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Introduction

Welcome to the Warriors NXT 2013-14 team page. Here you will find information we share about how we play and soccer in general. Each week during the season the News Update section will be updated with what has changed on the page. The Weekly Training and Weekly Keeper Training sections will be updated each week. And, randomly through the season other parts of the site will be updated and then the News Update section will reflect that. The page is maintained by Coach Sam with input from the entire coaching staff. 

News Update

Week 6 homework is updated. We are focusing this week on passing back to the keeper and pressure the defender with the ball with a double team to force a turn over. 

Team Overview

Warriors NXT 2013-14 is a cohort of 3 6th grade soccer teams from the Brookline Soccer Club. Our teams are Fulham, Porto, and Roma. We play 9v9 games with a size 4 ball within the Boston Area Youth Soccer league.  You can find our schedules in BAYS from this page by looking for your team under the Brookline Soccer Club Teams section. 

Our Vision

Provide a fun and rewarding developmental soccer experience for 5th and 6th grade boys that progresses them towards their soccer goals whether that ranges from playing at Brookline High School or creating a life-long love of the Beautiful Game.

Game Model

During the 2024-2025 the teams successfully trained and played games using our Game Model as the framework for how we approach the game. Sam and coaching staff created the Game Model (combination of philosophy and framework) for that training year and have updated it for this season. It is a living document that will be updated throughout the season to reflect our understanding of how we play. 

We will share the most current version of our Game Model here. It lays out everything from our vision, culture, style, and more. As part of this I want to highlight the culture we have built and will maintain. 

Culture

The B6 cohort has multiple teams with a tremendous range of players with a diverse relationship with the Beautiful Game. Our goal is to make all of them welcome while creating a culture that enables all of them to reach their soccer goals. Additionally, the coaching staff firmly believes that we are developing more than just soccer players. We are developing future citizens and leaders within our community and the values  they develop on the soccer field are critical in their development as young men.

Warriors NXT Values

  • Respectful – we treat everyone with dignity
  • Focused – when we are at practice or a game we are talking and thinking about soccer
  • Supportive – we support each other as players and people
  • Growth Mindset – we strive to get better
  • Warrior Spirit – we play with intensity and we always strive to win and never give up

Our expectation is every player should be familiar with all of the subphases.

Sub-Phases

Attacking in the flow of play sub-phases:

Build up out of the back

In this sub-phase we safely pass the ball around our defensive half of the field away from the opponent building out of our back. The purpose is to safely and consistently cross the midfield line to start our attack into our attacking half of the field.  

Attacking by probing and analyzing

We will generally play this sub-phase for the first half of the game to test and analyze our opponent's defense. We combine dribbling and passing and our attacking patterns to attack the opponent from our left, center, and right to find their defensive weaknesses. We try to attack from the left and the right with crosses and ground attack via dribbling and passing. Ideally we also get some cutback passes from the left and the right to see how their defense handles that too. Lastly, we will likely shift to a low-block for 5-10 minutes to test the opponent's ability to handle our team counter-attack.  The scoring zone is the area of the field in front of the opponent's goal which is the width of the 6 yard box up to the 18. This part of the field leads to the highest chances to score when we take a shot. 

Attacking by targeting, disrupting, and scoring

We generally play this sub-phase during the second half after we have learned what the opponent's defensive weaknesses are. We then narrow our focus on one or two weaknesses and use our attacking patterns of play to exploit those weaknesses and create a lot of goal scoring opportunities. 

Team counter-attack

Often when we play a low-block we are doing so in order to enable our midfield to regain possession of the ball so we can rapidly launch a counter-attack with 1-2 midfielders and 2 forwards to get into the scoring zone and create a scoring opportunity before the opponent's midfield get get back on defense. 

Local counter-attack

When we conduct a high-press our intent is to regain possession of the ball in our attacking half of the field. When we regain possession of the ball in that manner our first thought is to conduct a local counter-attack with the player regaining the ball and maybe one other player. The player with the ball's first look is to immediately attack towards the opponent's goal. The purpose of this immediate local counter-attack is to create a scoring opportunity before the opponent's midfield and defense have time to reform. 

Defending in the flow of play sub-phases:

Low-Block

In this sub-phase our midfield and defensive lines play a zonal pressure, cover, balance defense.  Our defensive line sets itself along our 18. Our midfield line sets itself about 5-7 yards on top of the defensive line. Each line plays compact pressure, cover, balance. The forwards allow the opponent to cross the midfield and then force them into a smaller and smaller space on the field on either the left of the right side. Normally we like to turn the opponent to our right side. We will likely low-block for two reasons. The first one is to prevent the opponent from getting shots inside our scoring zone. The second, and often more important reason, is for us to create counter-attacking opportunities. 

Mid-Block

The mid-block is very similar to the low-block except the midfield line sets itself just on our defensive side of the midfield line. The defensive line forms up about 7-10 yards behind our midfield line while the forwards try and turn the other team to our right and make the field smaller and smaller for them. The purpose of this is typically regain possession of the ball around the middle of the field and then attack by probing or attack by targeting depending on the style we are playing at the moment. 

