Welcome to the Goalkeeping Newsletter. Today’s featured activity works on reading the touches on breakaways.
Goalkeepers tend to work on the technique and footwork for breakaways but just as important is reading the opponents touches. Frequently the breakaway opportunity comes about real quickly.
An example of a typical way keepers might work on breakaways is to have a player start 30-40 yards out and dribble in at speed.
In this activity the keeper knows where the breakaway is coming from but can’t control the speed.
In order to control the speed, we can add a chasing defender which will force attacker to go fast.
With the defender chasing the keeper has the opportunity to factor in speed and also angle (since the chaser will affect the angle of the chaser)
To make it even more difficult for the keeper, we can add multiple attackers from multiple angles. Now we have 4 potential attackers, two potential defenders and a server with a ball.
The server plays the ball to any of the attackers and they take off on a breakaway. The closest defender is allowed to defend as soon as the attacker touches the ball.
Now the keeper has to be able to adjust their angle depending upon which attacker is dribbling. They also have to adjust based on the defenders speed and angle and the attackers ability.
Another option for this is to have a 4 v 2 possession game played in the middle of the field and as soon as the attacking team makes 3 passes, any of them can go on a breakaway at any time
The idea is for the keeper to have to adjust based on where players are and to read the touches, as soon as the attacker is coming forward, just like they would do in a game.
Have a great day!
Lawrence
