Coerver Coaching host Intro course for United RTCs

“The foundation of Coerver is skill at a young age,” he says. “Once you’ve got that as a base, the other parts come. The modern game is quicker; there’s less time, less space and defences are more organised. If you don’t have that element of skill, that mastery of first touch, passing, winning the 1v1s, then the game becomes a real challenge. It’s about giving the players those basics.

“Once you’ve got that as a base and you’ve progressed as a player, it’s about polishing and refining, it becomes more functional around the position they play in the team. So, if I’m a winger, how can I get more crosses into the box; if I’m a striker, can I create more chances with my back to goal; if I’m a midfielder, how can I switch the play more effectively?”

AN EXAMPLE OF COERVER COACHING

Wright held a couple of lectures with United’s RTC coaching staff. On the theme of 1v1s, which Coerver massively emphasises – Wright says football is a game with lots of much smaller games, 1v1s, within it – one coach asks how to train a fantastic 1v1 player who doesn’t pass enough. One solution offered is to overload the defenders, make it a 1v3 and make it harder for the player. Then give them a team-mate, make it 2v3 or 2v4, and force them into combination play. The key is to engineer a situation in which the players themselves work out that passing is essential to success, rather than simply telling them.