All Posts by Mike Saif

0 Three Goal 1 v 1 Game

By Alex Trukan

The following practice is focused on developing endurance through extensive interval training method. That is especially relevant for improving recovery time between high intensity actions. For example, after quick bursts of acceleration or recovery runs. That is achieved in a modification of 1v1 practice, which involves three separate players defending their own gate and at the same time attacking oppositions’ goals. The practice is highly engaging and competitive and can be adapted to suit different numbers of players.

Set-Up and Directions

Organise three gates, each 4-5 yards wide, in a triangle shape as shown on the diagram below. Designate one player with one ball each to every single gate. The area size can be increased to develop running with the ball rather than dribbling. The number of gates can be adapted to the players available (i.e. 4 Gates).

The game starts on the coach’s signal. The players are then

0 Crossing and Finishing

By Sean Pearson Area Size: 2 x 18 yard area with 5 yard neutral zones Teams: 6 v 6 (+ 4) Time: 20 Minutes Objectives To get the ball out wide as quickly and as often as possible Decide which cross is best for the situation For the attacking team to make positive attacking runs to disorientate

0 Attacking Barcelona

By Stevie Grieve

This post continues our look at the Champions League Final between Juventus and FC Barcelona. This week we look at Juventus' attacking process.

Isolate the centre backs 1v1 in wide areas

When playing with 2 centre forwards in a defensive based system, the natural idea is to isolate the centre backs 1v1 in transition, and to try and take them on and go direct to goal. For Juventus, both strikers are quick and good in 1v1 play, so isolating the centre backs in wide areas would be a natural way to play with 2v2 at the back.

Mascherano is dragged wide by Morata who takes 1 touch and

0 Individual Defending Activities

By Chris Kouns USSF A License (USSF Coaching Education Instructor) – NSCAA Premier Diploma (NSCAA Coaching Education Associate Staff Coach) – Head Coach Georgia Gwinnett College Women's Soccer Activity 1 Around the center circle there will be players on the outside without balls. Inside the center circle there will be a few less players who have

0 Possession From Target to Target

By Renato Lopez Moreira - 

This game is a progress of the one from 'Possession Under Pressure' last week.

• There is no limitations on the number of touches each player can take
• The 'Jokers' play with the team who have possession of the ball
• Ten consecutive passes are worth one point
• The game is 10 minutes long

Exercise

The Attackers have to exchange passes between them and the

0 Getting Back to Your Line

By Patrick Kasperitis -

This exercise set looks at the goalkeeper’s ability to not only deal with a cross, but to get back onto their line in order to deal with any save that might come from having to punch or tip the shot.

Set-Up
Place cones off to the side of the penalty area in line with the penalty spot. Using the Line for the end of the penalty area (or setting a cone 6 yards away from the gates) the server will toss the ball up in the air for the

2 UEFA Champions League Final - Part 3

By Stevie Grieve

Overcompactness
Vulnerable to the switch of play especially Messi-Neymar or Alba on the left

Barcelona exploit this via switching play to Neymar / Jordi Alba
The biggest problem with Juventus playing closer to the left side (Messi’s side) and compacting the space is that the defensive and midfield chains get dragged across to cover for each player moving across, resulting in a lack of protection on the far side.

Often Neymar would drag Liechtsteiner inside, while Jordi Alba made late runs from deep and exploit the space 2v1. The 1st goal comes from this, resulting in Bonucci being drawn across to deal with Neymar while Vidal failed to track Iniesta who passes to Rakitic for the opening goal.

Here, we can see the

0 ‘Hit the Ball’ 1v1 Game to improve Explosiveness

By Alex Trukan

The ‘Hit the Ball’ 1v1 Game is aimed at improving explosiveness and speed with the ball in a 1v1 competitive scenario. That will help the players to dominate duels against the defenders, improving the quality of ball control on the speed and under pressure. The organisation of the exercise, however, is not only focused on the dribbling content but also contains a passing element what makes it more competitive and match realistic.

Set-Up and Directions

Organise a 15x25 yards area with four cones, 5 yards apart, on each side. Place a ball on each of the end line cones. In 5 yards into the middle of the area, place another 4 cones in the same line as the end line cones. Divide the players into pairs. One player starts with the ball on one side of the middle area, while his partner positions himself on the opposite side of the central area.

