Tag Archives for " Game "

0 Playground Games

By Sean Reed - Objective I have chosen to write about a couple of classic playground games which you would often seen played in the playground, down the park and even in the street. Games that allow the players to manage, take control and most of all let them play. Set Up – World Cup Singles

0 Attack vs Defense with Transition

This week's Animated Drill Video is one of my team's favorite 1 v 1 and 2 v 2 games to work on attacking and defensive skills. The quick changes from attack to defense also makes this an excellent environment to train transition. The diagram is being created with the session planner on Planet Training that is available through

0 Why is David De Gea so Good?

By Josh Jones-Keen - David De Gea has just won Man United’s player of the year for the 3rd time in a row. This is a great achievement and one that might not be beaten for some time. Some will say this is indicative of how poor Man Utd are currently however let’s put this in

0 Shot Stopping Game

By Josh Jones-Keen - This is a fun but competitive drill recently seen performed by Burnley FC. The aim of this game is to keep the ball out of the net by any means possible. After all that’s what we’re paid to do. This can be done 1 on 1 or with multiple Keepers by rotating

0 Overload Possession Game to Develop Aerobic Endurance

By Alex Trukan The following practice is focused on developing endurance to maintain high quantity of actions throughout the whole game. This physical component is fundamental to develop any other conditioning characteristics and is important in aiding and speeding up the recovery process. That is achieved in a simple to organise possession game which can

0 3 v 2 Defending

This week's post is from Don Herlan, author of Smedley's Drills Volumes 1-4 and Smedley's Defending 20.

This is a drill that I stole from the men’s basketball coach at St. Francis University back when I coached there. He was working with his players on defending the fast break, and I thought that I could use this same drill to work on tandem defense. And it worked great. To me, this is a classic example of what makes for a good drill—there is enthusiasm, there is learning, and there is a total involvement on the part of the players. And like all effective drills, the longer it runs, the better it gets.

‘Numbers down’ drills like this one will get the defenders a ton of repetitions with 3 v 2, 2 v 1, and 1 v 1 situations. And it is essential that they learn how to deal with the dilemma of being a man down until help arrives. Also, they will get to see all kinds of looks and combinations from the attackers—overlaps, takeovers, switches, thru runs—while having to go 1 v 1 with the dribbler at the same time. When this drill is run at top speed, it becomes incredibly game-like and valuable for the defenders.

*Note for the coaches: It takes a little while to get this drill set up and organized, and a few of the players may be a little confused at first about switching in and out of the

3 Continuous 2 v 2 Counter-Attacking Game

By Alex Trukan

The main physical aim of this practice is to develop anaerobic power. That will help in producing more powerful and quicker actions during the game. Organisation of this practice ensures the flow and continuity of play, what makes it engaging and enjoyable way to develop football specific fitness. From a technical and tactical perspectives, this practice has also many returns such as dribbling, RWTB, shooting as well as counter attacking.

Set-Up and Directions
Organise a pitch of approximately 25 x 35 yards with one goal on each end. Divide the team into groups of two players. Each group starts next to the goal with one ball per pair. Also, two goalkeepers are needed, one in each goal. The size of a pitch should be large enough to allow counter attack to take place.

On a coach’s signal, one pair starts attacking towards the