Protein is one of the most important nutrients for soccer players – not just for building muscle, but also for recovery, endurance, and injury prevention. While full meals play a key role, it’s often protein snacks that make the difference on busy days packed with training, matches, or travel. The right snack gives players a quick, effective, and often delicious way to stay fueled and ready to perform.
What is the best protein snack for soccer players?
When looking for protein snacks for soccer players (and parents or coaches shopping for them), you should keep a few things in mind:
High protein content (aim for at least 8–10g per serving)
Clean ingredient list — the fewer artificial ingredients or added sugars, the better
Easy to digest — especially before or after a match
Portable and practical — they should fit in your soccer bag and not require refrigeration
Taste — because if it doesn’t taste good, you won’t want to eat it consistently
With those factors in mind, here are our top 5 protein snack picks that are perfect for soccer players of all levels.
For players who prefer plant-based options, Plant Vital delivers one of the cleanest vegan protein powders out there. With a smooth chocolate flavor and a complete amino acid profile, it’s a solid post-training or morning smoothie base. It mixes easily with water, milk, or in a shake with fruit and peanut butter. It’s also gluten-free, soy-free, and has no added sugar — great for younger players or those with sensitivities.
These crunchy little powerhouses are both snackable and protein-packed. The Only Bean’s roasted edamame beans offer a whopping 14g of protein per serving and are naturally low in carbs, making them a great option for players who want something savory between sessions. They’re also non-GMO, gluten-free, and high in fiber. Ideal for travel, game days, or just a quick pre-practice energy boost.
This one’s a hidden gem: a rich, dessert-like spread with 10g of protein per serving. Pongo’s Salted Caramel Protein Spread can be paired with apple slices, spread on toast, or just eaten with a spoon when you need something indulgent but functional. It uses a whey protein base and still keeps sugar content relatively low. Bonus: it satisfies sweet cravings without ruining your recovery window.
If you’re looking for a protein bar that doesn’t feel like a brick and actually supports gut health, Munk Pack is the way to go. Each bar delivers around 15g of protein and includes probiotics for digestion, which can be useful for players with sensitive stomachs. The taste is solid (especially the peanut butter and dark chocolate flavors), and the texture is chewy without being dry. A great all-in-one option before or after practice.
The OG of clean protein bars. Perfect Bar uses whole food ingredients like peanut butter, honey, and organic milk protein to create a refrigerated bar that tastes like cookie dough. With about 17g of protein per bar, it’s filling enough for post-match recovery but tasty enough to be a go-to snack. They do need to be stored in the fridge long-term, but they’re perfectly fine in a soccer bag for a few hours.
Time to buy the ideal protein snack for soccer players
Whether you’re coaching young players who need an extra bit of motivation, playing pickup at the park or playing at a high level yourself, these picks offer quality, convenience, and the nutrients you need to stay at the top of your game. Get the protein snacks for your soccer players that will make them perform better, run longer, and feel better while playing soccer. Stock up, keep a few in your bag, and make fueling part of your routine — your body (and your game) will thank you.
How come some players are caught offside all the time? Do they not know better or is the other team doing some tricks to get them there? Let’s do a complete analysis of how to set offside traps and how to avoid getting into one. We’ll talk about the types of an offside trap you can do as defenders, and soccer hacks on how to avoid getting caught into them.
What is offside?
When an attacking player who is involved in the play is closer to the opponent’s goal line than both the ball and the second-last defender at the moment the ball is passed to them, the referee gives a free kick against the attacking team at the spot where the player received the ball. Let’s unpack that a little bit. The line we are measuring is a straight line parallel to the goal, not the shortest distance. The second-last defender rule includes the goalkeeper, which means that if the goalkeeper has run out, then we need another defender between the attacker and the goal to be a legal position. Finally, the moment of decision is when the ball is passed, not when the ball is received.
Therefore, the player in offside has to be part of the play, meaning that if that player is not receiving the ball or interfering with the play, it is not an offside. Also, if the ball is ahead of the player that will receive it, then it cannot be offside because the offside line cannot be behind the ball. There are also several exceptions to the offside rules. A player is not offside if they are in their own half of the field at the moment of the pass being sent. Also, the player is not offside if the pass is sent from a goal kick, corner kick or throw-in. However, the offside rule holds when it is a pass from a free-kick because of a foul, for example.
What is an offside trap?
An offside trap is a defensive tactic used in soccer to catch opposing attackers offside. It involves the defenders working together to step forward in unison at the right moment, pushing the attacking players into an offside position.
What can be done by defenders to leverage the offside rule? When the defending team anticipates a pass, the last defenders can step up and move the imaginary line of offside up. That way the receiving player will be in an illegal position even if they don’t move. We are not talking about attackers being oblivious of being in offside or making a run way too early, but a deliberate plan to put an attacker in an offside position.
How to create an offside trap?
There are essentially three ways to create offside traps. Let’s start with the simplest one, because it depends only on one defender. However, that player has to be the last player on defense. Say we are in a 2v1 situation. The defender keeps giving up space and only slightly slowing down the player with the ball. The defender needs to make it look as if it is back enough for the player without the ball to be onside. Then the defender identifies that the dribbler kicked the ball too far and cannot make a quick pass. The defender sprints forward to create a pressing 1v1 situation with the ball playing attacker because a pass will be essentially an offside situation. The defender has to stay tight on them, because the time where this 1v1 situation will be available is small, as the other attacker will come back onside in the meantime. Similarly, if there is a pass back, the defender should step out to leave that player in offside.
Hold the line as a team
The second type of offside trap is when the entire team does this, usually coordinated by the back line of defenders. The anchors that define the offside line are the two central defenders in a backline of four. Or the middle central defender in a backline of three. As we talked in other videos about positionings, one player is always the aggressor and the other one is the cover. The aggressor often tries to stop the striker from receiving the ball to their feet. So the striker might want to make a run behind them. The cover drops deeper to anticipate any through pass and often that means that the striker will not be in offside. However, if the cover sees that a sprint forward will leave the striker in offside instead of dropping even deeper and allowing a 1v1 situation.
