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Football/Soccer Session (Academy Sessions): Breaking lines - SSG

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FAW Coach Ed

Wayne Hatswell

Profile Summary

Wayne Hatswell
Name: Wayne Hatswell
City: Newport
Country: United Kingdom
Membership: Adult Member
Sport: Football/Soccer
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Description

Football/Soccer Session Plan Drill (Colour): Specific

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Football/Soccer Session Plan Drill (Colour): Specific
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Specific (35 mins)

Specific Practice/ Breaking Lines

Welsh Way Principles

Understanding when and how to break lines when passing through the thirds of the pitch, could be the right weight of pass, being patient moving the opposition around and receiving on the back foot to play forward.

Organisation & Area Size

Area size is 75m x 50m with tapered edges of the pitch by the halfway line as the attacking team (red) does not have fullbacks and the defending team (blue) does not have wingers. The players will be organised as seen in the example, the attacking team (red) will set up in a GK-4-3-3 formation but for this practice the fullbacks will be taken out. The defending team will also set up in a GK-4-3-3 formation but the wingers will be taken out to make it a 9v9. The red line splits the pitch up into three thirds, the defensive third, the midfield third and the attacking third.

Explanation

The ball will always start with the attacking teams (red) goalkeeper who will play into one of the central defenders in the defensive third of the pitch, they will then need to play into midfield to break the first line into the midfield third. Then the midfielders must then play into the attackers in the attacking third to break that line to create chances and try to score a goal. The defending teams (blue) aim is to try and stop the attacking team from breaking the line by staying narrow, keeping the shape and forcing the play wide, once they win the ball back they must play the ball into the striker in the attacking teams (red) defensive third which is shown as the shaded area on the example.

How

The coach will only work with the attacking team (red) working on the principles of play on breaking lines, this could be that the coach wants the team to move the ball quickly being patient moving the defensive team around to create gaps and break the lines when the space is there. The three types of breaking lines that can happen is through, around and over. For this session the coach will emphasise playing through trying to get the midfielders on the ball to influence the game and create chances.

Challenges, Conditions and Targets

Defensive team (blue) 

  • Two goals if you win the ball back and find the striker in the shaded zone.
  • Condition is you can only stay in your third of the pitch.
  • Target is can you not get split.
  • Challenge is to keep the shape and force play wide.
Attacking team (red)
  • Challenge is can you create gaps and split the defensive team by moving the ball quickly.
  • Condition is you can only stay in your third of the pitch but one midfielder can enter the attacking third onece the ball is played in there.
Key Points

  • Move the ball quickly 
  • Weight of pass
  • Be patient 
  • Create good angles to receive 
  • Receive on back foot
Interventions

  • Walk through
  • Drive by
  • Fly by
  • Coaching process

   

Football/Soccer Session Plan Drill (Colour): SSG

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Football/Soccer Session Plan Drill (Colour): SSG
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SSG (25 mins)

SSG Breaking Lines

Welsh Way Principles

Understanding when and how to break lines when passing through the thirds of the pitch, could be the right weight of pass, being patient moving the opposition around and receiving on the back foot to play forward.  

Organisation & Area Size

Area size is 75m x 50m with tapered edges of the pitch by the halfway line as the attacking team (red) does not have fullbacks and the defending team (blue) does not have wingers. The players will be organised as seen in the example, the attacking team (red) will set up in a GK-4-3-3 formation but for this practice the fullbacks will be taken out. The defending team will also set up in a GK-4-3-3 formation but the wingers will be taken out to make it a 9v9.

Explanation  

This is a normal small sided game with no conditions for either team, the attacking team (red) will still be working on the same principles of play on breaking lines as the specific part of this session. The coach will decide which teams goalkeeper will start with the ball so both teams will get a chance to start with possession and attack, the red team will start with the ball most of the time as the coach is looking to get success with that team from trying to break lines.

How

The coach will only work with the attacking team (red) working on the principles of play on breaking lines, this could be that the coach wants the team to move the ball quickly being patient moving the defensive team around to create gaps and break the lines when the space is there. The three types of breaking lines that can happen is through, around and over. As there is no limitations on where players can move all three of these types of breaking lines can be used in this session the coach will walk through each one to give the players an understanding.

Challenges, Conditions & Targets

Defending team (blue) 

  • One goal if you manage to score.
  • Challenge is can you keep your shape and be hard to beat.
  • Target is can you not get split. 

Attacking team (red) 

  • Challenge is can you stretch the pitch by moving the ball quickly.
  • Target is can you score one goal from a third man run in behind the defence.
Key Points
  • Move the ball quickly
  • Weight of pass
  • Be patient
  • Create good angles to receive
  • Receive on back foot 

Interventions   

  • Walk through 
  • Drive by
  • Fly by
  • Coaching process

5 Corners for whole session 

Tactical  

  • Keep the shape and try to play wide to create gaps, always need one deep playing midfielder to try and influence play.

Technical 

  • Weight of pass has to be right especially when attempting to break the line.
Physical 
  • Physical output will be high for both team as the ball speed will need to be high so the defending team will be covering a lot of ground to defend that and the attacking team will need to be moving a lot to find space to receive the ball.
Psychological
  • Players will need to make the right decisions under pressure, not forcing the ball and thinking of where to be after passing the ball.

Social 

  • Communication will need to be high from both teams, the attacking team will need communicate when passing and receiving the ball such as turn or player on. The defensive team will need to communicate when shuffling across the pitch and keeping their shape.

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