Football/Soccer Session (Academy Sessions): OOP Defending

Unopposed/Opposed ( Out of Possession

Coached Team (Blues) out of Possession:

Walk Through:

• First 2 minutes of the Practice allow Reds to find passage of play by applying the switch.
• With Blues challenging for the ball without tackling just blocking and intervening whilst moving their defensive shape out of possession.
• Minimum Pressure applied to the reds  
• Then Reds can score and Blues are allowed to make tackles to prevent the switch.
•   Also the are allowed the to score.
• If the ball is played to each Using the switch off play teams #9 they are encouraged finish without pressure at this point. Ideally this Unopposed start is aim at the Blue team setting themselves defensively out of possession.

Welsh Way Principles:

Understand when and how to stop the switch of play

based on the pressure applied by the defending team defending.  

Organisation / Area Size:

Pitch size 60 x 50

Player Formation  GK on the Red team of 8 players (GK-3-2-2-1) vs Blue team of 8 players - server (acting as a CD) 2 full backs, 2 CDMs, 2 wide forwards and a #9 ) protecting the wide areas and preventing red wide players scoring in the Full size goal against the Goalkeeper within the penalty area.

Three Defensive Lanes: ( Highlighted In Red on the diagram):

• Right sided Highlighted Lane is an indication for the Blues RFB (Right Full Back) to apply pressure when the Reds Left Winger is in possession to slow him down or force him to retreat towards his own goal.  Whilst in order to support the blues RFB the blues RWF(Right wing Forward) will need to go and challenge the reds Left winger and win possession or prevent the switch.
• Left sided Highlighted Lane is an indication for the Blues LFB (Left Full Back) to apply pressure when the Reds Right Winger is in possession to slow him down or force him to retreat towards his own goal.  Whilst the blues LWF(Left wing Forward) will need to go and challenge the reds winger and win possession or stop the switch.
• Central Highlighted Lane marked by Red small cones: Is an indication for the Blues CB (Centre Back) and Central Defensive Midfielder) of their own start point and where to retreat as a defensive unit to provide cover and stay between their own Goal keeper and the Reds #9(ST) if out of possession and during the reds attack to protect the Middle .

Realism: Defending the Switch of play:

Challenge for the two full backs on the RED team limited to 2  touches on the ball in possession or they only have 3 second in possession.

Key Points:

Out of possession BLUE Team (Coached)

• Defend narrow and compact
• Leave the furthest players (fill in gaps within the defensive unit by moving across depending on which side of pitch the opposition have possession and ready to attack )
• Stop the switch of play
• Force direction of play
• Keep play predictable
• one blue player can move inside of wide areas to challenge reds wide player when out of possession.

• Make pitch big at all times
• Use of width and depth
• Direction of pass
• Movement off the ball
• Create space out of possession
• Play through, around or over to create switch
• 2 wide players can move outside of wide areas when out of possession and Must retreat to wide zones in when Reds are in possessions

Interventions: 

• Terminal
• Coaching Process
• Concurrent
• Walk Through

Challenges/Conditions/Targets/Interventions (10 mins)

Challenges, Conditions, Targets and Interventions: 

Blues will also will try and encourage each within the defensive unit to utilise their Goal Keeper in Possession

Challenges: for the two full backs on the Red team they are limited to 3 touches on the ball in possession.

 When out of possession the Reds wide players are allowed to enter spaces centrally however, within possession they are only limited to spaces within the wide area inside the yellow markers with the main objective to create and switch play.

Conditions: Both teams are to use full width and up to the goal within wide areas of the Yellow  markers. 

The Blue team out of possession will TRY and fill in all gaps within the defensive unit and stay narrow and compact as a unit by stopping any Red players overlapping leaving the furthest players.

Targets: for the Red team are the wide zones either side of the practice and the fixed Mini goals to shoot at once the switch of play has been applied. The target for the Blue team is the Full size goal and their aim is to shoot centrally. The challenges are the Red team MUST switch play before scoring.

Interventions during Specific Session 

Intervention 1: -  ( Structure of Defensive Unit to Stay Narrow and compact to prevent reds Switch of play) 

Whilst out of possession the Blues Defensive unit will aim to stay between 3 and 4 yards apart in a line across. If the Reds are attacking from one side of the pitch for example as shown on the diagram above reds are attacking and looking to switch play from left to right then the blues right fullback will try and apply pressure followed the CB who will cove the right FBs gap - the CBs space is filled by the CDM and the final gap within the defensive unit will be filled by the Blues Left FB.  Blues will also try and encourage each within the defensive unit to utilise their Goal Keeper in Possession and the goal will be expected to communicate with the defensive unit to in and out of possession.  To guide out field players of the shape out of possession and make team mates aware to make the pitch bigger in Possession by spreading out into space to stretch the Reds. 

Intervention: 2 -  (Midfielders: - As soon as the Defensive unit have got into allocated positions once they are out of possession,  the right back now needs to make sure he is close to the Reds winger, closing him down quickly by apply pressure getting into 2 yards in range this will ideally slow the reds winger down, then the Blues midfield will will be lead by the RWF ( Right Wide Forward) to come in to challenge and win the ball.  The CM (Central Midfielder) for the blues is assigned to stay 6 to 10 yards from the RWF challenging for the ball to fill in the start position of the RWF followed by the LFW aligned to fill in for the CM. These specific positions are followed for the Midfield to stay organised and work to help minimise pressure on the defensive unit and should force reds to turn around and to go back towards their own to gaol to reset their attack in possession.   If the winger does manage to progress past the the blues midfield with  possession down the line the closest Blues centre back needs to provide the fullbacks cover by acting as a sweeper behind the FBs in line  to try and help prevent the cross. Whilst resetting Reds importantly are required to move  the whole unit up the pitch ideally the starting position should be on the defensive line. 

Intervention 3 -  .

• Terminal
• Coaching Process
• Concurrent
• Walk Through