All Posts by Mike Saif

0 How Many Players Should You Have In the Wall?

By Lawrence Fine, Author of the FineSoccer Coaching Bible.

Welcome to the Goalkeeping Newsletter. Today’s topic deals with too many players in the wall.

Some keepers seem to think “the more the merrier” when it comes to the number of players in the wall. Since the players are there trying to help the keeper protect the goal, the thought is, if 3 players brings some protection, 4 players will bring more.

The problem with this thought process is a wall can only protect so much and if too many players are in the wall, the wall will make it MORE difficult for a keeper to protect the goal.

Using the example below, the keeper has 4 players in the wall and he is lined up to cover the far side.

If the keeper adds 2 more players in the wall, he has less area to cover on the far post side BUT will have a lot of

1 Suarez’ Movement On the Counter-Attack

By Stevie Grieve

Liverpool in the 2013/2014 season were a joy to watch all season, and the brightest player in the team was Luis Suarez, who won the Players’ and Football Writers Player of the Year awards. Other than the goals he scored, his work rate to press, his desire to chase down loose balls and his unpredictability in attack, he brought an intelligence of movement which helped Liverpool on constructing attacks, building counter attacks and forcing the opposition to make decisions.

Leading the counter attack

As Sterling drives into space, Suarez has an opponent who wants to drop deep, as Norwich want to tuck in and defend from the centre. Sterling needs to

1 Speed in Shooting Practice

By Alex Trukan

This practice is focused on improving speed. This component can be divided into: maximal speed, acceleration speed, change of direction speed and deceleration speed. Some of these are required more than others. In soccer, sprints up to 5 meters and changes of direction are the most common and often define whether the goal is scored or not. Speed training requires big load on phosphate system over short period of time. That is why, it focuses on improving the ability of using more ATP from phosphate energy system (fuel) what means more power and speed in actions on the pitch.

Presented exercise includes the most important components of speed for soccer such as acceleration and change of direction speed both with and without the ball. That is combined with shooting practice which helps players to understand in which context speed can be required. In addition, it is highly motivating and engaging practice for most of the groups. This exercise can be used with different number of players and on various levels.

Set up and directions:
Organize two goals, four cones and two markers as on diagram. Dimensions of the middle square should be 3-5 m., while distance to the goal should be 10-15 m. Divide the team into two groups of 3-4 players. Every player should have the ball. Organize one goalkeeper in each goal. Two groups start the exercise at the same time. The ball is played horizontally alongside the goal. After that, players who passed the ball, run to the ball played by the other group and shoot on goal. Afterwards, players take the ball and join back of the opposite group. Exercise continues until signal from the coach. In this basic format of the exercise, acceleration to the ball before shot is crucial.

Players can also pass the ball vertically and run alongside the goal to the ball played by the opposite group. That will increase the

0 Shot Blocking and Diving Drill

By Lawrence Fine, Author of the FineSoccer Coaching Bible.

Welcome to the Goalkeeping Newsletter. Today’s featured activity works on explosiveness, fitness shot blocking and diving.

Start with a keeper in goal, a hurdle (from 1-3 feet high depending upon the keeper) to his side and a server on the 12 with some balls.

The keeper starts by jumping off of two feet, sideways, over the hurdle, landing on two feet (the balls of the feet) and as soon as he lands, the

0 High Pressure in the Middle Third

By Lawrence Fine, Author of the FineSoccer Coaching Bible.

Welcome to the FineSoccer Drills Newsletter. Today’s featured activity works on high pressure in the middle third of the field.

Start with a field 60 x 44 broken into thirds (you might want to make the middle third slightly bigger than the other two). There is a goal on each end line, a keeper in each goal and 4 v 4 in the middle. There is also a free defender in each defensive third of the field.

Each teams free player in the back must stay in

0 Real Madrid Counter Attacks v Bayern Munich

By Stevie Grieve

When Real Madrid played at home v Bayern Munich, many pundits (including myself) felt that Bayern would arise from their recent slump in form since winning the league and turn it around against Real Madrid.

Carlo Ancelotti however, has experience of multiple Champions League semi-finals and knows how to navigate his team to win against a difficult opponent. He knew that Bayern would come to dominate possession, so he wanted to do two things – leave minimal space between all of the lines across the field to stop Bayern from penetrating and getting into dangerous positions, then win possession and use the blistering pace of Ronaldo, Bale, Benzema, Di Maria and Coentrao to hit Bayern Munich on the counter attack, with Modric and Alonso staying to screen in transition.

Benzema Goal – Ronaldo finds Coentrao behind the defensive line

Fabio Coentrao is an exceptionally fast full back, and outside of being a good 1v1 defender, he is also

0 1v1 situations and Anaerobic Power

By Alex Trukan

This exercise is focused on developing Anaerobic Power in one of the variations of 1v1 situation. Organisation of the practice encourages players to dribble, shoot and change direction on the maximum intensity.

