His current team were doing well and unlucky not to be in front against Wolves, until a quickfire double made it 0-2.
Anyone got a handy guide to John Eustace? Everything you wanted to know, and were afraid to ask.
Looking at 2 other possibles...
https://x.com/RobDorsettSky/status/1888546832600424911?t=s_xS0dvlg8fpJDv7QWuYcg&s=19
Here you go Hebs, roughly put together...
Eustace's style of play involves playing out from defense and taking risks.
He's comfortable with mistakes and is willing to work on reducing them.
Eustace has said that he wants his players to be together, sweat for the fans, and be ready to learn.
Digging deeper into his tenure at Kidderminster — Eustace completely revamped their style of play, — his team were nicknamed “Non league Barcelona” due to the attractive style of play the now 42 year-
Delving more into the style of play, non league Gainsborough Manager Dave Frecklington was quoted in saying “It was football that hadn’t been seen by a Kidderminster side in years. It was front-foot, free-flowing, ambitious, attacking. People say it now about Liverpool, if you were a neutral you’d go and watch a Liverpool game. If you were going to watch a game in the non-league, you were going to watch a John Eustace Kidderminster Harriers side. It was obvious from the profile of the player that he was bringing in, there was a real clear philosophy — we’re going to play on the floor, front-foot attacking and we’re going to play our way to promotion. It was a fluid 4-3-3. You could say it was a 4-5-1. You could say it was a 4-3-2-1 depending on how you looked at it. But some of the football was very wing-based. He liked his full-backs to get forward, and having the flair players in behind as well.” Obviously this sounds really appealing, Eustace eventually left Kidderminster and joined QPR as an assistant manager. When McClaren was sacked, Eustace was put in charge of QPR to help them stay up, It wasn’t smooth but he got the job done by getting 7 points from 7 games. Swansea City looked at him for their rebuild for the past two seasons, mainly because Julian Winter knew the former midfielder from both of their times at Watford. Winter said he wanted Eustace because he aligns with the Swansea Way, but Eustace had a change of heart and turned down the job, leaving Russell Martin to take over.
Eustace wrote a training piece to Elite Soccer on Attacking and defending transitions, and how he likes his teams to navigate in those phases of play by showing his training methods
“This is a session designed to encourage the defending team to win the ball back and quickly play it forward to their attackers. The attacking players then have to look after the ball and bring in other players to transition and help to create chances against the opposition. As a session it also helps defenders to work on their defending when being transitioned against. Players tend to like this session because it is really competitive between the defenders and the attacking players. This challenges the forwards to look after the ball and bring in other players around them to go and create and score. The defenders then have the challenge of stopping the counter-attack and defending their goal when overloaded. This session is ideal to use when coming up against a team that is very expansive in its play. It’s a good session if we decide to play deep and drop off the opponent, allowing us to transition on them if we win the ball back. Also this session works if we decide to be more expansive in our play and try to dominate possession, leaving ourselves exposed sometimes to be transitioned on. Our defenders are then used to certain situations and are prepared to defend the initial first pass forward but also organise themselves to defend when outnumbered.”
TRANSITION PRACTICE
“We set up between the two penalty boxes of our pitch with a goal and a goalkeeper at each end. The playing area is coned off to the width of the penalty area and we mark an 18-yard end zone in front of each goal. We’re using at least 18 outfield players. We set up as shown with 6 blue defenders who start in the central zone (with three defending each end). We also set up with 4 red strikers who start in the central zone (with two attacking each end) and 8 yellow midfielders who start with four to the side of the goals at each end. Play starts with a pass from the goalkeeper to midfielder A, who combines with midfielder B. Midfielder B passes forward to one of the two red strikers attacking the opposite end and midfielders A and B both then make forward runs to join the strikers in attacking the blue defenders with a 4v3 overload. The attacking team has just 10 seconds to score once the first striker has touched the ball. The three defending players must stay narrow and try to stop the attack penetrating behind them. Once the first attack is over, the coach plays a new ball into the central area from the halfway line and the two red attackers and two yellow midfielders who have just attacked have to quickly get back in shape to get on the ball and make a second attack on the same end. The three blue defenders who just faced the first attack must quickly get up to the edge of the end zone ready to defend against the second attack. This time there is no 10 second rule, so the attackers have more time to develop the attack. Once the second attack is over, play goes the other way in the same manner with two yellow midfielders combining to play the ball into the two strikers at the opposite end and then join the attack.”
