Chris Rodriguez Fútbol Coach
Objective: Take Women's Soccer to the next level and change the landscape of US Soccer.
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Who am I
My name is Christian Rodríguez and I am from the United States where I played NCAA Div 1 & have trained Women's Soccer there for more than eight years. Three years ago I came to Spain to learn why European football is superior to USA´s Soccer (after taking my US D License course) and to become a professional Women's Soccer coach here in Spain. For 2 years I was part of the coaching staff (Football Tactical Analyst / Assistant coach) for U.D. Torre Del Mar, who plays in Tercera RFEF (3rd Division Professional Men's Team) in Malaga, Spain. In a very short time, I have gained unmatched and specialized experience from ex La Liga professional players, coaches, and other futbol experts. Their current head coach, Alfonso Vera (UEFA Pro License) played in “La Cantera” of Real Madrid C.F., then played first division with Alavse, Osasuna, Sevilla F.C. and I fortunately have had the pleasure to work side by side with him for more than 400 hours during my stay in Malaga. I am now on my own currently as 1º (Head) coach of a women's semi-profesional team in Sants, Barcelona.
My Objetive
I am going to be the best women's soccer coach in USA and I will take women's soccer to the next level creating more intelligent, more technical-tactical players, and more professional players. I want to work with the most elite athletes in the United States and raise the level of soccer there.
My lifelong drive is to advance the soccer methodology in the United States change the landscape of how USA competes with the goal of surpassing European football. I plan to teach to USA coaches everything I have learned in Spain and one day I will lead the USA Women´s team to the World Cup.
Goals
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Be the Head or Assistant Coach of a 1st or 2nd RFEF team and work for a club from a professional European entity that values ​​the same principles that I maintain about advancing women's football and would like to start a new project by forming the future of women's football.
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Begin to connect with USSF and work with them to create new coaching webinars to teach and educate USSF coaches why European football is curretly superior to us and to teach what I have learned and what I am implenting here on my own. (Juego de Posicion & Training a European Game Model)
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Begin to work with USA Women´s Youth (U18, U19, U21) National team players to demonstrate how powerful and capable my way of coaching is and that it will advance the soccer in the United States.
• UEFO Pro (May 2024) • Languages: English, Spanish • Current Team: UE Sants Femení (Primera Catalana Grupo 2) - Sants, Barcelona
Expert in coaching women's soccer + How to work a Game Model based on possession + Specialist in Tactics
Please see the following pages to read who I am, my playing style, my coaching style, and my plan to advance women's soccer in Spain and Europe.
Preface: I AM NO ONE IN THE WORLD OF PROFESSIONAL EUROPEAN FOOTBALL BUT THIS IS ME MAKING MY FIRST STEPS INTO A BIG WORLD THAT USA COACHES DO NOT SEE OR MAKE ANY PROGRESS. I WOULD LIKE TO DEMONSTRATE MY IDEAS AND MYSELF WITHIN THE USA WOMEN´S DEPARTMENT BECAUSE I TRULY LOVE COACHING WOMEN AND WANT TO TAKE THE WOMEN´S USA TEAM TO THE WORLD CUP BUT I TRULY BELIEVE I WILL CHANGE THE USA SOCCER LANDSCAPE AS A WHOLE.
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Why USA Men´s Soccer will never reach the level of Europe...if we do not change things.
The problem: Sadly, based on my own perspective and experiences, we are failing to catch up to Europe because we simply are applying rules we have used in other American sports organizations which is not working. Instead I strongly believe we need to learn, adopt, and then create our identity and infrastructure as a coutry.
Reasons I think that are leading down the wrong direction are:
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We do not have a true philosophy of play that is unique to the United States where as other countries, like Spain, know exactly what they are great in and teach it as a whole to all their players and coaches. This fosters unity, identity, and we will create players in our overall image and will create American athletes with unique characteristics. (I truly believe we can win the World Cup one day)
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The infracstructure of US Soccer is very broken and not connnected which inhibits growth of players. In Europe there is a clearly defined pathway from amateur to pro and teams and players are given oportunities to move up or down very quickly. The fact that MLS, USL, other semi-profesional leagues, university leagues, AND highschool teams are not connected limits the competitions and hinders the development of players in their late teens and early 20´s. (Do not get me started with Highschool soccer...)
