Soccer Awareness: Basic Principles of Development (One Touch Play)

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Soccer Awareness: Basic Principles of Development (One Touch Play)

Linking foot preparation, body position and mental preparation to the technique involved in making a one touch pass leads us to a discussion on one touch play and its benefits.                     

One touch play teaches the value of being able to take your eye off the ball when keeping your eye on the ball can be a disadvantage.

To make this work, players need to have good teamwork and positional sense and therefore must work hard for each other.

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Passing Game for Spatial Awareness Development

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Passing Game for Spatial Awareness Development

Players have the ball at their feet for approximately 5 minutes out of 90. What do they do the rest of the 85 minutes? They must learn to move off the ball and to move into open passing lanes to be open at all times to help the player on the ball or the next player on the ball. Here is a great session to teach this.

We can use many upright cones to represent opponents rather than mannequins. We set the cones up in triangles and diamonds. We ask players to position between the cones in the best space available. Try to balance their position to find the best space in the middle of the triangle or diamond of cones (opponents). Players beyond the ball try to position in triangles and diamonds of support also.

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A Rondo Overloading Players In The Zone 14 - Training Center Exclusive

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A Rondo Overloading Players In The Zone 14 - Training Center Exclusive

This Rondo is perfect for a starting point on rotation and movement in front of opponents defense. Teams may work out that we are good at playing penetrating passes and making great runs in behind them so the way to try to stop this is to defend deep. 

If they defend deep we need a tactical solution to counter this. This presentation gives you ideas on how to do this and play initially IN-FRONT of the opponents back four.

Bayern Munich and Barcelona are very good at this, both motivated and taught by Pep Guardiola.

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Ball Control and Dribbling Skills Ideas

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Ball Control and Dribbling Skills Ideas

Dribbling is a ball skill that's crucial in soccer. The best soccer players in the world can control the ball when sprinting at full speed and avoiding defenders. Better dribbling skills allows players to create space and time and therefore better control the ball and make plays. Here are two drills you can add to your practices to improve your teams dribbling skills.

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Defensive Pressing to Push Up Without Touching the Ball

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Defensive Pressing to Push Up Without Touching the Ball

This is a great session to teach the players and shows how they can push opponents back even when THE OPPONENTS have the ball. We will try to push them back without even touching the ball ourselves. We start on the edge of our box we try to get our back three up to the half way line. Set Conditions will help us do this to start the process off.

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Directional Awareness Four Team Passing Game - Training Center Exclusive

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Directional Awareness Four Team Passing Game - Training Center Exclusive

Objective:  Awareness of Teammates and Opponents Positioning on the Field in Advance of Receiving the Ball

We are working on: When and where to pass, Looking before receiving, Awareness of player positions before receiving the ball, Awareness of options on the ball before receiving it, Awareness of Opponents positions before receiving the pass and Maintaining possession of the ball

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Off the Shoulder Movement and How to Combat It

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Off the Shoulder Movement and How to Combat It

(3) Watches the ball and allows the wide player (B) to get beyond him. A ball in behind always beats him. Centrally the centre back (4) does the same, he watches the ball and the striker comes off his shoulder and he gets caught with the ball in behind him. This will cost us in unless we work on it with the team.

This often goes wrong. Here’s how you can fix it. 

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Quick Break Transition 2 v 2 Game

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Quick Break Transition 2 v 2 Game

A 2 v 2 game going to 4 goals. The team who scores stays on and must quickly defend the 2 new players coming in. We are working on Quick break and counter attack, Quick one and two touch passing and Positioning to open up passing lanes and getting between defenders to pass the ball in early.

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Three Team Awareness Game with Measured Outcomes

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Three Team Awareness Game with Measured Outcomes

With these drills our players are developing awareness of where the player they receive from is and where the player they pass to is. Because of this players begin to anticipate the pass to them and where it is coming from. Also they must look to where it is going to (where is the player they are passing to?). We are trying to create a situation where players are looking two moves ahead not just one. 

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The Three Zone Directional Game - Training Center Exclusive

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The Three Zone Directional Game - Training Center Exclusive

This game is based on possessing the ball and the movement off it.

We have several progressions we can use to challenge the players these include:

  1. A simple Warm up to get the idea going

  2. Playing through the thirds with targets

  3. Playing through the thirds without targets

  4. Players must stay in their own thirds so we have 3 combination games going at once

  5. We can add free players therefore creating overload situations

  6. More!

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Teaching Movement “Off the Ball” Through the Transition Directional Target Game - Training Center Exclusive

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Teaching Movement “Off the Ball” Through the Transition Directional Target Game - Training Center Exclusive

With this session we are working on the following:

  1. Creating Space by running off the ball to receive or to help a teammate receive.

  2. Quality of Passing; long and short to targets and to teammates.

  3. Support play: working angles and distances incorporating switching play using the side players.

  4. Receiving and Turning in tight situations and dribbling in 1 v 1 situations.

  5. Quick decision making is required in this session because the numbers are small, the area tight and the transitions rapid.

As a coach you can work in this session how to defend properly as individuals and a team or how to attack properly as individuals and a team.

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Quick Transition Directional Play Promoting Passing and Movement Off the Ball

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Quick Transition Directional Play Promoting Passing and Movement Off the Ball

This session improves quick decision making, tight control because the spaces are small to play in, and thinking in advance due to the switch in direction of the play. You can also work on the defending players.

 

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Developing Circle Work Incorporating Passing And Combination Plays

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Developing Circle Work Incorporating Passing And Combination Plays

Use this training session to work on good communication between the players, quality of the pass (timing, accuracy and weight) and good first touch by the receiver. To increase the players awareness instincts ask them to call the name of the player out who they will be passing to, before they receive the ball. This ensures they look to see who is free before they receive the ball so they know in advance who is free to receive.

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Sideways on Soccer Using Corridors

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Sideways on Soccer Using Corridors

4 v 4 game. Players have to pass diagonally forward because of the condition set. This develops the checking and passing habits of players. Players stay in their same corridors or zones. Theme is to have them check off at an angle and sideways on so they can see the opponent, their team mates and the goal behind them. 

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