11v11 TRANSITION GAME
“We set up between the penalty area at one end of our pitch and the goal line at the other end. We are using the full width of the pitch and we position a goal and a goalkeeper at each end. We also mark a 10-yard zone across the width of the pitch at the halfway line. We’re using 20 outfield players split into two teams of 11 including keepers. We play an 11v11 game, with possession starting with the three central defenders from the blue attacking team in the central 10-yard zone. The two nearest red forwards in the central zone are passive in the initial phase but the rest of the red defending team must press and try to win the ball back. If the reds succeed in winning possession, they pass the ball from the back into one of their strikers in the central zone, who looks to bring the other players into the game in a counter-attack. Now faced with a counter-attack against them, the blue team can only defend using the three central defenders who can recover from the central zone, with the counter-attacking red team pushing forward to overload in attack. If the red team find it difficult to pass forward when they win the ball, when the phase of play stops the coach can pass a new ball into the red strikers and the transition begins from there.”
COACHING POINTS
What are the key things to look for?
“When attacking, it’s important that we see a quick tempo in passing and movement from the possession team. Accuracy and ball speed of the pass across the ground is also important, as are the quick reactions and movements of players to start transitions. We want to see good timing and the correct speed of runs and passes to penetrate the opposition for goal scoring opportunities. It’s a good session for individuals to practise quality execution in passing, receiving, dribbling and running with the ball skills. It can also be used to practice good intelligent decision making, with players having to select the best option to maximise the overload and score. When defending, it’s important that players adjust from pressing to cover and balance in relation to the ball and the defensive line. We want to see players sliding across as a unit, remaining compact and leaving the furthest attacker away from the ball. Players should demonstrate good communication and decision making as to when to delay, press or deny a forward pass. Players should also make a quick allocation of marking and covering roles and use good concentration and judgement to decide when to leave the man and press ball.
Saw the post-match interview where Yoost said that he was aware of Derby’s approach and was now going to talk to the owners. 2 possibilities here. Either Clowes has got the nod from Yoost that he wants the job and now it’s just a question of the process, or Yoost is using Derby as a lever to get an improved situation at Blackburn. Very hard to believe that it’s the second of these. The only surprise is that he was still wearing a Blackburn top rather than his Derby Till I Die tee shirt.
comment by Desicafu (U8481)
posted 2 hours, 2 minutes ago
Here you go Hebs, roughly put together...
Eustace's style of play involves playing out from defense and taking risks.
He's comfortable with mistakes and is willing to work on reducing them.
Eustace has said that he wants his players to be together, sweat for the fans, and be ready to learn.
Digging deeper into his tenure at Kidderminster — Eustace completely revamped their style of play, — his team were nicknamed “Non league Barcelona” due to the attractive style of play the now 42 year-
Delving more into the style of play, non league Gainsborough Manager Dave Frecklington was quoted in saying “It was football that hadn’t been seen by a Kidderminster side in years. It was front-foot, free-flowing, ambitious, attacking. People say it now about Liverpool, if you were a neutral you’d go and watch a Liverpool game. If you were going to watch a game in the non-league, you were going to watch a John Eustace Kidderminster Harriers side. It was obvious from the profile of the player that he was bringing in, there was a real clear philosophy — we’re going to play on the floor, front-foot attacking and we’re going to play our way to promotion. It was a fluid 4-3-3. You could say it was a 4-5-1. You could say it was a 4-3-2-1 depending on how you looked at it. But some of the football was very wing-based. He liked his full-backs to get forward, and having the flair players in behind as well.” Obviously this sounds really appealing, Eustace eventually left Kidderminster and joined QPR as an assistant manager. When McClaren was sacked, Eustace was put in charge of QPR to help them stay up, It wasn’t smooth but he got the job done by getting 7 points from 7 games. Swansea City looked at him for their rebuild for the past two seasons, mainly because Julian Winter knew the former midfielder from both of their times at Watford. Winter said he wanted Eustace because he aligns with the Swansea Way, but Eustace had a change of heart and turned down the job, leaving Russell Martin to take over.
