Football/Soccer Session (Academy Sessions): Div1&2 - Basic Offensive Concepts

Basic Offensive Concepts Passing Pattern

- Two-Touch Football: Control-Decision-Action

- Backfoot Ball Control: Foot Furthest Away from the Ball

- Supporting Underneath: Giving an easy passing angle behind a player

- Connect and Stretch: Checking to, to become a passing option, but after collecting it, give it back and make a run to stretch the opponent

Focusses on controlling the ball, connecting and then moving to stretch the play

Explain the flow and just let them apply it, when you start seeing a decent flow do a coaching point. Then let it flow again till that coaching point starts coming through again, before going on to the next coaching point etc.

Coaching Points 1) Two-Touch Football 2) Supporting Underneath 3) Backfoot Ball Control 4) Connect and Stretch

Minimum 5 players per pattern, Max 8, so setup multiple stations to help create more actions and learning opportunities.

With 6 or more, two balls can also be used at the same time to bring more intensity (start with one at each end).

You can also progress it into a competition by getting stations to compete, by asking them to see who can complete a certain amount of cycles first.

See Animation for flow of activity

Offensive Game with Basic Concepts

 Why Play with Width?

  When playing effectively with Width, it forces your opponents to react to your teams actions with more intensity, and this can result in disruption of their defence.

  When the defence is disrupted and organization lost, we get TWO key things:

    - More 1vs1's in the wide channels - directly related to creating more goalscoring opportunities

    - More space between channels - allows for depth penetration and potential elimination of an opponents whole defensive line

Aim of Activity:

To teach players how to Create Width, when to best use the Width and when to Switch the point of attack.

Patience and Quick Execution is Key - My personal Playing Principle in AO - Switch and Stretch till they Snap

Key Concepts:

1) Immediate Width

  On the Ball - Look to play wide option immediately if it is available

  Off the Ball - If you are a wide player, get wide immediately (Guide for wide players: Get Wide, Get Up, Check Back)

2) Switching Play

  Moving the ball from High Pressure flank to Low Pressure flank

  Retain and Switch

  Do Not Skip 

3) Supporting Underneath

4) Backfoot Ball Control

5) Two-Touch Football

Activity:

Attacking team should be numbers up on the defending team. Numbers can be manipulated, depending on your attendance. Coach can even jump in goal pending numbers. If you have more than 11 (as in the example), I suggest rotating them with the attacking waves, and only swap defence every =/-5min.

The Yellow side channels are there as a guide for Wide players, we want them to get as close to the touchline as possible when providing Width, so the aim is to be in that channel when receiving the ball

Ball gets played in from one side to Blue team

Blue team Attacks the big goal

Blue should attempt to keep possession and play patiently till either:

  Gaps open in the middle

  There is a clear 1vs1 in the flanks - take on opponent

Red defends and attempt to score on Counter in the Pugg nets