Tools, Tips & Techniques
05 May, 2010 issue 158
Wing pulls Under 4s - Under 16s
Get your team playing balls into a striker from both wings, it stretches the opposition defence and means your players can probe for any weaknesses across the entire defensive back line, says David Clarke
Use wingers to split the defenders
Winger
Striker
If the defenders cover the wingers the striker gets free. movement without ball
pass
Using wingers to attack I like to see youth teams taking on defenders from both wings. It means that if the opposition does have a defensive weakness one of your wingers can find it out. By using the two wings, the defence is more likely to be pulled wide leaving space for your striker in the middle of the penalty area where they can cause problems if the ball is passed to them. In my U9s team we have two wingers, one is left footed and one is right. They provide much needed width for the team and many teams we play find it difficult to defend against them. The wingers can pressure the defenders into moving early so the winger with the ball can see where there is space – either into the striker or wide to the opposite wing. In the diagram you can see how movement by the striker and the two wingers creates the space that can then be exploited with a good pass. Because of the overload situation the
Winger
Striker Winger
If the defender moves to the striker the winger should pass to their team mate on the far side.
attacking trio can force the defenders into leaving space by their movement.
How to practice it l Use the goal area of your normal pitch. l Set up a 3v2 with two wingers and a striker against two defenders. l Tell the attacking trio they must try and pull the defenders apart with passing and movement. l The defenders must decide how to mark the attackers which player will be left without a marker? l Tell the defenders they must make quick decisions to mark the player with the ball. If no one defends the player on the ball tell them to go for goal without passing. l Play for five attacks then switch the players so everyone has a turn attacking and defending. l See which threesome can score the most points. Shots on target count for one point, goals three points.
“I’m a player who likes to have freedom out on the pitch, especially in attack. I need to have freedom because I run and move around a lot. I think I prefer coming from the left-hand side” Franck Ribery, winger, France
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Player development
weekly
Under 4s - Under 16s
Skills The artSchool of coaching children Skill 14: The first touch – thigh control
Ball control using the thigh
The thigh is a good area to use when controlling high balls, because it is easier to use that area than try to get the lower part of the leg high up where the angle of the leg will make it much harder to cushion the ball so it drops down.
l On impact they should slightly withdraw the controlling surface to absorb the pace of the ball. l Be aware of the position of their team mates and opponents. l Control the ball in the direction they want to go.
l When the player sees the ball coming they should get into the line of flight. l They must keep their eyes on the ball. l Keep their head steady. l Relax as the ball approaches. l They should put their thigh in the path of the ball and retract as it arrives. l If they don’t retract, the ball may not drop down and will bounce away. l The contact surface they must use is above the knee up to about halfway up their thigh. l The inside of the thigh is also good for stopping balls flying straight at them. l The ball should drop to the ground and be easy to control.
Get the area of the body you're using behind the ball.
Relax surface area in contact with ball to cushion it.
David Clarke’s touchline tales 1v1s get your players going but don’t overdo it I’ve always enjoyed playing 1v1 in very small spaces using anything to hand as the goalposts. I was doing this before the players turned up at a match earlier this season against one of my fellow coaches.
The players were taking the commitment and focus they had been using in the 1v1 game with them on to the pitch. They were rightly pleased with themselves at half-time as they were winning the match 3-0. The 1v1s had certainly got them going.
We were trying to beat each other and were quite competitive, ending up in a heap on the floor as we tried to block each other’s route to goal. In our exuberance we had not noticed that a lot of the players had turned up and were watching.
By now you’re probably wondering why I don’t use them every week for warming up. The main problem is they are quite physically tiring so I only use them sparingly.
Of course they wanted to do the same, so instead of the usual warm up drills I set up a few small 1v1s with cones for goals. It was a great way to warm the players up, but it was quite physical and I had to keep a keen eye on what was going on because I didn’t want my players getting any injuries.
With ten minutes or so to go in this particular match the opposition scored. I responded by making a couple of changes, but the team was looking very tired. In the end we managed to hang on and win 3-2. Now I make sure the 1v1s last for a quick five minutes and I mix them in with less physical drills – if I can persuade the boys to stop!
What it did, however, was make them very competitive for the game and we started at a very fast pace. 2
05 May 2010
Player development
weekly
Under 4s - Under 16s
Technique
Air mail Young players will find it difficult at first to control balls that come to them in the air. They will have to take the pace out of the ball with one part of their body, or in some circumstances they will have to hit a first time volley, says David Clarke
Control under pressure
A
B
After watching my team in a recent match I decided they needed to go back to basics and practice running on to balls played in the air. In the match they were letting the ball bounce then not getting control of it, gifting possession to the opposition. So I put together this session to get them controlling balls that come to them in the air.
30yds
C
10yds
Warm up
Player B must control a high ball then lay off a pass.
With a ball between two players throw it back and forth controlling it with different parts of their bodies by varying the height they throw to each other.
C
Exercise one You want to see players taking the ball early without waiting for it to bounce. l Player A throws or kicks the ball from their hands in the air to player B. l Player B controls and passes to C who starts in a corner and must run to the opposite corner to receive the ball. l Player C then controls the ball and picks it up so they can pass a high ball back to B. l Player B controls the ball and passes to the left corner for A to run on to, and so on. l When they have done this for six passes (three to A and three to C) A goes to B, B to C and C to A.
B
30yds
A
B must control the ball, beat the defender and score. pass
player movement
serve
l Player A throws or kicks from their hands to player B. l As A kicks the ball player C starts running to pressure B. l Player B must control and beat C and score in the goal. l The exercise restarts with A once the ball has gone in the goal or out of play. l Change after six passes – A to B, B to C, C to A.
Exercise two l In this game the player controls the ball with the added pressure of a defender. They must beat the defender and try to score in the small goal. 3
05 May 2010
Games workshop
weekly
Under 4s - Under 16s
Small-sided game KEY
Two-goal game:
BALL MOVEMENT
PLAYER MOVEMENT
Sweeper system A sweeper lives up to their name – they sweep up any loose balls the defenders have missed. 1. The team in possession must get the ball into the end zone.
Set up l Pitch size: 30 x 20 yards up to 40 x 25 yards. l Two defensive zones, 10 yards in from each goal-line. l Two teams of four players. l Two goalkeepers.
Rules l Each team has a player in the defensive zone to play as the sweeper. l The aim of the game is to dribble through the middle zone and into the opponent’s defensive zone, creating a 1v1 against the sweeper. l Rotate the players so that each player spends time in the sweeper role. l The game is played for a set time period. l If the ball leaves play, you have a few re-start options: 1. The coach passes a new ball onto the pitch. 2. The players take a roll in. 3. The players take a throw in. 4. The players make a pass in. 5. The players dribble in.
THE MATCH DAY PLANNER IS AVAILABLE TO DOWNLOAD AT: www.bettersoccercoaching.com/MDP.pdf
2. A white player is faced with a 1 v 1 against the sweeper.
3. The sweeper makes the tackle.
Soccer Coach Weekly is published by Green Star Media Ltd, Meadow View, Tannery Lane, Bramley, Guildford, GU5 0AB, UK. Email: david.clarke@coach-soccer.com Tel: +44 (0)1483 892894 Fax: +44 (0)1483 894148 Editor David Clarke Publisher Kevin Barrow Managing Director Andrew Griffiths Customer Service Representative Duncan Heard © Green Star Media Ltd. All rights reserved.
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05 May 2010