All Posts by Mike Saif

1 Dealing With Crosses

Welcome to the Goalkeeping Newsletter.  Today’s topic addresses the issue of dealing with crosses.

When working on crosses it’s easy to think in terms of “a cross is a cross is a cross” but the reality is a driven ball is very different to deal with than a lofted ball and a far post cross is very different to deal with than a near post cross.

It’s not unusual to see a server out wide with a bunch of balls and play balls into the box

The keeper goes out and tries to collect the

0 A Favorite Conditioning Activity With a Ball

Many years ago, when I first created FineSoccer.com I described one of my favorite fitness activities.  It’s a combination of breakaways, sprints, defending and goalkeeping and over 10 years later it’s still one of the best conditioning activities I know.

This activity requires two full sized goals, a keeper in each goal and 4-6 players to the right side of each goal.  The size of the field can vary as the further the goals are from each other the greater the distance of each run but the closer they are together the more runs each player will get in a given time period.  I have done this with goals as close as 35 yards apart and as far apart as 120 yards.  In this example we are going to go with the goals 60 yards apart.

This is a breakaway activity with a defender chasing.  To start, one player from the

7 Possession Games

With only two practices per week with my teams I've found that it works best to focus on a technical topic (Running with the Ball, Dribbling, Control, Shooting) during our first practice of the week and then Passing and Possession progressing to a small-sided game during the second session. We also do one shooting exercise toward the end of practice just to keep a focus on that before the weekend.

I'm always looking for variations on possessions games to focus on different aspects of possession and to keep the practice fresh. I was reminded of one recently when I was looking through one of our best selling books, 'Players' Roles and Responsibilities in Systems of Play'. By creating target areas in each corner

1 Session Designer - Create Your Own Diagrams

I am excited to announce the release of our brand new WORLD CLASS COACHING Session Designer.  It's the first Beta release, but we consider it 99% complete...just a few little kinks to work out. The Session Designer allows you to create your own diagrams and training sessions.  You can download them to your computer or

4 A 5v2 Small-Sided Game With a Twist

Welcome to the FineSoccer Drills Newsletter.  Today’s featured activity is a 5 v 2 game with a twist.

In a typical game of 5 v 2 the movement is limited to a couple of steps in any direction to change the angle of support.  The only players doing a lot of movement are the defenders.

In this modified version of 5 v 2 there is a lot more movement and players have to

1 Getting Screened

Welcome to the Goalkeeping Newsletter.  Today’s featured activity works on reactions and being screened.

Most training that involves shot blocking involves a keeper making saves from various angles or in different situations but one area that frequently gets neglected is reacting to being screened.

Making a save from 10 yards away is difficult

Making the same save with a player screening you from seeing the

0 Small-Sided Game With Aerobic Conditioning

Here is an aerobic activity incorporated into a small sided scrimmage.

This is a 5 v 5 game plus keepers on a field 36 yards lone and 44 yards wide.  There is a full sized goal on each endline.  There are 3 cones 5 yards outside of each sideline.

A server starts with balls around midfield and calls “go”.  Upon hearing “go” each field player must sprint around the

0 Explosive Shooting and Finishing, Rotational Warm-Up and More

We have just published the November issue of the WORLD CLASS COACHING Magazine and uploaded it to the Member Drills Database.  Included are the articles below. Please Note - We have made a decision to end the special offer of a $50 coupon when you subscribe to the Member Drills Database at midnight on November

0 One-Touch Passing and Shielding

Welcome to the FineSoccer Drills Newsletter.  Today’s featured activity works on one touch passing, shielding and taking players on.  For more activities similar to this check out the DVD 1 v 1 Attacking.

Start with 2 players in a 10 x 10 grid with one ball.

The two players are passing one touch while moving around the

0 Fitness and Footwork

Welcome to the Goalkeeping Newsletter. Today’s featured activity works on fitness and footwork.

Start with a 10 x 10 grid and two keepers.  The keepers start at opposite corners of the grid.

This is a simple game of tag where both keepers are “it”.  They start by running in the same

2 Technical Conditioning With a Ball

Today's article is from Dr. Mouwafak Majeed Mola of the Aspire Academy, Qatar.

Players distribute as in the figure and each group met a second group with a ball and separates by a distance of 10-20 yards according to the age and efficiency of the players.

1^st activity:

1-Player1 passes to player2 and sprint the middle distance(75% effort) To end up behind the other group.

2- Player 2 receives the ball behind the line and executes fast dribble all the

4 Keeping Technical Passing Exercises Fresh

Teaching players the technical skills of the game is the most important job of a coach who is working with young players. Finding new and creative ways to help the players groove passing technique is one of the more challenging things to do. The players need hundreds of repetitions of the correct technique before their muscles can repeat the motion accurately. There's only so long that two players can stand across from each other and pass the ball back and forth before they'll grow bored and loose focus. But if you move too quickly into competitive passing and possession games, which are fun and engaging, then the players won't use the correct technique and they'll end up repeating poor passes. Remember, practice doesn't make perfect; practice makes permanent.

So new ways to present the same technical challenge becomes the objective. One of the variations I've used is from a session that I found in our, 'Training Sessions of Europe's Top Teams'. It's a session that Jan Prujin of Ajax F.C.

1 Working the Ball Out Of the Back

Welcome to the FineSoccer Drills Newsletter.  Today’s featured activity works on working the ball out of the back.  This type of activity is an excellent way to work on specific parts of the game of soccer while incorporating all aspects of the game.  There are numerous examples like this in the book Brazilian Soccer Academy Volume 2.