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On the highest level, it is simply a fact that USA coaches are outclassed in profesional experience and tactical knowledge compared to other countries across the world. We are at a point where our top talent can compete against other countries but when big games happen, we fail to win. We as a coutry need to change the way we coach on a profesional level and dive much more into our game model and tactical side of everything. The intelligence, attention to detail, and execution of the Spanish coaches that I have come across in terms of how they want to play, how they train their teams, and their ideas about how to win are literally on an other level and nothing I would have every imagined or had seen. They simply see the game different in terms of preparation during the match. We are missing so much new information that coaches in Europe simply have been doing for years in terms of tactical training and game day execution. (I have asked ex college and current MLS players about tactical preperation in their teams and it is shocking how little importance it is worked on compared to Europe)
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The solution:
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Create a philosophy for U.S. Soccer to fully emody and teach throughout it´s entire infrastructure.
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Create a clear path from amatuer to pro in order form more competitive players and allow players opportunities to play at higher levels across their development.
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Educate and change the way U.S. Soccer coach on a profesional adn amatuer level and within our youth national selection teams. Increase our tactical knowledge of the game and begin a new phase of players oriented with this type of training in youth national team players. There is much more detail into the game and hidden knowledge that I would like demonstrate on the highest level for US Soccer women´s team. Knowledge like the 4 moments of the game, how to train the 4 moments of the game, so many tecnical - tactical profesional individual player coaching points and the very detailed necesesity of everything within a game model in order to have our teams perform at the highest level, and how to tactically adjust in big games to win games.
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I would like to train and work my Juego de Posición / Posesion based Game Model which I have learned here in Spain. This game model and all its details can be see below.
(See my explanation of my Juego de Posición and Coaching Methodology)
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Why European Women´s soccer has finally caught up to USA Women´s soccer and will fall into the same trap as USA Men´s soccer...if we do not change things.
The problem: Sadly, again, based on my experiences here in Barcelona, Spain, (I came here because I heard that Barcelona was leading the way for womens futbol) Spain has caught up and is flying right past us in terms of women soccer. Simply put, we are converting into the Men´s program because the entire world has started to put their own resources, coaches, knowledge, and interest into their women´s programs. It´s no suprise Netherlands, France, England, and Spain are so powerful now.
Reasons why this has happened:
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I belive there is an overconfidence within the Women´s Program since we have been champions for so long and I believe we never created a plan to keep advancing what made us so great.​
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The infrastructure of US Soccer path to pro is very broken and not connnected which inhibits growth of players. In Europe women´s structure is following the men´s where there is a clearly defined pathway from amateur to pro and teams and players are given oportunities to move up or down very quickly. Our university leagues are very competitive but once that ends so much talent is going to waste since we only have 1 professional league, Spain currently has 5 divisions in their Women´s path to pro. Another problem is that European seasons are 9 month long where our current university leagues are 4 month long, more games = more playing experieces.
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On the highest level, it is simply a fact that USA coaches are outclassed in profesional experience and tactical knowledge compared to other countries across the world. (See World Cup game USA vs Netherlands) As I said, knowledge and coaches have moved into European women football and we are now being outclassed since the other teams are tactically better and tactically smarter than us. We as a coutry need to change the way we coach on a profesional level and dive much more into our game model and tactical side of everything. The intelligence, attention to detail, and execution of the Spanish coaches that I have come across in terms of how they want to play, how they train their teams, and their ideas about how to win are literally on an other level and nothing I would have every imagined or had seen. They simply see the game different in terms of preparation during the match. We are missing so much new information that coaches in Europe simply have been doing for years in terms of tactical training and game day execution.
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The solution:
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I want to advance women´s soccer within the USA Women´s National teams and already have a plan exactly how I would like to do it. I would like train my team in the ways I have learned here in Spain and how I am currently working in Barcelona Spain with my current women´s team. A more tactical-posession based approach to break lines of defense and attack the rival with creating superiorities of space and time. Our current women´s program is physically the best in the world but when it comes to individual and team tactical decision making, we can improve so much more to create these superiorities of space and time against our oponents, that´s what I want to bring to the program.
