All Posts by Mike Saif

0 Zonal Defending For Young Players

By Danny Carvalho Question - “My players have just moved to the 11v11 age group. I have done some training sessions on the back four and zonal defending, but we keep breaking down. Sometimes players follow the opposition and man mark which destroys our zonal and spacing positioning. How can I help my young players

0 Soccer-specific high intensity endurance

By Philip Cauchi Title: Soccer-specific high intensity endurance Aim:  To develop the players’ ability to perform many quality soccer actions per minute.    Introduction:  The following practice develops the players’ ability to perform many soccer actions per minute but also for them to quickly adapt and adjust their position according to the needs of the team

0 1v1 to Two Goals

By Keith Scarlett - One 20 x 20 yard grid split into 2 10 x 10 yard grids. Players play 1v1 in the large grid. There is a neutral player with balls outside of the grid. The neutral player plays a ball in and the attacker tries to get to it first and attack one

0 The Role of the Center Forward – Defending eBook

0 Hybrid Zone for Defending Set Pieces

By Matthew Carroll Hybrid Zone for Defending Set Pieces The zone for defending corners has become a much derided tactics, the main criticism being it leaves too many question marks for defenders in such a high intensity moment. There is truth in this since it can lead to situations where both players go to the

0 Visual Quick Reactions

By Philip Cauchi - Title: Reacting quickly to visual stimuli. Aim: To develop quick reflections specifically for goalkeepers. Key points: 1. Ready stance in goal. 2. Focus on the position of the ball. 3. Look at the hips of the attacker to anticipate where the shot is aimed. Practice: Shooting with three goals. Preparation: Three

0 Give and Go Drill

By Arthur Bell - Setup: Area – 20yd x 20yd box. Players x 6 Markers x 6 red. Balls Execution: Player 1 plays to Player 2 and then closes Player 2. Player 2 plays a “one two” off Player 3 and around Player 1. As soon as Player 2 has played the “one-two”, Player 3

0 Off the Ball Movement

By Philip Cauchi Aim: Progress the attack. Team function: In Possession. Key concepts: 1. Off-the-ball movement to open passing lanes. 2. Create passing angles. 3. Attract defenders to create space. 4. Staggered lines. 5. Control with the back foot. 6. Do not turn into pressure. Practice 1: Receive and play forward on the half turn.

0 Defending Against A Possession Team in a 9v9 Setting

By Matt Carroll To start off it is not recommended that this be used at the 9v9 level, rather than in short sided games for older players as a teaching method. This strategy can be used as a defensive way to neutralize a team's advantages in possession if they are a team that likes to

0 Competitive Shooting Drill Your Players Will Love

In this week's Animated Drills Video Matthew Carroll shares a competitive shooting drill that your players will love.The diagram is created with the Academy Soccer Coach software. See more at www.academysoccercoach.co.uk 

0 Relay Games For Soccer Endurance

By Philip Cauchi Title: Relay Games For Soccer Endurance Aim: To develop soccer-specific endurance Introduction: The following are three relay games that target the development of soccer-specific endurance. Although personally I am more in favour of global and small-sided games to develop endurance, these might prove handy in introducing variety to the training routine, to

0 How to Take Advantage of Speed

By Danny Carvalho Question - "I have a very fast center forward who is almost always the fastest player on the field. Do you have any suggestions on how we can take advantage of his speed?" Be the fastest player on the field can be a blessing and a curse. It will always depend on

0 3v2 vs 3v2

By Matthew Carroll - Description ; The 3v2 vs 3v2 drill can be used to either focus on the attacking players or the defending players. With the focus on the attacking players the teaching points can be moving with pace to take advantage of numerical superiority, scoring off numerical mismatches, or counter pressing. If the

0 Overload Kickoff Play

By Matthew Carroll Overload Kickoff Play A few years ago my team was playing in the Sectional Championship for our region. The opposition won the coin toss and received the kickoff. I was still busy just giving some last minute tweaks to the positioning of our defenders when the whistle blew and they kicked off.

0 Training for Defending Crosses

By Philip Cauchi - Title: Defending crosses. Aim: To develop the communication between the goalkeeper and the two central defenders when dealing with crosses. Key points: 1. Ready stance in goal. 2. Distance between the goalkeeper and the two central defenders. 3. The goalkeeper needs to communicate continuously with the team and especially the central

0 Turning and Dribbling Drill

By Arthur Bell - Setup: Area – 20yd x 20yd box. Players – 8 to 12 Markers x 4 yellow, 4 red. Balls x 4 Execution: Players at all four outside markers start at the same time. One ball each, players dribble into the inner marker, turn away from cone and pass the ball out

0 The Role of the Center Forward – Attacking eBook

0 Avoiding Intercepted Passes

By Philip Cauchi Aim: For the players to meet the ball and prevent that it is intercepted by an opponent. Team function: In Possession. Key concepts: 1. Move to open a passing lane. 2. Receive the ball on the back foot. 3. Pace in the pass. 4. Oriented control. This training session is suitable for

0 Playing With A Target Man Out Wide

By Matt Carroll Playing With A Target Man Out Wide When people think of the prototypical winger in modern times it is the pacy, Ronaldo type, cutting in to score tremendous goals or play pinpoint crosses as near to the box as possible. Rarely do we think of a strong and sturdy carrier of the

0 3-3-2 for 9v9 Game

In this week's Animated Drills Video Matthew Carroll shares a small-sided game that teaches players their roles in the formation. The diagram is created with the Academy Soccer Coach software. See more at www.academysoccercoach.co.uk 

0 Finishing from Distance Drill

By Arthur Bell - Setup: Area – Double penalty box. Players – 5 black, 5 yellow. 12 (6v6, 4 players and a keeper in the defensive half, 1 player in the attacking half) GK x 2 Markers x 12 yellow, 6 red. Goals x 2 full size. Balls. Execution: Play 6v6 with each team attacking

0 Corner Kick Set Play - The Swords

By Matthew Carroll Corner Play: Swords For this set piece players line up diagonally across from each other at the top of the 18 while facing each other to start. A player lines up on the near post, as well as the back post, to stretch out the defense as much as possible and force

0 Training Quick Reaction and Shot Stopping

By Philip Cauchi - Title: Guess who’s going to shoot! Aim: To develop goalkeeping quick reactions and shot stopping techniques. Key points: 1. Ready stance with the weight on the balls of the feet. 2. When turning always have your hands in front of the body. 3. Body weight slightly forward with the knees bent.

0 Playing With Two Target Players Up Front

By Matt Carroll Playing With Two Target Men Up Top Conventional wisdom is to striker pairings is big and small, a target man and a dribbler or speedster. Balls played to the tall target man are knocked down to the smaller partner who then looks to find a quick finish. This is a tried and