[0:00]So, warm welcome to the podcast, Alf, uh, Cova Coaching co-founder and my dad. Um, today we're going to be talking about one of the most important topics in Cova Coaching, 1v1.
[0:10]Uh, before we get into the topic, um, I want to shout out our first five YouTube members. It's Alex, Amazing Game, Giuseppe, Omar and Gambo. Guys, thanks very much for being YouTube members.
[0:22]Anyone else, please uh, click the link in the bio and you'll see all the benefits of being a YouTube member with Curve Coaching.
[0:28]Uh also want to shout out all of the players that we've worked with recently uh that have asked us to shout them out on the podcast. Uh you know who you are and uh look forward to training next week.
[0:39]So, um, Dad, uh, let's talk about 1v1. Why is it such an important topic in the game?
[0:44]Well, I think the purpose of 1v1, Jim, is to create space. And space, um, whether it's grassroots or or in the pro game, is gets restricted as you go older and players get more physical.
[0:57]So 1v1, um, has a purpose and that purpose is to create space. To create space to pass, to shoot, or run with the ball or to protect the ball.
[1:07]So it's crucial I think, uh, in the past game but certainly in the in the future game. Yeah, I was going to ask what, you know, Cova Coaching's 40 years old. You've been in the game for longer than that.
[1:16]What, how have you seen 1v1 evolve from your your beginning, I guess, experience in football and where it is now in the game and why it's relevant now in the game?
[1:25]Yeah, so, the origin, uh, before Charlie and I started Cova Coaching in 84, um, Will Cova had this idea that you could use great players to teach young players.
[1:39]And in those days it was film, watching film, and he basically, uh, in the pre-84, uh, uh, looked at Beckenbauer, at Van Basten, who's Dutch, and, because Will was Dutch, obviously, and uh, Johan Cruyff.
[1:53]And, um, he devised 26 1v1s. I'm talking about 1981 now, uh, 80.
[2:00]And, um, they were, uh, uh, 26 because the alphabet was A to Z.
[2:06]And then when Charlie and I took over or started Cova Coaching in 84, up to this date, now we have 77.
[2:12]Yes. Um, but the evolution up from all those 40 years was that in 2003, um, Charlie and I looked at, um, eight great players.
[2:22]Including Beckenbauer, Cruyff, um, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, Rivelino, um, Stanley Matthews. Of course, we suddenly found that the kids didn't know their names.
[2:34]And, so, in 2003, Charlie and I decided we wanted to label these what we call moves, 1v1 moves.
[2:44]And we came up with 48 1v1 moves. And, we kept the name Beckenbauer and Rivelino and Matthews, the eight.
[2:51]But, we actually put labels on them. So, for example, as you know, I worked in Japan a lot.
[2:57]that you could, uh, say the the Stanley Matthews move was the drag-push. It it no longer became the Stanley Matthews move, uh, apart from describing the origin, but it became the drag-push, the drag-whip, the drag-side-step.
[3:10]Yes. And then if there was a Japanese or a Premier League player, uh, say Bellingham, you could, it's say, he does the drag-push. Yes.
[3:17]So, it allowed us then, because Cova's global, to actually apply our labels and, uh, that from 48 to to today, there's 77.
[3:26]Yes. And and for grassroots coaches because remember our, uh, aim of this podcast is to provide useful information to grassroots coaches. Why is 1v1 an important topic for them and how can they think about it in terms of their sessions?
[3:39]Yeah, so, um, why it's important? Let's take what's, you know, when you're a soccer teacher, soccer coach.
[3:45]So, there's the technical, the skill part. So, the skill part actually, um, improves your ball mastery, your comfort and confidence with the ball.
[3:57]Um, the the, um, if you like the strength part, when you're working a lot with the ball, especially repetition on 1v1, because it's learned through repetition.
[4:03]You start, your legs get stronger, you become more flexible, you become more coordinated. Tactically, because football's a team game, it's exactly what I said to you before, it creates space.
[4:16]Um, that that space could be another goal chance. Yes. Um, and then mentally, um, so I've tried to cover all the four cornerstones, so they say of coaching. Mentally, it gives you confidence.
[4:38]Yeah. I I think the thing that we see and you know I I coach under 13s, uh, boys and girls, is that the kids enjoy it too.
[4:45]So, for coaches listening to this, if you don't include 1v1 in your sessions at the moment or 2v2, kids enjoy the competitive element of it.
