TECHNICAL CORNER
Soccer players must learn fundamental skills and tactical awareness to succeed during competitive games. Important soccer skills to master include ball control, passing, dribbling, shooting and defending. Tactical awareness involves the ability to know your role and have positional awareness on the field, and possessing the ability to make good decisions.
The fundamental skills of soccer are vital to the development of a soccer player. You must have the ability to trap the ball and keep possession for your team to be effective during a competitive game. A high level of repetition is the best way to learn fundamental soccer skills.
Soccer skills should be practiced initially under no defensive pressure, with the coach focusing on correct technique. For example, to practice dribbling, the coach should have players dribble a ball around a 20-yard box focusing on technique and keeping the ball under control. Passive resistance should be added by placing a number of cones down and teaching turns to avoid the obstacles. You can next pracrtice dribbling with two or three defenders inside the box attempting to win the ball, and providing game-like defensive pressure.