Football/Soccer Session (Academy Sessions): SM #100 - Final Pass and Finishing

Final Pass and Finishing (20 mins)

Session Organization:

• Field: One full size goal with 4 mannequins or cones representing a defensive line ~20 yards in front of it. Four equal-distance cones spread out ~20 yards away from the mannequin line
• Players: Form evenly divided lines behind each cone. One GK starts in the goal. 
• Players in the central cone lines start with a ball at their feet.  
• When facing the goal, the first players in each of the right two lines go first. The player at the central cone starts with a pass to the wide player to the right of them.
• The wide player receives and passes the ball back to the top player.
• As soon as the wide player lays the ball off, they start their diagonal run past and behind the mannequins.
• The wide player receives the ball behind the mannequins and attempts to finish on goal.
• Once shot, the other side of the field takes their turn.
• Central-passer rotates to the wide-shooter line. Wide shooter fetches their ball and goes to the back of the central lines.
• The wide players are free to run behind any of the mannequins on their side of the field.
• The runner and the passer must communicate the run and where the final pass should be played.

Coaching Points:

• Importance of the timing of their run. Runners must not break the line of defenders before the ball is played otherwise they are in an offside position.

• Teach the players to focus on the weight of their pass to the runner. The final pass should be placed in front of the runner and in their stride so that they can score more consistently.
• Remind the players to communicate with each other and to give their partners the right pass and the right weight to make the combination flow.

Progressions:

• One-touch – Players must complete the whole sequence in one-touch.
• Various passing combinations – This setup allows for numerous passing patterns. Be creative and use more cones, or different passing angles to create different passing and finishing combinations.