Week 3 plan.

Creating overloads from the back – providing support.

• Movement of players OFF OF the ball to create 2v1’s.
• Defender behavior to SUPPORT their teammate when they are defending.

Main session (YouTube).

Focus:

A 4v4 game with wide goals. Each team will have a ‘#1’ to feed the ball in quickly.

More players? You could play 5v5, or have two feeders for each team (one by each goal) then rotate players every 2 minutes. 10 x 2 minute repetitions will help players to become familiar and begin to have success.

With 3 at the back, we struggle with players further forward. So, using wide goals will reinforce the attacking behavior of the full backs. 

Attacking team:

Diamond shape. Can use either the red or blue team set up as you like. If you want to focus on the forward play, you should have a #9 to help the #2 and #3 learn to combine with that player. If you want to work on moving forward, play with a #4 and #6/8 to go forward.

We want overloads, so the positional relationship is key – moving to help the teammate and not just waiting for them to pass. Running across vertical lines (think #2 and #3 switching sides as an extreme) to create space and overloads.

Scoring: You could give two goals for each time the #2 or #3 score to reinforce the desired behavior.

Bonus goals could also be rewarded for any time a player dribbles at a defender to create a 2v1.

Defending team:

Staying close together (compact) to help us keep the ball away from goal. Recognizing when the other team is moving to overload one side of the field and going to cover them. Double-teaming if possible to win the ball. Notably, the #2 or #3 pressing and the #4/6/9
(depending on formation) moving to provide cover. Team should look to create a 2v1 or 3v2 quickly every time.

Scoring: Bonus goals for the defending team to win the ball and score within 5-8 seconds. This will help reinforce the behavior of supporting their teammate.

Game Objectives

1 – Attacking

How many 2v1’s did we create with a dribble?

How many times did a player move to help another teammate attack?

2 – Defending

How many times did we double team and win the ball?

How many times did we get to their goal after winning the ball?

3 – Player’s choice

Tell us what you think,
Leave a comment or find us online:
@SFYouthSoccer
@LeeDunneSoccer