Filed under: Dave Clarke, Soccer Coaching, Soccer Fitness, Soccer News, Soccer Refereeing, Soccer Skills, Soccer Team Management, Soccer Training | Tags: 2v2, awareness, counter attack, defend, drills, intercept, simple, support play, tackle
I often set up a number of simple 2v2 games for my players to give them plenty touches of the ball and force them to think tactically and make decisions about when to drop when to tackle when to intercept or when to dribble or pass. There’s a whole lot of coaching going on in this one.
What I look for: quick defenders who move the ball quickly when they win it; good defensive positions – individual and pairs; awareness of space.
Key points
- Speed – keep passes and touches to a minimum and be ready to spring into action.
- Move directly towards the goal/target.
- Sometimes, the fast break is not possible. It is important in these circumstances for defenders to keep possession and wait for the chance to play a forward pass.
How to set it up
Play 2v2 in a 20 yards by 10 yards area, split in two halves.
How to play it
- Each team lines up on its goal line.
- Play a 2v2 with the defending team restricted to its half.
- To score a point, an attacker must dribble the ball across the defenders’ goal line.
- If the defenders win the ball, they can launch an immediate counter attack.
- The attackers then have to get back to defend as quickly as possible.
- Once either team scores a point, or the ball goes out of play, possession is handed back to the original attacking team.
- Play for, say 2 minutes, then swap team roles.
How to develop it
- This time, if the defenders win the ball, only one can enter the opposition’s half.
- The defender in possession can either dribble towards the goal line or pass to their partner, who breaks quickly into the other half.
- If the counter attack isn’t possible, the only way a player can release their team mate into the opponent’s half is by crossing back into their own half with the ball.
Filed under: Dave Clarke, Soccer Coaching, Soccer Fitness, Soccer News, Soccer Skills, Soccer Team Management, Soccer Training | Tags: Arsenal, coaching, Liverpool, simple, warm ups
Sometimes I think coaches can overcomplicate coaching sessions and warm-ups with young players.
Complicated pass, move around one cone then around another, up to the goal line…. you know the kind of drills I mean, just to get across a coaching point. And the same with warm-ups before a game – I’ve seen coaches spend 10 minutes describing and explaining the drill just to warm-up players.
Often what young players need are simple left foot/right foot passing moves. If you watch these clips of Liverpool training and Arsenal warming-up they show you how simple it all can be.
There are no complicated moves here, just simple left foot/right foot, jumping, running and passing.
It always serves as a good reminder of what young players need to accelerate their soccer education to check out what the big boys are doing.