Eustace wrote a training piece to Elite Soccer on Attacking and defending transitions, and how he likes his teams to navigate in those phases of play by showing his training methods
“This is a session designed to encourage the defending team to win the ball back and quickly play it forward to their attackers. The attacking players then have to look after the ball and bring in other players to transition and help to create chances against the opposition. As a session it also helps defenders to work on their defending when being transitioned against. Players tend to like this session because it is really competitive between the defenders and the attacking players. This challenges the forwards to look after the ball and bring in other players around them to go and create and score. The defenders then have the challenge of stopping the counter-attack and defending their goal when overloaded. This session is ideal to use when coming up against a team that is very expansive in its play. It’s a good session if we decide to play deep and drop off the opponent, allowing us to transition on them if we win the ball back. Also this session works if we decide to be more expansive in our play and try to dominate possession, leaving ourselves exposed sometimes to be transitioned on. Our defenders are then used to certain situations and are prepared to defend the initial first pass forward but also organise themselves to defend when outnumbered.”
TRANSITION PRACTICE
“We set up between the two penalty boxes of our pitch with a goal and a goalkeeper at each end. The playing area is coned off to the width of the penalty area and we mark an 18-yard end zone in front of each goal. We’re using at least 18 outfield players. We set up as shown with 6 blue defenders who start in the central zone (with three defending each end). We also set up with 4 red strikers who start in the central zone (with two attacking each end) and 8 yellow midfielders who start with four to the side of the goals at each end. Play starts with a pass from the goalkeeper to midfielder A, who combines with midfielder B. Midfielder B passes forward to one of the two red strikers attacking the opposite end and midfielders A and B both then make forward runs to join the strikers in attacking the blue defenders with a 4v3 overload. The attacking team has just 10 seconds to score once the first striker has touched the ball. The three defending players must stay narrow and try to stop the attack penetrating behind them. Once the first attack is over, the coach plays a new ball into the central area from the halfway line and the two red attackers and two yellow midfielders who have just attacked have to quickly get back in shape to get on the ball and make a second attack on the same end. The three blue defenders who just faced the first attack must quickly get up to the edge of the end zone ready to defend against the second attack. This time there is no 10 second rule, so the attackers have more time to develop the attack. Once the second attack is over, play goes the other way in the same manner with two yellow midfielders combining to play the ball into the two strikers at the opposite end and then join the attack.”
11v11 TRANSITION GAME
“We set up between the penalty area at one end of our pitch and the goal line at the other end. We are using the full width of the pitch and we position a goal and a goalkeeper at each end. We also mark a 10-yard zone across the width of the pitch at the halfway line. We’re using 20 outfield players split into two teams of 11 including keepers. We play an 11v11 game, with possession starting with the three central defenders from the blue attacking team in the central 10-yard zone. The two nearest red forwards in the central zone are passive in the initial phase but the rest of the red defending team must press and try to win the ball back. If the reds succeed in winning possession, they pass the ball from the back into one of their strikers in the central zone, who looks to bring the other players into the game in a counter-attack. Now faced with a counter-attack against them, the blue team can only defend using the three central defenders who can recover from the central zone, with the counter-attacking red team pushing forward to overload in attack. If the red team find it difficult to pass forward when they win the ball, when the phase of play stops the coach can pass a new ball into the red strikers and the transition begins from there.”
COACHING POINTS
What are the key things to look for?
