All Posts by Mike Saif

1 Chelsea’s Centre Backs in Wide Positions

By Stevie Grieve

Jose Mourinho teams have been strong defensively since he took over in his 1st role at Benfica, through from Lieira, Porto, Chelsea, Inter Milan, Real Madrid and again to Chelsea. The backbone of his success has been from a very effective style of play based on not conceding goals, being compact vertically and horizontally, with the 2 centre backs being able to play close together and in front of the goal. In this Chelsea team, although they are the best team in the Premier League and one of the best sides in the Champions League, the lack of pace in the centre of the team is a concern, particularly when Cesc and Oscar and caught high as they are not quick enough to get back and help Matic once the press is beaten.

Another weakness is when Cahill or Terry are drawn wide in possession or to defend 1v1 on the side, Nemanja Matic will cover between the centre backs or in the half space, often leaving a hole in front of the defence due to Cesc or Oscar being too far away to cover the space in front of the back 4.

Against Tottenham, Mauricio Pocchetino had a clear game plan – tempt Chelsea into allowing Terry or Cahill wide in possession then win the ball form high pressing traps in the 4-2-3-1, then attack diagonally towards the far

0 Runners Off of a Wall

By Lawrence Fine, Author of the FineSoccer Coaching Bible.

Welcome to the Goalkeeping Newsletter. Today’s featured activity works on runners off of a wall.

To start, have a server 25-30 yards out with a ball. There are 3 mannequins (or, if you don’t have mannequins, you can use people) making up a wall 10 yards from the ball. An attacking player is at the end of the wall and a keeper is in goal.

We are recreating a free kick situation here so the

0 Defensive Pressure and Attacking Speed

By Lawrence Fine, Author of the FineSoccer Coaching Bible.

Welcome to the FineSoccer Drills Newsletter. Today’s featured activity works on  defensive pressure and attacking at speed.

Start with a 30 x 20 grid, 3 attackers, and 2 defenders. There is a group of balls on the end line the attackers are starting on.

One of the attackers starts with a ball and as soon as he touches the ball the

0 Using the Channel to Draw the Defense Over

By Stevie Grieve

Traditionally in football, the field was separated into 3 clear areas – wide-centre-wide, meaning the specific positional play in possession was fairly static. With a field around 60m wide, this means that each zone is 20m wide, often resulting in large distances between players, particularly in a traditional 4-4-2 formation.

If we split the field into 5 clear channels, this distances of width of each zone becomes 15m and the 5m reduction of distances help layers cover more ground collectively and individually, so the ‘channel’ has become a key zone in terms of build-up play and in how to penetrate through defences.

Using the channel draws over players to press diagonally, and normally results in space being opened up either behind the inside central midfielder or the wide midfielder, and often a defensive midfielder will come higher up to cover the space, leaving the zone between the lines free to be exploited, often temporarily hurting the vertical compactness of the defensive block.

To me, there has been a debate among British coaches and European coaches around the term ‘halfspace’, which is derived from the word ‘haufbraum’ used in Germany from the 1930s to describe ‘the channel’ as it was the area usually occupied by a ‘halfback’, hence the term, ‘halfspace’

For me, there is a difference between the channel and the halfspace;

• The channel is a set strip of field down the field, like the wing or the centre
• The halfspace is a movable space between 2 specific opposition players – wide and centre.

If a player presses out of position to the channel, they press diagonally leaving a space which can be exploited, particularly if the player in possession has 3 clear lines of play ahead of him.

As the ball is switched from channel to channel, the defensive block would need to

596 Reaction Saves on Close Shots

By Lawrence Fine, Author of the FineSoccer Coaching Bible.

Welcome to the Goalkeeping Newsletter. Today’s featured activity works on reaction saves on close shots.

When we think about goalkeeping, and more specifically shot blocking, we think big goals and shots to the upper corners.

In this activity it’s close in shots with a keeper protecting a small goal.

Start with a goal that is

0 Passing Back to the Goalkeeper

By Lawrence Fine, Author of the FineSoccer Coaching Bible.

Welcome to the FineSoccer Drills Newsletter. Today’s featured activity works on playing balls back to the keeper.

Using the keeper to relieve pressure is an important part of playing out of the back but it’s also something that is frequently neglected in training. Here is a simple activity that works on just this aspect of the game.

Start with a keeper in goal and a group of field player 40 yards from goal. A server is 45 yards out with some balls.

