Tag Archives for " Session "

1 The Proper Use of Give and Goes

By Sean Pearson

Session Length: 90 mins

During my days as a trainer, a lot of head coaches were (and still are) obsessed with the give and go, as if it’s the lifeblood of being a good team. While it is definitely a great combination to get behind opposition lines of defense it is not the be all and end all of attacking. Players and coaches alike need to understand it is a tool to use for specific scenarios to progress an attack, not to be used all the time as different scenarios will not allow it.
So to keep coaches happy and work on the give and go I developed a session that constantly worked on using the combination in the

0 Switching the Play

By Sean Pearson

Session Length: 90 mins

This session focuses on players recognizing when, where are how to move the ball away from pressure on one side of the field to a point on the other side of the field to attack from. One of my frustrations with players is not seeing the ‘bigger picture’ of the situation in front of them when the space around them is crowded. Players either force the ball further into the ‘scrum’ or if the ball gets passes out or pressure, because of a lack of awareness and incorrect body position the player receiving this ball, plays the next pass back where it has come from. The end result? Usually a loss of possession. So below I talk about when to switch the ball, player movement to help the switch and where to attack from after the switch. The reason I talk about this last point is the point of a switch is to change the point of attack to create a scoring chance, not to just keep possession by going back and forth over and over again.

Warm Up: 10 mins

Use a basic passing warm up to get players moving, receiving, passing and making decision.

• 3 teams passing to only their own team, everybody on two touch. So players have to move to see the ball and make decisions on where and when the ball can be played,
• Players can pass to anyone but if they receive from the same color they keep the ball, if they receive from a different color they must play a one time pass back, but it can’t be in the same direction.

2 Developing Defenders with Patience

By Sean Pearson

Session Length: 90 mins

A lot of sessions focus on defending when players are dribbling the ball towards the defenders. I can’t remember seeing a session that focuses on defending players with their back to goal. This is an extremely important part of defending, because if done right will frustrate the opposition, slow down the opposition’s attacks and make them predictable. A lot of what I will cover will be counter intuitive to your players as they will want to lunge, kick and pursue the ball but is important not to let them do any of this and to be patient to know when and where they can win the ball.

Warm-Up Time: 10 mins

To warm up the specific muscles used heavily in

0 Penetrating Through the Lines

By Sean Pearson

This session is purposely detailed to give you, the coach, as much information on why, where and how specific things should happen.

Session Length: 1hr 30mins

Warm-Up Time: 10mins

• In pairs pass through gates. Make sure the pair are 10-15 yards apart when passing.
• Player A passes ball the player B, B takes ball and dribbles, player A finds a new gate, player B passes to player A’s feet through the gate.
• After the players have been going for a minute, introduce body position and receiving on the back foot. Explain how the receiver should have their shoulder facing the ball, NOT the chest. The reason is because, when the chest is facing the ball, every first touch is back in that direction. When your shoulder points to the ball, this opens up the body to a sideways stance and naturally the instep of the back foot (which is the foot furthest from the ball) is now at a different angle and will push the ball forwards, in front of you but at a different angle. Later we will see why this is important.
• Make players aware that it is not just good enough to stand sideways and face the side of the field but the must face in field to see as much as they possibly can. This may mean turning 180 degrees to be in the correct position. You will see players cheat and receive on their front foot because they are being lazy, do not let this happen and reinforce correct body shape.
• Explain that their first touch must not stop the ball underneath them, so their head goes down to see the ball for their second touch, but it should be pushed in front of them so they can make a decision with their second touch.
• Move on to receiving the ball on the move. Here player A passes the ball into the space beyond the gate for player B who is at the side of the gate and can run onto the pass. Again it is important to have your shoulder facing the direction of the passer, to turn your body and receive on your back foot in order to go forwards with your next touch.

1 Coaching the Principles of Soccer

When you coach young players, it can be difficult to know where to start. Some coaches will focus onlyon developing technique without teaching the key elements of the game. But this can just stunt a young player’s development. When they don’t understand the game’s core principles, they won’t know where they need to be and why so they can use their  technique to create chances to score. To solve this age old problem, two experts in youth coaching have created Coaching the Principles of Soccer – Attack and Defense. This book presents a structured approach to developing an understanding of how the game is played and to provide them with a solid base on which they can develop.

The drills in Coaching the Principles of Soccer – Attack and Defense will