Offside traps from set pieces
The special case for offside traps is the set pieces. While coordinating the offside traps looked complicated in the previous examples, set pieces are usually simpler. The defenders form a line and the player closest to the ball is the anchor. When the ball is about the be crossed to the penalty area, the defenders often drop to make sure it’s safe. However, if well coordinated, the defenders can actually step up and leave most of the players in offside. We have seen that many times done by professional teams, often leaving over half of the other team in offside situation. However, they need to be very careful that somebody from the opponent team that was not in offside has not made a run.
Offside traps from corners
The extra special case is the corners. While there are no offsides from corners, once the ball is delivered, the defenders often need to step forward quickly, so that any danger from second ball or third ball will be considered offside. This might mean that from an initial 7v8 situation inside the penalty area, it will become a 4v8, which is much easier to defend.
How to beat an offside trap?
That is the fun part where a player is behind the offside line when the pass starts. But they receive the ball behind it, essentially moving the offside line forward. Firstly, we will give several scenarios about how you can beat it individually by doing the correct runs. Then we will talk about how you can help your teammates beat the offside trap without touching the ball. Finally, we will talk about genius team plays that we have seen to beat the offside traps.
Timed run to avoid the offside trap
The simple timed run is like this. The player makes an average run, then changes pace and direction and the ball is sent into space. It’s simple, it works when executed correctly, but that’s not always easy.
Timed run with an overlap
What is often easier is to make this run on the flanks. The defenders tend to stay compact in the middle of the field. In fact, a typical overlapping or an underlapping run comes with a pass into space that essentially moves the offside line.
Run sideways until the pass is sent
Instead, what sometimes happens is that the player runs, but doesn’t get the ball on time. The player then has to keep the pace, but must not get into offside. So changing direction again until the right moment to sprint behind is needed. Note that the defenders will hold the line, so they will not be able to catch up.
Run back onside while defenders think the offside trap worked
However, sometimes it’s too late and the player passed the offside line. In the mind of the defenders they are often gone, but that’s not the case always. We have seen many players getting back onside just for a moment, but then with pace get back forward.
Drag your defender to move the offside line
Sometimes we see players making runs that will never get the ball for. It might look weird, but then you see that the offside line got moved just because of that run. That allows a player somewhere else close to the offside line to not be offside.
Be a decoy inside the offside trap
Another option is that the player will run too early into offside position. Then a ball will look like it’s coming towards them, which will make everybody think it’s a clear offside situation. Instead, the player doesn’t touch the ball and another runner comes and picks it up.
Stay inside the offside trap until a teammate beats it
Now, if we know that it is much easier to beat the offside trap in the wide areas, how can we use that in our advantage. We have seen the striker often lurks slightly into offside with the hope that they can jump onside in the right moment, then sprint forward. Or that the wide player can drag their defender and move the offside line. However, the top teams wouldn’t do that. Instead, what they do is that once the ball is passed into space on the wings to beat the offside, the striker is no longer offside, but is ahead of the opponents and an simple cross becomes an easy goal.
How to coach offside traps?
Coaching offside traps is not easy. It comes with lots of talking to the players throughout the years of their development. However, as the offside rule is not intuitive, we need to expose the players to it a lot. In addition to playing games, I recommend my players to also watch games. Watch the professional or more senior teams play, but only focus on the offside lines. In fact, what has worked very well for young players is when they are assistant referees because all they need to focus on is that offside line. Of course, they can combine that with playing soccer video games and offsides will become second nature to them.
Set a 2v1 plus goalkeeper to practice individual timing
The simplest thing is to set a 2v1 plus a goalkeeper. Just make sure you remind them that the offside rules hold. Alternatively, you can have a 3v2, but also with offside rules.
Set a 5v4 with one touch in the penalty area for a patient attacking option
A slightly more complex situation will be a 5v4 plus a goalkeeper with offside rules. However, limit the game to one touch inside the penalty area for the attackers. That way, the final step will almost always have to be a pass and not a shot.
We love rondos, but what is beyond that? I once had a new team that can do great rondos, but all the attacking was kick and run, or individual dribble. I had to do possession games to coach basic principles of soccer positioning and movement, not just technical skills. Here are my 3 favorite soccer possession drills for getting your team to play tiki-taka in a few short years. Stay tuned until the end where I discuss the tips on how to adjust any of these drills on the spot for maximum effectiveness.
7v4 Overloading Soccer Possession Drills
The basic drill is to have a 7v4 setup where the only goal is to keep possession. The attacking team should connect 20 passes to win, while the defending team needs to get the ball and have 5 passes for victory. If either team succeeds in their goal, then the other team does pushups. Often times the ball will go out of bounds, so give around 10 attempts for the team do accomplish the goal. After that rotate the players between offense and defense, so that everybody experiences playing both roles and nobody gets too frustrated by being outnumbered all the time.
If you need change the intensity because the defenders keep winning or the attackers keep winning, consider changing the number of players or modifying the field size. For example, instead of 7v4 you can change to 7v3 or 7v5. Similarly, if everything looks good but the players seem to have too much time, shrink the field a bit.
Coaching points for the attacking team
The coaching point for the attacking team is back to first principles of soccer. You want more space and time on the ball when your team is in possession. For that, you want to make the playing area as large as possible and that is defined by the distance between the players. The coaching points will be for players to stay wide and far from their opponents, then use the center of the field as helping functions to move the ball again to the edges of the playing area. However, the players on the periphery must open up so that either direct passes can get to them or at least one-touch passes from the central players can find them.