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I would like to train and work my Juego de Posición / Posesion based Game Model which I have learned here in Spain. This game model and all its details can be see below.
(See my explanation of my Juego de Posición)
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Educate and change the way U.S. Soccer coach on a profesional level and within our youth national selection teams. Increase our tactical knowledge of the game and begin a new phase of players oriented with this type of training in youth national team players. There is much more detail into the game and hidden training knowledge that I would like demonstrate on the highest level for US Soccer and team. Knowledge like the 4 moments of the game, how to train the 4 moments of the game, so many tecnical - tactical profesional individual player coaching points and the very detailed necesesity of everything within a game model in order to have our teams perform at the highest level, and how to tactically adjust in big games to win games.
(See my explanation of how I train my Game Model and my actual Game Model)
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My plan to advance Women's Football in the United States National Team
The problem: It's the same problem with every difference in each sport between men's and women's, the pace of the game is slower!
The reasons for this fact are:
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Physically, women are slower, have a harder time getting started, and run less at high intensities due to their body's inefficient use of the cardiovascular system.
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Physically they do not have the same strength as men and cannot pass the ball as strongly as they do, resulting in less fast switches of the field of play and slower passes.
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Statistically, there are more turnovers in women's soccer resulting in less continuity. I think this is because female soccer players are not used to playing vertically quickly (decision making) and are overconfident in their abilities to connect passes over longer distances.
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So the intensity of the game is slower because the spaces on the field do not change, so as coaches and tactical specialists, we have to look for new solutions in training, working, and playing different games because the game is totally different! You cannot train a women's team in the same way as a men's team and expect the same results in performance. The women's game is a different sport and I think we have to focus more on how we can create spaces and take advantage of them quickly on the field since we know that the opponent cannot cover the field as quickly as normal. Therefore, it is essential that we create numerical superiorities and break lines of pressure through ball movement (possession and circulation) and then use our physically fit players to run, fix, or break lines of pressure by driving with the ball.
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The solution:
Taking all this into account, I am going to create more intelligent, more technical, faster players, and increase and close the pace of the game to the men's game with faster circulation, more precise collective plays, and to dominate the rival with possession. I plan to...
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Create more intelligent players on an individual - tactical level to teach our players fundamental secrets - characteristics in keeping and maintening posession of the ball against high pressing teams and also how to work as a group in technical-tactical movements and who know their roles in each phase of the game according to my Game Model.
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¿How? Working my game model with the ideas of periodization tactics, which is very elaborate although simple, based on circulation and possession with larger spaces than normal to require more movements and more realistic passes in games. Tasks will always focus on the beginning of the game but will always be connected and incorporated with aspects of the actual game and the game model.​
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Create faster players by breaking lines of pressure to change the pace of the game, in addition to being powerful in transitions.
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¿How? I would like to train the girls on a collective level to recognize when we we have broken the first line of defense and that once we do this, we need to have a dramatic change in pace to take advantage of the vertical space. (See Juego de Posicion)
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​​I would also like to work closely with the physical trainer to include specific work in the gym to strengthen the different parts of the leg to create players who can pass the ball stronger.
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Search for the best female soccer players in the US to create the most competitive squads.
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¿How? I played in the top division (NCAA Div. 1) universities in the US and still have many connections with many universities where the best female soccer players in the US currently play. There is a lot of talent in the US that can contribute to the success of USA and our goals. I can speak English and Spanish and have coached players of different languages ​​with fluency and confidence.
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Another characteristic of my coaching style, which is distinctive from others, is that in addition to training future footballers, I want to form and help educate these girls on a personal level.
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¿How? Having coached girls for more than 8 years, I consider myself a specialist in training girls on a psychological level to get the most out of each of my players and I always try to contribute to their success on and off the field. I want to teach them how they should behave, live, and be to be a good person and succeed in any field they choose. The reality is that the majority of female soccer players will not play professional soccer, but I have a responsibility to give them the tools and example to succeed in life.
