Malcolm Cook - Soccer Training: Games, Drills and Fitness Practices

Christiano Ronaldo, the Real Madrid and Portugal player and World Player of the Year 2008, has practiced diligently over the last few years to scale enormous heights in performance and become one of the most feared attacking players in world football. When he was first signed by Manchester United he was dismissed by many critics as a one-trick pony who could only dribble with the ball on his own. However, he practiced relentlessly with his coaches and became the complete and devastating player that we see today.

Acknowledgements

A special thank you to three coaches of the highest quality who I hold in high esteem: namely Sir Bobby Robson CBE, Mark Hughes MBE and Jeff Tipping, director of education and coaching at the NSCAA, for your excellent forewords.

Forewords

Having worked in the Football Industry field for over thirty five years, I have found that players, and teams, respond best to a programme which is simple, varied, progressive and maintains interest for all through its sound organisation.

Players want to see improvement in their game, whilst enjoying the work at the same time and this is precisely what this book does, in a clear, instructive and logical fashion. The manual presents coaches, trainers and teachers with a wide range of ideas for improving and developing their players techniques and skills, and also gives them an insight into tactics and specific football fitness programmes.

Author Malcolm Cook, who has a vast experience in football coaching, has produced an excellent practical book that I am delighted to recommend to coaches, trainers and teachers at all levels of the game.

The late Sir Bobby Robson, CBE

The late Sir Bobby Robson, CBE

Fulham, Ipswich Town, England, PSV,

Barcelona, Porto and Newcastle United

Every coach, whether a beginner working with children, or an experienced professional club or national team coach, requires a pool of soccer knowledge, and a portfolio of technical practices and fitness training sessions in order to provide their players with a structured coaching and development programme.

Using simple language and clear diagrams, this excellent book provides these tools. The basic principles of coaching and training are explained clearly and simply in a format which can be used on a daily basis by the working coach.

Malcolm Cook is a professional coach with extensive experience of professional club coaching, player development and coach education. I fully endorse his book, and consider it a welcome addition to the literature available on soccer coaching and fitness training.

Mark Hughes, MBE

Mark Hughes, MBE

Former Manager of Welsh National Team,

Blackburn Rovers and Manchester City

Malcolm Cook is a true Da Vinci Coach ... he has done it all and is still a master of the craft of coaching. The process of coaching is much more than rolling a ball out and blowing a whistle when something goes wrong it is making a real contribution to the sport, leaving a legacy and helping to make boys and girls into good men and women. In my work as Director of Education for the National Soccer Coaches Association of America we are always on the lookout for quality books to recommend to our members. I thoroughly recommend Soccer Training and every book that Malcolm has written for coaches. The NSCAA is a world-class coaching organisation and I am pleased to recommend to our 31,000 members the work of Malcolm Cook, a truly unique individual.

Jeff Tipping

Jeff Tipping,

Director of Education and

Coaching Development,

NSCAA