Wind rain and no sunshine, what a greeting for our Spanish futsal guest Daniel Berdejo-del-Fresno. Dan was accompanied by Adam Oldham, an ex Barnsley pro’, more acclimatised to the worst of our weather. Adam played for Sheffield Futsal team when Daniel managed them to become national champions.
Daniel is currently on contract with The Saudi Arabian national futsal team.
The morning sessions were with Saints u11s & 13s. Followed by an evening session with GSC u10s.
It would have been great to have teams represented across the ages but unfortunately it was not a workable possibility.
With a ball for every player Dan and Adam opened up each session with a ball control session emphasising the importance of using the sole of the shoe rather than the side of the shoe.
They then placed players in two’s opposite each other. The ball was passed from player to player, the emphasis being again on using the sole of the trainer, receiving and moving in one motion. The players were then challenged to receive, move and pass off the opposite foot.
They then moved onto a shooting and defending drill. The players were split into two groups. Group one attacked at speed vs. a single defender, they had a time limit of seven seconds to score. Immediately the ball was dead in group one, group two attacked. The key points were attacking at speed, and for the defenders patient defending and angling the body to force the attacker away from the goal. Everyone, excepting the keeper rotated which kept the whole group working at high speed, whilst learning to both attack and defend.
Last they finished with a match, with occasional instructions of advice offered.
During the sessions some of Dan’s influential futsal friend’s came down to meet up with him, which made the day even more enjoyable. I don’t often get to share a coffee discussing World Cups and Premiership managers that played futsal.
I have spoken to the managers and am pleased that they got to take something from the sessions, and doubly pleased that their players was grateful for their opportunity to be coached by coaches at the elite level of the game.
NB: Dan and Adam will be at Hull this coming Saturday. There is space for an u12 team if anyone is available? Note the session is indoors at the fabulous Hull University venue. Call Kevin Bryant 0n 07980286663 for more details.