Professionalism, positivity and possession-oriented soccer are just some of the things first-year head coach Graham Winkworth’s brings to the table.
Winkworth has preached three vital components since the first day he arrived on campus.
This coaching ideology earned Winkworth a 66-18-7 record at the University of South Alabama, four consecutive Sun Belt Conference titles, and two Sun Belt Conference Coach of the Year awards.
Senior center-back Madison Stark explained professionalism was one of the first few ideas that Winkworth implemented upon arriving, and he expects everyone on the team to be disciplined on and off the field.
But above all else, Winkworth said that he just wants his players to be happy.
“I think happy players play better … I want it (soccer) to be fun, I want them to enjoy themselves,” Winkworth said.
Stark expressed that Winkworth's emphasis on having fun and positive reinforcement has been successful.
“He is always reinforcing the idea that he believes in us and that's super important for women in terms of confidence and praising players when they are performing and when they are not performing, holding them accountable,” Stark said.
Freshman forward Olive Jones appreciates the positivity, which is rare in Division I athletics.
“Not a lot of coaches encourage (us) to have fun, it's win win win,” Jones said.
Tactically, Winkworth is looking to implement a possession style of soccer this year, which is a step in the right direction when playing in a competitive conference – the Pac-12.
The Pac-12 is home to eight U.S. Women’s National Team players, four of which play for Stanford, and also includes USC's women's soccer team, which won the 2016 National Championship.
Possession-based soccer, broken down to its simplest form, is the ideology that if a team strings together passes consecutively without losing the ball for long periods throughout the game, that team will theoretically have more scoring opportunities.
“The first couple of weeks (of the preseason) they are touching ball more than they have touched the ball in their lives,” Winkworth said. “The more comfortable they become with the ball at their feet, the more composure they show and then we give the ball away less.”
Winkworth continued to explain that implementing a possession style of play, means he must also increase the team’s soccer “IQ” through a variety of methods.
“I want to increase the team’s soccer IQ, so we do play different formations and different ways within those formations as well,” Winkworth said.
In terms of defensive tactics, Winkworth has an interesting approach to implement organization to a team who conceded 21 goals and averaged 2 goals against per game in the Pac-12.
“From a defensive standpoint we need to have quality and organization, and if we got the ball and we are possessing the ball for longer periods, it might not look like we are defending, but if we got the ball we don't have to defend, so we aren't conceding more goals,” Winkworth said.
“If we are playing a more possession oriented soccer you're giving up less goal scoring opportunities ... not by defending but through keeping posession of the ball.”
Winkworth's new coaching style could prove successful in a competitive Pac-12 conference.
Reach the reporter at jaramo12@asu.edu or follow @hor_hay10 on Twitter.
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