Hi everyone. I've been coaching my son's soccer team for the past 3 years. This year they're in the U11 age group and it's the first year our club has graded players, so I have a relatively balanced team to work with.

I played soccer a bit in the 80's as a kid, and in recent years have watched a lot more and read more about it as my two sons have become interested in the game. Now that my son is getting a bit older, I'm conscious of the need to make sure his team are coached well and develop a well-rounded set of skills.

The club we play for in Adelaide isn't part of a FFA league so we don't play small sided games. Our games are 11 a side on a full pitch and have been since U9. It's not ideal, but changing clubs isn't an option at the moment.

We train once a week for 1 hour 15 minutes. I'm a big believer in giving the players lots of touches of the ball, so a typical training session would start with some basic skill work (dribbling with both feet, heading, juggling etc) and then we'd move onto one or two SSG's that focus on a particular area I want to develop. We'll usually finish with a 7 v 7 game, but will try and reinforce the training theme in this game. On game days, we've played a 4-4-2 system but this year I'd like to move to 4-3-3 to be more aligned with the FFA's ideas.

I'd like to get some ideas from the forum to help me become a more effective coach.

In particular some of the areas I need to learn more about are:
- How to teach the players the responsibilities of each position on the field
- How do I teach good defensive strategies to the players. This includes learning how to provide cover for each other and when to press the other team.
- What ideas do you have to develop their passing skills. We don't seem to have too many ball hogs and I want to develop a team that can pass well under pressure.
- How to defend (and attack) during set pieces.

The above list is a starting point and I'm sure I'll come back during the season with more questions :d

I've found a lot of resources on the internet (including the great guides in the sticky on this page), but I need help breaking it down into simple steps the players can follow.

There seems to be a lot of experience on this forum and I'm hoping I can benefit from that. Could you please help me out with ideas to help me with the above points, and any other ideas / resources you can think of that will help me be a more effective coach this year.

Thanks in advance.

Allan