Setting Goals in Football

Setting Goals THE PLAYER DEVELOPMENT MAGAZINE

Contents Page 3 - Welcome Page 4 - Subscribe Page 6 - Setting Goals Page 14 - This Month's Training Page 15 - Players Using Ball Mastery Page 16 - Striking on the Laces

The Player Development Magazine

Welcome

SETTING GOALS

Football is returning! The new season is close to starting and grassroots football is steadily making its return and we can’t wait.

In this month’s magazine we are looking at setting goals and how players can plan and prepare in order to reach the levels they aspire to.

We hope you enjoy and have a great start to your season!

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Setting Goals

If we think of the top players in the world, players like Cristiano Ronaldo or Harry Kane, they will regularly talk of their goals. Ronaldo may mention that he wants to be the winner of the Ballon D'Or and Harry Kane will talk of being the league's top goalscorer.

At the very top level they set goals, so any player looking to progress in the game should do as well.

But, they must be achievable.

Setting goals as a player is incredibly important. It helps players focus their minds on something, and work toward it.

How many times as a player, or as a coach, have you heard a player say I want to play pro?

The vast majority of us would love that, but how are the players going to get there? Do they just hope to play well or do they have a plan?

Becoming a professional is incredibly difficult, so to just say that you want to be one isn't a clear enough strategy, or vision. What we need to make sure is that we have a plan, achievable goals that we can reach that allow us to take the steps to the next goal.

We will hear these top players have goals and ambitions that we may think are far-fetched, however they are at the top end of the game.

What we hope for players to realise is that we must take plenty of small steps to get to the very top.

Firstly, it is important that players realise the short-term goals they set are steps toward reaching their long-term ones. These short-term goals should be achievable and can actually be focused on training sessions or games.

Sometimes - and we are all guilty of this - we can say I want to have a good game today, play well and stand out.

In reality though, how do we do that? Are we over-complicating things trying to chase the perfect performance? In many cases we do exactly that when really we should be focusing on small factors.

An example could be that the winger aims to get five crosses into the box in today’s game, or a centre back looks to play the ball forward into their striker five times. These are very small goals and targets but they all work toward the bigger picture.

What we’ll also find is that when players start to complete these targets then they will begin to become more confident in themselves while on the pitch, leading to a better all round performance.

Start off with the small goals first of all, and then we can build and develop our game, knowing that we are progressing.

We’ve set the small goals which are best for helping the player develop their game but we should now move on to goals that are slightly further into the future.

If we’re achieving the smaller goals and improving performance then what do we want to do this season? Do we want to be a player who is a regular starter or the league's top goalscorer?

If we set these goals we can work toward achieving them by reaching our short-term goals. What is important though is that we begin to have a plan.

We must make sure it's realistic to our position and circumstances. If you’ve just come back from a long-term injury then you need to make sure it’s realistic to your current situation and physical capabilities. Players must be aware of where they are currently at and strive toward what they want to achieve in the season.

Weshort-term have our short goals which help us build We have our and medium-term and develop. But all players should have a long-term goal: which team do they want to play for, what do they want to achieve in the game?

Aim to detail the goals, make them specific and clear. Earlier, I mentioned that I come across a lot of players who say they want to go professional.

That’s quite a broad statement.

Being professional can mean a number of things so, if you are a player, make your goals more specific so that you can strive to get there.

Some players state they want to be professional but you can be a professional in the Football Conference and never make a first team appearance.

Make your goals specific and strive to reach them.

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