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This will create more competitive players, increase the spectacle of women´s soccer in USA, and will create the stars of tomorrow that will inspire the next generation.
Preface: I am not claiming the ideas of Tactical Periodization as mine, they are ideas developed by many people, I only explain how I implement them based on countless hours as part of the coaching staff of a 3rd RFEF team in Malaga, Spain, my experiences as a coach in Spain and the USA, hours researching and reading books, taking UEFA courses and countless hours watching others train in Spain. My organization, process and methodology are my own and are a means where I believe I can surely change the future of women's soccer and advance the methodology of soccer in general in the US.
Methodology
The six steps that consist of how I teach and work my soccer philosophy in my teams to get the most out of it and win games.
1
Style of Play
2
Game Model
3
Principles
7
EO: Automatismos
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Tactical Periodization
5 (the most important)
Trainings
6
Match Day
Style of Play
Game Model
Principles
My style of football is based on a Spanish philosophy that consists of attacking and seeking the goal through touch, possession, association between teammates, skill, and individuality, taking into account the profiles of the players to get the most out of the team.
I want my teams to dominate the opponent with the ball, always seeking to advance the ball and the team as close to the opponent's goal so that we can close them in their half of the field. How will we do it? We will do this by breaking lines of pressure through circulations, changes in orientation, possession in superiority, and creating moments of superiorities that consist of advantages of space and time. The player who finds himself with that space and time will need to advance or drive vertically as quickly as possible, to close the distance to the rival goal. My goal as a coach is to help them take the ball and the team to the rival's goal and close them in their own field, and there they could demonstrate their skills and creativity to score goals. When we reach that area of ​​the field, I am sure that we will generate many opportunities to score goals and it will make it easier for us to recover the ball after losing it.
Definition
A set of specific playing patterns and principles that the coach wants his team to adopt in all four phases of the game. In simple words, how the coach wants his team to play.
**I am aware that the Game Model depends on your players each season but I always try to maintain the base of my Game Model and modify it depending on the effective way to reach the rival field with the players and profiles that I have. My Game Model is always adapting and improving every year.***
They are the rules of action to help the player work and coordinate her activities (individually and collectively during the different phases of the game) to reach the team's common objectives.
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These principles are always connected to the Game Model and we work on them in each training microcycle to create habits in order to maintain high levels of performance.
Ataque Organizado
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Juego combinativo → circulaciones / posesión del balón para atraer el rival, control ritmo y buscar el hombre libre por fuera o dentro.
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El jugar que se encuentra con espacio y tiempo, vaya por dentro y ataca los espacios entre jugadores para terminar en frente del área
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Buscamos 1x1,2x1,2x3 en bandas (superioridad) y hacemos buscamos desmarques a la caja, paredes, doblamientos, c. laterales, tiros
Defensa Organizado
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Presion alta en pares con dos en cada salida de balon à si rompen la primera lÃnea de presion, hacemos una falta.
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Una vez que empiezan su fase de creación, pasemos a 4-14-1 o 4-2-3-1. (Orden)
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El Delantero inicia presion de robar cuando llegan a ¾ campo, todo el equipo bascula a lado fuerte.
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Carril central: tapar lÃneas de pase, compactos por miedo, agresivos, vigilancia y cobertura de lÃnea de defensa
Transición Ofensiva
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Si robamos en ¾ campo --> Queremos jugar verticalmente y finalizar, pero si no hay opciones, reiniciamos el ataque organizado y la circulación.
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Si robamos en campo propio --> reiniciar el ataque organizado y la circulaciones / posesión.
Transición Defensiva
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5 segundos de alta presión de (2) jugadores más cercanos para robar, si no puede robar, falta, y no llego a la falta, la lÃnea de cuatro replegué.
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La lÃnea de fondo cae inmediatamente 10 yardas frente al área para proteger la porterÃa.
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Priorizamos defiendo la por dentro y en frente del área en transiciones.
Ejemplo: Principios, Sub-Principios, Acciones Técnica - Táctico
Microcycle (Periodization)
Trainings
For me, creating tasks connected to my Game Model is the most important thing as a coach because it allows me to surround my team with the principles of playing.
