# Memo to coaches:  You're ruining your keepers, and here's why!



## Mystery Train (Nov 24, 2019)

I know that a significant number of club coaches lurk this forum, and some even actively participate, so I'm hoping this post connects with at least one coach who is willing to consider that he/she could improve their handling of GK's.  I'm mainly talking about high-level, olders club play here, but most of this translates to youngers and even AYSO levels.  Hell, most of the college coaches I've met could use this.  

Here's a (non-comprehensive) list of the things you're probably doing wrong that you had no idea about.  All GK parents or coaches are welcome to add to this.  If you never played the position yourself, you are hereby kindly asked to shut your pie hole and listen.   

Let's start with the assumption that you have a player that wants to be a keeper and has access to a GK trainer who can work on their technique.   Starting at the top, here's what you're doing wrong:  

1. You think that it's about athleticism and physical ability.  Wrong.  It's ALL about mentality.  Keepers need two mental legs to stand on:  Supreme confidence and unbreakable toughness.  They don't start with this built in, so you have to develop it, build it over time and through challenges and losses.

2. Because it's about mentality, what you say (or don't say) to your keeper is 1,000 times more significant than what you're saying to your striker or your defender or any field player.  You can't coach your keeper the same way you coach the rest of the team.  You need to understand this player on a level that goes deeper than your striker.  Strikers are free to make mistakes.  If they make 10 mistakes a game, but get one or two plays just right, they're a freaking hero.  A striker is an attack dog.  Throw it a steak when it's good, scold it when it's bad.  Simple.  Your keeper is a cat.  If you mishandle him/her, he/she will be a fussy, mercurial, mysterious and resentful house cat.  Understand his/her motivations, their buttons, their mental weaknesses and strengths, and you can have a freaking tiger.  But it's going to be tricky, and you better know them inside and out.   To have those cat-like reflexes, you also can't load them up with a lot of micro-instructions, joy-sticking them from the sidelines.  They need clear minds to make those instinctive reaction saves, not a whole computer code formula pre-loaded by you into their brains for every single potential move.  Second guessing and hesitation is the keeper's worst enemy.  

3. You think mistakes/errors are things that can be eliminated.  They can't.  But because you don't know this, you implore and beg and plead or command that your keeper eliminate them instead of coaching them on how to rebound from them or react to the INEVITABLE mistakes and errors.  Every.  F**king.  Keeper.  Alive.  Makes.  Mistakes.  And they always will.  The great ones consistently don't let the mistakes get in their heads, and that's the difference.  But that also requires a coach who allows this process to happen.  Make a mistake, rebound.  Make a mistake, rebound.  

4. Splitting time: You think you can manage the playing time between multiple keepers the same way you do field players.  You can't.  See #1 above.  Your two keepers need to know their roles going into the next match well in advance of kick-off.  At minimum the day before, but preferably a week in advance.  Playing roulette with playing time, rotating time randomly, or using snap decisions on the fly using your coaching instincts in the heat of the moment are going to wreck one or both of your keepers.  Starting a game is different than finishing a game.  Both are critical, but it's a different mental approach.  The starting keeper sets the tone defensively and emotionally for the team.  It's more about strategy, commanding the back, and seeing the field.  In the second half, as the games open up and defenders get tired, the closer will see more shots, and needs to be clear headed and instinctive, and not frantic.  If you like to split them 50/50, make sure they know which role they're playing week to week.  At half, the starter can coach the closer on what's happening, what they're seeing and give them important keys to finishing the game.  

5. Splitting time, part 2: If you prefer to have a #1 who gets most of the minutes and a back-up keeper on hand for injuries or "development", you'd better stop coaching them the same way.  Again, see #1 above.  Labeling someone as the "back-up" is already cutting out one of their mental legs out from under them: confidence.  So you have to give the back-up a little extra boost whenever you can.  Constantly reassure them that their opportunities will be there and you trust them.  More than likely, you are going to need them in an important moment, and they have to be mentally ready.  

6. Splitting time, part 3: The quick hook.  If you've ever pulled a keeper in-game for making a mistake in a youth game, you suck at coaching.  Period.  End of story.  No discussion.  

