I've written before about our club's philosophy that encourages teams of all ages to play out of the back as often as possible. The key to implementing this with your team is to teach the players what visual cues to look for so that they can see patterns in the options that are available.
These are the exercises we've used to teach our young players how to build from the back.
Diamond Passing
This is a simple pass-follow-your-pass pattern but it's an easy exercise that you can use to teach the players to create an angle for the passer, open their body to face both the passer and the player they will pass to, use their 'back foot' to control the ball toward their next pass and then pass to the next player.
There are multiple progressions to this basic pattern which also make it a good starting point.
4 v 1
Starting with a low level of pressure will give the players a chance to see their options clearly and also give them time to make the right pass.
The focus here is on creating the passing angles to support the player on the ball so that they always have a least two choices. If the defender takes away a pass to one side or the other the pass can still be made to the opposite side or through the middle to the far side.
4 v 2
Once the players can easily keep possession away from one defending it's a natural progression to add a second defender. This limits the choices of the player on the ball. The defenders may be able to take away two of the passing options but if the support is good then there should always be a third option; a pass to the right, left or split.
4 v 4 + 3 Target to Target
This looks very similar to the players because the grid is divided into two zones. But the goal is to move the ball from the target on one end to the other.
4 v 4 + 3
By removing the separation this turns into a more open game but the players need to understand that to keep possession they must spread the field when they are in possession. At first it is helpful to give the players a certain quadrant to play in. This makes it easy to see where they should open up when their team gains possession and where they should pinch in when defending.
[wpsharely id="6889"] [/wpsharely]I end this session with a 6 v 6 game to see if the players can apply what they've been taught to a game.
In the next post we will build on the ideas taught in this practice and apply them to a formation in a match.
Have a great day!
Tom