This activity uses half a field.  The team with the ball has a keeper in goal, 4 backs, 3 midfielders and one target player.  The opposing team has 2 forwards and 3 midfielders.

The keeper starts with the ball and the objective is to get the ball to the

0 Reacting to Rebounds

Welcome to the Goalkeeping Newsletter.  Today’s featured activity works on reacting to rebounds.

Most of a keepers training deals with balls coming toward them.  It makes sense since most shots come toward the keeper.  The thing to keep in mind is when there is a rebound (off the keeper, off the posts, off a defender) the ball might be going away from the goal.

Here is a simple activity to work on reactions and covering rebounds.

Start with a keeper standing in a ready position and a server 5 yards behind him with a ball in his hands.

The server tosses the ball against the keepers back and as soon as the

1 Conditioning Within a Small-Sided Game

Here is an interesting 3 v 2 exercise which, when done at full speed works on attacking, defending and a lot of fitness.

The game is on a 40 x 30 grid with full sized goals and a keeper in each goal.  One attacking player is at midfield with two defending players.  Two attacking players are on the end line.  There are players ready to take each players position.

One keeper starts with a ball and starts by rolling the ball into the targets feet.  The two other attackers join

2 Diamond Drills

One of the perks of my job is that I get to see the sessions of some of the top coaches from around the world and then I can do that session with my youth teams. Sometimes I adjust the size of the areas or add neutral players to make the session work for my players but they are able to benefit from the basic ideas and the kids enjoy hearing that they're doing the same practice as professional or youth players from prominent clubs around the world.

I was looking through, 'Training Sessions of English Professional League Team', and came across a session from Sheffield United's U15 team. I've done a number of different diamond drills with my team and the variations in this

1 Crossing and Finishing

Welcome to the FineSoccer Drills Newsletter.  Today’s featured activity works on crossing and finishing.  There are many variations you can do with this activity.  To learn more, check out the DVD Tactics & Drills For Flank Play.

Start with 2 goals 25 yards apart.  There is a keeper in each goal and a server with balls behind each goal.  There are 3 sets of 2 attacking players to the side of each goal and 1 player out wide on each end line.  Use as much width as you can.

One server starts by playing the ball out wide.  The wide player has one touch to receive the

0 Different Goalkeeping Stances

Welcome to the Goalkeeping Newsletter.  Today’s topic addresses the different stances of a keeper depending upon the positioning of the defense.

Frequently, when we speak about a keepers stance we are referring to their stance when they are preparing for a shot. In this stance, the knees are bent, the hands are out front, the shoulders are directly above the knees, the chest would be perpendicular to the projected flight of the ball etc.

The thing to keep in mind is there are other stances and body positions as well.  The first one that comes to mind is the

2 Soccer Agility, Lateral One Step and Sprint

Lateral movement forms a major part of speed during soccer, specifically during ball control. If a player possesses the skill of moving laterally, then opponents can be avoided. It is highly beneficial to forwards who need to make repeated runs with lateral movement in between. Here is an exercise that will help to improve speed and balance while changing direction: Lateral One Step and Sprint.

Purpose:

-        To teach athlete to maintain speed and balance, while

6 Transitional Possession Game

This is my favorite possession game because it includes so many aspects of the game as well as a great fitness component. It's also very scalable to the number of players you have as well as the ability level of the players.

Two teams of players are assigned one half of the field. They're also numbered

1 Zonal Defending

Welcome to the FineSoccer Drills Newsletter.  Today’s featured activity works on zonal defending.  There are similar activities to these in the DVD Zonal Defending: Defending as a Team.

Start with 3 players along the midfield line with balls.  Then add 4 midfielders and 3 forwards (or use whatever formation you want).

Next add a keeper, 4 backs and 4 midfielders for

0 Break-aways and Shot Blocking

Welcome to the Goalkeeping Newsletter.  Today’s featured activity works on communication, organizing, breakaways and shot blocking.

This activity involves 7 field players and is a regular 5 v 2 game working on possession and defending from their perspective.

The keeper starts on the sideline and is working on organizing the two defenders and telling

1 Integrate Conditioning Into Small-Sided Games

Today I’m going to show an other interesting way to integrate soccer fitness into small sided games and activities.  There are many other options shown in the DVD Modern Soccer Conditioning: Fitness with a Technical and Tactical Element.

This is a 7 v 5 game plus keepers on half a field.  There are two fill sized goals and one team is working on attacking and the other team is working on defensive shape and counter attacks.

The players start on the field and each of the attackers is assigned a number from 1-7.  There are 7 balls on the sidelines.

To start the game player 1 on the attacking team sprints to the

0 Creativity Through Small-Sided Games

For over 20 years I have coached teams of all ages and abilities from U6's to U18's and from recreational teams to national champions.  And over the years, my coaching philosophy has steadily changed to using more small-sided games in my training sessions...and for the better.

I find that not only do players prefer to play small-sided games, they are a better way of teaching skills, technique and tactics than typical soccer drills and exercises.

Small-sided games also allow players to express their creative side much more than when standing in a line waiting for their turn to make a pass or take a shot for example.

So I am really excited about our new book, Developing Creativity Through Small-Sided Games.  And you can get it either in print OR as an immediate download eBook.

Try more small-sided games in your training sessions and you