The server plays a ball behind the

0 Shooting Circuit and Starting Speed

By Alex Trukan

The shooting circuit exercise incorporates fitness content of starting speed. This quality is needed in 1v1 duels, runs for the ball or exploiting shooting opportunities in and around the penalty area. Due to competitiveness of this practice, players are motivated to perform at 100% intensity, having fun and being engaged at the same time!

Set up and Directions

Set up two goals on each side of the area and 3x3 yards square in the middle. Divide the team into two groups (give them different colour bibs) and organise them on each end, next to the goal as shown on the diagram. Each player should have one ball each. There should be one goalkeeper in each goal.

On a coach’s signal, one player from each side dribbles to the

0 Penalty Box Fitness - Part 1

By Jason Stockmann - Everyone knows fitness is key for a soccer player – very few sports exact the levels of endurance, stamina, speed and dexterity that the beautiful game demands. Though a goalkeeper may not need to reach the same level of endurance or stamina his or her field player counterparts hit, they definitely have

3 Everton v West Ham - 22-11-2014

HOW THE MATCH WAS WON by Keith Scarlett EPL November 22, 2014 Goodison Park Everton 2 v 1 West Ham United Everton put in a great performance as they defeated a very in-form West Ham side. On his 400th appearance, Leon Osman slid home the winner in a 2-1 victory over The Hammers. Everton took the

0 Crossing and Finishing Under Pressure

By Lawrence Fine, Author of the FineSoccer Coaching Bible.

Welcome to the FineSoccer Drills Newsletter. Todays featured activity works on long passes, receiving long passes, dribbling at speed, crossing and finishing.

This activity uses half a field with a goal and a keeper in goal. There are 5 groups of players to start. One group has balls just inside of midfield, in the middle of the field. One group is out wide waiting for the first pass. One group is 10 yards away from goal than the group waiting for the ball (they are defenders). One group is out wide on the other side and the last group is off of the end line (they are also defenders).

The player with the ball starts by either chipping or

0 Creative Shot Blocking

By Lawrence Fine, Author of the FineSoccer Coaching Bible.

Welcome to the Goalkeeping Newsletter. Today’s featured activity works on footwork, diving and being creative in shot blocking.

The other day I was speaking with a friend who asked “do you think the game of soccer would be a lot different if keepers couldn’t use their hands?”. My first thought was “this is a typical thought process of a non soccer person” but then I started thinking more about this.

One of the most enjoyable training activities I have done is a simple shooting activity with a server just outside the 18 with a line of balls and a keeper in goal.

The server shoots on goal and the

0 Bayern's Move from Fixed to Flexible

By Stevie Grieve

Pep Guardiola has evolved the Bayern Munich team over the 18 months he has been in charge so it is almost unrecognisable from the treble winning team and style Jupp Heynckes left behind. The system has changed so much that the fairly rigid positions of each player has been replaced with a solutions to problems based style, and one major change has been the implementation of ‘inverted full backs’ in the manner that they cover 4 positions from 1 zone, almost like an old fashioned ‘halfback’ from the 1930s.

The positioning of this player allows the team to be flexible in the centre and wide areas, in both attack and defence, and in transition phases where the ‘halfbacks’ can drop off to form a back 4, or press high to counter-press with the 2-1 triangle covering behind them (DM & CBs).

Position of the ‘inverted Full Backs / Halfbacks in a 4-3-3

As we can see, the ‘halfback’ is in the position between centre and wide (the channel) between midfield and

4 Berlin v Bayern Munich -29-11-2014

HOW THE MATCH WAS WON by Keith Scarlett Bundesliga November 29, 2014 Olympiastadion Berlin Berlin 1 v 0 Bayern Munich This was not the match of the year, but Bayern once again made their case as an efficient vertical attacking side. When they took to the pitch Hertha Berlin knew that their defense was weak, especially

0 Using Mannequins to Training Crossing

By Lawrence Fine, Author of the FineSoccer Coaching Bible.

Welcome to the FineSoccer Drills Newsletter. Today’s topic deals with using dummies (mannequins) to force more accurate crosses.

Let’s start with a simple crossing and finishing activity. A player starts out wide with a ball., another player starts out near the corner of the 18, on the far side. There is a keeper in goal.

The wide player dribbles toward the end line, cuts in and then

0 Forward Dives

By Lawrence Fine, Author of the FineSoccer Coaching Bible.

Welcome to the FineSoccer Drills Newsletter. Todays featured activity works on forward dives.

Start with a keeper in goal, a server with some balls at the top of the 18 and two field players just in front of the keeper.

