Football/Soccer Session (Moderate): HOW

How we Coach

How we coach...

a) On the ball - Coach the player who has possession.

b) Around the ball - Coach the players in the immediate vicinity of the player with the ball.

c) Away from the ball - Coach the players away from the ball. Try and affect all the players on the team in relation to roles and responsibilities off the ball.

Attacking Principles of Play

PRINCIPLES OF PLAY

Attacking: 

Penetration is the ability to progress the ball towards the opposing team’s goal, breaking through ‘lines’ of players. This can be achieved through individual dribbling, forward passing, or shooting on goal. A team that lacks penetration will often have the ball in their defensive half, passing the ball side-to-side instead of progressing the ball forward. 

Creating space is the ability to ‘spread out’ in possession and make the field big, causing the opponents to spread out too, and make it tougher for them to remain organised/compact.

Barcelona are a great example of creating space as a team. When in possession, no matter where the ball is, they have a player wide on the left, a player wide on the right, players dropped back and players pushed forward. If their wide players are too narrow, it’s easier for the opponents to remain compact, making it harder for Barcelona to penetrate. However, if the wide players stay wide, opponents will either remain narrow and sacrifice the wide space or they spread out to cover them; which causes gaps between defenders.

Likewise, if Barcelona’s forward players stay as high as possible, the defensive back line have to be aware of forward runs, and will drop back a few yards to eliminate the threat in behind. This creates space between the defensive lines of backs and midfielders for a Barcelona player to exploit. In contrast, if the forwards drop deep to receive the ball (Messi) (meaning no attacking players are high), the opposing back line can squeeze up and decrease space for the attacking team, making it harder to penetrate.

Movement is the attitude and execution of a player to make runs off-the-ball either to create space for themselves or their teammates.

The majority of off-the-ball runs in football are made selflessly, with the player knowing they are unlikely to receive the ball. For example, if your Right Midfielder has the ball and is faced by the opposing Left Back and Left Midfielder, it’s a 2v1 in favour of the defenders. Now if your Right Back makes an overlapping run, one of the defenders will track the run and create a 1v1 opportunity for your Right Midfielder. Thus, the movement of the Right Back was to the benefit of the team.

Examples of Movement:

– Overlap

– Underlap

– Crossover

– Lateral Forward Run

– Diagonal Forward Run

Support is fairly self-explanatory. Support can be ahead of the ball, to the side of the ball, or behind the ball.

In order to keep team possession, the player on the ball needs some form of support from their teammates. This could be a forward making a run into an advanced area, a central midfielder supporting to the side of the ball to switch play, or a centre back making themselves an option behind the ball to receive away from pressure.

Creativity is the players’ ability to be unpredictable. Creativity could take the form of a disguised pass, a well-executed Cruyff turn, or an improvised shot with the outside of the boot.

One of the most creative players in football history is Messi, his unpredictability makes it difficult for defenders to anticipate his next move.