Compactness

Time: 30 | Age groups: U12-U16, U17+

Aims and outcomes

Players will understand:

• How compactness fits into the principles of play
• What is meant by compactness
• The different ways to use compactness
• How compactness fits into tactics

The team will benefit from:

• Understanding why they focus on certain skills and tactics in training
• Knowing how to attack more effectively in a game situation

What you'll need

Different class types required different resources. This table sets out what we think you'll need in each scenario, but feel free to amend it if you find something that works for you.

Resources

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File	Download
Lesson Plan
Slides
Presentation notes
Handout
Quiz
Certificate

Activities

When you've delivered the class you'll want to embed the learning with some practical activities. We recommend trying some or all of the activities below in your coaching sessions to put the theory into practice.

Compact your team in midfield

This session places an emphasis on midfield units staying compact and being hard to penetrate when out of possession. It identifies specific defensive roles for midfield players making them more compact and difficult to penentrate MORE

The defensive squeeze

If defenders can improve their movement and communication, attacks can be stopped. The practices in this session will help enhance your defenders’ ability to squeeze across and remain compact. The defence can then apply pressure on attackers. MORE

Squeeze and stretch

Defenders often squeeze high up the pitch when their team is attacking. If your players can stop an attack, they have the opportunity to capitalise on the space behind the opposition defence. The key is in the quality of the forward pass and movement from your attackers to break the offside trap. MORE

7v7 formation 1-3-2

Here we look at the 7v7 1-3-2 formation and how it fits in with the players you have in your team. A great attacking formation and one players will learn positional play from. MORE