The second of our series on national coaching manual reviews, Bert van Lingen's book takes a very different approach.  The book focuses on learning how to be an effective coach using the Total Soccer philosophy.  Total soccer, made famous in the 1970s, is the basis of the KNVB system.  At its core, it can be described as:

• Keep the game simple
• Lots of touches on the ball
• The game is the best teacher

Van Lingen updates and augments this philosophy with aspects of street soccer.  Small sided games are used to ensure lots of touches and to let the players learn the game.  A focus on the basic skills gives players confidence.  Freedom to play presents opportunities for creativity, a hallmark of the Dutch game.  Players are grouped by skill level, not just age.  There should be lots of opportunities for competition and success.

Coaching Soccer is organized in a progressive manner.  The first few chapters are dedicated to the basics and background of the game.  This includes learning the game and coaching young players.  The middle of the book focuses on training techniques.  Chapters are dedicated to 4v4, 7v7, goalkeeping and conditioning.  The final section of the book focuses on the roles of positions and players within the club.

I enjoyed both the writing style and sentiment of the book.  While many coaches could benefit from this book, I think it is more useful for a Director of Coaching or Head Coaching position.  It does not contain any drills or games.  Rather than doing the coaches job, it teaches a coach how to learn.  Something that is lacking in most coaching books, and a few coaches.  This is very much inline with the Dutch program.