By Coach Cip

I have worn more cleats than I can remember over my playing career and I am yet to find a pair of synthetic boots that mirrors the properties of leather.  The R9 Nike Mercurial was the closest and more recently the CTR 360. These two were very comfortable, but I am a player who relies very heavily on touch and technique because of my build. I was not 100% comfortable on the ball. The intricate dexterity was missing.

There was also a huge problem in wet weather with the synthetic, as the ball seemed to slide off the boot in situations where you had to stretch and could not get a full surface to the ball to soften the bounce or change the direction of the ball. Then we had the problem with break in. It took much longer than leather boots and I had to suffer through blisters. Always on my heel for some reason (I think I wear my cleats too small to be honest).  I do not blister in leather though.

I have worn many major brands on the market over my 30 years of playing. They include Adidas, Nike, Puma, Diadora, Lotto,  Pirma, Concord, Umbro and Mizuno. I now only wear Nike and Adidas. The Adipure IIs were fantastic if you like blades on the sole. I did not like the first version or the third. The new Adipure IV is available in mid January, so I will try a pair of these. The  Nike Tiempos  are also great cleats. A little heavier, but they have great touch.

Adidas Adipure IV

I have gone through many phases as a player, as far as choice of footwear goes. I have come to the conclusion that there is beauty in simplicity. This is how I now choose my footwear.

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I’m going to make some general statements in this post. Like everything, there are exceptions to every rule, but in my experience what I am talking about today pretty much holds true across the board.

“When you coach boys, you manage egos. When you coach girls, you manage emotions.”

• Girls tend to be more analytical than boys. This means girls will not take generalities at face value. They will want to know why they should do something a particular way more than boys will.
• Team unity is more important to girls than boys.
• Girls may place more emphasis on ‘fair play’ than boys who are more likely to bend the rules.
• Boys are more likely than girls to blame other people (the referee, the weather, the coach) if they lose. Girls have a tendency to blame themselves for a poor performance.
• For girls, winning is not as important as making sure every player gets an equal amount of playing time.
• Males appear to be more ‘self’ or ‘ego’ oriented and tend to be more ‘win at any cost’ in their approach to sport.

Boys need to be motivated more often than girls. Boys need to have ultimatums put in place that give them the motivation to excel at a higher level. In contrast, girls need to feel that you trust them, and will give them the opportunity to have input into the situation. To state it as simply as possible, boys need to respect you and fear you as a coach, while girls need to respect you and buy into your philosophy.

With older boys it is possible to “call out” a specific player in front of the group. The other boys will be motivated to not be called out themselves.

With girls this will often turn the team against you. It is much better to address them as a group, and them privately deal with individual players.

Like I said, these are not hard and fast rules, but have been generally true in my experience.

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Soccer Goalkeeper Jerseys

If you guys watch soccer players and goalkeepers seem to have some kind of turtle neck around there neck and i was wondering whats it called.
Julio Caesar in Inter Milan usually wears it.

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Learn how to defend yourself if an attacker grabs your shirt with two hands. Expert: Jason Hall Bio: Jason Hall is a professional martial arts instructor who teaches martial arts, tai chi, and self defense classes for men, women and children.

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As a general rule the USSF is not a big fan of coaches being involved as players in the sessions. Their contention is that coaches playing in the sessions really manipulate the way the players act.

Younger players want to please the coach, so they will try to get the ball to you at all times, even when this is not the best decision.

You don’t want to be involved in this way. There are some advantages however, to having coaches who have played at a high level be involved in a session.

Players learn best by imitation so if you are able to model good technique it can be beneficial to your players.

A coach with Guardiola's playing credentials should not have a problem jumping into a session himself…even with a team like Barcelona!

However, you don’t want to be the one dictating play; you should be serving a more subservient role. It is important for the kids to be able to see what a good soccer player does on the pitch. Set a good example.

Having a coach as a facilitator can help younger players experience possession and rhythm. You know if you are doing a proper job if the collective quality of play improves when you are a part of the session.

