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Author: Kevin Middleton⭐🔥 Date: Category: Likes: 0 URL: https://www.skool.com/coachingacademy/9v9-discussion
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Ross Whitehead🔥
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Ross Whitehead🔥 • Aug 14🤚 I am . I will probably have lots of questions.2Reply
Ross Whitehead🔥
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Ross Whitehead🔥 • Aug 14🤚 I am . I will probably have lots of questions.2Reply
Ross Whitehead🔥
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Ross Whitehead🔥 • Aug 14🤚 I am . I will probably have lots of questions.2Reply
Chris Unruh
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Chris Unruh • Aug 14I am as well2Reply
Kevin Middleton⭐🔥
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Kevin Middleton⭐🔥 • Aug 14Ask any questions you have. I’m more than happy to answer0Reply
Liam Davis
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Liam Davis • Aug 14I’m finishing out the season at 9v9👍🏻1Reply
Liam Davis
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Liam Davis • Aug 14We play 2-4-2 as it probably suits our squad best, do u have any particular preference yourself?1Reply
Kevin Middleton⭐🔥
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Kevin Middleton⭐🔥 • Aug 14@Liam Davis I played 2-4-2 and 3-4-1 at the teams I took into 9sThe 3-4-1 team went onto play 3-4-2-1 at 11’s. Imagine how difficult that was to teach!1Reply
Liam Davis
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Liam Davis • Aug 14Oh wow😂 I am impressed2Reply
Kevin Middleton⭐🔥
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Kevin Middleton⭐🔥 • Aug 14 (edited)@Liam Davis They managed it and suited their strengths as well0Reply
Liam Davis
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Liam Davis • Aug 14Cud u elaborate Kevin? U had 3 strong mobile boys at back? & a few very technical boys for the dual 10? Was it a 6/8 pivot in midfield? Im looking for inspiration for next season & had maybe foolishly dismissed a back 31Reply
Kevin Middleton⭐🔥
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Kevin Middleton⭐🔥 • Aug 14@Liam Davis All defenders were technical, good passers, strong defenders, but really slow. Playing the 3 gave them security. All defenders were very similar.The wingbacks were very athleticMidfield had a great balance. One sat and took the ball from the defenders. The other was a worker. Again, all midfielders fit these profiles.The 2 CAMs were a mix of creative buzzbombs and players who could run beyond.The strikers were a mixed bagWe could have player 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1 but the lack of pace through the midfield would have killed them.0Reply
Liam Davis
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Liam Davis • Aug 14@Kevin Middleton very gud, 4-3-3 is the one I’m toying with, my only worry being can 3 at such a young age deal with the dimensions & added coverage of ground required for a full pitch midfield job2Reply
Liam Davis
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Liam Davis • Aug 14Any other coaches feel free to join in, I had a formation in mind but I’d love to hear from those who made the step👍🏻2Reply
Steve Miles
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Steve Miles • Aug 14@Liam Davis here is a formation guide I have used in the past. Building the smaller sided games from the 11 a side preferred formationImage from Ray Power1Reply
Liam Davis
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Liam Davis • Aug 14@Steve Miles thanks Steve, had an u14 team before & used 4-2-3-1, really liked it👍🏻0Reply
Ross Whitehead🔥
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Ross Whitehead🔥 • Aug 14 (edited)We are currently playing a 3-2-3 in our 9-a-side pre-season games as it seems to fit our players well. We tried 3-3-2 when we made substitutions in our last game, but had to ditch it as the front two were practically standing on top of each other. Should we keep experimenting with formations or should we stick to what works for us?1Reply
Kevin Middleton⭐🔥
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Kevin Middleton⭐🔥 • Aug 14@Ross Whitehead keep experimenting , Ross. But can you ask the players which one they feel most secure/comfortable in?Also, what’s the plan for 11s?1Reply
Ross Whitehead🔥
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Ross Whitehead🔥 • Aug 14 (edited)@Kevin Middleton To be honest, I’m not sure what the plan for 11s is. Our head coach changed in January. At 7s under the old coach we had been playing 2-3-1, but that left us a bit exposed to counter attacks, so when the new head coach took over, he changed it to a 2-2-2, or a 3-2-1 when we were trying to see the game out (we didn’t win much, so if we had a lead going into the last 5 minutes we always tried to protect it). With the players we have now, 3-2-3 seems a good fit as we can use the wi… See more2Reply
Emrah Yalpur
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Emrah Yalpur • Aug 14Next season my team will be moving up to 9 a side…. 7 a side I play 3-2-1 and next yr i want to play 3-2-3 as I feel this will be a good progression to a 4-3-33Reply
Kevin Middleton⭐🔥
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Kevin Middleton⭐🔥 • Aug 15@Emrah Yalpur I like that plan 👏2Reply
Joe Parr
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Joe Parr • Sep 3 (edited)These tips on formations are great - I coach a Ladies beginners team and we adopt the 1341 system. We also play in the County Trophy which is where we tend to adopt a 451 formation. I suppose the only slight difficulty is introducing extra CB and CM when changing formats. However we do rotate defenders so they are comfortable playing across the back 3 which helps3Reply