7. Splitting time, part 4: You think competition is good between your keepers.  You think it "pushes" them.  Wrong.  It usually ends up wrecking one or both, or dividing the team because certain players are closer friends with one or the other.  Instead, develop a culture of accountability where the two keepers cheer each other and train together, warm each other up, and have each other's back.  You're the coach, so you control the culture.  Not the players.  You're either coaching it or you're allowing it.  For better or worse.  So if you've got a rivalry going between your keepers just know it's probably going to get ugly, and it will be your fault. 

8.  You think because you didn't play keeper, you can't really tell your keeper anything about their technique (that's why we have a GK trainer at the club, right?), so you don't provide them much instruction during practices or games. You think your coaching time is more efficiently spent on the things you know better (field players).  Wrong.  All that same information is valuable for your keeper too.  Plus, you have loads of important coaching to provide your keeper on game management, situational awareness, communication, distribution, tactics and game strategy.  Coach your keeper to be your on-field assistant coach, and you'll see tremendous results on the field.  

9.  Your idea of engaging your keeper in practice is to run rapid shooting drills where you send waves of players, two or three at a time at your keeper in fast succession, where they get pristine looks at the goal from 10 yards out.  Worst.  Drills.  Ever.   Keepers rarely get to practice situations that simulate actual in game action:  with a full defense in front of them and 6-7 attacking players flooding the box.  Ditch the rapid-fire shooting drills, which only accomplish the goal of demoralizing your keeper and de-sensitizing them to seeing the ball go into the back of the net, and run more full scrimmages.  Better for your field players, too, btw.  

10.  You think a good keeper means you'll win more games.  Nope.  Keepers don't win games.  A good keeper can turn a potential blow-out into a competitive loss.  A good keeper will make a competitive loss into a draw.  But that's about it.  You win by scoring goals.  The best thing you can do for your keeper's confidence is get your offense in-gear.  Then they don't have to be perfect every single match.  If your keeper lets one roll through their hands, your offense should score two more.  You need to instill that attitude in your field players.  Then they take it as a challenge when your keeper is (inevitably) human, rather than take it out on the one person on the field who isn't allowed mistakes.  

I know there are a lot of others, (play them in the field more, develop their feet, etc.) but these are the ones that I see so frequently, at every age level, that cause me to just shake my head.  My daughter is lucky in that she currently has had a couple of really fantastic coaches who illustrated these differences from the terrible and mediocre ones that she had early on, but one of her keeper friends went through the wringer on a few of these recently, and I just have to vent. 

Stop ruining young keepers!!!


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## espola (Nov 24, 2019)

Did you have a bad time as a youth keeper?


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## dk_b (Nov 24, 2019)

On #9 - you are also running much greater risk of injury to your keeper. Doing flying changes endlessly will result in losing a keeper at some point. You only hope it is minimal and does not require hand surgery (yep) or a concussion or a torn ligament.


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## Mystery Train (Nov 24, 2019)

espola said:


> Did you have a bad time as a youth keeper?


No, I had good, bad, and great times.  Just like anyone who plays for any length of time.  That, plus having two kids go through a decade or so of youth soccer is what gives me the platform to make these rants.  But in my day, decades and decades ago, the soccer scene was nothing like it is now.


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## espola (Nov 24, 2019)

Mystery Train said:


> No, I had good, bad, and great times.  Just like anyone who plays for any length of time.  That, plus having two kids go through a decade or so of youth soccer is what gives me the platform to make these rants.  But in my day, decades and decades ago, the soccer scene was nothing like it is now.


 Well, they certainly were rants.


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## Mystery Train (Nov 24, 2019)

espola said:


> Well, they certainly were rants.


Yes, they were.  Thanks for commenting.


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## forksnbolts (Nov 24, 2019)

There are plenty of coaches that NEED to read this. Great insight! Our private GK trainer went over much of this week in and week out with our son, if not I am not sure he would of made it through this past season.


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## Keepermom2 (Nov 25, 2019)

While it isn't a far stretch for me to agree with EVERYTHING you said considering I generally find your input spot on, I especially love what you just posted.  Just this last weekend we were in semi-finals and finals and I watched as 3 people giving my keeper daughter instruction right before the game to deal with the wind etc.  I chuckled in my head because well meaning people that have some great insight don't realize that insight is best used in training and has the opposite impact right before the game.  I have instructed my daughter to listen with respect and nod her head and let that information go until we can talk about it after the game because it is of no use to her during the game anyway.  (She is well trained in ignoring me and what I want her to do to clean her room etc. so I told her to use the same principles)  Her job is to get the ball and her brain has been programmed how to do that and if it hasn't been, it will be.