The ball gets played, on the

2 Playing with Inverted Full Backs

By Stevie Grieve

Positioning in modern football is a massive part of the success of a team, particularly in the development of an attacking game but also in ball conservation to defend, while defensive positioning has always been an important factor in a successful defensive unit. With Pep Guardiola (of whom regular blog readers will know I analyse his teams on a regular basis), his tactical innovations are changing the way the game is played and coached across all levels.

Inverted Full Backs to overload the centre and cover several zones with one player

The full backs of Bayern – Alaba and Lahm – can both be played in central midfield and at full back in both attacking and defensive phases. This gives Guardiola so many more options but instead of being a traditional coach and using

1 Chelsea v Arsenal-05-10-2014

HOW THE MATCH WAS WON by Keith Scarlett English Premier League October 5, 2014 Stamford Bridge Chelsea 2 v 0 Arsenal By the time this match came around, Chelsea had already begun their championship run at high speed, 19 points from a possible 21 and already five steps ahead of trailing Manchester City. Arsenal, on-the-other-hand, were

0 'Numbers' Game to Improve Anaerobic Power

By Alex Trukan

This exercise is focused on improving Anaerobic Power which is required for acceleration and speed qualities. ‘Numbers’ game is appropriate and fun for almost any age group and ability level. Apart from physical area, it also focuses on 1v1/2v2 or 3v3 attacking and defending scenarios. It can be also used to develop skills needed to deal with underload (1v2/2v3) and overload (2v1, 3v2) situations.

Set up and Directions
Set up a pitch of approximately 20x30 yards. Divide a team into two groups of equal numbers. Organise them on each side of the pitch, next to the goal. Each player should have a number. Place one goalkeeper in each goal. Take coaching position as shown on the diagram. Prepare spare balls.

The game starts by coach passing the ball into the playing area and calling a

81 Mikes Accident

PERSONAL MESSAGE FROM MIKE SAIF   Unfortunately I was involved in a serious accident recently.  I want to apologize for things being quiet at WCC.  I explain all in the video and although things have been a little quiet around here, we have big plans for some great new stuff coming real soon.    

0 Bayern Munich's Positioning in Midfield

By Stevie Grieve

Bayern initial set up – 4-2-3-1/4-3-3 hybrid

With Alonso (yellow) screening infront of the defence and playing laterally, this allows Rode (yellow) and Hojbjerg (orange) to be free to drift between the lines and support if Robben or Ribery (Red) stay wide. If they stay wide, Bernat/Rafinha stay deeper and tuck inside as inverted FB’s and help overload centrally to look for forward passes through the defence.

Bayern 4-3-3 with 1v1 zones on the side and inverted full backs

As Robben and Ribery are excellent 1v1 players, staying wide opens up a lot of space in

0 Passing and Dribbling Square

By Alex Trukan

The passing and dribbling square exercise is focused on improving technical skills along with physical capabilities. The main emphasis is placed on aerobic endurance maintenance which serves as a basis to improvement in anaerobic power and capacity. Apart from that, this practice enables the group to develop two different core skills – passing and dribbling. That can be used to suit the needs of individual players.

Set up and Directions
Organise a square as shown on the diagram below (area size depends on the number and characteristics of players). Divide a team into two groups. One group of 4 players takes positions around the square with one ball per group. Every player from the second group needs one ball each and should take starting position inside the square.

The outside group passes the ball to each other in a clockwise or anticlockwise direction. Players inside the

0 Decisions When Attacking

By Lawrence Fine, Author of the FineSoccer Coaching Bible. Welcome to the FineSoccer Drills Newsletter. Today’s featured activity works on attacking with pressure or playing away simple. Start with a 4 v 4 game plus keepers in a 50 x 40 grid with full sized goals (the number of players and size of the field can

1 Dealing with Distraction

By Lawrence Fine, Author of the FineSoccer Coaching Bible.

Welcome to the Goalkeeping Newsletter. Today’s featured activity works on dealing with distractions.

Start with a keeper in goal, a server 15 yards out and two players in front of the keeper. The server has a few balls.

As the server shoots a ball, the two

0 Crisp Passing and Receiving

By Lawrence Fine, Author of the FineSoccer Coaching Bible.

Welcome to the FineSoccer Drills Newsletter. Today’s featured activity works on crisp, hard passes on the ground and receiving the same type of passes.

In a grid 12 x 6 with a midfield line, there are two groups of 2 players. Each group is on one side.

One team starts with a ball and makes a crisp hard pass, on the