Kevin Middleton⭐🔥
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Kevin Middleton⭐🔥 • Sep 3@Joe Parr Sorry Joe, I’m sure this is common knowledge…. but how come you can play in 2 competitions at different number formats?Sounds really interesting!2Reply
Joe Parr
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Joe Parr • Sep 3@Kevin Middleton the West Riding FA run a Women’s Beginners league which is 9v9. They also had a league cup last year in 11v11 format to help with development.We’re also then allowed to enter a team into the County Trophy which includes any beginners teams as well as the bottom divisions in the main 11v11 county league.It’s a great way of developing a pathway for teams to progress from that beginners league into the 11 a side game.We had 3 players last season move onto teams in the county leagues. Great for them and testament to their development.3Reply
Nicolas Andrews-Gauvain
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Nicolas Andrews-Gauvain • Oct 16Just started my second season of 9v9 - glad that I get another season of it next season as I think it will really help my kids develop.3Reply
Jamie Birch🔥
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Jamie Birch🔥 • Oct 16@Nicolas Andrews-Gauvain yep this is all about preparing them for the 11 a side game now. What do you think the key development areas for you and your team are?1Reply
Kevin Middleton⭐🔥
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Kevin Middleton⭐🔥 • Oct 16@Nicolas Andrews-Gauvain I like that they move away from just the one season at 9s2Reply
Lori Griffin
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Lori Griffin • 21d3-3-2 all season. It has worked well. My two strikers are very strong and my center is also very strong and plays well with them. This is a rec team so I don’t have strength in all positions4Reply
Jamie Birch🔥
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Jamie Birch🔥 • 21d@Lori Griffin 👍🏻1Reply
Kevin Middleton⭐🔥
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Kevin Middleton⭐🔥 • 18d@Lori Griffin That’s an interesting formation, Lori. I am guessing your strikers will help defensively as well? And they will give you width sometimes?1Reply
Erik Lin
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Erik Lin • 19dJust finished up our first season of 9v9. We used a 3-4-1 formation for the most part and it worked reasonably well. Biggest challenge was getting the wide midfielders to play so many different roles (helping defend on their side, combining with center midfielders, and also providing width in attack). They ended up tiring easily and it might have been too much responsibility for them.3Reply
Jamie Birch🔥
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Jamie Birch🔥 • 19d@Erik Lin Hi Erik, those roles are very similar to the wing back roles in 11 a side. Have yout thought about trying a 3-3-2? Very solid down the centre and you can move across the pitch as a compact block. Very balanced system.2Reply
Kevin Middleton⭐🔥
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Kevin Middleton⭐🔥 • 19d@Erik Lin great learning curve for them thoCan I ask if you played the same players in the same positions or mixed it up.3Reply
Brandon Jenkins
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Brandon Jenkins • 16dI am. We used the 332 fairly well. How do you like to go about incorporating ball mastery into your sessions? Thank you.4Reply
Kevin Middleton⭐🔥
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Kevin Middleton⭐🔥 • 16d@Brandon Jenkins For this age group, I would be using lots of technical circuits so they get loads of touches and turns at pace.I’ve attached a couple of examples, but there are heaps more in the 9s section of the community. Think there are about 50 technical exercises4Reply
Brandon Jenkins
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Brandon Jenkins • 15dThank you1Reply
Brian Willis
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Brian Willis • 14dI think coaching 9s is my favorite. 7s can be fun but 9s just hits a sweet spot for me. It’s been at least a decade since I coached 11s so maybe it’s recency bias.1Reply
Kevin Middleton⭐🔥
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Kevin Middleton⭐🔥 • 14d@Brian Willis same! I really liked coaching 9s.The times I did it, we only had a year at 9s tho. Which wasn’t enough time1Reply
Brian Willis
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Brian Willis • 12dWant to give this post a boost and ask people what challenges have they run into with the psychology/mindset of players at the 9v9 ages?2Reply
Kevin Middleton⭐🔥
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Kevin Middleton⭐🔥 • 12d@Brian Willis it’s a tough age in the UK as a lot of players are just starting high school3Reply
Ross Whitehead🔥
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Ross Whitehead🔥 • 12d@Brian Willis Switching to 9s from 7s, the pitch is a lot bigger, so you have to get the kids to switch to a “make the ball do the work” mindset or they get tired out quicker. Another thing I’ve noticed is that some kids start to take a real growth spurt, so some of the ones that haven’t have got to get their mentality right otherwise they’ll not want to compete for fear of getting hurt. The flip-side of that is that kids that are bigger and faster have to be reminded that they won’t always be, so it’s important to develop the ball skills to get out of trouble.3Reply
Kevin Middleton⭐🔥
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Kevin Middleton⭐🔥 • 11dGreat discussion everyone1Reply