We had one really bad coach that would yell at my daughter before PKs to let her know they were counting on her to stay in the playoff.  I looked at that coach and told her she just guaranteed a loss.  I told my daughter that the time she should feel the least amount of stress is during PKs because she only has the opportunity to be a hero and not the villian.  Any coach that thinks otherwise is an idiot.  Another coach yelled at my daughter when she was 9 years old because he told her how to handle the wind in Lancaster before the game and she didn't do it like he said.  

I also know of a coach that pulled a Keeper after a mistake and that pretty much guaranteed issues for at least the next several games because that coach took that 8 year old's confidence and smashed it into the ground.  Confidence is key to being a Keeper.


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## LMULions (Nov 25, 2019)

Agree COMPLETELY with #10 - something I have been preaching for years.  By far, the most important position on the field.  Where else on the soccer field are you not allowed a single mistake?  And unlike most any other role on the field mistakes are almost always a result of not being bold/brave/fearless enough.  It's a different world - where some of their best games are 0-1 or 0-2 losses. (With some 0-0 and 1-1 draws in the mix)  

The "splitting time" or knowing your role is often more difficult to accommodate in youth-soccer. Ideally, I think knowing whether she is going to play 1st or 2nd helps my kid, but giving the coach the benefit of the doubt, it's not always possible. Too many variables - strength of the team you're playing, how is the coach going to use the 2 GK's in the field, return from injuries, etc.  I completely agree that the 1st Half GK sets the tone - how may times have you seen a lower-seeded team compete and play a 1st-place team even after an early save or two from a good GK?   But, ultimately, they can't score, their best-result is keeping the game close.


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## LMULions (Nov 25, 2019)

Keepermom2 said:


> While it isn't a far stretch for me to agree with EVERYTHING you said considering I generally find your input spot on, I especially love what you just posted.  Just this last weekend we were in semi-finals and finals and I watched as 3 people giving my keeper daughter instruction right before the game to deal with the wind etc.  I chuckled in my head because well meaning people that have some great insight don't realize that insight is best used in training and has the opposite impact right before the game.  I have instructed my daughter to listen with respect and nod her head and let that information go until we can talk about it after the game because it is of no use to her during the game anyway.  (She is well trained in ignoring me and what I want her to do to clean her room etc. so I told her to use the same principles)  Her job is to get the ball and her brain has been programmed how to do that and if it hasn't been, it will be.
> 
> We had one really bad coach that would yell at my daughter before PKs to let her know they were counting on her to stay in the playoff.  I looked at that coach and told her she just guaranteed a loss.  I told my daughter that the time she should feel the least amount of stress is during PKs because she only has the opportunity to be a hero and not the villian.  Any coach that thinks otherwise is an idiot.  Another coach yelled at my daughter when she was 9 years old because he told her how to handle the wind in Lancaster before the game and she didn't do it like he said.
> 
> I also know of a coach that pulled a Keeper after a mistake and that pretty much guaranteed issues for at least the next several games because that coach took that 8 year old's confidence and smashed it into the ground.  Confidence is key to being a Keeper.




It took me a while, but I have come around to this line of thinking too.  Having a GK who plays field helps here, she realizes that all the pressure of a PK is on the person taking the kick.  If she can make contact with 1 or 2 kicks, its a win.


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## newwavedave (Nov 25, 2019)

Mystery Train said:


> I know that a significant number of club coaches lurk this forum, and some even actively participate, so I'm hoping this post connects with at least one coach who is willing to consider that he/she could improve their handling of GK's.  I'm mainly talking about high-level, olders club play here, but most of this translates to youngers and even AYSO levels.  Hell, most of the college coaches I've met could use this.
> 
> Here's a (non-comprehensive) list of the things you're probably doing wrong that you had no idea about.  All GK parents or coaches are welcome to add to this.  If you never played the position yourself, you are hereby kindly asked to shut your pie hole and listen.
> 
> ...


