Second ball steal

Forwards must always be “alive” and ready to react should a defender fail to clear the ball, miss-control, play a poor pass or not react to a rebound off the goalkeeper. Use this session to keep your forwards alert and they will steal goals for your team.

What this session is about

1.  Taking shots at every opportunity.
2.  Following in for rebounds.
3.  Reacting to the second ball.

What to think about

• The best forwards have a knack of being in the right place at the right time.
• Is this due to luck or their ability to react quicker than other players on the pitch?
• Attackers must always look for the “what ifs”. They will then always be ready to react and take the half chances that come their way.

Set-up

Create a 50 yards by 30 yards playing area. Have a 20 yards wide central zone across the pitch with two 15 yards end zones either side. Split your players into teams of four, with one team resting.

You can adjust team numbers if you have less players.

Warm up	Session	Developments	Game Situation	Warm Down
10-15 minutes	10 minutes	15 minutes	10 minutes	10-15 minutes

What you get your players to do

The grey team play against the white team in the central zone of the pitch and must only take shots from this zone.

On taking a shot, one of the other attackers is allowed to run into the end zone in case there is a rebound off the goalkeeper.

The resting team is rotated into the game after a goal is scored, with the scoring team sitting out.

An attacker can only enter the end zone when a shot is taken.

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Development

Now the resting team’s players are used as wingers. This time, after a shot at goal, one of the forwards can run into the end zone to receive a cross from a winger.

You must nominate this player by calling out his name.

The winger must try to cross into an area away from the forward. This makes the forward react quickly and race into the end zone at top speed.

The white defender tries to stop the grey attacker from scoring.

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Game situation

Progress so that crosses are played only after a goal has been scored or a shot has hit the target. With these crosses, any number of attackers can try to run into the end zone to score. However, defenders can also now enter the zone to cut out the cross.

The winger then crosses for another forward to attack at pace.

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What to call out

• “Where’s your attitude?”
• “React to the next ball”
• “Be alive and ready”