Set up and directions
Set up a 30x40 yards area with one goal, 4 cones and 3 markers as shown on the diagram below. Width of each goal to dribble through should be 4 yards, while the distance between each marker should be between 8 to 12 yards. One player (defender) starts on the marker between two goals, one player on the middle marker and the rest of the players on the marker furthest away from the full-sized goal. Each player from that group should have one ball. The game starts as the player from that group passes the ball into the middle player. The defender becomes active on the first touch of the receiver. After one pair (attacker and defender) has finished they join back of the queue and another two players start. Players should switch their roles after each repetition.

As we can see below, on the first touch of the attacking player, defender becomes

0 Heading to Score or Back Across the Goal

By Lawrence Fine, Author of the FineSoccer Coaching Bible.

Welcome to the FineSoccer Drills Newsletter. Today’s featured activity works on “head backs”.

In an ideal world, a team would get the ball out wide, cross the ball into a position for a player to finish first time (with the head, foot or other part of the body).

Unfortunately our teams play in the real world and not the ideal world so it doesn't always work that way. Too often the cross isn't

2 Effective Counter Attacking

By Stevie Grieve

When Real Madrid played at home v Bayern Munich, many pundits (including myself) felt that Bayern would arise from their recent slump in form since winning the league and turn it around against Real Madrid.

Carlo Ancelotti however, has experience of multiple Champions League semi-finals and knows how to navigate his team to win against a difficult opponent. He knew that Bayern would come to dominate possession, so he wanted to do two things – leave minimal space between all of the lines across the field to stop Bayern from penetrating and getting into dangerous positions, then win possession and use the blistering pace of Ronaldo, Bale, Benzema, Di Maria and Coentrao to hit Bayern Munich on the counter attack, with Modric and Alonso staying to screen in transition.

Benzema Goal – Ronaldo finds Coentrao behind the defensive line

Fabio Coentrao is an exceptionally fast full back, and outside of being a good 1v1 defender, he is also

3 Bayern v Real Madrid - 04-30-2014

HOW THE MATCH WAS WON by Keith Scarlett Champions League 2nd Leg (0-1 aggregate) Wednesday, 30 April, 2014 Allianz Arena Bayern 0v4 Real Madrid This is the time of the year when the going gets tough and the clubs that eventually go on to claim the honours in May, are really forced to elevate their game

0 Individual Defending

By Lawrence Fine, Author of the FineSoccer Coaching Bible. Welcome to the FineSoccer Drills Newsletter. Today’s featured activity works on defensive footwork In a 20 x 10 area, start with two players and two balls. The balls are on one end and the players are on the other end line. The players start by sprinting to

0 Break-Aways and Reading the Touch

By Lawrence Fine, Author of the FineSoccer Coaching Bible.

Welcome to the Goalkeeping Newsletter. Today’s featured activity works on breakaways, quick shots and reading the touch

Start with a keeper in goal, a player between the 12 and 18 and a server with balls out wide.

The server plays a ball to the player and the keeper goes

1 How Atletico Successfully Attacked Barcelona

By Stevie Grieve

In last weeks article, I looked at the recent Champions League match between Atletico de Madrid and Barcelona, which Atletico won 1-0. I look at their defensive set up and how they made it difficult for Barcelona to score, and in this weeks article I will look at one specific area where they targeted to create chances based on Atletico’s direct style of play, a weakness in the Barcelona back 4, and how they put one of the strengths of Atletico’s play against one of the weaknesses of the back four.

Raul Garcia v Jordi Alba in an ariel battle

Quite often we see a big target man playing against a big center back (Andy Carroll v Martin Skrtel or Per Mertesacker) and its 50-50 of who will win. A better idea is to put

2 Anaerobic Endurance in 5v5+4 Conditioned Game

By Alex Trukan

This Conditioned Game is designed to improve Anaerobic Endurance needed to sustain high intensity actions. The type of the practice ensures high engagement and effort from players. In opposite to technique and skill type activities, this practice has more football context, what makes players understand the relevance of it.

Set up and directions
Set up a pitch with two goals and dimensions of 30x40 yards. Organise two teams of 9 players (8+goalkeeper). Four players from each team should be positioned inside the playing area, while another four should stay outside the area on the attacking half (2 next to the goal from each side, 2 on the opposite touchlines). Inside players can use their teammates positioned outside but they in turn can only use 1 touch to play back and they can’t score. There are no corners (goalkeeper starts from a goal kick). After the goal is scored, the game starts from the goalkeeper as well. Players should be encouraged to reset the game very quickly. Number of players used can be varied but that should reflect dimensions used.

As we can see on the diagram below, outside players can only

1 Chelsea v Atletico Madrid - 04-30-2014

HOW THE MATCH WAS WON by Keith Scarlett Champions League 2nd Leg (0-0 aggregate) Wednesday, 30 April, 2014 Stamford Bridge Chelsea 1v3 Atletico Madrid What we had on display in Atletico Madrid’s 3-1 win over Chelsea in the 2nd leg of their Champions League Semi-Final on 30 April, 2014 at Stamford Bridge was nothing short

0 One-Touch Passing For Speed and Movement

By Lawrence Fine, Author of the FineSoccer Coaching Bible.

