The following drill is an example presentation that can be found in the Defending Section of the Soccer Awareness Training Center. Soccer Awareness Training Center provides unlimited access to Wayne Harrison's Soccer Awareness systems, training sessions, drills and more. Wayne's system helps develop world class youth soccer players and teams in a systematic and imaginative manner that guarantees performance at the highest level of competition. Whether you’re a beginning coach who needs help getting started or someone who wants to add some variety to their training sessions, the Soccer Awareness Training Center offers a wide variety of drills to choose from. Join Today

It is not just about teaching the defending aspects of it as it has other uses:

So what does it help develop from an attacking standpoint?

Finding space to get free from your marker in a restricted area.
Being able to receive the ball under a pressuring situation.
Developing the confidence of the other players to pass to you under pressure.

In the game players must develop the ability to be calm under pressure, to be confident to receive the ball in tight spaces and to have the confidence of teammates to give the ball to you under pressure.

To be good at this takes time and practice and many sessions where constant pressure is applied in the training environment hence why man marking games can be so productive.

Therefore players need to develop their ability to look ahead of the ball even more, to assess options and make decisions even faster because the time on the ball is even more restricted than usual.

Positional Possession Areas (6 zones)

Players MUST stay in their own areas. Two neutral players can move anywhere to create numerical superiority.

Could be up to a 3 v 1 in one area. Players in the other areas work to get free of their markers as play develops because the neutral players (usually Midfield players because they have the ball the most) are always looking to change the point of attack.

There will be plenty of times when it is just purely a 1 v 1 in each zone where players are really tested under pressure.

Change the difficulty by changing the number of touches allowed on the ball.

When players start to get good at this take out the neutral players to make it even more difficult for success and an even bigger challenge for each player.

Ultimately challenge the players to be successful under intense man marking pressure by playing 1 and 2 touches maximum.

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Soccer Awareness Training Center provides unlimited access to Wayne Harrison's Soccer Awareness systems, training sessions, drills and more. Wayne's system helps develop world class youth soccer players and teams in a systematic and imaginative manner that guarantees performance at the highest level of competition. Join Now