Football/Soccer Session (Beginner): Dev Center - Day 4 - Winter 2 (Defensive Principles)

Activation (20 mins)

"Getting Our Touches"

After 1st day, players are to perform these exercises on their own upon entering the field, 100 each of the following:

• Toe-touches 
• Tic-tacs
• Sole-roles

• Day 1 - additional skills
• Pull backs (belly button to the ball)
• Push & Pull
• Out & In

• PROGRESSIONS (each subsequent week depending on development)
• Sole-roles square (around the cone)
• Push-Out-Pull-In (around the cone)
• L-drags
• V-drag
• Shuttle
• Out-Out-In

• PROGRESSIONS (for more advanced players)
• Del Piero's (L&R L-turns)
• V-turns (L&R)
• Brazilian toe-taps
• Croquetas 
• Maradona

Players line up in equal numbers at cones distanced 12-15 yards apart. Activation is broken into 4 separate tasks, for the sake of space each is shown with one example and identified above by number.

1. Two-touch Passing:

• Right foot only, left foot only, and both feet
• Check-out & scan, open-up hips, rear-foot receive, head-up, find feet, follow your pass
• "What part of our foot do we use to control and pass?"

2. Short-Short Long:

• After sending long pass, check down and out to receive short pass and set partner with another short pass before they make a long pass of their own and cycle repeats. 
• Check-out & scan, open-up hips, rear-foot receive, head-up, find feet, follow your pass

3. Half-Turn:

• After sending long pass, check down to receive short pass from opposite partner then execute a turn and pass to player at the front of the line you started from before they make a short pass to the opposite partner who has checked down and cycle repeats.
• Check-down & scan, open-up hips, rear-foot receive, head-up, explode with ball in opposite direction, find feet, follow your pass
• Right foot and left foot turns
• "How can we receive, turn, and explode in opposite direction without the ball stopping?"

4. Separation-touch & Turn:

• After sending long pass, check down to receive short pass from opposite partner then execute separation touch followed by a turn and pass to player at the front of the line you started from before they make a short pass to the opposite partner who has checked down and cycle repeats.
• Right foot and left foot turns
• "What does the separation touch do for us?"
• "How can we deceive defender approaching from behind before turning and exploding in opposite direction?"

Press & Cover (20 mins)

Cone of multiple rectangles using cones roughly 10x5 yds.  Divide into multiple groups of 6 (3 pairs of 2 in each group).

Rules/Gameplay:

• Closest defender pressures ball the other defender covers the diagonal pass and potential dribble by tucking in to the middle. 

• Defender that presses yells "I have press" or "I got ball", the other defender yells "I have cover" or "Covering right/left".

• After 5 passes, players rotate & switch as follows: 

- YELLOW sends ball cross to GREY and immediately presses

- GREY passes back and forth

- PINK takes opposite position of GREY to rest and count