[4:52]I think they also like to see the challenge of it. It's something that that if you put at the beginning of your session, you can it grabs the attention of the kids immediately. And, and particularly with boys, they can run off steam and it gets them engaged and ready to go for the rest of your session as as that sort of develops.
[5:07]I I think that's the key benefit as well of of the work at the grassroots level.
[5:11]I I think at the grassroots team, even at the so-called, you know, pro-academy level, at that age, if you don't really like what you're doing, you will you're not motivated, right?
[5:23]So, that's why in in Cova, you know, when we work with all the coaches, we're saying, plan your session really carefully because at the at the sort of blueprint has to be loved, enjoyment.
[5:36]And, therefore, and 1v1, like you say, um, because football is a competitive sport, is the the first competition. Yes.
[5:44]And you could say that even when you're playing up to 11v11, it's 1v1 contests all over the field. Yes.
[5:50]Um, well, it's you talked about a a little bit, uh, at the beginning of this conversation about the evolution, the history of Cova in this in this topic.
[5:56]Can you can you just summarize that? And then you know, that was 40 plus years ago now.
[6:02]Can you also talk a little bit about how in a way it was so forward-thinking in terms of its relevance in in the game right now and probably its future relevance as well?
[6:11]Yes, so, um, when we started, uh, traditional license courses all over the world were really centered on tactics.
[6:19]And they were they were individual topics taught, but, um, and it would be a something on the side really. Um, it was basically everything, every coaching program, every coaching course was based on the tactical element, the team element.
[6:40]And what I think Cova as as I think, uh, I told you a few weeks ago, I went to see Arsene Wenger and I've known Arsene since Japan days.
[6:50]And he said to me, what you guys have done, meaning Cova is invented a curriculum for the ball. And I I, you know, he didn't talk about his skill, et cetera. These were both sort of character or personal traits.
[7:16]Um, and that total focus and that resilience of of of when he loses the ball, he'll go and fight for it.
[7:23]Because a lot of people think he walks around, et cetera, but on the ball if he lose, watch him when he loses the ball. He's immediately back after the person.
[7:50]So, yes, um, I think in the internet, and and on the Cova app where we we've actually got videos of all these moves, right?
[8:06]So, the coaches should look at these moves and, uh, when when on on on our app, I think it's slow motion to, you can watch it in slow motion so you understand it.
[8:26]But one is the called the full-pull-spin and that's the Maradona, so-called Maradona move before we Charlie and I gave it the label. And Maradona was, um, uh, I would say the second player to Messi as far as 1v1.
[8:58]Um, if you go on YouTube and watch the World Cup in Mexico when he basically won the World Cup for Argentina through 1v1.
[9:14]I mean, against Belgium, he must have gone past four players and scored. You never see that now, right? I mean, it's a so, um, and and but the commonality between Messi and Maradona, rather than the other players was cutting the ball.
[9:29]That So, cutting the ball in Cova, you know, we've got the inside-foot-cut, outside-foot-cut twist-offs, um, is actually when somebody's approaching you, you cut the ball across your body.
[9:37]And so the ball moves one way, the player your opponent will move the other way, and then you cut it back.
[9:44]Messi, and it's to do with flexibility ankle, it's to do with the right time. But that commonality of cutting the ball was Messi and Maradona.
[9:56]Um, I know I talked a lot about Salah in this podcast, but he does that well, particularly in the box and he touches it a lot in the box, which is different to, you know, the the stats around one and two times two-time touching, uh, touches in the box for for finishes, et cetera. Um, but he's a bit of an anomaly, Salah, right?
[10:14]Because he does touch the ball and he cuts the ball a lot when he's in the box, and that's different to everyone else.
[10:20]Well, not not really, because what what's happened in the last five years is it's become common for a right-footed player to play on the left and a left-footed player on the right, right?
[10:31]So, Dembélé is the same, right? Uh, the the Paris Saint-Germain winger, uh, the Georgian player is the same.
[10:39]When you put a right-footed player on the left side, they, uh, the reason is that they have to cut in, they want to shoot with their left foot if they're on the right side, right?
[10:48]They look and see where the the the if they're being blocked, as soon as they see the space, they shoot. Otherwise, they take an extra touch to go beyond and find that gap.
[11:11]And that's become uh, now, almost at top-level standard, the the right-footed player on the left, left-footed player on the right.
[11:30]Yeah, um, when Rooney was making this point on his podcast the other day about how inverted wingers, basically, the importance of the number nine in terms of goal contributions has has reduced, right?
