Football/Soccer Session (Academy Sessions): Zonal Defending - Defensive third.

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Name:	DJ Ogunlade
City:	HAMILTON
Country:	United States of America
Membership:	Adult Member
Sport:	Football/Soccer

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Description

1. Principles of defending – Pressure, Cover, Balance, Delay and Compactness.

2. Team shape and organization.

3. Attacking transitions.

Football/Soccer Session Plan Drill (Colour): Technical Development 1

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Technical Development 1

Organization:

- Set up as shown.

- The players are divided into two or three groups if up to18 players, each group is then divided into three teams i.e reds, whites and blues.

Instructions:

- Central zone example: Two attacking teams i.e. Blues and Whites are placed at each end of the grid while the Reds starts in the middle as the defending team.

- Blues starts with the ball passing back and forth with each player taking two touches and trying to stay in possession for a minimum of of 2-3 seconds before passing back to the team mate. This will allow the defending team (Reds) to work on their movements and simple basics of pressure and cover.

- Once the attacking team in possession makes 4 passes, they quickly pass the ball to the other attacking team (Whites) at the other end of the area.

- When the Whites receives the ball, they will also look to make 4 passes before looking to play back to to the blues.

- The defending team (Reds) look to turn around quickly to work on pressure and cover once again. They apply immediate pressure on the ball to immitate pressure and cover tactics.

- Once a total of 8 passes has completed by both attacking teams four each, the defending team now replaces one of the attacking team (Whites).

- The exercise is then repeated with the ball starting with the Reds as the attacking team while the Whites are now the defending team. The rotation continues.

Coaching Points/Questions:

1. Speed of approach.

2. Angle of approach.

3. Move as ball travels.

4. Slow down on arrival.

5. Body position nice and low with knees slightly bent.

Football/Soccer Session Plan Drill (Colour): Technical Development 2

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Technical Development 2

Organization:

1. Set up three playing areas as shown.

Instructions:

1. Red players starts as defenders while Blue players starts as attackers.

2. Blue attacker on the side passes to the other attacker and the game becomes live.

3. The first Red defender applies immediate pressure on the ball.

4. The second defender at the endline joins in immediately to provide cover for the first defender.

5. Attackers are looking to dribble over opposition's endline to score a point.

6. Defenders are looking to win back possession and can score 3 points by dribbling through the gates or 1 point by passing the ball through the gates when they win possession.

7. The Blues swap roles with the Reds on coach's call.

Coaching Points - (Defenders).

1. Pressure and cover.

2. Tackle to win possession when necessary.

3. Delay for team mate to recover when necessary.

4. Communication between defenders.

5. Look to isolate one attacker and force play towards the side line.

6. Recognizing moments to double team.

7. Recovery runs when beaten.

Coaching Points - (Attackers).

1. Attack with pace and purpose.

2. Speed of play.

3. Providing width, support when in possession.

4. Drive at the defender to make him commit.

5. Unbalance the defender with tricks, feint, moves and quick play.

Progression:

1. Competition: The winning team at the end of each round are promoted while the losing team are relegated.

Football/Soccer Session Plan Drill (Colour): Group Development

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Group Development

Organization:

1. Set up as shown.

Instructions:

1. The exercise starts with the server on side passing to on of the three attackers.

3. The Red defender in middle applies immediate pressure on the ball and looks to win ball while the other three defenders provide cover and balance.

4. Attackers look to dribble across to the end-line with ball while defeders look to defend and score in the three counter goals.

5. If defender wins the ball, the defender can score by passing or dribbling through the corner gates.

6 New attackers and new defenders comes in to start another round when a goal is score or whenever the ball goes out of bounds.

Coaching Points:

1. Defending Principles: Pressure, Cover, Balance, Delay and Compactness.

2. Angle and speed of approach.

3. Force play into one direction i.e. outside / inside.

4. Be able to see the opponent and the ball.

5. Correct distances between defending players.

6. Don't dive in.

7. Communication amongst the defenders i.e. I go, on the ball, I got you covered e.t.c.

Progression/Regression:

1. Increase/decrease distance as needed.

2. Play goes live on attacker's first touch.

Football/Soccer Session Plan Drill (Colour): Team Development

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Team Development

Organization:

1. Set up playing area as shown.

2. Three counter goals.

3. Cones to represent offside line / restraining line.

Instructions:

1. Reds set up in a 1-4-2-1 formation while Blues set up in 2-4-2 formation.

2. Defending team (Reds) look to defend big goal and and score in the counter goals.

3. Attacking team (Blues) look to score on large goal.

4. Ball always restarts from the server to the Blue team unless otherwise specified by coach.

5. Coach also adds variations into the start point to present new challenges to the defending team.

Coaching Points (Defending Team):

1. Pressure, cover, balance, delay and compactness i.e. horizontally and vertically.

2. Move as a unit to maintain shape.

3. When/where to press vs. retreat/delay.

4. Communication - early, urgent, concise.

5. Show inside/outside - visual cues.

6. Attacking transitions.

Coaching Points (Attacking Team):

1. Spread out i.e. provide width and depth when in possession.

2. Utilize space and triangulate to create passing options.

3. Create a point of attack and then quickly look to switch the point of attack.

4. Speed of play i.e. move the ball quickly to unbalance the defending team.

Progression:

1. Exercise progresses to free play (8v8).

Football/Soccer Session Plan Drill (Colour): Game: 8v8

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Game: 8v8

Organization:

Setup as shown.

Instructions:

1. Blues set up in a 1-4-2-1 formation while Reds set up in 1-1-4-2 formation.

2. Normal FIFA laws of the game applies.

Coaching Points:

1. Pressure, cover and balance.

2. Connection between the functional units i.e. defensive unit and midfield unit.

3. Defensive unit moves up quickly upon winning possession.

4. Communication between the functional units.

5. Quick transitions from defending to attacking.

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