Matches
You can be the best coach at teaching your game model, but if you don't win games, you're honestly nothing.
The organization and planning of how you are going to carry out the periodization of working on the Game Model, which depends on the number of training sessions and the day of the game. It is important that we have a structure or automatism of the microcycle to always guarantee the presence of our game model.
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I prefer to work on only one Principle each week based on the last match so that the players can consciously and subconsciously focus on improving that aspect. In my experience it is better to improve a principle and then add ideas, concepts, and complexity.
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The physical load is also taken into account so that the players can perform at their maximum since the players can only exercise a high level demand four days after a maximum demand demand (matches).
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The progression of game situations gets closer the closer we get to game day to connect all the concepts of the week.
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Finally and probably the most important point that we have to take into account, that the tasks always focus on a principle of the game but also have to incorporate all aspects of the game.
The most important part of all the steps because the coach will need to not only choose the tasks he/she wants to work on and that are connected to everything, but honestly, as a coach, he/she has to have his/her principles and Game Model very internalized to be able to correct, give "feedback" to their players, and to work on the instructions or rules that ultimately form the autonomous habits that the players need to perform in matches under stress and pressure.
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How I choose my excercises>
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It always starts with the objective and principle of the microcycle that we want to work on.
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Then you see the tactical periodization that you have created for your team on what day you are in the microcycle.
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Each day of training you have to have a natural progression from the warm-up to the final part.
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The norm is that you start with exercises in small spaces more focused with sectoral tasks and you seek to work on SubSubprinciples and progress to larger spaces with intersectoral tasks with direction or goals and you seek to work on Subprinciples with are related to the previous tasks of that day. ¡Everything always needs to be connected!​
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Then I look in my training files, which I have saved and continue to grow, to choose the appropriate task and if necessary, I change the rules or mini objectives of the training to look for something specific in the task.
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For example: reduce the number of touches so that the players play faster.​
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You have to take into account your rival in the next match and put conditions and tasks into how you want to face the rival. So, your training has to continue improving the Game Model and adjusting different aspects depending on how you are going to plan your match against the rival.
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For example: You want to take advantage of the wings in the next game: you can choose tasks or modify the conditions of the task by focusing and working to finish playing on the outside or on the wings.
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As a coach this is the preparation that focuses most of my time. every training:
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I prepare my microcycle objectives in PowerPoint and use my iPad in training.
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I prepare each task in PowerPoint with images, descriptions, instructions, and objectives.
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I use my iPad during training to show the images to my players and explain the objectives, movements, and concepts we want to work on in each task.
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I video record all my training sessions to analyze how I can continue improving as a coach and the team's progression and improvement towards the Game Model.
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My reflection when I see my recordings post traininng:
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Did I explain the concepts deeply but simply and clearly too? Si, No, ¿Porque?
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Did my players carry out the concepts and principles I wanted to work on? Si, No, ¿Porque?
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How can I improve this task or how can I communicate better next time?
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What points did I forget to say or explain for the next training?
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Which players are working hard, which are not? ¿Porque?
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Are there bad habits of some players that I can work with individually and show her recordings of their bad habits?
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Is the intensity of the training enough or do I have to demand more from them?
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​​I record all my training sessions and I take each training session very seriously and I push myself every day as if I were a professional coach, because I want to make a living from this one day and I will do everything possible to continue improving as a trainer.​
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The thing that I always think about matches is a quote from Pep Guardiola where he says that possession is not the objective, it is only a method or tool to reach the opponent's field. Remember that the game model is not the objective, the objective is to work on a game model that will give you the maximum percentage to win the match because today's football depends more and more on tactics as the pace continues to increase every year. Teams capable of making the same movements in each phase of the game will have the best chance of winning a game, so please don't be mistaken in thinking that the objective is for my team to touch the ball more than the other team or for the The objective is to score only by carrying the ball with 20 connected passes...
