Creating Overloads at Midfield: Part 3 The Shoreman Drill
For the third part of this session, we are expanding and making the session more game-like, but we are still hitting on the idea of utilizing our overloads to both possess and break lines. Check back to Episode 419 with Washington College (MD) Head Coach Tom Reilly for more on this particular drill.
We start with a grid set towards the middle of the field that is 50x50, with any area to the right or left of the touchline having two additional boxes. Numbers can vary, but for now, we’ll start with four attacking players in the central grid and three players each on the opposite team on the side grids. There should also be goalkeepers in each net.
Play starts with the middle four players looking to keep possession, and three defenders from either grid on the side entering play to try to win the ball. The central team scores by creating passing requirements, such as the number of passes or how many triangles they can create, etc. The defending team will attempt to score by winning the ball and then completing a pass to their teammates in the opposite grid who are not pressing.
Once the other three man defending team receives they can choose to go to either goal, but once the ball leaves the grid, they cannot reverse course and go to the other goal; they must attack that goal. Once they receive their pass, all players are now active. The central team can press them, and their teammates who passed them the ball can now be used to spread the defense and open up the field. It's suggested that the line on either end of the central box be used as an offside line so they cannot cherry pick each goal. Once the ball has left the grid and the 6-man team attacking has decided what side they will go to, the opposite side goalkeeper should run to the halfway line and be a pivot outlet for the attacking team.
Play now continues until the ball is out of bounds, the keeper secures the ball, or the attacking team scores. Once play is dead, the teams return to their respective boxes, and the opposite three man team enters the central grid, and play repeats.
Our key focuses here for the central team are going to be how we use our numerical advantage to possess, how we are using the space provided to make it difficult for the defenders to pin us down, and deny space. For the two three-man teams, we want to see how they attack from the transition moment and whether they create width. Depth? Do they make incisive runs, and how do we use our new numerical advantage to create scoring opportunities?
From here, we move to a full sided game with few restrictions, but still creating an artificial overload in the central area to work on how we can utilize these advantages to create attacking opportunities.