“When attacking, it’s important that we see a quick tempo in passing and movement from the possession team. Accuracy and ball speed of the pass across the ground is also important, as are the quick reactions and movements of players to start transitions. We want to see good timing and the correct speed of runs and passes to penetrate the opposition for goal scoring opportunities. It’s a good session for individuals to practise quality execution in passing, receiving, dribbling and running with the ball skills. It can also be used to practice good intelligent decision making, with players having to select the best option to maximise the overload and score. When defending, it’s important that players adjust from pressing to cover and balance in relation to the ball and the defensive line. We want to see players sliding across as a unit, remaining compact and leaving the furthest attacker away from the ball. Players should demonstrate good communication and decision making as to when to delay, press or deny a forward pass. Players should also make a quick allocation of marking and covering roles and use good concentration and judgement to decide when to leave the man and press ball.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Thank you Desi, exactly what I was looking for
A bit thin on detail though.
£500k compensation package to release Eustace (allegedly)
Clowes has a few quid left over after Cashin's departure.
No wonder we were happy to sell him after picking-up Viking mkll for less than ½ the price.
comment by lastapostleofvidal (U1491)
posted 25 minutes ago
A bit thin on detail though.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Blame chatgpt
This may endear Heb to the potential appointment, Eustace went on loan to Dundee United in 98-99 making 11 appearances.
I would say it’s written.
comment by Jorvik the Viking in the Sun! (U1369)
posted 5 hours, 31 minutes ago
Looking at 2 other possibles...
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Warner and Clough?
Twitter with an image of Eustace and Ward.
Yes please!
Loved Jamie Ward. That could be quite a double act.
Plus we certainly miss a player like that at the moment. Someone to irritate the opposition.
By Warner do you mean Wagner, Fin?
Well Queens Park to beat Rangers and Plymouth to beat Liverpool would have have netted you a nice return if you're of the gambling persuasion. Not really my thing but was curious on the return if someone was brave enough to bet on that.
comment by lastapostleofvidal (U1491)
posted 1 hour, 59 minutes ago
By Warner do you mean Wagner, Fin?
----------------------------------------------------------------------
No idea. Was a comment in the X post linked to. Never heard of either of them personally
Listened to a Blackburn fan podcast and the presenter was fairly certain Eustace would go to Derby and he was very depressed about it. E himself has said he would be in charge for B's next game (Tue I think) so Hammy and co will be in charge at Derby for a few days yet. It sounds as though E will be using our interest as a bargaining chip for which you can hardly blame him so if the B owners stick true to their reputation then E may well leave.
To avoid any confusion E is Eustace, and not Chicago's attempt at a Lancashire dialect.
I think the thing that may well swing it is E is away from home a lot (and he's P'd off with it) and is clearly a family man. Its a 4 hour drive from Sutton Coldfield to Blackburn and around 30mins to Derby...so even if B offer him more money or whatever - his personal situation will remain the same. I was in recruitment for 25 years, and found that anyone who was travelling more than an hour each Way would invariable leave ...unless they were to relocate of course. In E's case that doesnt appear as though its an option or he'd have done it already. Ive never been to Blackburn - but Jorvik says its a dump..
..
I think it is a big factor Terry, but 4 hours? He's not cycling ...
comment by FinlandRam (U3621)
posted 1 hour, 15 minutes ago
I think it is a big factor Terry, but 4 hours? He's not cycling ...
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Obviously needs a stop or two to recharge his electric scooter.
A 4 hour round trip possibly.
Reminds me of when Robbie Savage forced through a transfer from Brum to, of all teams, Blackburn Rovers, claiming it would be closer to his sick parents in Wrexham and nothing to do with the fact that Rovers would be paying him more. Someone worked out that Blackburn was actually further away. David Sullivan at Brum dug in his heels and refused to sanction the move. Savage then deliberately played badly to make his position untenable, something he admits in his autobiography. What a charming feller.
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John Eustace welcome to PP
Page 1 of 3
posted on 9/2/25
UTR
posted on 9/2/25
His current team were doing well and unlucky not to be in front against Wolves, until a quickfire double made it 0-2.
posted on 9/2/25
Anyone got a handy guide to John Eustace? Everything you wanted to know, and were afraid to ask.
posted on 9/2/25
Looking at 2 other possibles...
posted on 9/2/25
https://x.com/RobDorsettSky/status/1888546832600424911?t=s_xS0dvlg8fpJDv7QWuYcg&s=19
posted on 9/2/25
Here you go Hebs, roughly put together...
