Evaluation of Session

UEFA A Elite Course Technical Centre, Ta Qali

Coach Paul Bugeja
Tactical Aim Combining & improve passing for penetration Physical Aim Strength
Moment of Play Midfield & build up in final 3rd Sector Sampling Stage
Coordinative Cap Reaction and Spatial Awareness Team Luxol st.Andrews U11
Equipment Markers, Cones, Goalposts, Balls and Bibs No of Players 16 14 + 2 GKs

Were the coaching outcomes reached? Comments

1. Good 1st touch & control
Players had a good level of 1st touch & control for their age
2. Quality passing & combinations
Players gave quite good short and long passes, but did not reach the level expected in combination play, hence there is work
needed to be done in this area since players frequently opted for a dribble instead.
Corrections were needed especially in Practice #2 since for considerable number of times the defenders closed well , isolating
correctly the player with the ball and won it , not an objective of the exercise since attackers were in superior numbers. This
happened because attackers opted for a dribble instead of passing to the free player.
3. Decision making timing of moves, movement off the ball & supporting runs
Quite a good number of occurrences of good movement off the ball & supporting runs.
Surely there is room for improvement and work is needed in this area in the coming sessions.
There were quite a good number of very well executed penetrating runs in practice #2
4. Positional & Support play
Quite happy with positional play, with players knowing how to keep the starting diamond shape, drop and move.
Mostly all players knew how to offer support to team mate with ball
5. Achieve width & depth
Occupying width was constantly achieved, while depth a bit less, mainly diamond top player dropping too much while building
from the back, something which needs more work to be done.
6. Communication
Communication between the players was quite good.

What went ok what went wrong?

It is an important factor to consider that this session was performed for the 1 st time with this group
Session timing and rhythm were quite good with players keeping a good tempo of play. Physical component was reached.
Most coaching interventions were done during the rest period, but some minor corrections were still needed during the game &
practice, to better simulate the game situations.
Players were at first very obsessed to show their dribbling skills, frequently going for an extra dribble instead for a penetrating pass
for a team mate run.
Limiting the number of touches would have surely restricted the players to reduce their dribble and opt more for passing.
By asking the players about mobility and support, who & where should provide support, where should a player go after combining
with team-mate, when and how to make a forward run, players recognized what was asked from them and session took a better
dimension.
Communication Coach-Players?
During interventions, there was two way communication, with a number of questions being asked about the situations.
Most of players feedback were correct with players realizing their mistakes and performing better in the next sets.
This really helped the continuation and progression of the session.
Players Understanding was quite positive, showing a good level for their age.
What next?
There is still work and fine tuning to do to achieve all the outcomes.
Players gradually understood what was asked from them and their level of performance improved throughout.
Exercises had a very good flow and all players were very positive and seemed to have enjoyed the session.
Players were informed next session will be themed on positive transition, a continuation on this session aimed to improve their
reaction times, support play, forward mobility, decision making and better finish an attack.