High-Press

When we high press we are switching to a man marking system centered around the opponent who has the ball. We are trying to gain possession of the ball on the opponent's side of the field. We try to gain possession of the ball and immediately attack towards goal. We frequently do this when the opponent has a goal kick. Our forwards try and turn our opponent to our right. Our midfield line positions itself to contain the ball in our attacking third. And our defenders position themselves to prevent an opponent's deep attack on our goal.

Weekly Training

We expect each player to read through and watch the training material by week. This will help them better understand our training and training focus for the week. 

Pre-Season

Prior to our first practice in September I expect each player to complete this section. The purpose of this study is to refresh our memory on everything we learned last year. By the end of last year we were doing very well and shifting formations and styles of play to best match the tactical situation. We want to regain that level of play as quickly as possible. As such, please go through this section and recall how we played last year. 

We learned and played several different styles of play or what we call sub-phases in our game model. The ones I want to review are:

  • Low-block
  • Mid-block
  • High-press
  • Corner kicks

Low-block

Please re-watch this video. 

Mid-block

Please re-watch this video. 

High-press

This is a new video I created to cover how we conduct a high-press against an opponent's goal kick.

Here is a video I created about how we high-press against an opponent's throw-in. I can't emphasize this point enough. To be successful as soon as the ball goes out in the opponent's half we have to man mark or double team every opponent within 15 yards of the ball. Then we need to leave some space for him to throw the ball back down the field towards his endline. 

Corners

Here is a video reviewing how we offensively and defensively take corners.

Week 1 Game on 6 September

This week we are going to focus our individual training on individual training and double teaming. Our tactical focus for the week will be re-learning low-block, mid-block, high-press and corner kicks. Since all of the tactical topics we have covered before we are going to move very quickly. With that said, as you get smarter and smarter as a player it is often very worth while to go back and look at a skill and tactical concept you have already learned. It is amazing how much more there is for you to learn about it than you already understand. 

So, as you go through these videos look at them with fresh eyes and apply your experience and learn even more about the subject. 

Individual Defending

This is a good video for learning about individual 1v1 defending. 

Double Teaming

The number one way good dribblers like to beat the double team is to split the two defenders. So, when we double team we try and follow these steps.

  1. Defender 1 pressures opponent with the ball
  2. Defender 2 at a sprint closes in and gets nearly shoulder to shoulder with Defender 1 to prevent being split
  3. While defender 1 still pressures the ball defender 2 moves between the attacker and the ball. He goes less for the ball and more for the space between the attacker and the ball

Low Block Example

Watch the way Italy plays the low-block in this game. What formation are they playing? Watch how all three lines shift together. Watch how a player from one of their lines steps out to pressure and the other players shift over to cover and the whole line balances on the field.

 

Mid-Block

In this video, can you identify England's defensive, midfield, and forward lines and how they work together? Can you also see how their midfield line is generally playing along the center line?

High-Press

Here is a great example and a analysis how a high-pressing team cuts off passes in to the midfield and then applies more and more pressure to the player with the ball making the field smaller and smaller until often he kicks it away down field or makes a bad pass. 

Thinking Thursday Homework

We have now started a new training session each week this season. They are online on Thursdays from 7:30-8pm. If you are going to join us this Thursday we are going to focus on in game tactical analysis and mental performance of athletes. The mental performance area we are going to focus on is the impact of "box breathing" on your mental performance. Please review this video prior to our Thinking Thursday session. 

 

Week 2 Game on 13 September

This week we are focusing on switching fields and attacking down a flank leading to a cross to numbers in the box. This video is a good example of several different 9v9 examples of teams switching fields and attacking down the flank. As you watch this notice several tendencies.

  • Player with the ball is aware that they opponent has shifted lots of players to his side of the field
  • Often he makes a pass slightly backwards to a free player in the direction he wants to switch to
  • The player on the far side moves up the field to receive the ball by passing one of the opponents lines. I will talk more about this later
  • Player or players rapidly attack down the flank while teammates sprint to get into the box
  • Cross towards the PK leading to a shot
  • Most of the time the passing is short, hard, and on the ground
  • Most of the time they did not skip players, but play from one player to the next nearest player to the next nearest player

 

Coach Sam Video on Switching Fields

Premier League Goals Matchweek 3

As you watch these goals I want you to especially focus on the assists. I want you to see the runs, use of space, and passing that made the goal possible. Pay special attention to goals scored from a cross from the outside. We are focusing on switching fields this week and attacking down the flanks which should lead to a cross from the outside. See how the pros do it. 

Week 3 Game on 20 September

This week we are focusing on switching the field. As such, we are going to focus on push passing, driven pass (air) and driven pass (ground/grass cutter). These are two great videos on both the low driven pass and the long driven pass in the air. 

