Practice what you preach

I decided to stop playing 11-a-side football at the end of the 2018-19 season.

After a couple of years out of the “full sized” game altogether, I decided to embark on a journey into coaching in 2020, but was briefly tempted out of retirement after a few months to fill in between the sticks for a cup game where the regular ‘keeper (and several other options) were unavailable.

I always maintained that I was happy to play the odd game here and there (I’ve always been signed on as a registered player) but that I couldn’t commit to playing regularly as I like to keep my weekends free these days for other activities.

This weekend came the call to dust off the gloves and get back out on the field as the reserves were once again lacking a man between the posts.

It’s been a tough season for our reserve side at Cockfield, who currently sit bottom of the table with 3 wins and 3 draws from 18 games. Their struggles have been not through a lack of effort or desire, but perhaps just sitting one step above where they would be better suited and can operate more competitively.

Our opponents on Saturday would be Copelstonians, 3rd in the league and with faint hopes of lifting the title, though they’d need to beat us to stand any chance of realising that goal, and we were determined not to go down with a wimper.

So, vastly out of practice and unsure of what to expect, I took to the field and we eventually came away with a hard-earned point, every player of our makeshift side putting in a solid performance to earn a thrilling 4-4 draw.

As a coach, I always try to urge the players I work with to analyse their performances, focus on areas for improvement but, and I think this is far more important, apply self-praise and recognition for what they did well. It’s easy for us to criticise our mistakes, and as goalkeepers we are perhaps more susceptible to others criticising them too (I don’t think any other position on the pitch historically gets as much scrutiny as a ‘keeper), but for me it’s oh so important to identify what you did right and take confidence from that to improve the areas of your game where perhaps you can do better.

To that affect, I am writing this blog to practice what I preach, assess the strengths and weaknesses of my own performance and, whilst I don’t plan on completing 90 minutes again any time soon, suggest how I might improve my game in future, if the call comes down the line once more…

Areas for improvement

As I said, I firmly believe it’s as important, if not more-so, to focus on the positives, but identifying areas for improvement still remains the best way to determine areas for improvement, so I want to start by looking at what I could’ve done better.

  • Distribution – Cockfield have an admirable philosophy of trying to play out from the back where possible, and in general it works really well. This methodology was far less prevalent “in my day” and therefore does not come naturally to me. On two occasions I attempted to play quick mid-range goal kicks out to midfielders and gave the ball away, leading to chances on goal for the opposition. With this approach being more commonplace in today’s game, this would definitely be an area I would need to focus on and improve, specifically in regards to decision making, short-pass accuracy and pass technique.
  • Claiming crosses – Every good goalkeeper needs to command their box and there were a couple of occasions where I could – and perhaps should – have taken charge. Being confident and assured in your actions is a skill worth having, and whilst it can be difficult to learn these personality traits, doing so will certainly benefit any goalkeeper who’s willing to put themselves in the mix and take control of the situation.

Positive moments

I’d like to think that I played OK. Obviously no ‘keeper wants to concede four goals in a game, but given the circumstances of the game and the nature of many of the goals, I feel I did well enough overall to be happy with my performance.

I feel I made three or four decent stops, including one early in the second half which required a full change of direction following a deflection, something I’d recently worked on with all my ‘keepers in previous weeks and was therefore able to utilise exactly what we’d been preparing for.

I also think that, on the most part, my decision making was good and I dealt with the majority of situations that came my way well, with one or two notable exceptions.

Summary

Whilst I still believe that my playing days are firmly behind me, I actually don’t mind the occasional outing on the field. If anything, it gives me better perspective of what the goalkeepers I work with on a weekly basis go through and perhaps even allows me a greater insight into how the skills and techniques we work on can and need to integrate into their match situations.

After all, that’s why we do what we do. If our sessions do not help the players in-game, then what is their purpose? Developing and providing game-realistic practices is a crucial part of coaching and getting back out on the pitch really will help me gain a better insight in that regard and allow me to develop better sessions moving forward.

So, distribution session on Tuesday then…?!