All Posts by Mike Saif

0 Working on Anaerobic Fitness in a 1v1 Situation

By Jebreel Bubtana, BRASA, Brazilian Soccer Academy

This is a great way to get your players working hard in a 1v1 situation and you can set this up a number of times using small groups to keep your players active throughout the exercise.

The exercise starts just outside the 18 yard box with an attacker, defender and goalkeeper as shown below in figure 1.

The attacker will go 1v1 against the defender who is stood around the penalty spot. The aim for the attacker is to

1 Paired Technical and Conditioning Circuit, with Finishing

By Daniel Severn

This exercise focuses on many key aspects of the game; first time passing, the volley pass, shielding the ball, aerial control, through balls and crossing and finishing. You can also incorporate your goalkeeper(s) into this practice very easily.

Before starting, ensure the players are thoroughly warmed up as this is a high tempo, continuous exercise.
I like to set the team targets to reach during this exercise (goals scored; successful passes; total number of circuits within the time etc). Or I may reward the ‘best performing pair’ with the captaincy for the scrimmage – something they will feel proud of.

Set-Up and Directions

Set up the six stations as shown in the diagram (station 6 uses the

1 Soccer Specific Endurance Training With Shooting

This conditioning article has been created by Gabriel Celante when he was running preseason training for BRASA – Brazilian Soccer Academy.  This session helps to develop soccer specific endurance, agility, leg power, and shooting skills from different distances. This session can also be used for individual training.

Organization

Divide the field as showed in the diagram.

• Station A
• Station B
• Station C
• Four players in each station
• One Goalkeeper in each goal

Instructions

• Players perform for four
  Continue reading

0 Quick Combinations Leading to Shots

By Lawrence Fine, Author of the FineSoccer Coaching Bible. Welcome to the FineSoccer Drills Newsletter. Today’s featured activity works on quick combinations to get a shot hit. Start with a target player at the top of the 18, a center midfielder with a ball 20 yards further out and two other central midfielders providing support. There

0 3v3 Goalkeeper Game

By Lawrence Fine, Author of the FineSoccer Coaching Bible.

Welcome to the Goalkeeping Newsletter.  Today’s featured game works on fitness, communication and shot blocking.

Start with a 40 x 30 grid with a 4 x 4 goal in each corner

This is a 3 v 3 game plus a keeper on

0 Conditioning with a Technique and Conditioning Circuit

This conditioning article has been created by Gabriel Celante when he was running preseason training for BRASA – Brazilian Soccer Academy. The session helps to improve both aerobic and anaerobic fitness through an economical and dynamic circuit.

Organization

Divide the field as showed in the diagram.

• 3v3 Small Sided Game in the middle.
• Agility and Plyometric circuit around the 3v3 field.
• 4 teams of 3 players – Orange, Yellow, Black, and White.

Instructions

• While the Orange team plays against the
  Continue reading

0 Crossing and Finishing Drill

By Lawrence Fine, Author of the FineSoccer Coaching Bible. Welcome to the FineSoccer Drills Newsletter.  Today’s featured activity works on wing play as well as crossing and finishing. Start with a keeper in goal, and two grids set up from the side of the 18 to the sideline on each side.  There is a 2 v

1 Continuous 2v2 with Four Goals

By Daniel Severn

This week’s exercise is designed to help build better aerobic and anaerobic endurance. It involves short sprints, quick changes of direction, recovery defending and also helps to develop a better focus and awareness. The exercise is played at a very high tempo with the players rotating each time the ball goes dead (goal, turnover in possession, ball out of bounds).

Set Up and Directions

For this exercise you will need 4 goals, a set of soccer balls and a minimum of 8 players divided into 2 teams. Mark out a 20x20 meter area. Set up is shown below (Fig 1).

Ensure each team has a good supply of soccer balls; this will help to keep

0 How To Deal With Low Shots

By Lawrence Fine, Author of the FineSoccer Coaching Bible.

Welcome to the Goalkeeping Newsletter.  Today’s featured game works on saves hit low and at you.

One of the most difficult saves for a keeper to make is the low hard shot either right at them or slightly to their side.  The challenge is getting down quickly and holding onto the ball, if at all possible. It gets even more difficult if the ball skids right before getting to the keeper.  This game helps keepers prepare for these situations.

Start with two keepers 10 yards apart (the distance can be changed if needed) each in the middle of a 2 yard wide goal. One keeper starts with a ball in their hands.

The keepers try to score by throwing the ball toward the other goal.  The ball must be

1 The First Touch Box - Agility, Control and One-Touch Passing

By Daniel Severn

The first touch box is an exercise I love to use with all of my teams. With this exercise you can work on the players 1st touch from the air, on the ground, first time passing, volleying, heading, chest/thigh control – the possibilities are endless. Agility is a key aspect of the game that is developed thoroughly with this exercise due to the high tempo and constant changes of direction. It is also easy to add in competition to this exercise, having the players compete as teams, or against the players within their group, will only add to the intensity.

It can be used as either a Warm-Up or as the main Technical part of your session.

As there are so many aspects to this exercise; control, aerial control or first time passing/volleying, we can adjust accordingly to suit all age groups and levels. I will share some of these variations at the end of the article.

To start, you will need to divide your players into groups of 3. Two players will have a ball, one without. The two with the ball will stand on any two sides of the square. The third player will begin in the center of the square as shown below. I set up 4 of these squares all approx 5m x 5m, allowing 12 players to be involved at the same time – this number changes depending on the number of players in your practice.

The First Touch Box – 1. Set Up.

Here is how