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Here is a player’s question and my response. I hope this helps some of you out there too:

“… I want a REALLY detailed answer please. I’m totally new to soccer and in about 14 days im going to turn in the paperwork to try out for the team. I’m totally new.

WHAT I WANT TO KNOW:
1: Really good tips and tricks that have helped you out
2: Motivational stuff
3: Every single position and what each position is in charge of doing.
4: how to play
5: Good tricks with the ball
6: How to keep the ball away from enemies.

Please guys he VERY VERY specific. Don’t just write one sentence for each question i asked above. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE!!! And please remember that I’m totally new to this so your going to HAVE to be REALLY RALLY specific!! Please! Make it really long and detailed but really easy to understand. I’m TOTALLY NEW IF I HAVENT ALREADY MENTIONED THAT!…”
_______

Hi ______,

I’ll be as specific as I can here and I have something else for you too. Let’s look at that first.
Open a new browser window and go to: www.SoccerSkillology.com

This is a skill development system I published earlier this year and you can take the FREE TRIAL by clicking the link on the home page. That gives you free access to the entire program for one week. While that’s not enough time to learn to be a player, it’s certainly enough time to get started and decide if you would like to subscribe.

For your questions above, #s 1, 5, and 6 are addressed throughout the whole program. There are 45 video books with detailed written explanations and narrated video demonstrations. This will help you to learn and focus your practice on the critical points of executing each skill.

We’ll look at Questions 3 and 4 together. It is difficult to give a specific answer for several reasons.
Roles tend to vary according to how the coach wants to play and how the players are capable of playing. Try to think more about what a team must do rather than which player should do it.
A team must create scoring chances, score goals, and prevent goals against. It’s a simple game.

A beginning point for team organization is to think of “The Lines” of the team.
This can be especially helpful in defending. As a player, team, and coach mature, the idea of “Lines” in attack should give way to something more “fluid.” Where defense should be about balance and symmetry, a creative attack can be quite imbalanced and asymmetrical. That allows room for the talent to play and can help make the attack less predictable. [This takes time. It has to be encouraged in the way players develop and the way the team trains.]
But to begin with, everyone attacks and everyone defends.
The Goalkeeper is the last line of defense and the first line of attack.
In front of the GK there is a Back Line (“Defenders”), a Midfield Line (“Midfielders”), and a Forward Line (“Forwards” or “Strikers”).
When not in possession of the ball you want to get “compact” from front to back (including the GK) and from side to side. This makes it more difficult for the opponent to play through you. When there is a small space between your backs and your GK, it is difficult for the opponent to get behind your defense. If they can’t get through you and they can’t get behind you, your opponents will have a very difficult time scoring goals.

I like to think of attacking soccer as trying to find the path of least resistance. Resistance can come in several forms. (With an overly complicated attack, you create your own resistance.)

While a few teams may be good at defending, most are not well organized. For optimal success, find the thing(s) that your opponent does poorly and make them do a lot of that.
For example, if your opponent is poor at communicating and organizing their defense, you might attack by connecting a series of short passes rapidly and combine them with intelligent player movement. This will exploit their weakness. If your opponent’s back line squeezes high up the field and the GK stays very deep near the goal (most do), there will be a large space between the backs and the GK. I like to say that “space is an invitation.” “Where the opponent gives you space to play, that is where you make them pay.” [Kindly cite me as a reference when you quote me:)]
Space behind the defense means you should play passes into the space for runners breaking in behind the defense. This is different from “Kick and Run” where some teams just launch long balls as far as they can in the hope that the opponent will make mistakes. It’s no fun and does nothing to develop players. It’s the equivalent of NFL teams punting the ball on first down all the time. The league would die.

Speaking of the NFL, think of how those teams attack. Run, run, pass, run, pass. Good soccer is like that too. Move the ball from side to side testing the defense. If they don’t defend honestly, that is where you attack. Just be willing to pull back and try again somewhere else when you get closed down. It can take a lot of jabs to set up a knock out punch. Solve the puzzle of the opponent’s defense and go to work on them.

This has turned into a coaching course.
I have given you some specifics here, but the best learning is actually just good old fashioned trial and error…and trial and error…and trial and error…and trial… [never stop on an error:)]

As far as motivation goes, fun comes first. People rarely fail to do what they find to be fun. We actually tend to go to great lengths to discover fun wherever it may be. That said, try the Skill Development Course on the website. There are instructional videos and printable charts there so you can begin to track your progress. Seeing your success and feeling the enjoyment that comes from learning to play the world’s greatest game will help fuel your internal motivation.
Self-Motivation is the only real kind of motivation there is.

Good luck to you ______. Enjoy your training.

Mike