Tag Archives for " Tactics "

0 Changing the Picture

By Alex Trukan Pace in the modern football has become much quicker than ever before. Teams prefer to use fast passing styles and players who are excellent in attacking 1v1 duels. There are times, however, when the best solution is to slow down and stay on the ball as an individual. This might mean, protecting,

0 Striker’s Attacking Movements

By Alex Trukan Playing the ball forward is the key requirement to creating chances and scoring. This can happen only if the players in front of the ball are available to receive or the space is created for other players to exploit. One of the key players to make it happen are strikers. They can

0 Playing Through the Striker

By Sean Pearson Area Size: 18 yard area + 15 yards Teams: 15-20mins Players: 4 v 3 Time: 15-20 Minutes Objectives To combine with the striker through different combinations To use the position of the defenders to make decisions on which combination should be used Set-Up This is for teams that play in a 4-2-3-1

0 Getting Forward and Negative Passes

By Sean Pearson Area Size: Half a Field Teams: 2 teams (7 v 7) Time: 15 Minutes Objectives Aim to get as far forward as possible by either runs or passes from deep To understand when and where to pass backwards Set-Up Half a field with one main goal and 3 small goals at the half way

0 How to Keep the Opposition in Their Own Half

By Alex Trukan With a lot of the teams becoming very effective in building up from the back, defending teams have to learn how to prevent opposition playing through the thirds. Also from the attacking point of view, it makes more sense to win the ball closer to the opposition goal. Keeping the ball on

0 Defending in a diamond shaped 4-4-2

0 Dangerous Spaces Between Centre Back and Full Back

0 Attacking Against a Flat 4-4-2

By Alex Trukan Defending in a flat 4-4-2 formation is one of the most widespread ways to set up a team when out of possession. It is relatively simple to implement, effective and suits a lot of players. When executed correctly, it can be very difficult to break through. This is why, it often poses

0 Recovery Runs

By Sean Pearson Area Size: half a 7 v 7/9 v 9 field Teams: 2 teams (4 v 3) Time: 15 Minutes Objectives To slow progression of the attacking team down To recover into positions of support Set-Up The area needed is half a field, teams are in 3’s (plus a GK) the attackers start with

0 The Back Line in a 3-5-2

By Alex Trukan Playing with three central defenders and two wingbacks has become increasingly popular over the last years. Having three players positioned centrally at the back gives more room for central midfielders to go forwards and helps to create an overload in midfield. It also provides a better opportunity to use half spaces between

0 Awareness and Switching

By Sean Pearson Area Size: 30 x 30 yards Teams: 2 teams (4 v 4) Time: 15 Minutes Objectives To be aware of where your team is and the position of opposing players To understand when, where and why to decide to switch the ball Set-Up Place 4 goals in each corner of the area, 2

0 Beating the Block

By Sean Pearson Area Size: 18-yard and surrounding area up to 30 yards Teams: 2 teams (7 v 5) Time: 20 Minutes Objectives To get the ball wide as quickly as possible To beat the full back with pace/skill and find a pass in the 18-yard area. Sometimes when coaching a game, you will come up

0 Attacking to Defend

By Alex Trukan The game of football is usually divided into three phases – attacking, defending and transition (offensive and defensive). Although this way of looking at it is very useful, it also has some limitations. Most importantly, those three phases of the game are interconnected and linked to each other. During the match, the

0 2 v 1 Defending

By Sean Pearson Area Size: 55 x 42 yards Teams: 5 v 5 + 3 (Extra defenders) Time: 20 Minutes Objectives To slow the attackers down To realize who is the closest defender and ‘double up’ on the attacker Set-Up There are 3 areas, 2 large end areas and a middle zone (5 yards wide) where

0 Patterns of Movements on the Wing

By Alex Trukan Attacking pattern play creates a significant opportunity to break through even the most organised defences and create goal scoring chances. It is based on rehearsed, quick and synchronised movements of the players and the ball. Attacking patterns also have to have an end product, whether it is a shot, cross or an

0 Man Marking or Zonal Defending?

By Alex Trukan Traditionally, there were two main types of defending orientation: man marking and zonal marking. However, we now rarely see a team applying solely any of those types. It is usually the case of mixing and blending those two approaches depending on the area of the pitch, opponent as well as the players’

0 Playing Beyond the Obvious

By Alex Trukan Playing football is based on constant decision making. Players on the ball and off the ball have to decide which option to choose from a number of those available. This is based on cues and triggers – a player sees a certain picture and reacts to it in a certain, trained way.

0 Midfielders’ Movement

By Alex Trukan When building up from the back through the centre backs, the spaces as well as options in front of them are crucial to progress the ball forwards. The key players involved in that are central midfielders. As the centre backs are in possession, they have to make a choice on their starting

0 Regaining Possession

By Alex Trukan The throw-in is an element of the game which is often neglected and not focused on. This is evident across most of the age groups and levels. At the same time, we can observe that if executed correctly, especially in the opposition’s half, it can be used as an important attacking strategy.

0 Attacking Support

By Alex Trukan Having options to pass is an essential requirement of the effective football. It is basis for not only possession style but also for more direct approaches. Attacking ‘connections’ help the team to play away from pressure, circulate the ball as well as penetrate. The type of support available will determine what the attack will

0 CSW Extra 6 - CogiTraining

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0 Runs in Beyond from Deeper Positions

By Alex Trukan Moving the ball forwards is one of the essential requirements to create goalscoring chances and finish. In order to be able to secure the ball in more advanced positions, forward runs without the ball are needed. Forward runs are for example used to play the ball into the striker going in behind

0 Asymmetric Attacking Shape

By Alex Trukan Formations are often the first thing that comes to our mind when talking about tactics. We hear numerous TV commentators introducing a team starting with a formation they play: 4-5-1, 4-3-3, 4-2-3-1. Formation are a big part of the team’s tactics as it is a tool which helps to fulfil team’s style

0 Analysis of the ‘1v1’ Situation - Part 2

By Alex Trukan First part of the article covered brief introduction as well as different types of ‘1v1’ situations according to the position of the defender. The second part of the article will look more critically at the whole concept of ‘1v1’ situation and how it is understood and coached. In order to better understand