Attacking runs disrupt defences

It is important to coach supporting attacking players and wide players to make runs into the penalty area when teams are on the attack that defenders miss leaving them free to receive and score goals.

This is often down to the individual timing of the run and the direction and pattern of the run. These include runs like faking movement one way then sprinting into spaces that defenders have left open.

There are runs that are much slower where players are drifting away from the defenders and often runs that do not work so players are tracking back to make the run again. In the youth game late runs are one of the most successful because the defenders have already picked up a player to mark and don’t react to the movement from the late run.

Runs can also trigger other runs where space is created by the initial run that drags defenders away from attacking areas. Decoy and dummy runs are often created when the player on the ball ignores the movement and goes on his/her own because the defenders are all occupied.

Get your players making runs into the box that catch out defences and create lots of chances to score goals.You can use a session like Time your runs to coach strikers to burst into the penalty area with well-timed runs to latch onto killer passes that split defences and leave strikers 1v1 with the goalkeeper giving them a great chance to score a goal.

My other favourite session to get players to time their runs into the penalty area with quick thinking and movement to create space is Running late which is a great game for strikers concentrating and getting an advantage in the most dangerous part of the pitch.