Tag Archives for " Small-Sided Game "

0 4 v 3 Defending Game

By Renato Lopez Moreira - 

In this exercise we work on a 4 v 3 defensive situation with a possibility to counter attack for the defense. This game could be used as a progression of last week's exercise.

The defenders have three small goals to defend while the attackers will have a large goal and goalkeeper to defend if they lose the ball.

The game area is played in a 27 x 38 -yard area. It's played for up to 2 minutes at a time.

When a goal is scored or the ball leaves the

0 3 v 2 Attacking Game

By Renato Lopez Moreira - 

In this exercise we will work in a 3 v 2 offensive situation with a possibility to counter attack for the defense. This game could be used as a progression of last week's exercise.

The attackers try to score in a goal defended by a goalkeeper. The defenders can counter attack three small goals if they win the ball.

The game area is played in a 22 x 32-yard area. It's played for up to 2 minutes at a time.

When a goal is scored or the ball leaves the

2 Break Through Attack 3 v 3 + 3 Game

By Alex Trukan

This modification of a small sided game is aimed at improving endurance capacity and power. However it also challenges players to make short duration high intensity busts in a counter attack scenario. From a tactical perspective, it focuses on transition to attack. Relatively big space and the middle zone challenge players to run with the ball. This practice ideally works with three players on each team but also can be adapted to suit the numbers!

Set-Up and Directions

Organise a pitch of approximately 35x45 yards. Divide the area into three thirds with the middle one being the smallest one (up to 10 yards width). Divide the team into three groups, set goalkeepers into goals. The game starts with two teams playing on one goal using one third of the

2 2 v 1 Attacking Game

By Renato Lopez Moreira - 

Today's featured activity is a 2 v 1 game.

This game creates a 2 v 1 offensive situation with a possibility of a counter attack for the defending player.

The attackers  defend two small soccer goals while the defender works to defend a goal with a goalkeeper.

The game is played in a 10 x 16-yard area. It's played for up to two minutes at a time.

When a goal is scored or the ball leaves the area the exercise is restarted.

Exercise

The defender starts positioned next to the

0 Quickly Attacking the Goal

By Lawrence Fine, Author of the FineSoccer Coaching Bible.

Welcome to the FineSoccer Drills Newsletter. Today’s featured activity works on getting to goal quickly.

There is a big emphasis these days on possession, working the ball out of the back and having a big build up. This activity works on the exact opposite, it’s about getting to goal quickly.

Start with a small sided field (in this case we will

5 Multiple Ball Game

By Alex Trukan

The multiple ball game focuses on developing repeated sprint ability in a high intensity game related practice. The rules and organisation of the exercise create a number of overload and underload situations what then forces players to develop their transition phase skills. It is also highly motivating and engaging due to competitive nature of this practice.

Set-Up and Directions

Set up a pitch of approximately 30x40 yards. Divide the team into two groups of four competing against each other. Organise one goalkeeper in each goal. Place one ball on

0 3 v 3 with Quick Transition

By Lawrence Fine, Author of the FineSoccer Coaching Bible.

Welcome to the FineSoccer Drills Newsletter. Today’s featured activity is a 3 v 3 game with quick transition.

Start with a 40 x 25 grid with 4 foot wide goals on each end line. There is a 3 v 3 match up in the middle and each team has a second group of 3 behind their defensive end line.

The teams in the middle play a regular small sided game. The one exception is when a team gts scored upon, the team that gave up the

1 Four Goal Game with Goalkeepers

By Alex Trukan

The 4 Goal Game is focused on improving aerobic power in combination with a technical content of shooting and finishing. In addition, players get a lot of opportunities to practice 1v1 situations and decision making when to shoot. Organisation of the exercise ensures it is engaging and enjoyable for almost every player!

Set-Up and Directions

Organise a square of approximately 25x25 yards. Set up a goal on each side of the

11 Five Goal Warm-Up Game

Lately I've begun many of my training sessions with a game. Not necessarily as a Whole - Part - Whole practice progression but just as a way to engage the players from the start and get them energized and excited to at training.

This is a game that I've used as a warm-up and in the main part of the session. I like it because of how many different things you can coach depending on your focus. As with most small-sided games, the kids really enjoy playing it so they get a lot out of it.

Here is how the field is set up:

The size of the field and goals can vary based on the

0 Possession game 4 v 4 + 4

By Alex Trukan

The presented exercise is focused on improving Aerobic Power, a physical quality essential for quicker recovery between high intensity efforts, which is possible due to the better oxygen supply to the working muscles. In addition to that, this practice also develops passing, creating space and movement in order to maintain possession.