Eustace's style of play involves playing out from defense and taking risks.
He's comfortable with mistakes and is willing to work on reducing them.
Eustace has said that he wants his players to be together, sweat for the fans, and be ready to learn.
Digging deeper into his tenure at Kidderminster — Eustace completely revamped their style of play, — his team were nicknamed “Non league Barcelona” due to the attractive style of play the now 42 year-
Delving more into the style of play, non league Gainsborough Manager Dave Frecklington was quoted in saying “It was football that hadn’t been seen by a Kidderminster side in years. It was front-foot, free-flowing, ambitious, attacking. People say it now about Liverpool, if you were a neutral you’d go and watch a Liverpool game. If you were going to watch a game in the non-league, you were going to watch a John Eustace Kidderminster Harriers side. It was obvious from the profile of the player that he was bringing in, there was a real clear philosophy — we’re going to play on the floor, front-foot attacking and we’re going to play our way to promotion. It was a fluid 4-3-3. You could say it was a 4-5-1. You could say it was a 4-3-2-1 depending on how you looked at it. But some of the football was very wing-based. He liked his full-backs to get forward, and having the flair players in behind as well.” Obviously this sounds really appealing, Eustace eventually left Kidderminster and joined QPR as an assistant manager. When McClaren was sacked, Eustace was put in charge of QPR to help them stay up, It wasn’t smooth but he got the job done by getting 7 points from 7 games. Swansea City looked at him for their rebuild for the past two seasons, mainly because Julian Winter knew the former midfielder from both of their times at Watford. Winter said he wanted Eustace because he aligns with the Swansea Way, but Eustace had a change of heart and turned down the job, leaving Russell Martin to take over.
Eustace wrote a training piece to Elite Soccer on Attacking and defending transitions, and how he likes his teams to navigate in those phases of play by showing his training methods
“This is a session designed to encourage the defending team to win the ball back and quickly play it forward to their attackers. The attacking players then have to look after the ball and bring in other players to transition and help to create chances against the opposition. As a session it also helps defenders to work on their defending when being transitioned against. Players tend to like this session because it is really competitive between the defenders and the attacking players. This challenges the forwards to look after the ball and bring in other players around them to go and create and score. The defenders then have the challenge of stopping the counter-attack and defending their goal when overloaded. This session is ideal to use when coming up against a team that is very expansive in its play. It’s a good session if we decide to play deep and drop off the opponent, allowing us to transition on them if we win the ball back. Also this session works if we decide to be more expansive in our play and try to dominate possession, leaving ourselves exposed sometimes to be transitioned on. Our defenders are then used to certain situations and are prepared to defend the initial first pass forward but also organise themselves to defend when outnumbered.”
TRANSITION PRACTICE
“We set up between the two penalty boxes of our pitch with a goal and a goalkeeper at each end. The playing area is coned off to the width of the penalty area and we mark an 18-yard end zone in front of each goal. We’re using at least 18 outfield players. We set up as shown with 6 blue defenders who start in the central zone (with three defending each end). We also set up with 4 red strikers who start in the central zone (with two attacking each end) and 8 yellow midfielders who start with four to the side of the goals at each end. Play starts with a pass from the goalkeeper to midfielder A, who combines with midfielder B. Midfielder B passes forward to one of the two red strikers attacking the opposite end and midfielders A and B both then make forward runs to join the strikers in attacking the blue defenders with a 4v3 overload. The attacking team has just 10 seconds to score once the first striker has touched the ball. The three defending players must stay narrow and try to stop the attack penetrating behind them. Once the first attack is over, the coach plays a new ball into the central area from the halfway line and the two red attackers and two yellow midfielders who have just attacked have to quickly get back in shape to get on the ball and make a second attack on the same end. The three blue defenders who just faced the first attack must quickly get up to the edge of the end zone ready to defend against the second attack. This time there is no 10 second rule, so the attackers have more time to develop the attack. Once the second attack is over, play goes the other way in the same manner with two yellow midfielders combining to play the ball into the two strikers at the opposite end and then join the attack.”
