in planning training. [Link in Bio]

Use our coupon: MONTH1 and get access to over 200 youth soccer exercises for all ages, as well as exclusive exercise and content from pro clubs such as PSV Eindhoven, VfB Stuttgart, VfL Wolfsburg, and more. We hope you enjoy it.

🔎 Though most of us have never seen him play, Pele is known for being one of, if not the best player of all time. As stated in this quote of the week by the legend Pele, "success is no accident" and this quote can be translated into any achievement that is trying to be obtained. .football_int believes education is a journey, and our goal is to provide the necessary tools and guidance a coach requires.

25/07/2023

Building interpersonal relationships with your youth players will not only help you gain a better understanding, but it will also build trust between them and yourself. This trait not only helps with on-the-pitch performance, but also impacts the players' and coaches' life off the pitch by introducing a safe space for conversations, expressions, and understanding.

Here are 5 things to keep in mind when building a relationship with your players:

1️⃣Allow them to speak:
You can’t begin to understand your players if the communication is a one-way relationship.

2️⃣Common vision:
Ensure that individual learning plans are agreed upon between the player and coach. Both must come to terms with what needs to be improved so it can be measured properly later on.

3️⃣Honesty:
Of course, we must be considerate with younger players and parents, but honesty is vital to this process.

4️⃣Support:
This is the hard part, the part where most coaches struggle. There is no linear path from beginner to expert, everyone is different. It is so easy to be supportive when your player is doing “well”. But what is your body language and communication like when that player has given 5 misplaced passes in a row?

5️⃣Know your players:
It’s not always about football. A great way to make that first connection is to get to know them and if possible talk about something other than football. This is something that is blindly obvious and has almost instant results. Players feel like you care about them not just how they play football.

🏅 Communication and understanding is vital as a coach. It should be encouraged more often, especially in the youth football world.

11/07/2023

When coaches get it all wrong!!

🔎More than often we see youth football(soccer) coaches yelling and jumping on the sideline trying to "motivate" their team. Some coaches think they are doing the right thing but in reality, they are pushing from fear, which then causes stress and anxiety in their players that will eventually result in some players on the team quitting the sport.

🏅Football(Soccer) clubs need to educate, engage and further develop coaches who make the game about themselves.

Write in the comment section BELOW!👇
❓What are alternative ways youth coaches can motivate their players to think for themselves and not be discouraged instead of yelling directions out?

26/06/2023

How does FC Barcelona always produce top talents?
What makes La Masia different from many other football(soccer) academies around the world?

🏆 EDUCATION!!
FC Barcelona has one of the most successful youth academies in the world and their primary focus is always the education aspect for their coaches & players(Success naturally follows):

✅Quiet and ego-less coaches
✅Rondos
✅Possession games
✅Building out the back
✅Players playing multiple positions
✅Reinforcing decision-making over outcome

🏅These are some of the many things that contribute to their youth development and success.

21/06/2023

🤔 Are you struggling to find age-appropriate exercises for modern soccer?
Do you have limited time to plan training and are your kids disengaged and not improving their skill level?

We totally understand and we might have a simple solution for you.

🎯 We at ADVANCE.FOOTBALL provides tailor-made, child-centered, age-appropriate exercises, and fun games that are ready to use anytime and anywhere with a simple click.

🏆 Our platform play.advance.football is designed to foster a worldwide coaches community to help coaches, volunteers, & clubs solve various problems.
- Access to new, fun, dynamic exercises
- Better training
- Dealing with mixed abilities
- Kids leaving the sport
And more…

Join now and also receive exclusive content and exercises from pro clubs such as VfB Stuttgart, VfL Wolfsburg, and PSV Eindhoven who we’ve partnered with.

🥳 We would like to give you one month of free access to our platform play.advance.football using the Code "MONTH1". [LINK IN BIO]

💪 Let's work together to achieve our common goals.
Coaches development and better training for every child.

15/06/2023

⚽️ Who do you think is currently the most creative professional player?

So many kids end up quitting the sport because they are discouraged by being or having been compared to better players.

🏅The key is to let kids enjoy and express their creativity at an early age. This could ultimately help with problem-solving during on/off the ball situations and can advance their development. If they are given good opportunity and really want it, good things will naturally happen.

How do you train/encourage creativity in your training?
Comment down BELOW!👇

13/06/2023

This is the city with the most top players in professional soccer ⤵️

Raphaël Guerreiro, Riyad Mahrez, and Medhi Benatia took their first steps towards soccer here.
And French internationals like Kanté, Pogba, Martial, Mbappé, and Nkunku were born and raised there.

🇫🇷 In Paris. And its suburbs - the Banlieues!

🏆 60 players who participated in the last 5 World Cups before Qatar grew up in the Paris metropolitan area.
🇦🇷 10 more players than in Buenos Aires. The Argentine metropolis is in second place.

💡The secret? All the players mentioned have one thing in common: they have spent countless hours playing soccer on the streets. Ballon sur bitume. Soccer on asphalt (concrete football).

The number ratios, the playing surface, the opponents, and the size of the pitch changes constantly. Players must constantly adapt. And constantly make new decisions to suit the conditions.

The amount of decision-making and ball contact is seen as a big factor in the multitude of professional footballers from the Banlieues.
According to Paul Pogba's former coach, Mahamadou Gory, “In 4v4 or 5v5, players have a touch on the ball every 4 seconds. With 11 players, minutes can go by without you touching the ball once.”

📈 Creativity. Overcoming Difficulties. Ball control on different surfaces. Balancing disadvantages against older kids. More pressure & quicker decisions. Hunger to win. This is what the players develop in Ballon sur bitume. They eventually want to beat the boys from the neighboring street.

✅ For me, this results in three points for our training:
1️⃣ Train as efficiently as possible. Get the most out of your training time - offer the kids as many game-like ball actions with decision-making as possible.
2️⃣ Train in a way that makes the kids want to conquer the next playing field with their friends.
3️⃣ I love tournaments on the soccer field: several age groups of a club are mixed and play 4v4 or 5v5 tournaments on different goal sizes. Once or twice a month it brings street soccer to the club.

07/06/2023

🔥New exercise video!👇
Learn how to train Passing, Scanning & First Touch

Improve your soccer training and save time planning it - with the help of our platform. For more information go to: https://play.advance.football/ Modern you...

06/06/2023

⚽ Going Beyond the Game:

As youth coaches, let's be proactive, creative, and committed to excellence in all aspects of our coaching journey.

An ordinary person is someone who follows the status quo. An extraordinary person however goes above and beyond what is expected.

Coaching isn’t just running practices and X’s and O’s. It’s about culture, unity, and recognizing every player for what they can contribute.

Are your players’ eyes lighting up when you coach?

Part of the coach's role is to inspire. Children at all levels have a right to play and enjoy their sporting experience.

Go the extra mile to positively impact lives. Create an environment that fosters strong relationships and guides players to become skilled athletes and confident individuals. 💪⚡

What's the little extra you bring as a youth coach? Comment down below.