Coaching points for the defending team
The defenders will get the inverse coaching points. They want to make the playing area as small as possible, so they would want to limit the passing options and try to convert the playing area from full field of 7v4 to maybe half the field and playing 4v4. Forcing the attacking team to do extra touches on the ball, slow down the ball movement and narrow down the passing options is the key in accomplishing their goal.
2 Endzones Possession Drills
The two endzones game is simple and structured. Overall, we play something like 7v5, but we create some resemblance of a formation. We create two endzones on the opposite side of the field, where we put two attackers and one defender, and we restrict their movement only to that area. The attacking team need to move the ball from one endzone to the other while retaining possession. If they manage to do that, then the defending team does pushups. You should give them 10 tries and if they fail to do that, then they do pushups.
It’s a natural evolution of the previous soccer possession drills where your players keep the ball at 7v3 or 7v4. However, we give the players direction and intention in this drill. Both teams know which direction the game is going. If they struggle to keep any structure in the previous drill, then it is ok to start with this drill, but maybe keep 3v2 in the middle if the attacking team fails to keep possession. If the attacking team feels too comfortable at 7v5, then allow the defending team to move anywhere. It will increase the intensity significantly.
Coaching points for the attacking team
The attacking team will get coaching points about space and options. They need to understand that if the space is tight where the ball is, that means that somewhere else there is more space. For example, in the middle of the field, it’s almost always hard to get time on the ball. There we are playing 3v3, but together with the endzone becomes 5v4. However, we already told the players that the endzone is always a safe space for them to pass back to, so they should use that.
Coaching points for the defending team
The coaching points for the defense is that this time they are defending a goal, not just possession. Their aim is to prevent the opponent from achieving their goal. We have given them the direction of how the opponent will attack, so the defense should actually recreate the playing area to make it much smaller and make the game 5v4 on half the field or less instead of 7v5 on full field. They should even position themselves on the same side of the players, so that it is harder for player 7 to receive a pass the playing area ends up being 4v4. In the video we saw that even after the attacking team occupied one of the endzones, the defending team kept playing high press and chasing the defenders, which was a mistake. Only when a bad touch or intense pressure is created, they should press to obtain the ball. In the meantime, they should develop a bit more comfort of being patient but still work hard while not in possession.
Striker pressing coaching point
One more quick coaching point, specifically for the defender in the endzone. The simplest help we can give them is to tell them to cut the pass to the other defender. If they do that and increase pressure, then effectively they have converted 2v1 into a 1v1 and have pinned down the player into a tight area. The player in possession will have restricted movement from 3 sides by out lines, so it’s the prefect setup for the defender to press, but only if they block the pass to the other attacker. This will help them understand how high press should work which is to limit the options for passing, then put pressure on the player. When most of the time the defenders play with numerical disadvantage, creating 1v1 in a tight space is worth a lot.
4 Endzones Soccer Possession Drills
Possession with 4 endzones. We set a 7v7 game, roughly at half of the field. We carve out areas at all 4 edges to be endzones and the goal is to retain possession while moving them from one endzone to the other. If all 4 endzones have been occupied, then we have a winner. If possession is lost, then the other team tries to do the same. This is my favorite drill because it is continuous, equal for both teams and it naturally increases intensity by shrinking the playing area which makes players think about their intention, individually and as a team. Note that there is no real attacking vs. defending team assigned before the game, because the possession keeps switching, same as a real soccer game.
Note that the game looks the same in theory, but it totally changes as the endzones are visited. At the beginning it is a high press game where the only goal for defenders is to recover possession for their team. Then, once the team has conquered one of the zones, the defenders don’t need to guard that zone and the playing area should shrink. Usually, the attacking team is able to occupy the adjacent endzones and then the game looks a lot like soccer where the goal is the direction is clear to get to the other endzone. The risk for the attackers to lose the ball is large at that point because if they do, they will need to start all over again by firstly winning the ball and then with no occupied endzones. The risk for the defenders is that if they don’t defend the endzone, they will simply lose.
Coaching points for the attacking team
Attackers, you have to figure out the game you are playing, is it intention or ball retention? When you are under pressure, it is often just ball retention. When you are off the ball, then it’s about intention and figuring out where the free teammate is and how you can position yourself to receive the ball and progress it to your teammate. Once you are missing only one endzone, if you can quickly attack it, then it will make it easier for you. If you attack slowly and allow all opponents to come back to the zone, it will make it much harder.
Coaching points for the defending team
Defenders, you must understand the context of the soccer possession drills as a team. If you keep pressing while your team doesn’t, then you will get tired. Similarly, if your team is pressing and you are the only one that is not, then you are letting them down as if the other team plays with an extra player. However, if you are defending with only one zone left, you need to change your mindset and show some patience. Defending as a team means that everybody on the team has the same intention and their movement reflects that. Coming back late to help your team means that you allow the opponents multiple opportunities, not just one.
Tips, Tricks and Advice for Successful Soccer Possession Drills
I intertwined some advice, but let’s lay them all out here. The hardest thing in these drills is to figure out how to get the right level of intensity. Too much intensity and players might give up, but at too little they are either goofing off or simply not giving full effort. You want the success rate of the drill objective, for example 20 passes, to be at around 50%. That means that if they have 10 tries, they will be able to complete 20 passes half of that time. The other times they might be able to complete around 10 passes. You shouldn’t fix this by increasing the number of tries, but the difficulty of each try. Let’s talk about size of the field, players on the teams, player groupings, restrictions we can put, and the incentives to win.
Field size, number of players, types of players and restrictions
The size of the field and the number of players are things you can fix on the spot. Very often the endzones are too large or too little. You should just fix them on the spot, don’t even tell the players and just move the cones to do that. They will figure it out.
