Football/Soccer Session (Beginner): Creating Scoring Chances with Movement Off the Ball

Sharp Shooter (15 mins)

Design:

we're going to develop what we worked on before but continue to cue the players' movement off the ball to support play, and their individual creativity to create & finish scoring chances.

Organization:

A 25x15 area with 2 large goals at either end | 3v3 (+1 neutral all time offense/coach). Similar concept to the previous game, except now we're going to put the ball on the deck & use our feet. FLY-GK rule applies - meaning that any player can be the GK at any time; they just have to call out "KEEPERS!" before using their hands in the area.

Scoring:

Players may only score with their first touch (NB: players are free to take as many touches as they like, but cannot score if they take more more than 1 touch). Headers & Volleys = 2 goals. Allow half-volleys (1 bounce) at your discretion. Scoring team stays on and losers are replaced with new team.

Coaching points

1. the trick is, not being in the best position to receive the ball ALL of the time. It's being in the best position to receive the ball at the RIGHT TIME. If we're in there too early, what might be the problem? Yeah the defender will already be there. The rest of time we're disguising what we really want to do and then escaping our marker at just the right time to receive the ball.

2. sometimes the ball won't be coming at you nicely, it might be bouncing / high / at you / away from you; can you then work enough space to get a shot off, but can you choose the right type of shot for the situation e.g. place it / lace it.

3. what about our body position to shoot? when we only have one touch, we have to (most of the time) try to position ourselves in a way that means we can see where the ball is coming from, and where you want it to go (in the net, hopefully). Again though, timing is everything.

Hybrid Scrimmage (30 mins)

Design:

we're challenging players tactically to solve realistic football problems. Oranges have to deal with a high offside line, so their target man will need to play a little deeper and give team mates space / opportunities to play through to him. Counter-attacking and the timing of runs / passes will be very important for this team. Blues, on the other hand, must contend with a deep offside line, so, having more freedom will allow them to slowly build up play and use quick combinations to exploit space & finish on goal.

Organization:

Full pitch with large goals as shown. 5v5 or 6v6 (+1 Neutral/Joker). Blue cone across the pitch signify a deep offside line for the blue team - who can only be offside if they are beyond that line when the ball is played to them. Orange cones across the pitch significy a high offisde line for the orange team - who can only be offside if they beyond that line when the ball is played to them. Play for 10+ minutes before rotating teams; allow both teams the opportunity to play under the two different conditions.

Coaching points

1. Q&A to discuss team strategies & tactics depending on the condtions they're facing. For example, orange will need to make use of a target man, to give themselves the option of relieving pressure and playing out quickly for a counter-attack.

2. If a team mate is driving up the pitch quickly, do we want to move toward them or away from them to support play? Yeah, away from them, maybe spinnning off our marker and asking for a through pass in behind. Our team mates' job is to clear space so that we can move towards our objective quickly & easily.

3. Wherever the play may be, can we always make sure we have an angle, rather than being square to the ball and unaware of who is behind us. It'll help us when it comes to counter-attacking quickly and exploiting space when it's available.