Football/Soccer Session (Academy Sessions): UEFA B - Defending the Final Third #1 - 4.2

Specific (10 mins)

Set up:

• Area Size: Half Pitch
• Player Numbers: 15 Players

Objective:

• Prevent goal scoring chances by protecting the middle and preventing crosses and cutbacks into the box.

Explanation:

• The Red Team is the In Possession team and they will always start with the ball through the central midfielders, while the blue team will be the Out of Possession team.

Rules:

• Ball always restarts with Red Team
• No throw ins or goal kicks

KeyPoints: In Possession

• Risk Taking
• Commit the player
• Crossing & Finishing

Key Points: Out of Possession:

• Protect the middle (As a Unit)
• Press quickly & Force wide
• Minimize box entries

Walkthrough:

• The Red Team will start wide while the Blue Team will be encouraged to start narrow and compact and to limit the red team from playing through the middle.
• The Red team will play out wide to one of its wingers, and the Blue team will shift over. First the fullback will put pressure to the winger and then the CB will cover the space in behind left by the fullback. The other CB and fullback will shift over as well to protect the middle and force the play back or a long switch.
• The Red team will play back around to the opposite winger and this time the CM will drive forward after the pass to complete an overlap around the winger cutting inside and attacking the fullback. The winger will then play the pass through (the Blue Team CM wasn't able to track back quick enough). In this case the Blue Team will now work towards protecting the box and regaining a defensive shape. The Red Team will have a front post/near post/ and top of the box runner so the Blue Team will organize by making sure the CB tracks the front post, fullback the back post and CM's the top of the box and middle of the box runners.

Progressions:

• The main focus will be on stop cut backs and crosses where the winger gets to the end line and picks his head up to find a teammate. I will encourage the attackers to now start looking for early crosses in behind the defense and will work with the defenders on how to drop together as a line in protecting the box and limiting crosses.

Targets:

• IP: Score in the big goals
• 1 Point —› Normal Goal
• 2 Points —› Goal from a cross/cutback
• OOP: Counter and score in the mini goals within 10"

Challenges:

• Scoring first time
• Shots from in the box

Conditions:

• Potentially: Shortening the length of the field to make it more condense and create more final third chances
• Adding corridors to help players recognize field width and occupying spaces
• Tapering angles of pitch to encourage In Possession team's to look towards the center and to create receiving angles in the middle