All Posts by Mike Saif

0 The Importance Of Finishing Rebounds

By Lawrence Fine, Author of the FineSoccer Coaching Bible.

Welcome to the FineSoccer Drills Newsletter.  Today’s featured activity works on getting to goals and finishing rebounds.

Everyone loves the great shot.  The blast from 30 yards out.  The half volley from the top of the 18.  The bicycle kick off of a cross.  The thing people tend to forget is all goals count the same. Whether it’s a spectacular goal or a simple goal, they all count as one.  For every spectacular goal, there are many more simple goals coming off of rebounds.  The player who scores a goal off of a rebound doesn’t get nearly enough credit for being in the right place and making the effort to get to the ball first.

This activity is a  4 v 3 with a “keeper” in goal.  The reason I put “keeper” in parentheses is because I would recommend using a coach or field player as opposed to a real keeper because a real keeper might develop bad habits in this game.

This is a regular game except all shots must be below waist height and the keeper can not use his hands.  They must defend using the

1 Attacking From the 2nd Line In the 4-2-3-1

By Stevie Grieve, Author of Coaching the 4-2-3-1, Modern Soccer Tactics and Winning Soccer Tactics.

In this exercise; the player in Red is the goal scorer from the 2nd line.

The defender can only press the striker once the ball is passed and on the way to the striker’s feet. The striker must

0 The ‘Complete Player’ Challenge

By Daniel Severn

This week we have a fun, exciting and competitive exercise for you to try in your session. When I think of the ‘complete player’ I think of someone who can dribble past opponents, pass over varying distances, has a great first touch, shows composure in front of goal and also has that drive to win the ball back for his team. This exercise will work on each aspect mentioned! It’s time to create your very own ‘Complete Player’.

Set Up and Directions
Firstly you will need to set up the five stations as shown in the diagram. You can put the players in groups of three or four (I use groups of four in the diagram; this number helps keep the exercise moving as quickly as possible). Two players at the beginning of station 1, one player in the middle of station 4 and the final player in goal. If you have only three players in a group, then you would start with just one player at Station 1. The players will rotate positions with every turn.

Station 1 – Agility. Jump over the cones with

0 Winning the Ball Back Quickly and Working on Conditioning

By Jebreel Bubtana, BRASA, Brazilian Soccer Academy If you like to have your team play a high pressure game and win the ball back quickly when they lose it, then this is a great way to develop this. Playing a high pressure game can be very successful during games but must be worked on regularly

0 Goalkeeper Drill for Conditioning and Shot Blocking

By Lawrence Fine, Author of the FineSoccer Coaching Bible. Welcome to the Goalkeeping Newsletter.  Today’s featured activity works on fitness, footwork and shot blocking Start with a keeper in a goal and a server 15 years away with some balls. The keeper starts by sliding, side to side, to one goal post He then slides to

0 The Importance of One-Touch Passing

By Lawrence Fine, Author of the FineSoccer Coaching Bible. Welcome to the FineSoccer Drills Newsletter.  Today’s featured activity works on one touch passing and understanding the importance of accuracy in passing. Watching various teams of different levels play, one of the big differences between the truly top teams and the others is the ability of the

3 Arsenal v West Ham – Good movement Disrupts the West Ham Defense to Score Four In the Second Half

By Stevie Grieve, Author of Coaching the 4-2-3-1, Modern Soccer Tactics and Winning Soccer Tactics.

In the recent Arsenal v West Ham United match, the score was 1-1 at half time. Santi Cazorla was playing at the top of the midfield triangle in a 4-2-3-1, and was being followed almost everywhere across the line between midfield and defence by Mark Noble. In the 2nd half, Arsenal changed shape slightly, with Cazorla dropping into a midfield 3 with Wilshere and Ramsey, in theory, allowing himself to drop deep and play without Noble. In effect, Noble continued to follow Cazorla as he moved even deeper, and this allowed lots of space to open between the lines and opened up passing lanes that Noble had previously covered playing in the defensive midfield role. In one instance, Cazorla’s goal, Noble followed him around the field but once Cazorla passed and moved to the blindside, Noble never recovered into position, and Arsenal exploited this via good movement from Podolski, Gibbs, Giroud and Cazorla.

Cazorla inside his own half in possession

Cazorla has dropped almost into a defensive midfield position to receive and distribute, but Noble has

0 A Four-Keeper Warm-Up Game

By Lawrence Fine, Author of the FineSoccer Coaching Bible.

Welcome to the Goalkeeping Newsletter. Today’s featured activity is a 4 keeper warm up.

Start with 4 keepers in a 30 x 30 area.  One keeper starts with the ball in his hands and the others are jogging around.  You can alter the size of the area and the number of keepers.

The keeper with the ball rolls the ball, hard. to one of the other keepers.  Before rolling the

0 Coaching the 4-2-3-1 Training Games

By Stevie Grieve, Author of Coaching the 4-2-3-1, Modern Soccer Tactics and Winning Soccer Tactics. Grieve is the author of the "original" Coaching the 4-2-3-1 book and has now authored a book that focuses on the advanced tactics of the 4-2-3-1.  This article is from the free eBook, Small-Sided Games to Train the 4-2-3-1.  This eBook is given free

0 2v1 Attacking to Goal

By Lawrence Fine, Author of the FineSoccer Coaching Bible.

Welcome to the FineSoccer Drills Newsletter.  Today’s featured activity is a 2 v 1 game toward goal.

In designing training sessions we frequently create numbers up situations for the attacking team.  This is done to create positive goal scoring opportunities.  The problem with this is that most defenses are designed to always have one additional defender than the other team is attacking with.  Since that is the case, shouldn’t we spend more time in those situations so both the attacking and defending players can be prepared?

Start with an attacking player 25 yards from goal with a ball.  One defender is 5 yards closer to goal and the other one is 5 yards back.  There is a keeper in goal.

The attacking player starts with their first touch and as soon as that touch

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
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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