11v11 TRANSITION GAME
“We set up between the penalty area at one end of our pitch and the goal line at the other end. We are using the full width of the pitch and we position a goal and a goalkeeper at each end. We also mark a 10-yard zone across the width of the pitch at the halfway line. We’re using 20 outfield players split into two teams of 11 including keepers. We play an 11v11 game, with possession starting with the three central defenders from the blue attacking team in the central 10-yard zone. The two nearest red forwards in the central zone are passive in the initial phase but the rest of the red defending team must press and try to win the ball back. If the reds succeed in winning possession, they pass the ball from the back into one of their strikers in the central zone, who looks to bring the other players into the game in a counter-attack. Now faced with a counter-attack against them, the blue team can only defend using the three central defenders who can recover from the central zone, with the counter-attacking red team pushing forward to overload in attack. If the red team find it difficult to pass forward when they win the ball, when the phase of play stops the coach can pass a new ball into the red strikers and the transition begins from there.”
COACHING POINTS
What are the key things to look for?
“When attacking, it’s important that we see a quick tempo in passing and movement from the possession team. Accuracy and ball speed of the pass across the ground is also important, as are the quick reactions and movements of players to start transitions. We want to see good timing and the correct speed of runs and passes to penetrate the opposition for goal scoring opportunities. It’s a good session for individuals to practise quality execution in passing, receiving, dribbling and running with the ball skills. It can also be used to practice good intelligent decision making, with players having to select the best option to maximise the overload and score. When defending, it’s important that players adjust from pressing to cover and balance in relation to the ball and the defensive line. We want to see players sliding across as a unit, remaining compact and leaving the furthest attacker away from the ball. Players should demonstrate good communication and decision making as to when to delay, press or deny a forward pass. Players should also make a quick allocation of marking and covering roles and use good concentration and judgement to decide when to leave the man and press ball.
posted on 9/2/25
Saw the post-match interview where Yoost said that he was aware of Derby’s approach and was now going to talk to the owners. 2 possibilities here. Either Clowes has got the nod from Yoost that he wants the job and now it’s just a question of the process, or Yoost is using Derby as a lever to get an improved situation at Blackburn. Very hard to believe that it’s the second of these. The only surprise is that he was still wearing a Blackburn top rather than his Derby Till I Die tee shirt.
posted on 9/2/25
comment by Desicafu (U8481)
posted 2 hours, 2 minutes ago
Here you go Hebs, roughly put together...
Eustace's style of play involves playing out from defense and taking risks.
He's comfortable with mistakes and is willing to work on reducing them.
Eustace has said that he wants his players to be together, sweat for the fans, and be ready to learn.
Digging deeper into his tenure at Kidderminster — Eustace completely revamped their style of play, — his team were nicknamed “Non league Barcelona” due to the attractive style of play the now 42 year-
Delving more into the style of play, non league Gainsborough Manager Dave Frecklington was quoted in saying “It was football that hadn’t been seen by a Kidderminster side in years. It was front-foot, free-flowing, ambitious, attacking. People say it now about Liverpool, if you were a neutral you’d go and watch a Liverpool game. If you were going to watch a game in the non-league, you were going to watch a John Eustace Kidderminster Harriers side. It was obvious from the profile of the player that he was bringing in, there was a real clear philosophy — we’re going to play on the floor, front-foot attacking and we’re going to play our way to promotion. It was a fluid 4-3-3. You could say it was a 4-5-1. You could say it was a 4-3-2-1 depending on how you looked at it. But some of the football was very wing-based. He liked his full-backs to get forward, and having the flair players in behind as well.” Obviously this sounds really appealing, Eustace eventually left Kidderminster and joined QPR as an assistant manager. When McClaren was sacked, Eustace was put in charge of QPR to help them stay up, It wasn’t smooth but he got the job done by getting 7 points from 7 games. Swansea City looked at him for their rebuild for the past two seasons, mainly because Julian Winter knew the former midfielder from both of their times at Watford. Winter said he wanted Eustace because he aligns with the Swansea Way, but Eustace had a change of heart and turned down the job, leaving Russell Martin to take over.
