It is not easy coaching in a pandemic. But one thing I know my players like doing is to give them a task to do which involves watching a match on TV. Say it’s Charlie who plays left wingback … he’s a Chelsea fan so his task is to watch Ben Chilwell and give good things or bad things that happen when he is defending. The players love it!
It works with all your players of all age groups. The younger ones who haven’t got a position yet because they are still learning about playing the game can pick their favourite player and just give you one example of what went well.
If we concentrate on defending, you see some of the best defenders in the world on your TV screen – although you might not think so having seen some of the goals scored this season in the Premier League. But all you need to do is look at Manchester City and see how much difference having good defenders can make to your team.
Look at Ruben Dias, Joao Cancelo, John Stones and Aymeric Laporte in Manchester City’s back four they have had exceptional seasons and make great examples of how defenders play in their positions. One thing about having games this season on the TV every night is that there are plenty of options for players to watch and learn.
Here are some good defending sessions to take your players through once they have completed their task of watching the best.
Get defenders to play like Manchester City’s back four, whose clever positioning in seemingly irretrievable situations often leads to attacks breaking down.Stop the attack helps players to read situations when they are outnumbered in defence and have to try to hold up play or make a decision to win the ball.
I use this small-sided game to get my defenders reacting to situations where he is exposed to two attackers. In the game the third man must react quickly and switch from attack to defence to stop the two attackers scoring 2v1.
Get defenders to play like Liverpool centre-back Virgil van Dijk, whose clever positioning in seemingly irretrievable situations often leads to attacks breaking down. MORE
“Two attackers combine to create a shooting opportunity for the third man. Can the third man react quickly and switch from attack to defence to stop the two attackers scoring 2v1?” MORE
I was asked this week "how do I coach the false 9?". The false 9 is very much back in fashion as we can see lots of teams have gone back to playing 4-3-3 where the attacking players can switch positions in the attacking third of the pitch. MORE
Get your players to clear balls crossed into the penalty area and clear the ball into areas of the pitch that give defenders time to regroup and cover the danger MORE
Out of possession teams can control the game by forcing play into areas of the pitch that are easier to control. With positional play opponents can be forced into areas that are less dangerous to the defending team MORE
At last an end is in sight to the sitting at home and meeting my team on Zoom twice a week. But what can I do with my players? There are no guidelines yet so I am waiting to see how this will all pan out. I know what to expect from my players, they will just want to play a game, score goals, make saves, cheer with each other, shout at each other and just generally get back to a normal world of all things football. MORE
Transitions are a vital part of match play - players must react quickly to winning or losing the ball because in these instances games are won or lost. It is vital that as soon as the ball is won or lost teams react instantly. An attacking team that has lost the ball must work hard to immediately win it back and a team that has won the ball must attack at pace. MORE
Everyone finds it exciting when a player goes through 1 on 1 against the goalkeeper... if it's your attacker you are on the edge thinking this is it a goal, but if your team is defending you are looking for your goalkeeper to smother the shot. Attackers should score but often they will not due to a number of reasons like taking too long to shoot, missing the target, hitting the keeper with a shot and even slipping over. MORE