The number of players can be a bit trickier. For example, you have designed the drill for 7v4, but you have 12 players at practice, so you have an extra player. Do you make them sit on the side and wait? Or you make it 7v5 or 8v4? Or you make it 8v5 with you jumping in on the other team? All of these are valid solutions, but you need to figure out what works best in the moment.
Another interesting one is the types of players that randomly grouped. For example, the top 4 players started playing on defense in a 7v4 setup and you think you hit the right level of difficulty. Then you rotate the players and all of a sudden you get the wrong balance and success rate. Instead, you pick the players on defense and plan for a balanced teams with similar work rate.
One more tweak I would suggest is to limit the number of touches. This is a common one to increase the speed of play. I sometimes give the players in middle, between the endzones, only two touches. After few times they practice the drill I don’t have to give them this restriction because they figure out that the two touches limit is what they need to do to improve their effectiveness most of the time.
Likely you will need to combine all of these to get to the magical target of around 50% success rate. Don’t be scared to improvise and adjust all the time. However, you need to plan for it by balancing the teams, size and players.
The power of incentives
Finally, the incentives are the least technical, but can be the most effective knob to turn. Some players just want to win every single time in every single thing against every single opponent. If you have players like that, then consider yourself lucky. Society forces people to not want that, and that’s the only way we can have civil society. However, soccer is a competitive game and we need to switch the brain of the players to want to win at everything within the rules of the game the moment they step on the field. You need to see what motivates the players. I often let my players play on one big goal vs two small goals. Everybody wants to play on the big goal, so the rule is that if the team playing on the small goals score, they switch. That motivates both teams, one to attack the best they can, the other team to defend at their maximum. In the soccer possession drills, we said that the losing team does pushups. I’ve sometimes let the players choose the prize and that has worked out great because I learn what motivates them. There was one time that we did a drill where the two winners got to make the teams for scrimmage, simple and easy way for me to give authority to the players.
Step-by-Step guide on how to get your USSF Soccer Coach License. From grassroots, through D, C, B, A and Pro licenses, blueprint with all cost, time, effort and benefit, for obtaining the licenses. Full guide to the steps on how to become soccer coach.
Wouldn’t it be great if there is a simple way to set any team for success? Every coach around talks about “having majority of possession”, playing “tiki-taka with intention” and “dominate the opponents”. You would also hear mentions of “exploit the half spaces” and “I want my full-backs to invert“. When two teams with coaches like these meet, you will get a battle of over-coached teams trying to get 51%, more like 75%, of the ball possession and no shots on goal. Then they play against another team with a 3-4-3 soccer formation and they don’t know how to respond to the seemingly outdated formation.
Don’t trust me? How else can we explain that the mighty Manchester City lost against the inferior Chelsea in the UCL 2021 Final? It was a simplicity of countering as a team, while pound for pound Chelsea’s players were simply not as good as their opponents. Now, it is easy to claim that Tuchel, Chelsea’s coach, was genius and Guardiola, Man City’s coach, was wrong and should have known better. Of course, even with 3-4-3, the probability of Chelsea winning was low. However, it was all about how to put themselves in a position to have a chance to win, despite City’s dominant possession.
What makes the 3-4-3 soccer formation the best counter formation?
Admitting inferiority is not settling for defeat. In fact, it is battling for victory in spite of the circumstances. While we all want to have perfection of dozens of accurate passes before “walking the ball in the net”, we should live in reality. We claim that the four pillars of player development are technical, tactical, physical and psychological. While these virtues are dynamic and can range depending on many factors, including the team that a player plays in, we have seen teams with inferior players win against dominant teams. The 3-4-3 soccer formation is the best counter formation not because it solves for this issue, but because it gives us flexibility to counter the opponents and ask different questions.
The most important aspect of the formation is the discipline and tactical awareness. This is not a formation where the team will have the majority of the ball. In fact, it is likely that the team will need to yield possession and make the opponents believe that they control the game by having the ball. However, the team will need to prevent chances in their own defensive third. So, the simple formula is to invite opponents to occupy the middle third and even send players forward, only to create space for the two attackers to strike back. The secret to counter attacking is the dynamic advantage that is the one of the principles of soccer domination that is often overlooked.
What does the 3-4-3 soccer formation look like?
3-4-3 Soccer Formation
The 3-4-3 has three defenders, often big, strong, standard defenders. The two wing-backs do as much attacking as defending. The middle of the pitch is fluid, often playing with two holding and one attacking midfielder, or one holding and two box-to-box midfielders. Finally, the attackers will have all the freedom we can give them. The desired characteristics for them is to be able to hold the ball up and speed to race against the defenders – there cannot be much of counter attacking without pace.
For comparison, let us take a 4-3-3 formation and see how it naturally changes between attacking and defending. We have seen the fullbacks overlap with the wingers, that are often playing as inverted wingers. Great way to attack with numbers. We have seen the striker dropping deep to create numerical advantage and dominate possession. We have even seen the holding midfielder dropping as an extra center back to strengthen a low-block defense. However, it often puts players in unnatural positions and creates uneasiness.
Compare a 3-4-3 formation with players barely moving outside of comfort. When defending a lead in the last moments of a game, the winger-backs naturally drop back in a back five. When chasing a goal, they become wingers and create overload. On top of that, this formation allows for having a true counter attacking options with two strikers. We all know that naturally you cannot have two target attackers, but when they work together, it can lead to very difficult counter attacking to handle. Overall, this flexibility makes the 3-4-3 the deadly option for disciplined teams.
Defenders – the Backbone
The defense is the place where you can’t get creative in this formation. Having 3 players in the last line is a given and really the only aspect that changes is the width of it. In general, when attacking they spread out, while defending they come close to each other. However, when trying to keep the result as-is, the wide midfielders essentially become wingbacks and the defenders stay in the middle. It might look boring, but on the bright side, it is easy to coach.