I didn't know coaches came on here.  All the one's I talked to told me it was poison and toxic and will just bring one down.  I did sign a parent contract with one club that said I was 100% forbid to post on here.  So I think the TMs patrol and some Oligarchs and then they give word to the coach and Doc and depending on club Dr and coach, the punishment can be grave.  Coaches said just bitter parents whose kids were a flop and are voicing their rants and they don't have time to read out what they've been hearing for years from the same parents.


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## outside! (Nov 25, 2019)

Keepermom2 said:


> We had one really bad coach that would yell at my daughter before PKs to let her know they were counting on her to stay in the playoff.  I looked at that coach and told her she just guaranteed a loss.  I told my daughter that the time she should feel the least amount of stress is during PKs because she only has the opportunity to be a hero and not the villian.  Any coach that thinks otherwise is an idiot.  Another coach yelled at my daughter when she was 9 years old because he told her how to handle the wind in Lancaster before the game and she didn't do it like he said.


On the flipside, coaches need to give positive instructions to players that are going to take a PK. DD was in a game that went to PK's. The last thing the assistant coach said to her before she went on the field was "Don't kick it over the bar." Guess what happened? Thanks Rick.


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## Mystery Train (Nov 25, 2019)

newwavedave said:


> I didn't know coaches came on here.  All the one's I talked to told me it was poison and toxic and will just bring one down.  I did sign a parent contract with one club that said I was 100% forbid to post on here.  So I think the TMs patrol and some Oligarchs and then they give word to the coach and Doc and depending on club Dr and coach, the punishment can be grave.  Coaches said just bitter parents whose kids were a flop and are voicing their rants and they don't have time to read out what they've been hearing for years from the same parents.


They have rabbit ears, so yeah, they’re lurking for sure.  But there’s at least three coaches that I am familiar with on here who openly contribute to threads and discussion.  They are classy and positive and stay away from the troll talk for the most part.

This forum is like any other place on the internet.  If you want to find good information and discussion you can, you just have to know when you’re being trolled, and not react to those pitiful ones who feel good when making other people feel bad.  Evidence above.


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## MyDaughtersAKeeper (Nov 25, 2019)

Excellent post.  I would add one more: Tell the parents to STFU and not try tp "help" the keeper with their advice.  I can assure you that my DD does not care at all if you "were a keeper in HS,"  played keeper as a kid," etc...  She does not care and wants you to shut up.  On our team we have a mom who played keeper in college, she does not say a word unless directly asked; excellent role model.


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## LMULions (Nov 25, 2019)

a


MyDaughtersAKeeper said:


> Excellent post.  I would add one more: Tell the parents to STFU and not try tp "help" the keeper with their advice.  I can assure you that my DD does not care at all if you "were a keeper in HS,"  played keeper as a kid," etc...  She does not care and wants you to shut up.  On our team we have a mom who played keeper in college, she does not say a word unless directly asked; excellent role model.



same exact experience.  We have had a couple parents who played in college and they were always the ones who provided the least direction during games.  As an assistant coach, or with coach's permission, they helped run practices and provided instruction during practice sessions, but they were always the least likely to try to coach or provide instruction during a game.


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## Keepermom2 (Nov 25, 2019)

outside! said:


> On the flipside, coaches need to give positive instructions to players that are going to take a PK. DD was in a game that went to PK's. The last thing the assistant coach said to her before she went on the field was "Don't kick it over the bar." Guess what happened? Thanks Rick.


Agree completely!  I remember playing golf with my father and he put a chipped up ball down for me because he told me I was going to probably hit it in the water.  This was right after I had a lesson with a pro who told me how important the mental piece was in golf and that I needed to think positively.  Guess what happened....yep I hit it in the water.


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## espola (Nov 25, 2019)

Keepermom2 said:


> Agree completely!  I remember playing golf with my father and he put a chipped up ball down for me because he told me I was going to probably hit it in the water.  This was right after I had a lesson with a pro who told me how important the mental piece was in golf and that I needed to think positively.  Guess what happened....yep I hit it in the water.


So they were both right.