Eustace wrote a training piece to Elite Soccer on Attacking and defending transitions, and how he likes his teams to navigate in those phases of play by showing his training methods
“This is a session designed to encourage the defending team to win the ball back and quickly play it forward to their attackers. The attacking players then have to look after the ball and bring in other players to transition and help to create chances against the opposition. As a session it also helps defenders to work on their defending when being transitioned against. Players tend to like this session because it is really competitive between the defenders and the attacking players. This challenges the forwards to look after the ball and bring in other players around them to go and create and score. The defenders then have the challenge of stopping the counter-attack and defending their goal when overloaded. This session is ideal to use when coming up against a team that is very expansive in its play. It’s a good session if we decide to play deep and drop off the opponent, allowing us to transition on them if we win the ball back. Also this session works if we decide to be more expansive in our play and try to dominate possession, leaving ourselves exposed sometimes to be transitioned on. Our defenders are then used to certain situations and are prepared to defend the initial first pass forward but also organise themselves to defend when outnumbered.”
TRANSITION PRACTICE
“We set up between the two penalty boxes of our pitch with a goal and a goalkeeper at each end. The playing area is coned off to the width of the penalty area and we mark an 18-yard end zone in front of each goal. We’re using at least 18 outfield players. We set up as shown with 6 blue defenders who start in the central zone (with three defending each end). We also set up with 4 red strikers who start in the central zone (with two attacking each end) and 8 yellow midfielders who start with four to the side of the goals at each end. Play starts with a pass from the goalkeeper to midfielder A, who combines with midfielder B. Midfielder B passes forward to one of the two red strikers attacking the opposite end and midfielders A and B both then make forward runs to join the strikers in attacking the blue defenders with a 4v3 overload. The attacking team has just 10 seconds to score once the first striker has touched the ball. The three defending players must stay narrow and try to stop the attack penetrating behind them. Once the first attack is over, the coach plays a new ball into the central area from the halfway line and the two red attackers and two yellow midfielders who have just attacked have to quickly get back in shape to get on the ball and make a second attack on the same end. The three blue defenders who just faced the first attack must quickly get up to the edge of the end zone ready to defend against the second attack. This time there is no 10 second rule, so the attackers have more time to develop the attack. Once the second attack is over, play goes the other way in the same manner with two yellow midfielders combining to play the ball into the two strikers at the opposite end and then join the attack.”
11v11 TRANSITION GAME
“We set up between the penalty area at one end of our pitch and the goal line at the other end. We are using the full width of the pitch and we position a goal and a goalkeeper at each end. We also mark a 10-yard zone across the width of the pitch at the halfway line. We’re using 20 outfield players split into two teams of 11 including keepers. We play an 11v11 game, with possession starting with the three central defenders from the blue attacking team in the central 10-yard zone. The two nearest red forwards in the central zone are passive in the initial phase but the rest of the red defending team must press and try to win the ball back. If the reds succeed in winning possession, they pass the ball from the back into one of their strikers in the central zone, who looks to bring the other players into the game in a counter-attack. Now faced with a counter-attack against them, the blue team can only defend using the three central defenders who can recover from the central zone, with the counter-attacking red team pushing forward to overload in attack. If the red team find it difficult to pass forward when they win the ball, when the phase of play stops the coach can pass a new ball into the red strikers and the transition begins from there.”
COACHING POINTS
What are the key things to look for?