Set-Up and Directions

Organise a square of approximately 30 x30. Divide the team into three groups of four. One neutral group stays outside the square, while two groups compete against each other inside the area.

The aim of the black team in possession is to

1 Train Midfielders and Defenders to Pass to Feet or Space

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

0 Overload Switching Play Game

By Alex Trukan

This exercise is focused on improving aerobic power as well as tactical content of switching play. From conditioning perspective, the practice will help players to recover quicker and sustain the quantity of actions throughout the whole game. Apart from that, players will learn how and when to switch the point of attack (team in possession) as well as how to defend as a compact block when overloaded by the opponent (defending team).

Set-Up and directions

Organise a pitch of approximately 50x25 yards with two goals on each end in the corners. Divide the team into two groups, one of which should have one player more than the other. There are no goalkeepers but the goal can only be scored from one-touch finish on the attacking half. The team that has more players starts every time from the own half. After set period of time, the roles can be rotated.

Having less players then the opposition and defending goals in wide areas will force the

0 2 v 2 Game with Extras

By Alex Trukan

The 2v2+2 practice on two goals focuses on developing Anaerobic Endurance in a game scenario. From a physical point of view it helps to sustain high intensity actions throughout the whole match what can be crucial element especially in the last minutes of the game. As all the players are active and involved in the game, it is very engaging practice for almost every age group.

Set-Up and Directions

Organise a pitch of 25x35 yards with a goal on each end. Divide the pitch into two halves. One goalkeeper should be starting in each goal. Divide the group into two teams of four. Two players from each team should be inside the area and two of them outside on the opposite sides as shown on the diagram below. The game starts from the goalkeeper.

The aim of two players in the middle is to score in the

0 Decisions When Attacking

By Lawrence Fine, Author of the FineSoccer Coaching Bible. Welcome to the FineSoccer Drills Newsletter. Today’s featured activity works on attacking with pressure or playing away simple. Start with a 4 v 4 game plus keepers in a 50 x 40 grid with full sized goals (the number of players and size of the field can

7 Position Specific Training

I think that much of our time as coaches is spent teaching all of the players the same thing. There is obviously a place for this at the younger ages when they just need to learn the basics. But in my opinion, as the player get to be 12 and 13 there is a place for position specific training.

Learning the roles and responsibilities of a particular position will allow the players to apply the technical skills that they've learned to the place on the field they will be playing. The options are different for a wide midfielder than they are for a center midfielder and the more comfortable we, as coaches, can

0 Combinations in Attack

These two activities that focus on attacking combination play are from a session contributed to the WORLD CLASS COACHING magazine by Renato Lopes Moreira. A new edition of the magazine is available each month as a part of the Member Drills Database. The rest of this article can be found in the March 2014 issue.

0 Improving Your Team's Speed of Play

I think that most coaches have a couple of resources that they go back to time and again. Improving Your Team's Speed of Play by David Williams is one of those books for me. The quality of the sessions and thoughtful coaching points always give me ideas that I can use in training with my teams.

This excerpt is from the Small-Sided Games section of the book.

Suppose I have seventeen players, including two goalkeepers, of a reasonably high standard to work with. My aim for this session is to improve the players understanding and ability to run with the ball.

The two teams are set out in a 3-2-2 formation plus a goalkeeper, and I have included the extra player as a floater ( F ). In the defending zone three defenders play against two strikers and

0 Small-Sided Game For Goalkeeping

By Lawrence Fine, Author of the FineSoccer Coaching Bible.

Welcome to the Goalkeeping Newsletter. Today’s featured activity is a small sided game that will help with short penetrating passes from the keeper.

This game is on a 40 x 30 grid with full sized goals and a keeper in each goal. There are two field players on each team and one neutral player who is always on the attacking team.

One keeper starts with the ball. One of the easiest thing to do is for the keeper to

2 Goalkeeper Organizing the Defense

By Lawrence Fine, Author of the FineSoccer Coaching Bible.

Welcome to the Goalkeeping Newsletter. Today’s featured activity is a small sided game inside the 18 working on defensive organization, shot blocking and short distribution.

Start with a keeper in goal, 2 small (3 yard long) goals in the far corners of the 18 and a 4 v 3 in the 18.

The four black players try to score in the big goal so the keeper concentrates on

0 3v3 Small-Sided Game To Train Goalkeepers

Welcome to the Goalkeeping Newsletter.  Today’s featured activity is a game working on positioning, communication, shot blocking , distribution and much more.