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## Grace T. (Nov 25, 2019)

Mystery Train said:


> 10.  You think a good keeper means you'll win more games.  Nope.  Keepers don't win games.  A good keeper can turn a potential blow-out into a competitive loss.  A good keeper will make a competitive loss into a draw.  But that's about it.  You win by scoring goals.  The best thing you can do for your keeper's confidence is get your offense in-gear.  Then they don't have to be perfect every single match.  If your keeper lets one roll through their hands, your offense should score two more.  You need to instill that attitude in your field players.  Then they take it as a challenge when your keeper is (inevitably) human, rather than take it out on the one person on the field who isn't allowed mistakes.


This is actually substantiated in a chapter in "Soccernomics".  It's why goalkeeper salaries tend to be lower than a good striker salary, winger, or attacking mid.  A good goalkeeper can help out defensively and in starting the attack, but they can't win the game for the team, and the market for their salary as a result bears this out.

Besides my pet peeve which I always rant on (goalkicks), here's my contribution: don't compare keepers (whether on the same team or another).  A prior team my son played on faced in League Cup a team with a keeper that was really good at tipping over bar...a spectacular tip over bar which for a 10 year old is very impressive since few can do it well at that age....kid apparently played volleyball as well.  My son had no idea how to tip over bar.  Tipping over bar is actually a bit of a desperation move that has more of a wow entertainment factor and the keeper at that age should catch if possible (to not give up the corner).   My son has actually only just got this year to high balls (at game this weekend had two spectacular high saves, and one he flubbed when he half decided whether to catch or tip), has made great progress but is still working on mastering it, and at the time was working on other things (solid on the catch, working on speed of diving).  After a great spectacular tip over bar by the opposing keeper, the assistant coach yelled at him "You see....that's what you have to do!".  The opposing keeper was great with the high ball but not as good with the lower shots, at U11 most shots by kids are shot into the air (side note: is this by the way we train or do just kids naturally do this at this age?), and the correct answer would have been (instead of asking DS to perfect a technique he wasn't training right in the middle of a game) to instruct the strikers to start hitting it low.

Coaches shouldn't compare keepers.  A keeper like my son trained with his particular trainer is going to be fantastic at catching.  A keeper with some baseball cross over is going to be great at that high catch.  A keeper who is very aggressive and/or trains with Big Joe is going to be an animal with the 1 v 1 and body blocks.  There are some keepers that are better than others all around, and there are some keepers with more training than others all around, but given the great amount of material there is out there to learn, no keeper (particularly at the younger ages) is gonna know all of them.


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## Futbol30 (Nov 25, 2019)

Great Post!! Hopefully this makes it way to some coaches... #1 is so important to the position. Field players as well, but 100% more for the GK
Thanks for posting...


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## G07KeeperMom (Nov 25, 2019)

Thanks for sharing your insights.   You make many valid and interesting points!   We have not played on a team where we've shared time yet, but I know that time is coming as my daughter plays at higher levels and your points regarding sharing time made a lot of sense to me.    Thanks!


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## cheaper2keeper (Nov 25, 2019)

My contribution is this:

11. Have constant communication with the clubs keeper trainer to know what they are currently working on and provide feedback on what you see in the game. For my DD only the current club she is at does this. The rest seemed to just let the keeper go to training and expect that all the issues they've had in games to be addressed by the next game without any effort on their part to make the trainer aware.


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## Keepermom2 (Nov 25, 2019)

cheaper2keeper said:


> My contribution is this:
> 
> 11. Have constant communication with the clubs keeper trainer to know what they are currently working on and provide feedback on what you see in the game. For my DD only the current club she is at does this. The rest seemed to just let the keeper go to training and expect that all the issues they've had in games to be addressed by the next game without any effort on their part to make the trainer aware.


Right?!  I ensure my daughter communicates with the trainer and I text the trainers the good and the bad.  If I have videos I send them to him.  They always seem to appreciate it because they want to make my daughter better too.


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## Grace T. (Nov 26, 2019)

cheaper2keeper said:


> My contribution is this:
> 
> 11. Have constant communication with the clubs keeper trainer to know what they are currently working on and provide feedback on what you see in the game. For my DD only the current club she is at does this. The rest seemed to just let the keeper go to training and expect that all the issues they've had in games to be addressed by the next game without any effort on their part to make the trainer aware.