More importantly, is the quality of play sustained when you are no longer involved?

Having a coach as a neutral player helps accomplish this.

If you do step in, you have to be honest with yourself as to whether you are good enough and fit enough to play with the kids that you are coaching.

You don’t want to be the cause of the breakdown. If your playing adds to the intensity and quality of the game, then the kids can learn a lot from observation. Older boys especially like to see that you can practice what you preach.

You certainly don’t want to play in every session, but jumping in from time to time can be valuable. Most of your time should be spent coaching.

Hopefully the kids will respect your knowledge of the game even if physically you can’t do it any more. But you never want to put yourself in a position where the kids lose respect.

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What should I choose, because in school everybody wants me to be goalkeeper because if I’m goal keeper nobody could shoot, and my idol in being a goal keeper is Van Der Sar, but if I’m player my idol is Christiano Ronaldo please help me!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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I was recently at the IMG Academy in Bradenton Florida auditing my license. The coaches had the opportunity of observing the U17 National Team for a few days. We also spoke with the team coaching staff about their preparation for the upcoming qualifiers in Jamaica, the weaknesses of the players and the strengths of the players.

It was amazing to hear that what the coach cited was exactly what many current club coaches complain about.The first thing he said was that the players were spoiled. Some come from very privileged homes, so they struggle with the diet, training regime and the mental toughness required to succeed at the next level.

Players complained about having to eat fish and vegetables. Some complained about not being able to drink soda and not being able to eat what they did at home. It was explained to the players that regeneration is of the utmost importance and their bodies needed the proper nutrients for this to be accomplished.

He also cited that the players were physically gifted, but very unfit. They all came from clubs where training 2 to 3 times a week was the norm, so the coaching staff has devised a program to get them fit.

The head coach has also created an environment to toughen the kids. He explained that the boys lacked gamesmanship. Too willing to give the back to opponents when the ball went out of bounds. Not knowing how to use their bodies to their advantage when in possession and when defending in 1v1 situations.

The coach also mentioned that kids in other countries at this age face tremendous hardship already in their life, so they are so much tougher. He wanted the US players to match this if they wanted to have a chance to compete outside of the country.

The next area of concern was the technical and tactical weakness of the players. The players are simply not good enough in these areas. Coming from the club environment, where winning takes precedence over development, it is no surprise that the players are lacking in these areas.

The bright spot was that the players are eager to learn. This is conjunction with their superior physical attributes makes them very strong contenders. The coaches in attendance were asked to do a better job developing younger players, so that future teams come in with the necessary prerequisites already in place.

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Manchester City is currently fourth in the English Premier League standings. Therefore, every game is critical if they want to reach the Champions League. The top three squads automatically qualify, while the fourth place team enters a qualifying playoff. With that in mind, Manchester City can’t overlook Blackburn when the teams meet on April 25.

Get Premiership Odds USA for this matchup at online sportsbooks.

Manchester City lost their last EPL game in ugly fashion when Liverpool earned a 3-0 win. They got some confidence back when they beat Manchester United in an FA Cup match. The team has relied on goalie Joe Hart, who has allowed 30 goals in his 32 starts. He has helped make up for an offense that has struggled. Carlos Tevez has 19 goals, but the rest of the team has struggled to score.

Blackburn hasn’t had the same goaltending that Manchester City has had. Paul Robinson has gotten most of the starts, allowing a total of 50 goals. He has given up six goals in his last two starts. Offensively, Blackburn has only scored 40 goals. No player on their team has more than five. However, 14 different players have scored goals.

In the first meeting between the two teams ended in a draw. Blackburn knows how to play against Manchester City. Playing at home, that should give them an edge. They are winless in their last nine games. However, they have forced some draws, including one against Arsenal. On paper, Manchester City is the better team. But if Blackburn can find an early goal, they could pull an upset.

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www.coreyrichbasketball.com On the microphone is Sixers TV Announcer Marc Zumoff, Blaze, and NBA Legend World B. Free.

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