Scan, receive, turn – Small-sided game
Help your players make quicker and better decisions with this three-part session. By Matthew Thomas MORE
Mix and match
In matches, players have to make a range of passes across various distances. The practices in this session are designed to improve awareness of when to use a short pass and when a longer pass is required.
What this session is about
- Short passing.
- Long passing.
- Improving game awareness.
What to think about
- Short passes are required to gain rhythm in your team’s play by keeping possession.
- Long passes are required when you are looking to make a quick impact on the opponents by trying to play into space for forwards or switching play.
- Varying the length of passes is key to disguising your team’s intentions to the opposition. E.g. short – short – long pass.
Set-up
Use a pitch 50 yards long by 30 yards wide. Split the pitch into three zones for the session and development. The two end zones are each 20 yards long and the central zone is 10 yards long.
| Warm up | Session | Developments | Game Situation | Warm Down |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 minutes | 10-15 minutes | 15 minutes | 10-15 minutes | 10 minutes |
What you get your players to do
Four attackers go into each end zone. Four defenders start in the central zone. To start, the attackers at one end must try to keep possession 4v2 against two of the defenders who run into the end zone.
The attackers must complete four passes and then make a longer pass (across the central zone) to the attackers in the opposite end zone.
Now the two resting defenders, in the central zone, race to win the ball. The attackers are given a point for each time they successfully complete four passes and transfer the ball with a longer pass.
Defenders work in pairs to try and steal the ball from each group of four attackers.
Development
Place a goal and goalkeeper at each end of the area. A server stands inside the central zone. In each half, there are three defenders and three attackers.
The server passes to one set of attackers who try to score using quick, short passes to unlock the defence.
The defenders try to regain the ball and play a long pass to their attackers in the opposite end zone.
Forwards on each team use short passes. Defenders clear the ball with long passes.
Game situation
Two neutral players are placed at one end of the field either side of one of the goals. The team attacking this goal makes long passes to the neutrals who play the ball back to that team so they can try to score.
The opposing team does not have neutrals beside the goal they are attacking. Therefore, this team must build up by using quick, short passing combinations in order to unlock the opponent’s defence to score.
One team plays short passes while the other plays longer passes to the neutral players who pass short back to that team.
