All Posts by Mike Saif

0 The Passing Box

By Arthur Bell - Setup: Area – 10yd x 10yd box Players x 4. Cones x 5. Ball Execution: A player at four of the five cones. First player with the ball can pass to any player then run to the free cone. This is repeated pass to any player and go the free cone.

0 Playing With Two Defensive Center Midfielders

By Matthew Carroll The 3-2-4-1 isn’t a common formation that is played, and definitely requires a certain personnel group to play it, but it does provide a way to include two true center defensive midfielders into a line up while providing flexibility and the opportunity to interchange positions with adequate cover across the pitch. It

0 Recover the Ball as a Team

By Philip Cauchi Introduction: In this session we create a context where the players must work together as a group in order to recover the ball. The coaching methodology to be used is the guided discovery. The players will be allowed to explore how they can be successful in this stage of the game. The

0 When and How to Attack as a Fullback

By Dan Severn Attacking full backs (#2 & #3) can be crucial to creating overloads in wide areas and thus creating more chances and scoring more goals! Here we take a look at how and when full backs can look to exploit the attacking areas of the field to have a positive impact on their

0 Responsibilities for Forwards When Defending

By Philip Cauchi Question - I’m having trouble with my two forwards when it comes to defending. What responsibilities should I give them when we have lost possession? Forwards play a very important role to help the team recover the ball in the phases of non-possession. The first principle that I demand from all my

0 High Intensity Training 3v3+GK

By Philip Cauchi Theme: Aerobic high intensity intermittent. Development of the soccer domains: Technical: Receiving, passing, dribbling, shooting, tackling, and blocking shots and goalkeeping. Tactical: Defend aggressively inside the penalty area. Movement on and off-the-ball to create space to conclude at goal from inside the penalty area. Immediate transitions. Mental: Anticipate quickly the movement of

2 Pulse Scrimmages Based On Fartlek Training

By Matthew Carroll - Description: A take on the classic Fartlek Run players participate in a light jog and then must quickly activate their muscles and mindset into playing mode, similar to the interactions they would see on gameday. Setup: Players are split into 4 teams with a field size determined by the number of

0 Shapes for Building Out The Back

By Matthew Carroll The importance of building out the back, not only as a tactical necessity, but as a technical one has increased in recent years, and therefore coaches need to have either a singular system in place so players know their roles, or one that is flexible and allows the team to manipulate whatever

0 Stopping A Near Post Cross

By Mike Smith - Over the course of my coaching career I have struggled with a contradiction in my coaching style. Offensively, I swear by just getting the ball down the field and making a team eat crosses. This is my shotgun approach, just keep the ball going across the opponents net and good things

0 Passing Warm-Up

By Arthur Bell - Setup: Area – Full pitch Players x 16. GK x2 Cones x 12. Balls Execution: Squad divided into two groups. One player at each of the cones. Rest of squad line up behind the players at first cones. Both groups work at the same time. First player dribbles towards the second

2 Marcelo Bielsa Attacking eBook

0 Receive and Finish

By Philip Cauchi Introduction: This training session is about having the players receiving the ball with good control and having a positive attitude towards finishing on goal. Various offensive movements will be carried out by the players in order to create and exploit the momentarily numerical superiority that might come up during a match. Developing

0 Zonal or Man Marking Defending

By Keith Scarlett In football there are two broad categories of defensive approaches; zonal defending and man-marking. Each approach has sub-divisions; however, the two styles differ mainly on reference points. In zonal defending each player references their team-mates and the ball, in man-marking however, the reference point is the opponent. The difference in reference points

0 Tactical Reasons to Play With One or Two Holding Midfielders

By Philip Cauchi Question - Some teams play with one holding midfielder and some with two holding midfielders. Is there a tactical reason to play with one or two? The tactical reason to play with one or two holding midfielders is not restricted only to the midfield structure but also how the rest of the

0 Four Corners Reactive Agility

By Philip Cauchi Title: Four corners reactive agility. Theme: Reactive agility. Development of the soccer domains: Technical: Receiving and passing the ball with accuracy. Tactical: n/a. Mental: React quickly to verbal and visual stimuli. Physical: Perform quick changes of direction at speed while maintaining balance. Organisation: Area measuring 5 yards x 5 yards. A player

0 Live Raptor Bomb Game

By Matthew Carroll - Description: The diagonal pass from the endline is statistically the most dangerous pass in the game from an attacking standpoint. The Live Raptor Bomb drill attempts to recreate repetition of this scenario in as an organic manner as possible. Setup: One 30x30 grid is set up with a 5v5 being played

0 Four Group Passing Drill

By Arthur Bell - Setup: Area – 30 yds. X 30 yds. Players x 16. Cones x 4. Balls Execution: 4 players at each of the cones. First player passes long to the second player, then follows his pass. Second player, receives and lays ball back, then runs to the next cone on his left.

0 Each Positional Role in the 3-4-3

By Matthew Carroll The 343 is a more attack minded version of the 5-4-1 and can be taught with the concept of just moving every outside player up one line, in fact in the low block the formation should essentially become a 5-4-1. The system you run will ultimately decide on how your 3-4-3 will

0 Be a Distraction In Goal

By Mike Smith - I was first introduced to the concept of being a distraction in goal through what I felt at the time was a poor choice of words. I actually always wanted to be a full time keeper but as I was always small – I was only 5 feet tall 100lbs when

0 Klopp v Guardiola Defending eBook

0 How to Play With Three Center Backs

By Keith Scarlett A key quality of a back 5 is that they have 1 extra central defender, the one who is covering for both the outside central defenders. A common mistake when looking to pin a back 5 is to try and pin the covering central defender (we will call him the sweeper for

0 Training Session Using Barcelona's Structure

By Philip Cauchi Introduction: In this session we will work using the structured method of FC Barcelona’s Francisco ‘Paco’ Seirul-lo. FC Barcelona view the player as an individual composed of eight structures which are interrelated and affect each other. Through optimised planning of our training sessions, we can develop these structures within a specific stage

0 The Pros and Cons of a Back Three

By Philip Cauchi Question - I notice a lot of pro teams are now playing with a back three. What are the pros and cons of a back three? Playing with a back three comes down to the quality of players you have in your team. If you don’t have any natural wingers then you

0 1v1 Conditioning Drills

By Philip Cauchi Title: Strength in the duel – get unmarked in a 1v1. Theme: Strength in the duel. Development of the soccer domains: Technical: Quality of technical actions performed under heavy opposition pressure such as shielding the ball, passing the ball with accuracy, oriented first touch and shooting. Tactical: Perform off-the-ball movements such as