Goalkeeper angles
in Goalkeeping, Tips and advice
This session is all about movement around the goal so keepers have the best chance of reacting to danger. It forces shot stoppers to think about how they stand and the positions they MORE
Clearing back passes along the ground
There are times when rather than just sending the ball upfield as far as possible following a back pass, a goalkeeper may have time and a team-mate available to retain possession.
What this session is about
- Goalkeeping.
- Clearing the ball from the penalty box.
- Keeping possession of the ball.
What to think about
- Move into line with the ball.
- Good control – e.g. cushion away from pressure, but keep control.
- Good accurate passing.
- Watch the forward – if necessary take the ball wider still before making the pass.
- Clear danger first, worry about accuracy later.
Set-up
- 1 goalkeeper.
- 1 server.
- Penalty box.
| Warm up | Session | Developments | Game Situation | Warm Down |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 minutes | 10 minutes | 15 minutes | 15 minutes | 10 minutes |
What you get your players to do
A server standing about 5 metres outside the penalty area, to the left of the arc or “D”, passes to the goalkeeper who controls the ball and passes it along the ground to one of the two wide target players (T1 and T2), also situated outside the penalty area.
After say, 5 passes, the server switches position to the right of the “D” and the drill is repeated.
To progress the keeper must clear the pass first time.
The goalkeeper looks to pass to a target player to retain possession.
Development
Introduce a passive forward, located inside the “D”, who runs towards the keeper after the server has passed the ball to try and make the clearance more difficult.
To progress, the forward becomes active, making it genuinely difficult for the keeper to clear the ball. The back pass, however, must always favour the keeper.
To increase the difficulty further, the server can try varying the service e.g. throwing the ball back, so the goalkeeper has to control the ball, with say the foot or chest, before clearing the ball.
Introduce a passive forward to increase the pressure.
Game situation
Play 4×4 plus 2 keepers in a grid approx 30x20m and encourage the goalkeepers to clear the ball by passing to a free team-mate wherever possible.
Encourage goalkeepers to distribute the ball rather than smashing it forwards.
What to call out
- “First touch out your feet”
- “Eyes on the ball”
- “Think about the weight of your pass”