The opponents will either play with 2 attackers or a single striker and two wingers. When playing against 2 attackers, the wide defenders mark them while the central defender covers. When playing against 1 attacker, we will have two options. If we have attacking wide players, then we will ask a holding midfielder to press the striker, while the central defender provides cover for him and the wide defenders can push up. Alternatively, we can let one of the wide defenders push up or even invert in the midfield, while the other one stays back to form a 1v2 defensive setup. Either way, the attacking option for the wide defenders is there only in a patient attacking plan.
Midfielders – the Heart
The midfielders are not only the most numerous, but also the most influental in the 3-4-3 formation. When set in a diamond shape, they can provide both the stability and the creativity to dominate the opponents. Playing with with one holding midfielder, 6, and one attacking midfielder, 10, might look like a recipe for disaster. The thinness in the middle of the field is evident. However, the wide midfielders can look more like mezzalas or they can play as a double pivot, all at the same time. They need to be tactically aware to anticipate the soccer context. When the ball is on their side, play wide and do an overlapping run. When the ball is on the other side, tuck in and provide support. The change of roles should become second nature for midfielders and this is a great formation to use tactically aware players.
Attackers – the Creativity
This is not too different from the 4-3-3 formation, with the main difference that we have a more classic 10 in the midfield. That influences the options that we have in the attack, because we create a formation with 4 attacking players. Think about it – the moment we win the ball, we have 4 players that need to move the ball as fast as possible for a counter. Yes, the wingers can be out wide, or invert inside as they see needed. The striker can come and help the midfield or push up as a target man to hold up the ball. Either way, the key is that the 10 can decide that they need to play as a shadow striker or they can drop deep and distribute the ball. Either way, it unsettles the opponents, as they don’t know how to defend the unpredictability of all of these variables.
Disadvantages of the 3-4-3
As any other formation, the 3-4-3 has the disadvantages. While we can drop to 5 defenders more easily when we need to defend, that transition takes time. When there is a time to regroup, the defensive line can get the two wide midfielders dropping deep into 5-3-1-1. Alternatively the wide midfielders tuck in and we form a 4-3-3 defensive line. However, by default, the standard 3-4-3 defensive setup might look fine at first. But if the opponents are actually counterattacking team, it will leave the last line playing 3v3 very quickly. That is why the 3-4-3 is more often played as a counter attacking formation. Or at least as a formation where the tempo of the opposition is lower than ours.
Almost a decade ago, United States Soccer Federation (USSF) decided to get serious about soccer development. They saw that the women’s soccer in the US is arguably best in the world, but the men national team was lagging behind. After deep analysis, while getting data and feedback from the field, they agreed that one of the biggest issues was that players were not getting unstructured playing time compared to other nations, like Brazil, Argentina or European countries. The theory was that other nations were better than the US because the kids played way more hours outside of practices. Furthermore, the global trend shows that kids play less and less time outside compared to previous generations.
To combat these issues and trends, USSF decided to revamp their youth coaching education system by introducing the Play Practice Play methodology. Similar to other professions, such as piano teaching or chess progression, we needed an educational curriculum. This will give structure to the training sessions, instead of disconnected drills to have one cohesive theme. The goals of lots of unstructured play, keep high level of engagement and soccer-themed environment are all accomplished. But is this really the best methodology for coaching youth soccer?
What is Play Practice Play?
In a nutshell, the PPP methodology is about making a sandwich of the soccer session. The two breads are just soccer games. Usually small sided games (SSGs) with maybe a question or two at halftime. In the middle, there is a practice session. That is also a game with opponents and teammates, but often with some sort of overload. Focused on numerical advantage for one team, it can be a 4v2 game with many options/goals for counter-attacking. Overall, there should be one theme for the session. The questions around the SSGs and the session in the middle should cover that theme.
Types of Soccer Activities
There are three types of soccer activities – game form, modified game form and non-game form. Game form means that there are boundaries, equivalent attacking and opposing team, two soccer goals and a ball. Modified game form activity can be imbalanced teams with some other variation, such as gates instead of goals or no goals at all, such as basic rondos. Non-game form soccer activity can be anything that requires a lot of squinting to see how it fits into soccer. For example, playing tag apparently is a good activity for U8, but it has the same closeness to soccer as basketball or baseball.
Why Play Practice Play kinda works?
Let me try to state the argument about the benefits of Play Practice Play. First of all, it is fun. There is no argument that players are mostly engaged during SSGs. Secondly, it looks like soccer and it has most of the elements of it, except for maybe a referee and audience. Thirdly, the coach can structure the entire session to really overload the players one way or another. For example, there can be lots of shooting or lots of crossing, based on the rules that we have made up in the session.
Why it doesn’t work for technical development?
The whole concept of Play Practice Play is that soccer coaching is about overloading the players in a soccer environment, so they can adjust their skills in more challenging situations and improve. We call this process contextual interference. What if the players don’t have the skill? No worries, they are all going to suck together. Well, that is not true. I have seen over and over again how some kids have grown up in families where soccer is already a big sport. They have a huge advantage because they have been shown at other places these very basic skills. The other players who are less fortunate with opportunities will just never had that basic skill unless they magically acquire it. This is like saying that kids should already know how to read and write when they start school and we will go straight to writing books. Some kids might, but you cannot leave kids behind because you can’t be bothered to teach them the alphabet.
What should coaches do instead to implement Play Practice Play?
We have lack of technical readiness in many kids and that is fine at the start. The coaches should make sure that the players are aware of the existence! We shouldn’t expect them to reinvent the wheel. So, we show some basics like receiving or passing the ball. Here is a simple structure of how a Play Practice Play training can look like for a U8 team.
