There are many quality football coaches in the game at every level who feel that defending is more about mentality than tactics, that defending topics do not need to be part of every training session. With its more than 190 defending drills to train players, this book seeks to reestablish balance in tactical planning and in training design by examining every aspect of individual and team defending, making it easy for the coach to incorporate tackling, defending roles, pressing, defending set-pieces, and many more topics into team training. It is the complete guide to mastering defending in football. The 1990 World Cup in Italy was infamous for generating the lowest-ever goals per game average, and since then, tactical thought has focused heavily and consistently on flexible attacking designed to break down and defeat defending in depth. This book argues that the next tactical revolution belongs to the defending side of the ball, and it features complex, layered defending, blending postures and pressures designed to keep an attacking team off balance throughout the match.

The World Cup 2018 saw a record 66 goals scored from set-piece situations (42% of the 155 total goals scored), a remarkable and emphatic statement regarding the influence of set-pieces on the modern game. Yet very little, if any, attention is paid to the influence of set-pieces in coaching literature, coaching courses, or symposiums. The Ultimate Book of Soccer Set-Pieces is the most comprehensive examination of set-piece planning on both the attacking and defending sides of the ball. It carefully and thoroughly examines the potential of all manner of restarts in soccer, from throw-ins to corner kicks and free kicks. From simple organizational considerations to complex plays featuring many variations, this book is the tool coaches at every level need to prepare their teams to win the set-piece battle.

In Soccer Goalkeeper Training the authors explain and show through detailed photos and coaching points the physical and technical skills required for novice goalkeepers to improve their current level with easy to follow progressions. Another topic is how to make decisions in tactical situations on the soccer field, for example using communication as a tool for organizing the field player of one's team. The authors also delve into the more advanced and scientific areas of periodization and mental preparation used by the most accomplished goalkeepers in Major League Soccer and the US National Team to achieve ultimate success at the highest levels of the game. Hereby, some psychological aspects covered by the book are the relationship between goalkeepers and their coaches and giving feedback. Also, readers will find a training guide which is divided into exercises by various themes. Whether you are an aspiring young goalkeeper or a more advanced collegiate player, regardless of the level of goalkeeper you currently coach, Soccer Goalkeeper Training will have something to help bring out the best in you and your most important player.

The 2018 soccer World Cup highlighted the increasing emphasis on transitional awareness and tactics. From elite domestic leagues worldwide to local youth coaching clinics, there is a pronounced effort to help coaches and players recognize and seize the advantages gleaned through controlling transitional moments. Pep Guardiola (Manchester City), Jurgen Klopp (Liverpool), and Mauricio Pochettino (Tottenham Hotspurs), among many others, have climbed to forefront of the coaching ranks in recent years, espousing various pressing, counter-pressing, and counterattacking schemes that have made their teams so difficult to play against. Though coaches worldwide have focused on transitional moments as the next tactical revolution in soccer, there has been a remarkable lack of written coaching material on the subject. Transition in Soccer is the first complete study of critical transition moments in the beautiful game. This book offers everything coaches at any level need to help their teams dominate in transition, including: detailed, ground-breaking analysis of the phases of transition and terminology, including pressing, counter-pressing, and counterattacking; comprehensive examination of defending and attacking transition, emphasizing tactical considerations and opportunities; 100 distinctive exercises and dozens of additional progressions and variations to assure that coaches of every level have all the tools needed to train their teams to control transitional situations; and additional material which includes coaching instruction on how to condition teams for situations not always considered in transition discussions--from set-pieces to movement through time phases in the match. Written by two leading soccer educators with decades of experience coaching at the highest levels from youth to professional, Transition in Soccer is the book that soccer coaches have been waiting for, both as a discussion of the nature of transition in the ever-evolving game and as a teaching tool to help their teams dominate on both sides of the ball!