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It all depends on the squad you have and the profiles of your players and if you really can't play as you want, you will have to change and adjust your match plans depending on your tools to get the most out of your team. Always, always, my goal in my game model is to reach the rival field as effectively as possible to have opportunities to score goals there. If instead of playing on the outside with full-backs, perhaps you have to play more directly or look for midfielders in the middle, but it all depends on whether you can be successful by creating your model with the players you have.
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The match is the moment when everything has to come out and it is the coach's responsibility that each of his players have each instruction, idea, movement, pressure, phase of the game and principle that you want to see very clearly.
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Nothing is perfect so you always have to have plans to adjust things during the game. There are coaches who are good at training and there are coaches who do not know how to work a training session but know how to win games, the best can do both. You have to be able to do both very well.
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As a coach, I always try to give very simple instructions and have a key concept for each game so that the players can focus on that. Like all players in the world, the ability to concentrate is very short so I prefer to put only one concept to carry during the game that is always connected to the context of the game and the game model.
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Questions I'm asking myself during games:
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Are we having success in reaching the rival field? Si, No, ¿Porque?
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Are we succeeding in maintaining possession and pace of play? Si, No, ¿Porque?
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Are there spaces, situations, or players on the other team that I can exploit?
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Where do they hurt us and where do they break the first line of pressure? Si, No, ¿Porque?
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Is my team playing with more intensity, attitude, and running more than the other team?
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The truth is that you cannot control whether you win a game due to many things beyond your control, but the goal is to deserve to win every game.
Operational Strategy: Automatismos
Definition: A way to carry out the tactics of your game model with mechanisms trained and worked between few or several players like a coach creates or uses in his soccer team to achieve a goal in a written way with images or plans.
The part that connects all the previous passes, It is the tool to carry out the tactic at different moments and/or phases of the game. To work the automations successfully you always have to think about the end of your Game Model in mind because this powerful tool makes your ideas of the real tactics on the field. They can be movements, plays, mechanisms between a few or several players but everyone knows that they are making the play at the moment. It requires a lot of intelligence, anticipation, timing, technique, and practice to achieve fluid and successful automatism in your objective. They can also be very specific or more fluid in the sense that players during the game can achieve the goal of automatisms in many different ways. These automatisms can be seen in specific movements in the Build Out phase, Creation phase to break the pressure line, and in the Finishing phase where we want to develop or take advantage of moments of superiority. In defense, it can be used in the form of pressure on the opponent's ball or how you jump on your block.
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Everything really can be what the coach wants, the way to do it, how to do it, but normally it has to be very simple and written so that the players can see how they should move on the field. Here in Spain, each coach and team has their own automatisms or game plans that they use each game or only in particular games. For me this is the secret that I never knew as a coach in the US because I didn't know something like this existed or how I would want to train it during practice sessions.
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How do you train it: Specific Rondos Posicional, Pattern Play, and then displaying it in Inter-Squad Scrimmages. It is very important to have the movements done on full field scrimmages so that the players lear them on a subconscious level. As above, the coach has to have his/her principles and Game Model very internalized to be able to correct, give "feedback" to their players, and to work on the instructions or rules that ultimately form the autonomous habits that the players need to perform in matches under stress and pressure.
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How it comes out in the matches: Verbally calling or demanding the movements until they are done automatically.
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See examples below.
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Note: Like all automatisms, it depends a lot on the player profiles you have and your soccer philosophy.
Example: AO - Z2 Creation Phase - Pivotes Automatismo
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Exanple: OD - Z3 Iniatation of Pressure - Salida de Balon
Technical and Tactical
Faster Players
More Inteligent
More Profesional
Increase Game Pace en Women´s Soccer
• UEFO Pro (Spain - May 2024) • Languages: English, Spanish • Current Team: UE Sants Femení (Primera Catalana Grupo 2) - Sants, Barcelona
Expert in coaching women's soccer + How to work a Game Model based on possession + Specialist in Tactics
If my ideas and beliefs interest you or someone you may know, please feel free to contact me!
Christian Rodriguez
WhatsApp: +34 629 66 89 68
Youtube: .youtube.com/@chrisrodriguezfc/videos
Instagram: instagram.com/chrisrodriguezfc