Long Driven Pass in the Air

I really love how he explains the tactical reasons why you use this pass. When you watch both of these videos really pay attention to his demonstrations. Focus on his body part or action that he just spoke about. You will learn more through your eyes than through your ears. 

Low Driven Pass

Once again, I really love in this video how he explains the tactical situations when you may want to use a low driven pass instead of a push pass or a high driven pass. Also once again, really look at the body parts and action he is describing in the video. Don't just listen and look away. Watch.

Every Premier League Goal of Matchweek 4

As you watch this pay attention to the different low driven and high driven passes you see. When you do think about why you think the passer chose that pass.

 

Week 4 Game on 27 September

This week we are focusing on give and goes and playing to the open space. We are also focusing on playing with a calm and deliberate controlled approach. 

Give and Go video

This is a super simple give and go video. Probably too simple for us, but it give us the basics. 

Give and Go Tactical Example

This video does a nice job of showing two consecutive give and goes in a real game. 

A Tactical Master Class in Patience and Playing to the Open Space

This is a brilliant example of Manchester City playing a calm and deliberate controlled passing soccer. They make several attempts where they decide it is not working and they back it up and start over again. They switch field several times until finally after moving the ball around the field and disrupting the opponent's defense they find and opening and score a goal. 

Week 5 Game on 4 October

This is a rest week. No homework. 

Week 6 Natick Tournament on 11-13 October

This week we are focusing on passing back to the keeper and double teaming the defender when he has the ball and is facing the keeper. 

Pass Back Rule Explained

In order to legally pass the ball back to the keeper we have to understand the pass back rule. This video does a decent job of how you can pass the ball back to the keeper so he can pick it up with his hands and when he cannot. 

Once we know the rules around passing back to the keeper we want to understand when and how to best do it. 

How to Pass Back

This video points out the importance of a passing the ball back on the ground at a good pace to the keeper's strong foot.  You also need to ensure that the other team is far enough away from the keeper that he will be able to safely play it. 

Now that we have learned how to pass the ball away from pressure and back to our keeper let us look at how to double team a defender by our forward when he is running with the ball back towards his keeper. This happens frequently during the game. A long ball will come over the head of the opponent's defensive line and one of the defenders will run back to try and gain possession of the ball. This is when we want two forwards to work together to pressure the defender with the ball in order to steal it and create an excellent scoring opportunity. 

I will create a video later this week to show how we do this. 

Premier League Week 7 Goals of the Week

To get us in the right mindset for the Natick Tournament this weekend take 11 minutes and watch these amazing goals. Combine this with our visualization training we are doing and visualize you scoring goals in the tournament.

 

Week 7 Game on 18 October

To be published

Week 8 Game on 25 October

To be published

Week 9 Game on 1 November

To be published

Week 10 Game on 8 November

To be published

Weekly Keeper Training

This Fall season in addition to the basic keeper skills we are going to be focusing on three areas:

  • Communication. Especially with your defense. 
  • Distribution. This includes over hand throws, bowling, field passing, punts, and side-volleys. 
  • Owning your box. Being aggressive coming off your line whether it is 1v1 or taking on a cross. You own the box. 

We will also focus on different kind of saves and keeper movement and positioning. 

As we go through the season, remember that it is essential for you to keep working on your skill as a field player. As a keeper you need to work twice as hard as the other players. You need to be a good field player AND a good keeper. 

Week 1 Game on 6 September

This week we are going to review the basics and start working on communication. As you know communication is going to be a big focus for this season. 

Review of Goal Keeping Skills

Communication Basics

Week 2 Game on 13 September

This week we will be focusing on good goalie stance and making different kind of saves with your hands. It all starts with a good stance. A good stance is the basis for all great saves. 

Week 3 Game on 20 September

This week we are working on cross-steps, backing up, and punching. 

Punching (two hand)

Cross Step

This demo shows the keeper moving across the goal to make a save. It is the same set of principles and techniques if you are moving backwards into the goal.

Week 4 Game on 27 September

This week coach Jeremy will be focusing the keepers on dealing with crosses. 

Week 5 Game on 4 October

This is a rest week. No homework. 

Week 6 Natick Tournament on 11-13 October

In preparation for the Natick Tournament we are focusing the videos here on keeper distribution. Keepers are often the first player to begin our attack. 

Distribution Technics.

This video does a really good job of showing the different techniques a keeper should use to distribute the ball. If you can get out and practice these techniques on your own with a friend that would be great prior to the tournament.

Tactics Behind Distribution

Though this video has no sound, it does a nice job of showing a keeper in different situations and what he is thinking as he distributes the ball. When you watch it look and see how the keeper is looking around the field to see his options and choose the safest pass. 

Week 7 Game on 18 October

To be published

Week 8 Game on 25 October

To be published

Week 9 Game on 1 November

To be published

Week 10 Game on 8 November

To be published

General Soccer Stuff

This section is full of interesting soccer videos and articles to enhance the players' learning. Nothing here is "required", but it has some cool information and learning.