It helps if the keeper trainer is working one on one with the keeper or in a very small group with like sorted keepers.  Otherwise, it's really tough for the keeper coach.  One kid might already have the catching skills down, while another needs to be working on the drop step.  One might be having timing issues on the dive, while another needs to work on distribution. My son has been frustrated with club keeper training these last 2 years (I tell him he needs to suck it up somewhat)....his stance and his catch are really solid already but at the beginning of every season there's a new keeper and the keeper coach has to work the basics, meanwhile the others aren't ready to work on those high balls and the drop step like he's working on now.  The keeper coach is in an impossible situation of trying to help everyone.  Don't get me wrong....repeating the basics helps every keeper and the keeper coach does a fantastic job of making it extra challenging for him by putting pace on the ball....but parents sometimes get frustrated if the keeper coach doesn't address the specific problems in games (it's not really fair....perhaps the kid isn't ready to address that problem yet and has to work on other basics, and maybe the class isn't there yet either). 

It also helps if the keeper coach is on staff and can go to the games to watch and coach the player one on one.  My son's first club was set up that way, but they had way too much turnover in the position (4 in 1 year) and several of them weren't great, but when it worked it was really helpful.

That's why I think so many keeper parents are forced to become knowledgeable in the position, because in many clubs neither the coach nor the keeper trainer can address the keeper's issues and parents have to find other means to address it.


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## Keeper pops (Nov 27, 2019)

To Mystery Train, BRAVO for this write up and I agree with you 100% from #1-#10. My DD has had a few years of being on a  team with 2 keepers with the last 2 seasons as the #2 keep. We have accepted the situation and she likes to be the closer of the game: Win, Lose or Draw. You can say “she’s been there done that”

The “joy sticking” to me has been personally the most irritating one. A recent scenario. A foul occurred near or inside the box. CR calls foul in the box for a PK. DD always picks up the ball, stands by the PK spot and does her stare down to the kicker. CR immediately tells my DD to put the ball down so she did then. Coach yells at my DD that it’s not a PK and why did you put the ball down on the PK spot. CR & AR discussed and agreed  the foul was just outside the box for a free kick. DD starts to set up her line as she has been doing it countless times thru keeper training. Joysticker yells and instructts my DD what to do with the last words “watch the ball,”  Ball sailed above the cross bar. Really, she’s not a U little keeper anymore.


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## socalkdg (Nov 27, 2019)

#3 I'm happy to say our coach stepped up for my daughter about a month back.   She let one in she shouldn't have.   Resulted in 2-2 tie.  After the game he told the team my daughter had saved their butts numerous times and that everyone makes a mistake.   I'd also add to the list the requirement to allow the keeper to take their own goal kicks.


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## espola (Nov 27, 2019)

socalkdg said:


> #3 I'm happy to say our coach stepped up for my daughter about a month back.   She let one in she shouldn't have.   Resulted in 2-2 tie.  After the game he told the team my daughter had saved their butts numerous times and that everyone makes a mistake.   I'd also add to the list the requirement to allow the keeper to take their own goal kicks.


I wouldn't unless they show in practice that they are better at it than the big defender.


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## Yak (Nov 28, 2019)

espola said:


> I wouldn't unless they show in practice that they are better at it than the big defender.


IMO this is a litmus test for whether coach is focused on winning vs. player development.  If the big CB is taking the kicks then the focus is on winning.  Also should be learning to play out of the back.


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## Mystery Train (Nov 28, 2019)

Yak said:


> IMO this is a litmus test for whether coach is focused on winning vs. player development.  If the big CB is taking the kicks then the focus is on winning.  Also should be learning to play out of the back.


This ^^^^  100% spot on.


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## Dargle (Nov 28, 2019)

Yak said:


> IMO this is a litmus test for whether coach is focused on winning vs. player development.  If the big CB is taking the kicks then the focus is on winning.  Also should be learning to play out of the back.


Not to mention it's bad for the defense because the center back is out of position when they take the goal kick. I saw a League Cup game last weekend where a team had a CB who could kick it to midfield on a fly.  Problem was the other team's CB figured that out pretty quickly and sent a volley on the fly back to the top of the box where the unmarked striker (kept onside by the goal kick taker and the GK) controlled it and scored a goal because it was easy to move around the CB goal kick taker who was still running toward him to get into position rather than being set.