Start with a game of up to 5v5, while the players trickle in (10-15 min)
Play a game as a warm up that contains passing and receiving. For example, in pairs there is a hunter who looks for loose balls in the field that should capture a ball and pass it to their partner in the penalty area that should receive it. Each ball is a point, the goal is to get more balls than the other teams. This introduces them to the passing and receiving the ball. (10 min)
Discuss and show the players how to pass with the inside of the foot, outside of the foot and laces. Give them 5 min to try those out in the pairs they had before (<10min)
Play another game where two teams need to compete in passing and receiving balls across a longer distance. The competitiveness is still there, but the interference from opposition is not. (10 min)
Play some rondos – 4v1 might be the right level at this point. Get creative and look at our rondo series for inspiration. (10 min)
End with a scrimmage game (rest of practice)
Note that at this age it is harder to keep the attention of the players, so we cannot have isolated practice for long time. Also, we can’t just let them play and claim that we have done our jobs as coaches because the players are engaged. The PPP structure is there, but not in a silly way. Be intentional, give the players what they need!
You can’t be there for every single game that your kid plays. Even if you can, you want to be able to keep it for when they grow up. Or your neighbor asks about it. Or your third cousin brags about their kids and how they [read with nasal voice] “just use these soccer camera gimbals”, but you just dismiss them. You want that in your pocket, ready for whenever you might need it. But you can’t afford the expensive cameras that clubs use these days.
Instead, you should use your smartphone!
It is raining, you are confused between looking at your kid or looking at the screen, and in the end, your spouse is disappointed because your hands kept shaking the image despite your best efforts. Yes, there is a simple solution for all of this. It is called a gimbal, or if you don’t want to sound funny a stabilizer. They are affordable these days and can be used to film all the time, not just your kid’s soccer games.
What are the best soccer camera gimbals?
There are 3 factors to determine the quality of the soccer camera gimbals:
Stability of image – the most important thing of a gimbal is to be stable. When it comes to sport camera gimbals, account for uneven terrain, wind and rain, as well as the occasional ball or person hitting it. Don’t look for perfection, but expect some reasonable stability that will not break the image, or even worse, your phone.
Integration with smartphones – while optional at first look, you want these features of tracking the action. The more common level of tracking is to track the ball and the action at all times. Less common is to track a particular player (like your kid or yourself) and usually more sophisticated systems are used for full wide field of view recordings. In any case, you want to be able to enjoy the game while the camera moves and records the game.
Durability and sturdiness – you do not want to keep buying the soccer camera gimbals each season. So, do yourself a favor and get the one made with good materials and engineered with attention to detail. And yes, it will feel heavy and you will know how it is once you have it in your hand.
We rate the soccer camera gimbals based on these factors. Also, we make sure there is no monthly fee for them, for streaming, storage, data analysis and statistics, or whatever else the most premium soccer cameras have. They all have options to get them from Amazon, but also some of them have their own stores. Check out both for the best pricing and add-ons.
Insta360 is the leader in the space of capturing action. Most of their products include a camera, from 360 or action-focused to professional VR or webcams. However, it looks like they managed to integrate a lot of the technology into their Insta360 Flow product, which is a gimbal for smartphones. It brings stabilization, together with the AI-powered technology of action tracking. The price is reasonable for a great build and intuitive interface in case you want to manually capture the moments. The stabilization is great and the integration with the smartphones works as you would expect. Furthermore, the community is large and there are all kinds of tricks and tips on how to get the most out of it on their forums.
It definitely is a level up to the Insta360, but it comes at a price. It supports smartphones, integrated with a remote control or even an Apple Watch. The XBot is actually designed for soccer as primary usage, making it a perfect solution for our needs. The tracking is optimized and tested for soccer!
Another great thing about the XBot is the range of accessories that you can find with it. Considering the size of the field and the number of players, you definitely want to set the camera at some elevation to capture the entire field. The XBot tripod is stable, and high quality and adds on to the already great functionality of the XBot to get the perfect view of the field and action.
You can buy it from Amazon or directly from the XBot store (use code RONDOCOACH for $25 off your purchase).
If you have a high-quality mirrorless camera with good lens, this might be a better option for you. While you need to operate it (one-hand handling is great), it will give the best capture from all the options. You can still mount your smartphone on top of it and use it for capturing, but also to adjust the force sensitivity of your movement and stabilization.
If you want to watch the game with your coffee, while the video is being captured automatically, this is not for you. But if you want to be actively tracking the action, capturing the plays and the players throughout the game, this is the option to pick. We also highly recommend it for capturing footage to be sent to soccer scouts and college recruiters. We have even seen some parents sending soccer videos before tryouts (tread carefully there).
Similar to the DJI stabilizer, you will be manually operating this gimbal and won’t be able to use your smartphone. However, the most important aspect here is that you will be able to record games in the worst possible conditions, such as rain and snow. The gimbal is relatively cheap for what it does, but it does require a GoPro or one of the other compatible devices. The secret weapon is a waterproof design with limited functionality and compatibility. Also, the sturdiness and durability of the device are great, but then you will likely run it through tough conditions and you will end up really testing it.
There is nothing wrong with this gimbal and we would definitely recommend it if you are looking to spend minimally on a stabilizer for your smartphone. However, it just misses a lot of the magic that the other options have. The integration with smartphones is there, but minimally (suggests angles and adjusts zoom and light). This also means you need to manually move it. It comes with a tripod, but you will likely need a table or a chair to get the height and stability right. It is sturdy, but not as robust as the others, especially when extended as more of a selfie stick. Of course, it doesn’t have waterproof characteristics or cross-compatibility with other devices, such as high-quality cameras. Overall, if you know exactly what you need it for, it is a great option. If you need anything beyond to feel the magic of AI and motion tracking, you will need to spend a bit more.