The game starts with a player in possession of the

1 Possession - Breaking the Lines

By Sean Pearson Area Size: 40 x 45 yrds Teams: 5 v 5 (+ 5) Time: 20 Minutes Objectives To maintain possession To penetrate the lines of the defensive team Decision making to use the wings or the middle of the field This possession exercise focuses on maintaining it while looking to move the ball forward beyond the

0 Playing Out with the Goalkeeper

By Patrick Kasperitis -

The modern goalkeeper is required to use their feet almost more often than their hands. Players like Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich FC and German National Team) and Hope Solo (Seattle Reign and US Women’s National Team), whose stories involve relatively late changes in position to playing as a goalkeeper made their ability to play with their feet seem almost natural. On the opposite side we see fantastic shot stoppers like Simon Mignolet, who plays for Liverpool FC in England, come under immense criticism for his relative short comings playing with his feet.

The skills they use to help their team to play out of the back are things that we can train. We want to try to replicate situations they might see in the game. One of these examples is when the goalkeeper is asked to swing the ball from side to side. Our defenders in front of us are under pressure, we want our team mates to be able to be comfortable playing the ball back to us so that we can get to the

1 UEFA Champions League Final - Part 2

By Stevie Grieve

Evra pressing out of the defensive line to close down Messi, Rakitic or Alves at RW

As Messi plays the deepest of the Barcelona front 3, Patrice Evra was tasked to push out of the defensive line and play close to Messi, usually with Paul Pogba but often with Vidal close to Messi (Pogba moved to RM on 30 minutes for 6 minutes then back to LM).

When Evra pressed ahead of the defensive line, it often would leave a large space for Suarez, Alves or Rakitic to move into, which would draw the Juve defensive line over and leave them ‘over compact’ and vulnerable to a switch of play, particularly from Messi to Neymar or Jordi Alba.

Messi has been closed down but not enough to impact where he will dribble into and release the ball as the exit diagonally hasn’t been sufficiently closed enough as the

2 Sprinting and Sliding Game

By Alex Trukan

Sprinting and sliding game is designed to improve acceleration and speed over short distances. That will help players to win more running and 1v1 duels as well as forward runs with and without the ball. In the presented exercise, that is connected with sliding and intercepting skills to make the physical side more context specific and engaging.

Set-Up and Directions

Organise two gates 3 yards wide and one cone in between as shown on the diagram below. Set the players in a line behind the cone with one ball each. The coach should be positioned opposite the

0 Possession Under Pressure

By Renato Lopez Moreira - 

Today's featured activity is a small-sided.

It is a 5 v 5 game that is played on a 27 x 27 yard area for 10 minutes.

The players are not limited to a certain number of touches. The passes can be short or medium in length, with players moving without the ball to create options..

10 consecutive passes worth 1 point.

When the the ball leaves the team that touched it last is on defense.

Exercise

The Attackers exchange passes between them trying to

0 Dnipro v Sevilla - 27-05-2015

HOW THE MATCH WAS WON by Keith Scarlett Europa League Final May 27, 2015 National Stadium; Warsaw, Poland Dnipro 2 - 3 Sevilla Logically they were respected, but Sevilla wasn’t expecting such resistance from the Champions of the 3rd Division of Ukraine. Never-the-less, loaded-up and ready to fight, Dnipro caused problems for Unai Emery’s men, even though

0 Finishing and Combination Play in the Box

By Chris Kouns USSF A License (USSF Coaching Education Instructor) – NSCAA Premier Diploma (NSCAA Coaching Education Associate Staff Coach) – Head Coach Georgia Gwinnett College Women's Soccer Activity 1 There are three sets of cones set up in a cross pattern (as shown below). The distances for the crosses are eight (8) yards – five

0 Warm-Up for Mind and Body

By Patrick Kasperitis -

A warm-up is intended to be a wake-up exercise for the mind as well. We need to prepare our goalkeepers to be able to focus on a specific task with many different stimulants around them. This warm-up exercise will incorporate functional agility movements with handling and playing with the feet.

The exercise is set up as below. I generally look to do all footwork at least off to the side of the goal for two reasons: 1) preserve the integrity of the ground inside of the goal area, and 2) when doing work with our feet, I ask our goalkeepers to try and avoid taking touches inside of the frame of the

2 6 v 4 Attacking Game

By Renato Lopez Moreira - 

Today's featured activity is a offensive game starting from free kick.

The game is played in a 75 x 75 yard area for one minute at a time.