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## espola (Nov 28, 2019)

Yak said:


> IMO this is a litmus test for whether coach is focused on winning vs. player development.  If the big CB is taking the kicks then the focus is on winning.  Also should be learning to play out of the back.


Having the keeper take long goal kicks is exactly the opposite of building out of the back.


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## espola (Nov 28, 2019)

Dargle said:


> Not to mention it's bad for the defense because the center back is out of position when they take the goal kick. I saw a League Cup game last weekend where a team had a CB who could kick it to midfield on a fly.  Problem was the other team's CB figured that out pretty quickly and sent a volley on the fly back to the top of the box where the unmarked striker (kept onside by the goal kick taker and the GK) controlled it and scored a goal because it was easy to move around the CB goal kick taker who was still running toward him to get into position rather than being set.


What should the CB position be on a goal kick?


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## Yak (Nov 28, 2019)

espola said:


> Having the keeper take long goal kicks is exactly the opposite of building out of the back.


Point is that GKs need to learn to do both and make decisions based on the game situation.  Once the CB is called up, it's only going long.


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## Dargle (Nov 28, 2019)

espola said:


> What should the CB position be on a goal kick?


Depends upon where the strikers are located, but, generally speaking, standing inside the six yard box near the GK places you some distance away from anywhere useful


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## Grace T. (Nov 28, 2019)

espola said:


> What should the CB position be on a goal kick?


If u are  11v11 using the classic Barcelona buildout with the option to go short or long, the DM is at the top of the box looking to hold on the breakaway counter but is not so far deep that it will keep a long ball passed over the top onside  The CB's both split wide to give options on the short goalkick, and ready to run up and support the DM (so you have 3 players controlling the center) if the ball is not passed to them, and the RB and the LB play higher ready to provide options to the CB when they receive the ball.

If you pull back the CB then it forces you to use the RB and the LB on the wide to provide the option, the second CB replaces the DM (which means you are giving up not only a CB on the field, but also pulling the RB and LB as possession options back)


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## futboldad1 (Dec 2, 2019)

good read....seen a lot of coaches just totally ignore their GKs....then blame them for every goal like they're meant to be super human....coaches have to interact with their GKs, spend some one on one time with them, even if not warmups at least every few weeks give them some feedback or words of encouragement....its a lonely position and we need more GK's but who the heck wants it with the way many of these coaches just treat them like they don't exist.......


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## Dirtnap (Dec 4, 2019)

Great post. I always make it a point to tell my dd's team keeper great game after every match regardless of the outcome. I grew up playing GK and my very first coach in AYSO was a small little guy from England and he told me some words I will always remember. "The best goalie in the world will never have to touch the ball" be strong, confident and don't be afraid to make mistakes because the ball has to get by 10 other players first.


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## GKDad65 (Dec 16, 2019)

Mystery Train said:


> I know that a significant number of club coaches lurk this forum, and some even actively participate, so I'm hoping this post connects with at least one coach who is willing to consider that he/she could improve their handling of GK's.  I'm mainly talking about high-level, olders club play here, but most of this translates to youngers and even AYSO levels.  Hell, most of the college coaches I've met could use this.
> 
> Here's a (non-comprehensive) list of the things you're probably doing wrong that you had no idea about.  All GK parents or coaches are welcome to add to this.  If you never played the position yourself, you are hereby kindly asked to shut your pie hole and listen.
> 
> ...






Now that was funny!
Continue......


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## MGFMFIERCEG2012 (Mar 10, 2020)

Mystery Train said:


> I know that a significant number of club coaches lurk this forum, and some even actively participate, so I'm hoping this post connects with at least one coach who is willing to consider that he/she could improve their handling of GK's.  I'm mainly talking about high-level, olders club play here, but most of this translates to youngers and even AYSO levels.  Hell, most of the college coaches I've met could use this.
> 
> Here's a (non-comprehensive) list of the things you're probably doing wrong that you had no idea about.  All GK parents or coaches are welcome to add to this.  If you never played the position yourself, you are hereby kindly asked to shut your pie hole and listen.
> 
> ...



Thank you.


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