Training - Saturday, Feb 10

8:15AM - 8:45AM FIT Training

8:45AM - 9:15AM Video Analysis

9:15AM - 10:45AM Field Training

I. 6v3 Possession - Triangle Defending

Set Up

• Two teams of 9 players (blue and green) - I had 16 players so the two coaches played to make numbers
• Two 25x35 yard grids

Procedure

• Green sends three defending players into blue's grid, blue sends three blue defenders into green's grid
• Play 6v3 possession
• Attacking team is trying to split defending three with passes

Make It Competitive

• +1 point for the attacking team if they can split the three defenders with a pass (complete a pass between two defending players to a teammate)

Coaching Points

• Defender pressuring ball NEVER follows the ball on a lateral pass
• In the illustration below, (1) blue passes laterally to a teammate and the pressuring green defender follows the pass.  The covering green defender also moves to pressure from the front to cut off a pass or shot up field.  (2) both defenders can now be split and beaten with a single pass into dangerous space.

• Instead, pressuring defender should drop back into a cover position if ball is passes sideways to avoid being spilt

• The idea is to give opponents lateral passing lanes, but to cut out any vertical passing lanes up the field into dangerous areas
• Good verbal ("I go ball!", "Drop right!") and visual communication

II. 4v3 Triangle Defending

I'm going to tell you right now, this is a difficult drill.  It takes patience and repetition to get the flow down, but once your players get it, it is a very enjoyable and competitive activity.

Set Up

• Two teams of 8 players, blue and green
• 35x60 yard grid with goals and GKs at opposite ends
• 10 yard Transition Area in the middle of the field
• Soccer balls in the goals

Procedure

• Blue attacks first and sends 4 attackers out with a ball in their defending half
• Green defends first and sends three defenders into their half
• Blue gets to build up uncontested until they cross through the Transition Area (green shaded area above) and into green's defending area
• Once the 4 blue attackers have left their defending zone, the next green player comes out to the middle to serve as a target player, and the next blue player in line comes out to act as a marking defender (see illustration below)

• The 4 blue attackers go to goal and try to score on the three defenders
• If the green defenders win the ball, or if a shot is taken and saved by the green GK, green now tries to find their target player with a long outlet pass.  Once this is done, all three green defenders move up the field through the transition area and join their target player
• The green target gets a free touch on the ball and must play the ball backwards to a supporting teammate
• Blue marking defender must call two players back by name (two from the four players who were just attacking).  The two called back players must sprint and recover goal side of the marking defender before beginning to play defense
• The other two blue attacking players who were not called back exit the field and wait their turn in line

• Once the green defenders have transitioned into attack and have left their defending end, the next player in blue comes out to be a target and the next player in green comes out to act as a marking back

Make It Competitive

• +1 point for a shot on goal
• +3 points for a goal

Coaching Points

• Good communication from the three defenders
• Give the attacking team sideways (lateral) passes, don't give them penetrating passes or uncontested shots
• Try to transition into the attack quickly by finding your target player and quickly moving up the field to support

III. 7v7 Small Sided Scrimmage

Training - Saturday, Jan 27

Today the goal was to introduce triangle defending movement to the girls.  I once again brought Jon Schaefer in to help lead the session.

What I call "triangle defending" is simply three-man coordinated defending.  Buzz Lagos was a huge proponent of teaching this type of defending, and we worked on it constantly year after year with the Thunder.  Though while going through it, I always thought this process was unique to Buzz's style.  It was only after taking some coaching courses and doing some reading on my own that I found out it was a common theme (pressure, cover, and balance).  However, as I mentioned before, I think Buzz was one of the best teachers of the game and the concept of "triangle" shape worked well for me, being the spatially oriented guy that I am.  I don't know if I would have grasped the concept as quickly if it were explained as pressure, cover, and balance.  Thus, I want to explain it to the girls from the "shape" end of things. 

After some possession play warm-up, we got right into it.  I ran the first exercise, one that Buzz would take the Thunder through in prep for the triangle defending session.  The girls worked in groups of three; one director and two followers.  The director started a few yards behind the followers who started 5 or 6 yards apart from each other.  Both followers would always face forwards.  The director's job was to direct the two followers by loud, sharp, vocal commands.  Each command was two words - the follower's name to get their attention, then a direction (forward, backward, right, left).  The director was responsible for directing both followers and staying somewhere in the vicinity of the two players (moving with the players as opposed to standing still).  For example, Nash was directing Bidi and Scratch.  Followers moved relatively slowly (as opposed to sprinting in the direction given) and must keep moving in one direction until told otherwise.

Nash: "Bidi right! Scratch forward!" (Bidi shuffles right, Scratch jogs forward slowly)

Nash: "Bidi back! Scratch left!" (Bidi starts jogging backwards slowly, Scratch starts shuffling left)

And so on.

Girls rotated director and followers every few minutes.

Coaching points

• Short, sharp, commands
• "Wake her up" with your voice
• Directors should be aware of both players, aware of your shape

It's tough for many of the girls to project their voice in the manner that I want, so we tried a few minutes with the rule that when a girl spoke, IT WAS AT THE TOP OF HER LUNGS! 

This was a pretty entertaining and useful exercise for the girls.  I had to remind some of the sharper joksters in the group to not try and make a follower run into another follower, or into a goal post, or the side of the dome, but it made for some good laughs.

We then moved into 3v3 to endlines where we could begin to address team shape against opponents.  We finished with some 10v10 play against the U13 White team.