The play is restarted after goal, shot out of bounds or when the ball leaves the playing area.

Exercise

The game starts with a corner kick. The

0 UEFA Champions League Final - Part 1

By Stevie Grieve

Juventus v Barcelona

In what proved to be a fantastic game of football both technically and tactically, the team with the most flair in attack proved to be the winners, but it was a game of defensive organisation in both teams, particularly in defensive transitions where both teams were incredibly quick to get back into position form an attacking phase, then become organised. Some clever tactical implementations where used, such as Ivan Rakitic and Dani Alves rotating positions defensively when the right back zone needed covered, and Gerard Pique playing as a single ‘defensive target’ when Barcelona defended.

We also saw Massimiliano Allegri block the influence of Lionel Messi in a penetrative way, not stopping his influence completely as he was able to open up the play with his range of passing and be a danger even 40m from goal, instead of the position we have become accustomed to seeing him in recent years as a false 9 and being the

3 Passing Sequence with Repeated Sprints

By Alex Trukan

The presented exercise is aimed at developing repetitive sprints ability with a passing content. From the conditioning perspective, the practice is focused on improving players’ ability to keep the amount of sprints high throughout the game, without a decrease in the quality. Therefore, it is especially relevant for improving players in 1v1’s and running duels. That is integrated in the passing practice ensuring players are motivated and improving in the technical corner.

Set Up and Directions

Organise a square of approximately 20x20 yards. Place two poles, 10 yards from each side of the square as shown on the diagram below. Divide players into groups of five and give each player a number from one to five. Every group of

0 'Find a Friend' Game to Develop Aerobic Power

By Alex Trukan

Passing and support exercise ‘Find a friend’ is an excellent method to develop aerobic power and capacity in a fun and engaging scenario. The main focus of the practice is to help players in developing an ability to sustain large volumes of physical effort due to faster recovery capacity. From the technical perspective, the presented game has various returns including: passing, receiving, support, creating space and movement. It is also highly adaptable to all abilities levels, numbers and age groups.

Set-Up and Directions
Organise a 25x25 yards box with four small boxes of 4x4 yards, one in each of the corners. Set one neutral player in each of the boxes, and divide the rest of the group into pairs. Two pairs are attackers and have one ball per two players. Minimum one pair is defending. Area size and

1 4-2-3-1 Defending Numbers Up Against 4-2-3

This article is an excerpt from our new best-selling book, Coaching the 4-2-3-1 by Stevie Grieve.

The Blacks play 4-2-3-1 v the Yellow 4-2-3 formation. The Yellows play 9 v 10 and when they win possession, look to counter attack quickly over the line with passes and dribbles. Players must not go chasing the ball and remember the distances between players are important, and moving forward to close down passing angles while closing off passing lanes into midfield are a crucial element of the defensive strategy. Above, the right back is in possession. The full back plays close to the winger, leaving a back 3 as the far side full back tucks in. The 2 holding players cover the spaces making an ‘M’ formation, playing close to the attacking midfielder and stopping passes into him. The 3 attacking midfielders press the ball and closest passing options, with the far side player playing almost in line with

0 Transition and Switching

By Sean Pearson Area Size: 24 x 26yrds Teams: 2 (6 v 6 + 1) Time: 20 Minutes Objectives To keep switching the field and move the ball away from pressure To transition from high press defense to offense Create angles of support and quick decision making This is a simple possession practice with multi

0 4 v 3 Defending Game

By Renato Lopez Moreira - 

In this exercise we work on a 4 v 3 defensive situation with a possibility to counter attack for the defense. This game could be used as a progression of last week's exercise.

The defenders have three small goals to defend while the attackers will have a large goal and goalkeeper to defend if they lose the ball.

The game area is played in a 27 x 38 -yard area. It's played for up to 2 minutes at a time.

When a goal is scored or the ball leaves the

0 Claiming Balls Out of the Air

By Patrick Kasperitis -

Claiming balls out of the air is such a difficult skill. It involves so many different variables that the goalkeeper has little control over. We have to work with our goalkeepers to make sure that they are able to block out as many of those variables and distractions as possible and focus on:

• tracking the ball
• using good footwork to keep body in good position
• going for and jumping for the ball with strength and confidence
• Catch and hold onto the ball while coming out of the air

There are many exercises that can try to improve these individual aspects. This exercise will work to improve the