...Soccer players are athletes, but unlike a 100m runner where there is explosive speed for 10 seconds in a straight line, there are many other abilities that soccer players need to develop.

Here are 5 key soccer related speed abilities that you should develop in your players.

#1 - speed of thought

Soccer players have a great deal to concentrate on. There senses are constantly being blitzed with information, which they need to quickly decipher. Here are some examples:

- Where opponents are positioned

- Actions of their team mates

- What's infront of them and their peripheral vision

- The conditions of the pitch and the weather

- The noise from team mates, crowd, coaches and opponents

- Their tactical position and the strategy of the team

#2 - speed of anticipation

Some players have a great reading of the game. I have a friend who although he is now in his late 40's early 50's still plays regularly and competes well with players half his age!

How does he do this... because he's played soccer all his life at professional and international level he has built a huge database in his brain of playing situations, player characteristics, tactical situations etc. and he is able to draw on this which gives him superb speed of anticipation.

Sure for explosiveness and reaction times the younger players would win every time, but as the old saying goes..."the first couple of yards are in the head!".

So here it is important that players develop a knack of interpreting the actions of the opponents and what that means to the games development.

#3 - speed of reaction

As mentioned in the last bullet, speed of reaction is vital.

Anticipation is one thing, being able to react quickly is another.

Consider the role of the goal keeper, their reaction time to a sudden shot, deflection, switch in angle of attack, flight of the ball must be very acute.

But how does a goal keeper react and what...more

League Two Betting Review - 13 February 2006

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Rushden & Diamonds refuse to go down without a fight and Petr Miklondas 30 yard strike gave them all three points against Notts County. barry Hunters side, 8/5 on the day, have lost just one of their last five games.

Bottom club Stockport County also earned a vital win at faltering Chester City. Liam Dickinson broke the deadlock for County after 76 minutes but Ryan Lowe equalised for City five minutes later. With the...more

Champions League Round Up - 23 February 2006

...stunning win against favourites Real Madrid at odds of 9/2. The under-strength Gunners took the lead seconds after the break through Thierry Henry and became the first English side to beat Madrid at their own ground.

Liverpool may have seen Benfica as a favourable draw but it was the Portuguese side who took the initiative. Both sides struggled to create chances and a draw at 21/10 looked likely. But defender Luisao headed in for Benfica to give the home side a slender 9/5 win.

Rangers came from behind twice to earn a 2-2 draw against Villarreal. Juan Roman Riquelme gave the 13/8 Spaniards the ...more

Greatest Super Bowls

...ell Buckley's fumble recovery, and an Otis Smith interception. These three big plays let New england jump to a 17-3 lead.

After the Rams struck back to tie it up at 17, Brady moved the ball easily with 1:30 left in the game to help Vinatieri drill a 48-yarder as time expired. Brady ended up the MVP despite going 16 of 27 for 145 yards.

2. Super Bowl iii (1969, Jets 16, Colts 7)

The guarantee by joe Namath basically makes this game great. The afl hadn't even been competitive in the Super Bowl before this and they beat a Baltimore team that had only lost once in 16 games.

Namath backed up his claim by completing 17 of 28 for 206 yards and earning the MVP honors. This game put the afl on the map.

1. Super Bowl XXXIV (2000, Rams 23, Titans 16)

This game ended with Mike Jones being tackled by Kevin Dyson at the 1-yard line as time expired, giving the Rams their first Super Bowl title.

The Titan...more

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