Alf Galustian – The Coach Diary Football Blog

For the Diary: Coerver Diploma 2 & Michael Beale Liverpool FC

Two great events worth going to this month. First up Coerver Coaching Youth Diploma 2. I’m a big fan of isolated exercises, especially at the younger ages. I have seen huge benefits in repetition exercises with added input from the coach.

Coerver Youth Diploma 2 coach education course that will take place in DKIT Dundalk, on the Saturday 12th & Sunday 13th of March. It’s a two day workshop.

The course will be delivered by Coerver Coaching co-founder Alf Galustian

The Coerver® Coaching Youth Diploma 2 course expands on the knowledge gained from the Youth Diploma 1 course with a focus on how to develop a team style through individual and small group skills teaching both in and out of possession.

The Coerver ® Coaching Youth Diploma 2 is a 2-day course that has been broken down into 4 modules that will be presented through lecture presentations & practical demonstrations:

Module 1- The Coerver® Approach to Team Play (Theory) Developing the Coerver® Player “Code” (Practical).
Module 2- The Coerver® Team Code – Box/Trap Defence (Theory) The Box/Trap Defence (Practical).
Module 3- The Coerver® Team “Code” – The Box/Trap Attack (Theory) The Box/Trap Attack part 1 (Practical).
Module 4- The Benefits of the Coerver® Team Style (Theory) The Box/Trap Attack Part 2 Finishing (Practical).

Youth Diploma 2 Course Instructor – Alfred Galustian and special guests over the weekend.

Alfred Galustian started his soccer career as a young player for Wimbledon. He is the Co-Founder and International Director of Coerver® Coaching, and has been largely responsible for building the program Globally.

To date Alfred has worked as a Coach Instructor with 17 national federations including the French, English, Japanese and Australian.

Alfred has also worked with over 50 top professional clubs including Bayern Munich FC, Manchester City FC, Real Madrid CF, Olympique Marseille, Arsenal FC and AC Milan.

During the 2010/11 Season Alfred was the Specialist Skills Coaching Advisor to the Premier League.

Alf was appointed Specialist Skills Advisor to the Premier LeagueTM during the 2010/11 season, assigned to help develop the next generation of Elite football coaches in this country, further endorsing his reputation for expertise in technical skills teaching.

Alf says of the course

“I am very happy to introduce our new Youth Diploma 2 course which is especially designed for coaches who have attended Youth Diploma 1. In this new course, we are going to focus on developing a team style; what skills individually and in small groups do players need? What do you teach them? How do you teach them?, not only the skills and tactics, but also the mental and attitude aspects” “During this course I’m going to share with attendees ,some of my personal experiences from working with some of the greatest clubs and federations in the world”.

“A particular focus of the course is to show you how to develop individual players that are multi-positional, both attackers and defenders, with all practices and games being adaptable to players of all ages and abilities”.

“We are really looking forward to delivering this new course and believe that our approach to developing a team style will be of great benefit to you, no matter the level you work at”.

Coaches Get:

2-days of expert tuition from Coerver® Coaching Co-founder Alfred Galustian
Top Training facilities;
On-line access to the Youth Diploma 2 practical session video content;
Course Book resource full of drills and
Games for your sessions (64 page book);
Coerver® Coaching Youth Diploma 2 Certificate of Attendance

Contact Stewart info@coerverleinster.ie for more information or to register your place.

NDSL Coaches Workshop:

Who: Michael Beale – Liverpool U21 manager

When: Saturday 26th March – 1.00pm to 5pm.

Course details: Practical / theory workshop on how the Liverpool link academy through u21’s and into the first team.

Michael is the current under 21 Liverpool Manager and he has written extensively on Player Development; having worked previously at Chelsea FC, he has written and designed many sessions on young players development through the small sided games. Michael is renowned for his excellent delivery of coaching sessions which can be applied across all age groups. This event will be both Theory and Practical along with lots more information about Liverpool FC.

Interview with Michael Beale

COST / TICKETS FOR EVENT.

The cost is €25 per person or Club Special 5 Coaches 100 Euro.
Tickets can be purchased in the NDSL Office prior the event
Pay on the – Easy Payments – system on NDSL Home Webpage under Michael Beale Event.