[11:41]10 years ago, plus, number nines were were the goal scorer, the striker was that that was their job. Now it's the wide players that are as important as the striker in chipping in with goals. Yes. Yeah.
[11:53]And, and it's interesting what you say about the grassroots you you you're unfortunately, the the the the problem not the problem, and that's why Cova's so indispensable is grassroots players are usually one-footed, right?
[12:06]Yeah, and and the beauty of Cova ball mastery is that by the time they're 12, we aim through the Cova ball mastery curriculum to make players two-footed.
[12:13]Um, in the pro game, when when people say, oh, Messi's only left foot, he's not, I've seen him, he's not only left foot. No pros only one-footed. Um, at the grassroots, they are.
[12:22]So, this notion of putting a a right-footed player on the left and a left-footed player on the right is more difficult in grassroots, but it's just as dangerous.
[12:32]If you do have that sort of play. Okay, Dad, we've got some questions from our Instagram, um, colleagues or followers, um, around the 1v1 topic.
[12:40]First question from Wayne. Wayne, um, what's the best method to get U7 kids to transfer the skill moves into their 1v1s?
[12:47]He's finding it a real challenge at the moment. So, I guess he's looking for how you transfer practice at training, the 1v1 work that you do in training to effective use, uh, on game day.
[13:31]Yes. Um, so to to answer that question, I've got to put it in context. Um, under eights is a different sort of, uh, priority, I think.
[13:40]Um, I don't think it's so much coaching. I think you can show them the skill. I don't think you need to be critical of the skill.
[13:48]I think that nearly all under eight, um, you know, between six years old and or five years old and eight years old, your whole session should be made up of games.
[13:58]Um, very little coaching. Um, I think with with the 1v1s that we've talked about on this program, I would probably start them when they're eight or nine years old.
[14:08]Um, I wouldn't really go into the Cova library, uh, with under eights and say, uh, maybe there's one that's called called the side-step and the step-on. Maybe two.
[14:15]Okay. Um, those, work with them on that. Um, but again, if you tell them when and where to do it, they're not going to learn.
[14:26]Yeah, sure. Yeah. Um, uh, Ollie B asks, do academies in the foundation phase focus mainly on 1v1s? I I assume it varies. So, um, yes, anecdotally, I can talk about it because in 2010, um, I was appointed the technical advisor to the Premier League when they introduced the program called EPPP.
[14:40]And we worked with uh, um, all the coaches of every Premier League club, um, who especially the 8 to 13 group, and Cova ball mastery and 1v1.
[14:55]And we over a year, we went to every club. And if you even now go to Liverpool or or or Arsenal, et cetera, um, uh, even Juventus, remember when you you went to, when I walked in the office, he had every Cova tape.
[15:08]Um, so the answer is yes, 1v1 in the pro clubs is basically Cova. Yeah. Yeah.
[15:13]And and and mandatory, uh, requirement or or topic for the foundation phase. Yes, I think mandatory in that, um, they think it's a DNA that they're, you know, top-level players should have. Yeah.
[15:28]Uh, okay, Bronna asks from what age should 1v1 start?
[15:31]Well, I think like when they're four or five, you just let them, you know, uh, run with the ball and, and, and have contests.
[15:39]Um, I think formal, if you like, when you start introducing them to the Cova moves, should probably be after eight years old. Okay. After eight, okay.
[15:48]Um, and then the last question is, where can you find the eight skill moves for the Cova classics?
[15:53]Well, uh, I can ask this question. It's from Rosshead, um, and, uh, they're on the Cova app and we'll put a link in the bio. Thanks very much for the question.
[16:01]Um, okay, let's do something, uh, last thing on 1v1. Um, and it's something that's a bit of an Instagram, um, I guess exercise or game and it's about, um, players.
[16:15]And you have to choose which player you like and we hopefully find the winner. So Ribery versus Robben.
[16:21]Robben. Robben versus Neymar.
[16:26]Neymar. Neymar versus Iniesta.
[16:31]Neymar. Neymar versus Henry.
[16:37]Neymar. Neymar versus Ronaldinho.
[16:41]Ronaldinho. Ronaldinho versus Maradona.
[16:47]Maradona. Maradona versus George Best.
[16:53]You can't have a tie, can you? No. No. No. No.
[16:56]Maradona. Maradona versus Messi.
[17:02]Messi. Well, well, that that shot by really great conversation on 1v1.
[17:08]Uh thanks very much for the pod and uh listeners, thanks very much. Please like and subscribe the podcast. See you next time.