Pick the right soccer camera gimbal for you
The technology for sports and entertainment is amazing today. We have seen U6 games not only recorded, but streamed in real time. You think that might be crazy, but their grandparents were actually watching live overseas! It is truly incredible that we have all this technology to capture these moments. At an affordable prices we can film them and play them whenever we want. Also, with the power of AI we can often be lazy and let the smartphone track the action while we enjoy the game in real time. We recommend picking the right option for you and give it a try. Over time you will be amazed how much the ML models will improve the capture and tracking. Have fun, make memories and save them forever!
Tiki-taka is the style of play that has defined 21st-century soccer. At its peak, Barcelona under Pep and the Spanish National Team was dominating the world of soccer. That patient passing and keeping the ball until there was an opening was so beautiful, yet annoying to watch. The idea that you cannot concede a goal if you have the ball in your possession made it difficult to watch sometimes. The team would keep the ball for so long and always choose the safe pass. So essentially, we started seeing the backline passing to each other seemingly forever. The birth of the vertical tiki-taka was needed…
Something changed and we started to see the need to modify the mentality. Mourinho saw it first when countering Barcelona (with Inter and Chelsea), but we saw it so much in the recent decade. Teams became very good at defending. At the most recent World Cups, it feels like the worst teams can still hold a 0:0 draw against the best teams. So, playing patient, controlling, possession-based tiki-taka will just not work. Instead, what needed to happen was to move the ball quickly when in possession to unsettle the opponent.
How does vertical tiki-taka compare to tiki-taka?
How is it the same?
First and foremost, the idea of having possession is still the same. Starting from a goal-kick against a low-block opposition, you won’t be able to see the difference. The team will not try random crosses or skipping the midfield. Instead, the goal is to maintain control of the ball with passes in triangles while moving the play toward the opposition box.
Out of possession, the relentless pressing is also similar. The idea of recovering the ball within 5 seconds of losing it, is still valid. In fact, in La Masia, the famous FC Barcelona youth academy, they teach that the team doesn’t steal the ball. Instead, they recover possession. That is because the ball is theirs to have and the reason why they don’t have it is because they lost it. It might sound like a negligible difference, but it is important. The mentality of fighting to keep the ball as a team practiced through thousands of variations of rondos, is vital.
How is it different?
The main difference in the vertical tiki-taka is how build-up play happens. Namely, once the team recovers possession, it needs to quickly move forward to attack. This leaves very little time for the opponents to get back in the right position to defend. If we leave the opposition time to get in shape, we will limit the opportunities to get tactical advantages – numerical, positional, or dynamic.
Let’s say that we recover the ball at the edge of our penalty box, while the opponents try to attack on the wing with both their wing-back overlapping their winger. The standard tiki-taka mentality would make sure we keep possession and pass sideways or back to the keeper until we get into shape. Unfortunately, that allows for the other team to come back to shape. Instead, imagine if we send the ball down the flank with the winger and/or wing-back sprinting into a counterattack. And from there looking for the striker or the winger on the other side.
This will give us at least a dynamic advantage, where everybody will have to sprint back instead of actively defending and pressing the ball because they don’t feel that they have the cover at the back. Their wing-back will be tired after the attacking movement. Also, the confusion with the winger on who is running back to cover. If neither does, then we have the numerical advantage. If both run back, then we have time to pick the pass that we want with no pressure.
Advantages of using vertical tiki-taka
Assuming we are playing against a team that has some desire to attack against us, this is a very effective tactic. We get all the benefits of the tiki-taka, to maintain possession and control. With the right players and their decision-making abilities, we can confuse the oppositions. Since defending is where the team cohesion really matters, changing between direct attacking and patiently maintaining possession can truly frustrate and be tiresome. Also, it can be really devastating when we create 1v1 opportunities for our attackers. Any qualitative mismatch is more amplified when we are given 1v1 chances. The vertical tiki-taka gets us in those situations.
Disadvantages of the vertical tiki-taka
The downsides of tiki-taka are still present. When playing against low-block teams, often it looks like a fruitless exercise. If the other team only defends, then there is no counter-fast buildup that can happen. Fast runs behind the defenders will just leave you in offside. Therefore, no benefit there. Similarly, the risk of having a bad pass in the back line between the defenders or the keeper is still there. Perhaps a vertical pass to the striker is not as risky, but if that is blocked then the logic is to still maintain possession by passing sideways or backward. That comes with the same risk and often can be devastating. In fact, a bad pass can lead us to concede and in effect results in the opponents transferring to a low-block, catenaccio defense that is even harder to break.
When to use vertical tiki-taka?
Let us look at the teams that have used vertical tiki-taka or any variations and subsets of it. The most obvious ones are Barcelona, Ajax, Bayern, Manchester City, Arsenal, Liverpool… When did it work? When the teams had strikers like Harland, Messi, Salah, Mane, and Van Persie, then it worked very well. The importance of the ability to win the majority of the duels 1v1, 2v2, or even 2v3, and score goals cannot be overstated. Similarly, the ability to defend without numerical advantage gives the opportunity to keep the attackers high, so that a direct pass to them is possible. I am sorry to disappoint you, but if you don’t have the technical, and overall qualitative advantages, this is not for you.
Formations to use for vertical tiki-taka
To maintain possession, you have to get a numerical advantage by keeping the defensive line high. The formations are actually similar to the standard tiki-taka. The classic 4-3-3 and the variations are always appropriate. The 4-4-2 diamond can work great, using mezzalas for the slower buildup. Also, a more defensive 5-2-3 formation that uses the three attackers as outlets can give the counter-attacking opportunities while maintaining the solidity in defense.
“The better team lost today”. We have heard this statement when teams think they’ve been the better team. How did they measure them being better? Did they do that objectively? Sometimes one team had the majority of the possession and the opposition had only one set piece, like a corner or a free kick. Would the statistics tell us that the first team should win the game? Well, if the first team passed between the goalkeeper and the center-backs, while the opposition had David Beckham take a free kick, then it means that the data didn’t tell us the full story. The best soccer statistics books can tell us the progress that soccer analysts have made over the past decades and where they are going.