“When attacking, it’s important that we see a quick tempo in passing and movement from the possession team. Accuracy and ball speed of the pass across the ground is also important, as are the quick reactions and movements of players to start transitions. We want to see good timing and the correct speed of runs and passes to penetrate the opposition for goal scoring opportunities. It’s a good session for individuals to practise quality execution in passing, receiving, dribbling and running with the ball skills. It can also be used to practice good intelligent decision making, with players having to select the best option to maximise the overload and score. When defending, it’s important that players adjust from pressing to cover and balance in relation to the ball and the defensive line. We want to see players sliding across as a unit, remaining compact and leaving the furthest attacker away from the ball. Players should demonstrate good communication and decision making as to when to delay, press or deny a forward pass. Players should also make a quick allocation of marking and covering roles and use good concentration and judgement to decide when to leave the man and press ball.
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Thank you Desi, exactly what I was looking for
posted on 9/2/25
A bit thin on detail though.
posted on 9/2/25
£500k compensation package to release Eustace (allegedly)
posted on 9/2/25
Clowes has a few quid left over after Cashin's departure.
No wonder we were happy to sell him after picking-up Viking mkll for less than ½ the price.
posted on 9/2/25
comment by lastapostleofvidal (U1491)
posted 25 minutes ago
A bit thin on detail though.
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Blame chatgpt
posted on 9/2/25
This may endear Heb to the potential appointment, Eustace went on loan to Dundee United in 98-99 making 11 appearances.
I would say it’s written.
posted on 9/2/25
comment by Jorvik the Viking in the Sun! (U1369)
posted 5 hours, 31 minutes ago
Looking at 2 other possibles...
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Warner and Clough?
posted on 9/2/25
Twitter with an image of Eustace and Ward.
Yes please!
Loved Jamie Ward. That could be quite a double act.
Plus we certainly miss a player like that at the moment. Someone to irritate the opposition.
posted on 9/2/25
By Warner do you mean Wagner, Fin?
posted on 9/2/25
Well Queens Park to beat Rangers and Plymouth to beat Liverpool would have have netted you a nice return if you're of the gambling persuasion. Not really my thing but was curious on the return if someone was brave enough to bet on that.
posted on 9/2/25
comment by lastapostleofvidal (U1491)
posted 1 hour, 59 minutes ago
By Warner do you mean Wagner, Fin?
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No idea. Was a comment in the X post linked to. Never heard of either of them personally
posted on 9/2/25
David Wagner I assume.
posted on 9/2/25
Listened to a Blackburn fan podcast and the presenter was fairly certain Eustace would go to Derby and he was very depressed about it. E himself has said he would be in charge for B's next game (Tue I think) so Hammy and co will be in charge at Derby for a few days yet. It sounds as though E will be using our interest as a bargaining chip for which you can hardly blame him so if the B owners stick true to their reputation then E may well leave.
posted on 10/2/25
To avoid any confusion E is Eustace, and not Chicago's attempt at a Lancashire dialect.
posted on 10/2/25
I think the thing that may well swing it is E is away from home a lot (and he's P'd off with it) and is clearly a family man. Its a 4 hour drive from Sutton Coldfield to Blackburn and around 30mins to Derby...so even if B offer him more money or whatever - his personal situation will remain the same. I was in recruitment for 25 years, and found that anyone who was travelling more than an hour each Way would invariable leave ...unless they were to relocate of course. In E's case that doesnt appear as though its an option or he'd have done it already. Ive never been to Blackburn - but Jorvik says its a dump..
..
posted on 10/2/25
I think it is a big factor Terry, but 4 hours? He's not cycling ...
posted on 10/2/25
comment by FinlandRam (U3621)
posted 1 hour, 15 minutes ago
I think it is a big factor Terry, but 4 hours? He's not cycling ...
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Obviously needs a stop or two to recharge his electric scooter.
posted on 10/2/25
A 4 hour round trip possibly.
Reminds me of when Robbie Savage forced through a transfer from Brum to, of all teams, Blackburn Rovers, claiming it would be closer to his sick parents in Wrexham and nothing to do with the fact that Rovers would be paying him more. Someone worked out that Blackburn was actually further away. David Sullivan at Brum dug in his heels and refused to sanction the move. Savage then deliberately played badly to make his position untenable, something he admits in his autobiography. What a charming feller.
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