Ideally, goals are scored by building up play from the goalkeeper and defenders, through the midfield and ending with a shot by the strikers. This session will improve your team’s ability to play out of defence and upfield.
When playing the ball out of defence, teams must use the maximum space available. To do this, all players must try to spread out and use the whole pitch.
Centre backs go wide to the corners of the penalty box and full backs go wide and to an advanced position.
One midfielder must go to help the defenders by creating a diamond shape with the centre backs and goalkeeper and all players must be available for a pass and involved in the process of playing out of defence effectively.
Set-up
Warm up
Session
Development
Game Situation
Warm Down
10 minutes
15 minutes
15 minutes
15 minutes
5 minutes
What you get your players to do
Set up your players in half a pitch, as shown in the top picture. The midfielder (in the centre circle) plays a long ball to the goalkeeper and then runs onto the pitch to help the defence.
Immediately the two centre backs split wide and the two full backs go farther up the pitch.
The aim for defenders is to quickly combine to free a full back to dribble the ball over the halfway line.
There are two ways to run this exercise:
The keeper passes to a centre back who passes to the full back to dribble out.
The keeper passes to a centre back who passes to the midfielder who then passes to the full back to dribble out.
Beginning with a pass to the keeper, the team plays the ball out of defence unopposed.
Development
Set up your players and two mini goals, as shown in the middle picture.
The midfielder plays a long ball to the goalkeeper and then runs onto the pitch to help the defence.
The goalkeeper, four defenders and midfielder must now try to play the ball out of defence against the three opposing attackers.
The aim for defenders is to pass out and into either of the two mini goals. If the opposing attackers win the ball, they try to score in the big goal.
Attackers try to stop the defence from building up play and scoring in either mini goal. Attackers try to score in the big goal.
Game situation
Mark out an area, split into three 15-yard zones and place a goal at each end, as shown in the bottom picture.
Use two teams. Each team has three defenders in its defensive zone, two midfielders in the middle zone and two forwards in the attacking zone.
The aim is for each team to build up from the goalkeeper through the three zones and score a goal.
Each team starts by playing the ball out of defence in a 3v1 situation in order to free a defender to make a 3v2 in the middle zone and finally free another player for a 3v3 in the attacking zone.
The defending team is not able to move players in and out of zones.
Once the teams are competent in playing out of defence and building attacks, you can then take away the zones. The team that scores goals wins.
When in possession, each team can release a player into the next zone to give them an advantage in building up play.
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"I have been coaching competitive soccer for over 20 years in Las Vegas. I feel like you are my personal club director. My players and myself have learned a lot from your sessions. The exercises from Soccer Coach Weekly are easy to understand and implement. I never run out of ideas and there is always an exercise for whatever problem we need to fix. Thank you!"
Paul Butler, Florida, USA
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"I coach both young club players as well as players at the High School level and both genders. The talent range is wide at times, however with the use of Soccer Coach Weekly I am able to apply the information to all talent levels and player ages and make the session fun and challenging for all players. It has helped spark me at times when I am at a loss for what to do at the next training session or offers a different approach to a current problem."
Tony Green, Pierrefonds Titans, Quebec, Canada
"My team and myself are truly enjoying the Soccer Coach Weekly downloads. Pierrefonds Titans are a great group of U16 Females who compete in the Lac St-Louis Association of Montreal, Quebec, Canada."
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Since 2006, we’ve helped tens of thousands of coaches just like you build strong teams and deliver effective and inspiring training sessions, week-in, week-out.
Discover the simple way to become a more effective, more successful soccer coach. ALL the support you need to become a great Youth Soccer coach: ✓ Proven, practical coaching advice
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