Use short passing and movement to stretch midfield units and penetrate packed defences. By TONY ENGLUND
This game allows a team wanting to use short passing and mobility to train on transition to the front third and box organization.
You need balls, bibs, cones, one full-sized goal and two smaller goals. Set up an area two-thirds of your normal pitch. We used 19 players in the session.
The attacking team fields four backs, a triangle midfield and three forwards. The defending team fields a goalkeeper, four backs and four midfielders. Smaller numbers can be used for younger teams. Restarts from the coach, who plays to the attacking team’s centre- backs. The defending team attempts to win the ball and counter to the small goals. The attacking team practices stretching a compact defending block, learning patterns and mobility. The coach can imprint wing and central attacking schemes as well as showing players how to overload a defending group through box organization.
This environment, properly utilized, will develop a team’s attacking personality and patterns. Players learn to build relationships and understand one-another’s tendencies, all building more attacking chemistry.
Here, the team has opted for a central attack. The centre back plays in to the feet of the checking central striker. That player plays a one-two and gets in behind the defence
When should the centre-forward check? How does the reaction of the opposing centre-back(s) affect the decision to combine and get in behind? How can the wide forwards help set up this scheme?
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