Matt Ward

⚽️ I’m back in the football business. 🌍 Still living in Taipei. Reach out if you’re in Asia. 🤝 I fully endorse @MyFootballCoach & work directly with clubs & academies worldwide as Club Partnership Officer 📺 YTube: @mattfooty" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">youtube.com/@mattfooty 📧 matt@mattwardfootball.com

This are the pro club U16 teams in the tournament too! Spurs, Fulham FC and Wycombe Waderers, Villarreal and Kashima Antlers to name a few!

@MyFootballCoach Pure class! 💪🏽💪🏽💪🏽

Right session, wrong level = development stalls. Coach's Pass = sessions by age: 5–8 | 9–12 | 13–16 | 17+ Match work to ability. Progress faster. 3-Day FREE Trial Comment COACHPASS for the link.

✈️ Countdown to JSSL Singapore tournament - Kicking off in 3 days! Take a look 👀 at the group teams our U8s, U9s, U10s and u13s will face! #jssl7s

Some warm up fun. If in doubt, use points and goals to reward defenders. ⏭️ Attackers make 6 passes for a point. 🎯 Defenders score a goal for 2 points.

Set up a fun skills & shooting circuit for some of the boys - they loved it! Started off with some slow warm up then got faster & more dynamic. 🤯 Yes, it was unopposed and yes, I used static traffic cones. 🔁 Also yes, they transferred it to the small sided games.

I love this practice with our MFA Taiwan U10s because it hits 3/4 different outcomes without them knowing it & by keeping score, they really enjoy it; 👕 3 teams split into 2 halves and a defensive tunnel in the middle. ✋🏽 1 defender can leave tunnel & press ball carrier in either half. If they win possession, can score 2 points in any of the goals. ⏭️ Attackers must make 3 passes before attempting to break df line to the other half with a pass. completed pass = 1 point. 🤩 Most practices can be made fun with kids, just keep energy high, reward all teams with points & keep score.

Another super evening with MFA U10s, JSSL Singapore preparation! They basically figured out by themselves how to play 7 aside with 3 defenders when defending and 3 midfielders when attacking! Before the start they were like, ‘Coach how do we attack with so many defenders……’ then they told me how they did it after the game 😆😆🤩🤩

@tomsan106 You’ve given football a beautiful thing TB! Amazing stuff and so much for others to use as motivation and inspiration!

Thanks to everyone who’s been engaging with my posts. There’s clearly a lot to talk about, and it’s great to see such a strong response with so many different perspectives. Whether opinions differ isn’t what matters most, what matters is hearing a wide range of viewpoints and sharing them respectfully.

Countdown to JSSL Tournament in Singapore 🇸🇬 ⚽️

Preparation and organisation is important for every session - no matter the age, level, or estimated number of players.

Busy weekend of coaching with sessions and 4 matches across various groups. Absolutely love seeing players playing with smiles on their faces! In the beautiful Taipei sunshine too!

Repetition is needed in sport and it is also very misunderstood by some coaches. Each sport will differ, but as a coach, we are responsible for making repetition as interesting & dare I say it, ‘fun’ as possible. 🎯 This could be through equipment like the scoreboard my son is hitting in the video. 🚀 Setting challenges & objectives. ⏰ Giving a young learner the freedom to ‘play around’, explore and discover - with ‘time’ & exposure being the factor enabling repetition. 🕵🏼‍♂️ Using ‘disguised’ repetition in some kind of game play or set environment. 🔁 Repetition can even go unnoticed, if the player is actually getting valuable and development changing information from the coach. The delivery and execution is 🔑

⚽️ 🍱 Our awesome clubhouse and Fanzone cafe at MFA, right next to our pitches!

First friendly match tonight for MFA Taipei 🇹🇼 went very well, in preparation for the JSSL Singapore Professional Academy 7's next month! We are in the same group as Azkals Development U10 🇵🇭, pro team academies from Singapore 🇸🇬 and strong teams from Thailand 🇹🇭 👏🏽

NB. This is our advanced u10 team competing in national & international tournament. The above breakdown of outcomes were delivered in bite size parts each week. Big focus not to overwhelm them with too many objectives at once.

MFA Taipei U10 ⚽️ 🇹🇼 focusing on recycling possession to create space. Maybe a complex topic for this age, but they’ve been working on it for a couple of weeks and progress + attitudes have been excellent! 🛡️ Taking care of possession 🕰️ Being patient in possession ♻️ Recycle possession if can’t drive forward 💪🏽 Be brave and create space between defenders 🔁 Try & move defenders 🚀 Drive forward when possible with dribble or pass

Don’t need to overthink warm ups for most children matches, but there are better options than lining up and taking shots like I saw 80% teams doing at a ‘national’ tournament. ⬆️ Any age group / get ball touches in, get some passing and moving. 👥 Get some short & long passes in. 💪🏽 Add small opposition but keep focus on ball touches for players. 🤔 Maybe try and replicate how you will play ( here we are trying to move the ball around ). 🏃‍♂️ Also many teams are making their players do some kind of mini beep test…….. you can get more game specific movements even in a rondo.

@MyFootballCoach Virtual Academy is a must, for ongoing development from top practitioners in the game!

Full video from this can be found below

Latest video on coaching at a national youth tournament in South Taiwan ⚽️🚀 Watch the full video on my YTube channel 📺 Matt Football & Asia