Which data is important and which one is just noise? How can we evaluate the quality of the data and the true advantage that one team has over the other? Does the tactical approach drive the statistics of the game? Or can the data drive our tactics to victory? Is there something left to the naked eye that cannot be quantified by statistics?
What are the best soccer statistics books?
Soccer has become so big financially and the league structure for most leagues requires good performances. In Europe, teams have to perform well even if they have no chances for the title. They need to qualify for international competitions (lucrative incentives). Also, if they perform particularly badly, they get relegated, which can devastate the team, both financially and in terms of players who wouldn’t agree to play in the lower division. For these reasons, it is imperative for teams to win games, or at least not lose them.
To gain an edge, the top soccer clubs in the world hire soccer analysts, data scientists, and statisticians. Not only that, but soccer agents and their agencies hire them to identify the talent earlier. They synthesize data with methods from the best soccer statistics books, but also from books about data science from other sports and overall in the field of statistics. These are our picks of books that can significantly improve the way you look at the game through data analytics. They are not soccer books for kids or maybe even regular soccer fans – it is for the ones obsessed with numbers.
Net Gains is probably the most comprehensive book on soccer analytics. The author has played Division I soccer in the US and has transferred his passion for soccer into his life as an ESPN staff writer. In addition to his personal story, he guides us through the history of using data to gain an edge in soccer. He starts in the 50s and 60s and the very basics of soccer statistics. In contrast, he shares information about the exponential growth of data inputs that we get today through video analysis, GPS tracking, cloud computing, artificial intelligence, and so on. However, he is also honest and questioning the models that we have today that cannot explain some phenomena today and how some players and some teams cannot be explained through data. If you plan to read only one book, then this is the one.
Perhaps a bit more current and Europe-focused, Football Hackers digs straight into the details of what you need to know about the world of soccer statistics. Analyzing the possession, shots taken, tackles, and so on, Biermann tries to help differentiate what is important and what is just empty data. Indirectly, he proves the rule that “If it’s important then it can be measured, but not all that can be measured is important”. The book can look very math-oriented and requires a genuine interest in soccer analytics and/or math and statistics. However, it’s a requirement for anybody who wants to get an edge or at least avoid being outsmarted based on accessible data.
The rise of Expected Goals (xG) in soccer analytics is evident, as many pundits share these statistics more than any other info to show how the game went. For example, a team can have dominant possession, but it can be defensive and not have a single chance. Similarly, a shot on goal from far away doesn’t mean it is a good chance. In contrast, a team can have a penalty and miss the goal, which is a great chance without a shot on goal. The book explains what xG is and how to quantify it. It makes the case of why it is a better indicator of the dominance in the game. The book doesn’t have the complexity of the other books on this list, but it gives the right framework so that you would understand the xG on a much better level when you see it in real life.
This does not naturally fall in the category of soccer statistics books. However, Nate Silver is the modern guru of statistics and his classic is something that every person who wants to understand data should read. His work in politics, in addition to his obsession with baseball, explains over and over again why probability is not certainty, and why only certain data is important. As we encounter variables in our analysis we have to assign appropriate weight to them. While this book will not teach us how to do that in soccer, it will help us think about the world of data. I have reread the book multiple times, pausing and thinking along the way with the new information and in the context of the recent games and seasons, of my teams that I coach and the professional ones that I have watched.
Possibly the most famous book on this list, helped by Brad Pitt starring in the movie. It shows how one of the poorest baseball teams in MLB went on the most impressive winning streak using data analytics to scout the sports talent. This is a true story that changed the way baseball teams use data. Obviously, this cannot be directly used in soccer, but certain aspects of it already are. With players playing key factors, it shows how there are no straight replacements in sports. One great player can be sold and two weaker players can be bought for that money. But the end result can be better or worse depending on the characteristics. The right data models can tell us which one is the better option. European soccer clubs like Leicester, Brighton, Borussia, Leipzig, and others have tried this approach. They cannot compete with the giants financially, so they have to be shrewd. I am certain we will see a soccer book like this in the upcoming years. Until then, enjoy Moneyball in the world of baseball.
Written by a professional poker player, we learn to think of our decisions as a process. It is not just the result that matters. Say we play against a better team overall, but we have taller players. We will try playing for set pieces and crosses. We might still lose the game, but we increase our chances of success. The book explains how we should think about maximizing our chances. That doesn’t guarantee success, but it makes us think in terms of probability. We naturally do that in our lives. I still travel by car, bike, and airplane. We limit our downside by wearing helmets and seatbelts. There would be unfortunate accidents, but we try to minimize them. Thinking in Bets will teach us exactly that. My only advice is to pause and reflect while reading the book. Think about your teams and matches, and how to maximize your chances of success.
Decision time
With so many books on soccer statistics, you might think we know so much about it. I would disagree with this statement. We know the human stories of soccer players, but we are far from understanding the numbers. I think we are just starting with it. With the rise of AI and the influx of data through various sensors, we will see an explosion of it. We have even seen it in youth sports as young as U8s. Video systems can calculate possession, passes, shots, and even xGs. This is truly impressive and will drive the development of youth players in a different way.
As you saw from the books, many other industries are ahead of soccer. However, as soccer is so lucrative, clubs will invest more and more in technology over time. The best soccer clubs in the world already hire these kinds of job profiles: data scientists, programmers, AI/ML engineers, computer vision experts, computer infrastructure engineers, and so on. The soccer aspect will not stay a side gig or a niche, but it will become a legitimate track for these professionals. They will try to outsmart each other and give an edge to their clubs. Only a few will succeed, so it will be fascinating to see yet another battle between the soccer clubs.
