All Posts by Mike Saif

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

2 Taking Goalkicks to a Zone

In this week's Animated Drills Video, Matthew Carroll shares his thoughts on taking goalkicks to a zone area rather than to individual players.The diagram is created with the Academy Soccer Coach software.  See more at www.academysoccercoach.co.uk 

0 Applying Pressure On Loss of Possession

By Philip Cauchi Aim: To press with intensity and determination to recover the ball upon losing it. Team function: Negative transition. Key concepts: 1. Closest defender to the ball to apply pressure. 2. Take a step forward upon losing the ball (reduce space). 3. Collective pressing. 4. Create overloads around the ball. 5. Cut off

0 The Role of the Wide Midfielder – Defending eBook

0 Including Conditioning Into Regular Training Sessions - Part 3

By Philip Cauchi Question - I only have my players for two training sessions a week, so I have to do the fitness work in the regular training sessions.  Do you have any good drills where I can teach technique and even tactics while getting some conditioning work in? The below practices can aid in

0 Five Part Speed and Agility Course

By Philip Cauchi Title: Technical and rapidity parcourse. Theme: Speed, agility and quickness. Development of the soccer domains: Technical-tactical: Dribbling, controlling the ball and kicking. Mental: Maintain focus. Socio-psychological: n/a. Physical: Perform rapid movements with and without the ball. Organisation: We have five setups (or parts) as shown in the below diagram. In part one

0 Box Breakout Game For Defending

By Matthew Carroll - Description: This drill can be used to train defenders to be able to play under pressure near their own goal with confidence and to utilize the keeper in the build up. It forces players to take on 1v1 duels with the added pressure that if they lose the ball or do

1 Two Goal Finishing Drill

By Arthur Bell - Setup: Area – 1/2 of pitch. Players – 8 to 10 black, 8 to 10 yellow. GK x 2 Markers x 7 yellow, 7 red. Goals x 2 full size. Balls. Execution: Player 1 starts with the ball, passes to Player 2, then follows pass. Player 2 takes the ball to

0 Corner Kick Set Play - The Wave

By Matthew Carroll This corner play is effective because it creates a line of players that collapses onto a defensive set up like a crashing wave, and is flexible enough to fill the gaps left by the adjustments that the defensive is forced to make as each player makes their respective run, one after the

0 How to Train Quick Reaction Saves

By Philip Cauchi - Title: Combined plyometric and reaction saves. Aim: To apply the proper mechanics of saving a shot after landing from a jump. Key points: 1. After landing, the foot to the side of the dive should be placed diagonally forward towards the side of the dive prior to making the save. 2.

0 Fake the Switch for Central Distribution

By Mike Smith “Switch it!” Standard game day lingo for parents, players and coaches alike. That open person on the far side, so tantalizing to hit a long ball to. The problem is, pressure around the ball can take the long switch away. Also, once the ball is in the air, an organized team can

0 Utilizing Attacking Backs in a Back Three System

By Matt Carroll Although facing a dramatic decline in the 20/21 EPL Season, Sheffield United became Premier League darlings when the pushed for Europe during the 2019/2020 season utilizing “attacking centerbacks”. While a number of other factors led to their decline, the concept of attacking centerbacks still holds merit and can be useful, and an

0 Training a Functional First Touch

In this week's Animated Drills Video, Matthew Carroll shares a drill to train the all-important functional first touch.The diagram is created with the Academy Soccer Coach software. See more at www.academysoccercoach.co.uk 

0 The Role of the Wide Midfielder – Attacking eBook

0 Including Conditioning Into Regular Training Sessions - Part 2

By Philip Cauchi Question - I only have my players for two training sessions a week, so I have to do the fitness work in the regular training sessions.  Do you have any good drills where I can teach technique and even tactics while getting some conditioning work in? The below practices can aid in

0 1v1 to Goal Conditioning

By Philip Cauchi Title: 1v1 duel to finish on goal. Theme: Strength endurance in the duel. Development of the soccer domains: Technical-tactical: Receiving with a good first touch, dribbling and controlling the ball under opposition pressure and finishing on goal with accuracy and power. Mental: Maintain a positive mentality to dribble past the defender and

0 Transitions with Overlaps

By Matthew Carroll - Description: This is a twist on the classic transition game that helps players recognize opportunities to overlap within a game. Coaches should allow the game to start off naturally, and then stop midway through to ask players to identify when overlapping was effective, and when it was ineffective because they were

1 Using the Defensive Midfielder to Attack

By Matthew Carroll The key to the flexibility of the 4231 is the diverse applications of the two CDMs. The ability of one to push forward with the other providing defensive cover allows teams in the system to differentiate their attacks based on the positioning of the ball on the field. While this is a

0 GK Distribution Under Pressure

By Philip Cauchi - Title: Playing the ball with the feet under pressure Aim: To be able to play accurate vertical passes when under pressure. Key points: 1. Be light on the balls of the feet. 2. Oriented first touch. 3. Weight and direction of the kick (pass). Practice: Receive the ball to score in

0 Attack v Defense SSG

By Arthur Bell - Setup: Area – 2/3 of pitch. Players – 8 black, 4 yellow. GK x 1 Markers - 10 yellow, 4 red. Balls. Execution: Player 1 starts with the ball, passes to Player 2, then supports play. Player 2 passes the ball to Player 3, then supports play. Player 3 passes the

0 The Role of the Holding Midfielder – Defending eBook

0 Combination Play to Switch the Field

In this week's Animated Drills Video, Matthew Carroll shares a drill to train combination play to switch the field.The diagram is created with the Academy Soccer Coach software. See more at www.academysoccercoach.co.uk 

0 Distribution From the Holding Midfielder

By Mike Smith I have often used a holding mid with the idea of supporting defensive play. Most of the time this player is placed in front of the defensive line in the center of the field. However, as many teams want to quickly get the ball wide, up the field, or both, the holding