Filed under: Dave Clarke, Soccer Coaching, Soccer Fitness, Soccer News, Soccer Refereeing, Soccer Skills, Soccer Team Management, Soccer Training | Tags: Gerrard, goals, pass, score, space, switching play, tactics
By David Clarke
I keep this session in my little black book of ‘must-have tactics and how to coach them’. It is a great way to show young players how to move the ball to find space.
When their team is on the attack, young players need to be alert to the possibilities of switching play from one side of the pitch to the other.
It’s a tactic relied upon by every professional football team and takes craft, vision and confidence.
It works so well because of the need for defending teams to play a pressing, compact line in the modern game. That makes them susceptible to the switch and the potential of being caught out.
That’s why it’s crucial for attacking players to know when and how to switch – either by a long pass or a series or quick, short balls from one side of the pitch to the other.
In this exercise your players first have to work out how many ways they can get the ball from one end man to another. They will then move on to put that technique into practice to score points.
How to set it up:
- For this practice, you will need bibs, balls and cones. The session uses three teams of four players.
- Create a 30 yards long by 15 yards wide area, split into three equal zones.
- In the middle zone, mark out three cone gate goals along each line across the pitch.
These should be one yard wide and evenly spaced along the line.
Getting started:
- Start by getting the teams to work out all the combinations of play that can ensure the ball moves from one side of the pitch to the other in their groups… so either a long ball across, passes to each man individually, etc.
- Get them to switch positions.
- Practise this for five minutes.
- Then split the middle row of players into two teams of two.
- One team defends the three gates towards the top of the area, while the other team defends the other three gates towards the bottom.
- The outside teams must pass the ball within their area and score points by putting it through an empty gate, but any scoring effort must be passed through the gate, not struck hard.
- Rotate teams every five minutes and play for a total of 15 minutes, seeing how well attackers switch play and defenders cope with the demands of a versatile strikeforce.
Developing the session:
- In a 36 yards long by 20 yards wide area, use a goal and goalkeeper at each ends. Play 4v4 with two neutral players who run the lines but cannot go onto the pitch.
- Teams play a standard game but must involve a neutral player in every attack.
- Play for 10 minutes.
Why this works:
Getting players used to switching play encourages them to use the technique in matches, and in this session, you are showing them how and when to make the correct decision.
In the main game, having three goals protected by only two defenders means attackers will always be keen to hunt out space in which they can score.
Filed under: Dave Clarke, Soccer Coaching, Soccer Fitness, Soccer News, Soccer Refereeing, Soccer Skills, Soccer Team Management, Soccer Training | Tags: 2005, AC Milan, Champions League, Gerrard, half-time, Liverpool, team talk
I was reminded of how crucial a half-time team talk is this week… when I didn’t give one. It was a friendly match and at half time I was collared by a parent trying to sort out his child’s registration in the team.
By the time I had sorted him out half time was over and we were back on the pitch. I had done nothing with my team. This resulted in an early goal for the opposition and me trying to reorganise and get messages to my players – essentially the half-time team talk.
The half-time period in a match is not just about refuelling and physical therapy. It’s a crucial time for the coach and team to gather their thoughts and prepare mentally for the challenges of the second half.
Looking back to half-time in the 2005 European Champions League final, with Liverpool 3-0 down to AC Milan, according to his Liverpool colleagues, captain Steven Gerrard was distraught and was ready to concede defeat. Afterwards, all he could remember of half-time was the manager getting his pen out, writing down the changes he wanted on the board and telling the team to try and get an early goal, as that could make the opposition nervous. But Gerrard said he just couldn’t concentrate – but that one thought stuck in his mind.
And they got that early goal and Liverpool went on to draw the game and win on penalties.
Because you only get a very short amount of time tell your players one or two things that can help influence the second half – just like Gerrard and the early goal, and is the only direct opportunity the coach will have to speak to all the players and to influence the second-half performance and result.
What you tell them will, of course, depend on the score and the coach’s perspective of the match. You must also take in other factors, such as the context of the game – eg is it a cup match in which the loser gets knocked out? Is it a league game and what are the league positions of the teams contesting the game? Is one team an overwhelming favourite to win the game? Is the team winning but not performing well?
These will help you decide what to say to your team, just make sure it’s positive. A coach I know once said: “Don’t get too carried away, this lot you’re playing aren’t very good.” His team were winning 4-0 at half time and went on to lose!
Here’s the hightlights from the 2005 European final
Filed under: Dave Clarke, Soccer Coaching, Soccer Fitness, Soccer News, Soccer Skills, Soccer Training | Tags: England, Germany, Gerrard, Klose, lampard, podolski, World Cup 2010
The final third of the pitch should the hardest part for a team to work in because it will be defended with tigerish effort. Even in youth games the attackers, outnumbered by defenders will have to work hard to create goals – unless England are defending it, in which case they make it as easy for the opposition to score.
This was the case in the World Cup 2010 round of 16 game between England and Germany. But it is worth examining the goals because they hightlight errors made by defenders in youth soccer.
German attacker Miroslav Klose’s goal was one you often see on in youth matches – a big punt up field from the goal kick, over the stationary centre-half’s head and bang, 1-0. Matthew upson was outmanouvered and outfought for the ball.
The second was not much better, the England right back Glenn Johnson was forced to cover the central defenders position because again they had gone missing. This left a vacant right-back spot which attacker Lukas Podolski exploited, he even had time to take a touch before sending the ball past David James in England’s goal.
Two classic examples of how to create goals – the long ball and dragging defenders out of position.
Click here to watch the goals
Filed under: Dave Clarke, Soccer News, Uncategorized | Tags: Alonso, Ballack, beckham, Campbell, Crouch, Del Pierrro, Drogba, Essien, Gerrard, Giggs, Henry, ibrahimovic, Ronaldo, Rooney, Shevchenko, Torres, van Nistelrooy
Further to my blog on Stephen Ireland and his cars I there might be a few of you out there interested in these stars and the cars they drive.
On this clip you can see the cars of Alonso, Ballack, Beckham, Campbell, Crouch, Del Pierrro, Drogba, Essien, Gerrard, Giggs, Henry, Ibrahimovic, van Nistelrooy, Rooney, Ronaldo, Shevchenko, Torres.
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