Football/Soccer Session (Moderate): Warm-up: Peeling Off, Bending Runs and Combination Passing & Receiving Activities

Warm-up: Peeling off Passive Defender (20 mins)

Warm-up: Peeling off Passive Defender

In the example of a warm up below, divide the squad into groups of 6-7 players and arrange each group as shown. Distance between points 1, 2, and 3 is 10-15 yards and between 3 and 5 is 20-25 yards. Player 1 passes to 2 and takes 2’s place. As the ball travels to player 2, attacker 3 peels off defender 4 to either side as shown below. Defender 4 is instructed to be a passive defender, but must do either one of the following: defender 4 either stays put or follows player 3. If the defender stays put, then player 2 passes to attacker 3’s feet. If the defender follows the attacker, then player 2 passes into space behind the defender for attacker 3 to chase (these outcomes are shown below). Attacker 3 passes to player 5 and takes his/her place. Player 5 dribbles to starting point 1. Player 2, after making a pass, becomes defender 4 and defender 4 becomes attacker 3.

Remember to keep the defender 4 passive. He shouldn’t try to intercept or tackle the ball. This is the warm up stage and the aim is to teach the mechanics of peeling off and its related decisions on the ball.

Although this is not a functional activity, it is ideal for teaching the principle of Peeling off and opening body to receive the ball facing up, hence meeting the criteria set above for qualifying an activity.

Key coaching points: Crisp accurate passing. Attacker 3 should open body and 'peak' towards player 5 before receiving the ball. Attacker 3’s first touch should take him forward. Attacker 3 should stay on-side in relation to defender 4 when he peels off. If pass is into space as shown in diagram on the right, attacker 3 should delay his run until pass is made to avoid running off-side and his run should be on the outside of defender, not on the inside.

Warm-up: Peeling Off and Bending Runs (20 mins)

Warm-up: Peeling Off and Bending Runs

Groups of 8-10. Grid size 8 yards wide by 10-15 long. Distance from player 1 to 2 around 10-15 yds. Player 1 starts with a dribbling touch forward which is the cue for player 2 to make a peeling off run as shown in the diagram on the left above. As soon as player 2 gets wide with his/her body sideways on, player 1 passes the ball to him/her. Player 2 controls the ball forward with his/her first touch using his/her front foot and dribbles to the other end of the grid and passes to the first in line and goes to the back of the line. Both ends are going at the same time in a clockwise direction. Switch to counter clockwise direction after a while.

The progressions are shown on the diagram on the right. The top half shows the first progression, where player 2 makes a bending run for a through ball. The bottom half shows the second progression, where the two players do a combination of in-to-feet, back-and-through into a bending run.

This is another non-functional activity that is included since it is conducive for working on the principles of Peeling off and Bending runs.

Key coaching points: time runs to stay onside (cones are ‘last defender’). Open body to see forward and look over shoulder before getting ball. Peel off far enough away from cone to receive a pass to feet that cone ‘defender’ cannot intercept.

Warm-up Two Player Combination and Peeling Off

Warm-up: Two Player Combination and Peeling Off

A. In the left grid, we use two balls, one at each end line. Inside players starting positions in the middle and at the same time they both peel off to the side and receive a pass, control it with first touch and play it to the opposite end line with second touch and return to the middle of the gird facing a new end line.

B. In the middle grid, use two balls, one at each end line. Again, the two inside players start in the middle and peel off and play an ‘in-back-through’ passing combination with the end line players and play it to the other end line and return to the middle to start again facing the new end line.

C. Progress to playing 2v1 to target in the grid, as shown in diagram below. It’s actually 1v1 inside the grid plus using the end line player as support to make it 2v1. The end line player cannot enter grid and is used for possession support and for playing through balls. Each inside player defends one end line and attacks the other end line and scores by passing the ball to the end line target. Only inside player can score.

All the passing combination and peeling off movement practiced in the warm up variations above should now come in handy to beat the defender in the grid.

In the diagram above, the red attacker combines with his end line player to get behind defender and score by playing to the target at the other end. Now the roles are reversed and the red player defends and the white player is attacking towards the other target. Give the inside players 3-5 seconds to catch their breath and get into new positions to transition going the other way.