Contact Mitch Whitty @ 087 9513624.

Includes: 25 + practical sessions in the workshop. As always this is open to all leagues and coaches

-End

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COACHTALK: Alf Galustian, Coerver Coaching

I got to speak with the legend that is Alf Galustian before he headed off across the world to conduct another Coerver Coaching Workshop. Alf will be back in Dublin in a couple of weeks to head up the Coerver Youth Diploma at Tolka Park.

When did you start coaching?

I started coaching at 25,after a serious knee injury,and obtained my FA and USSF badges soon after

What is Coerver Coaching?

Coerver Coaching is two things:

a) A Soccer Skills Teaching system,devised by Charlie Cooke and myself,inspired by the philosophy of Wiel Coerver,the great dutch coach.The System has continued to evolve since 1984.

b) A Global Soccer Education business,that Charlie and I startled in the USA in 1984,with one camp. Today we have Coerver Coaching activities in 35 countries.

At what age should a player start mastering their balls skills?

In Coerver Coaching we have 4 “Golden Ages” for developing good skills:

1) 4 – 6:This is an age where coordination and balance is being mastered,and in Coerver we use the ball to improve these,however,through fun games rather than drills

2) 7-11 : This age group we focus on ball mastery and moves ( 1 v 1). Players learning thru repetition,again disguised by fun games or competition rather than drills

3) 12 – 16: Here we focus on players using the skills effectively in games: The “When and where”. We have devised drills and games that allow the players many decision making options.

4) 17-21: Here we focus on Position Specific Technical training and the use of technical practices to improve conditioning.

Does Coerver Develop Game Intelligence?

The Coerver Method is deliberate,planned practice of increasing difficulty. Every core Skill : 1v1/Running with the ball/Passing/First touch has 3 parts:

1) Perfecting the skill through repetition

2) Graduated Pressure Defending

3: Full game pressure : this is the part that game intelligence develops. Each Coerver session devotes 30% of the total session time to this part of development.

You’re working with kids all over the world, how do we compare to other nations on technical ability?

I think we need to divide into Grassroots and “Elite ” Player. In Grassroots I think British and Irish kids, 8 to 16, are probably the same as in most European countries. I think Japan , USA and Australia of the countries I worked in ,are probably ahead of us.

Regarding Elite player development,I have worked for 17 National Federations and many of the worlds top pro clubs. For example I would say between 7 and 11 kids at EPL clubs can be compared to any in the World. I think between 12 and 16 the gap widens; Spain. Italy,France,Germany especially are better. Not necessarily the best kids but producing more ( Its the depth that seems to be different)

At what age should we coach to win?

I don’t think there is anything wrong with wanting to win. I believe in all sports competition is important. However, I think we should value performance more than winning up to 16 years old.

Do you have any other thought on winning over development?

I think its helpful if coaches can explain to parents why they value performance more than winning in the development phase. Once it is explained then you are more likely to get parents/kids support.

What age should we move to 11v11 football?

Most countries it’s 12 and up. I would agree with that

If there was one thing you could change about kids football, what would it be?

Again depends on the country,but for UK and Ireland,I would say correct coaches education for those working with 6 to 16 year olds.

You’re a mentor to many many coaches, but do you have any mentors?

Wiel Coerver . After him I have been lucky to have worked closely Gerad Houliier and Aime Jaquet France, Carlos Parriera Brazil, Juergen Klnismann Geramny; I have learnt from all of them

What does the future hold for youth development in Ireland and the UK?

Again I think in grassroots football we are on the right road; more debate,more funding,more opportunity. In the elite game,in my opinion, we are still behind; what we teach and how we teach. This is not a criticism on the very many good youth coaches at pro clubs; in fact I think they should be supported more ; more education and better salaries.

The next Coerver Coaching Youth Diploma Course will be held at Tolka Park on 17th and 18th August.

Venue: Shelbourne FC Tolka Park Dublin

Date: 17/18 Aug 2103

Cost: €229.00 incs new 5 set coerver dvd and all course books and certificate of attendance

To book or for more information on coerver coaching contact Austin.speight@coerver.ie

@coerveralf, @CoerverCoaching

Next Up: Interviews with Lisa Fallon @lisafallonsport and Hugo Vicente @hrsvicente