Welcome to the FineSoccer Drills Newsletter. Today’s featured activity works on 1 touch passing with movement

Start with 4 players positioned in a rectangle that is 30 x 15 and 2 other players in the middle.

The player in the top left hand corner (player 1) starts with a ball and begins by

0 Dealing With Floated Crosses

By Lawrence Fine, Author of the FineSoccer Coaching Bible.

Welcome to the Goalkeeping Newsletter. Today’s featured activity works on floated crosses from end line as the attacker comes toward goal

When a player is on the end line with the ball, close to the corner, the keeper can stay back toward the center of the goal and prepare for the cross.

The reason the keeper can stay back like that is there is

2 Passing and Anaerobic Endurance

By Alex Trukan

Passing is recognised as one of the core skills in football. This pattern practice focuses on improving this component altogether with anaerobic endurance. That will enable players to sustain the quality of actions throughout the whole match.

Set up and directions:
Organise four cones (2 cones and 2 markers) 20-25 yards apart from each other diagonally as shown on the diagram. Divide players into two groups and set one group on one marker and the second group on the opposite marker. Only one ball will be used in the practice but min. of 4 balls should be placed around and supplied immediately when needed. The practice starts as the first player passes the ball to the opposite group.

After the pass is made, opposite player plays the ball back (one or two touches) and the game continues. Player who has made a pass sprints to

0 Tactical Analysis – Atletico Defending v Barcelona

By Stevie Grieve

In the recent Champions League Quarter Final clash, Barcelona drew 1-1 at home to Atletico de Madrid, and went into the 2nd game at the Vicente Calderon needing to score to have a chance at qualification for the Semi-Final.

Atletico have caused problems for every team they have faced in the last 18 months, and in particular Barcelona, who have had three 0-0 draws with Atletico previous to this game, and this would be another scoreless game for Barcelona, who lost 1-0. Barcelona have struggled to score for various reasons, so I will look at some key features of Atletico’s defensive play.

Atletico Narrow Low Block

As Barcelona like to attack through the centre, via Iniesta and Messi predominantly on the inside left and right channels and looking for

0 Dribbling Square for Speed

By Alex Trukan

The exercise is based on competitive and engaging dribbling game which is used to develop explosive speed. This physical component can be used to win running duels in the situations with and without the ball. Technical focus of this practice includes dribbling and ball control skills.

Set up and directions
Set up a square of 4x4 yards as shown on diagram below. Two players start opposite each other between the cones, one of which has the ball. The aim of the player with the ball is to run away from the second player. Both players can only stay outside the square and move in the same direction (clockwise/anticlockwise).

As we can see on the diagram below, the aim of the player without the ball is to

0 Possession Conditioning Drill

By Lawrence Fine, Author of the FineSoccer Coaching Bible.

Welcome to the FineSoccer Newsletter. Today’s featured activity shows you how to work on passing a receiving while building in a lot of fitness.

Start with groups of threes. Two players are 20 yards from each other and the third player is in the middle with a ball.

The player in the middle (1) starts by passing to

0 Ball Familiarity

By Lawrence Fine, Author of the FineSoccer Coaching Bible.

Welcome to the Goalkeeping Newsletter. Today’s topic deals with ball familiarity.

We do various drills, keepers watch video’s, we do video analysis, keepers pay for extra training. It’s all good BUT if a keeper isn’t comfortable with the ball in his hands, it’s all for naught.

When I started out as a keeper (and even before that when I was a basketball player) I tried to always have a ball in my hand. I would throw it in the air and catch it. I would throw it against a wall and catch it. I would

1 How Bayern Munich Make Space to Attack a Cross

By Stevie Grieve

In the recent Champions League match between Bayern Munich and Manchester United, Bayern needed to draw 0-0, win 1-0 or 2-1 to go through, while Manchester United needed an away goal at least keep themselves in the tie, and they got the away goal early into the 2nd half via a fantastic strike from Patrice Evra from 30 yards. There were scenes of jubilation as all United players, subs and even coaches were almost celebrating victory, but the joy was shortlived as Evra was at fault for 2 of Bayerns 3 goals within the next 15 minutes. I will look at the 1st goal and in particular how he lost Mandzukic to allow him to make it 1-1 within 3 minutes of the Evra goal.

Bayern forwards movement to choose marker and attack the front side

As the ball is passed wide, Muller and Mandzukic crossover and change who their markers will be, Mandzukic v Evra at the far side is a

6 Liverpool v Man U - 03-16-2014

HOW THE MATCH WAS WON by Keith Scarlett Premier League Sunday, 16 March, 9:30 AM Old Trafford Man United 0 v 3 Liverpool Usually when we discuss how a match was won, we tend to talk about what the winning side did to break down the opposition and secure the win. However, in some cases,