Set Pieces - Attacking and Defending Free Kicks

The idea for Tuesday's and Thursday's sessions this week was to try to get the team on the same page for some of our set pieces. Specifically, attacking and defending corner kicks and free kicks.  I always like to cover set pieces the week prior to a tournament or big event as the outcome of the game can be changed in an instant from a well, or poorly, run set piece.  Yes, I admit, this is results focused to a large extent.  But one can be dedicated to development and still want to get results.

Today the focus was on attacking and defending free kicks around the box, and attacking and defending free kicks from midfield.

Training - Saturday, January 6

8:45AM Video Analysis

9:15AM - 10:45AM Field Training

I. 1v2 No Tackling

Set Up

• 3 players to a ball at midfield

Procedure

• 1 player has the ball and is the dribbler (attacker), the other two players are the defenders
• 1st defender (1D) puts pressure on the ball, 2nd defender (2D) provides cover
• Dribbler works their way to the end line, moving at 1/2 speed and more side to side than straight forward
• Two defenders work on jockeying/delay, communication, positioning, switching from 1D to 2D - no tackling allowed
• Players change roles at the end line and a new dribbler works her way to midfield with the other two players defending

Coaching Points

• Down low, grab the grass, quick feet by the 1D
• Good buffer zone distance between the 1D and the dribbler
• Communication by the 2D ("Patience!", "Down low!", "Force her left!")
• "I go ball!" by 2D if attacker gets too far ahead of 1D, 1D then recovers and becomes 2D

1v2 Cutting Off the Passing Lanes

Set Up

• Two teams, green and blue, with designated GKs for each team
• 30x15 yard grid with two 5x5 GK boxes at each end
• Teams line up as shown below, with half the players at a corner of the grid and the other half of the players 10 yards up the side of the gird with all the team's soccer balls
• Team's GK is in the 5x5 yard box at the opposite end of the grid

Procedure

• Blue starts out as the defending team in the first sequence, so the first player in the line with the soccer balls plays a ball out to the far green player then goes out to defend
• First blue player from the back line (at the corner of the grid) also comes out to defend
• Green attacker goes 1v2 and tries to get the ball into the hands of their GK at the far end
• If blue defender win the ball they may try and play to their GK

Make It Competitive

• +3 point for the attacking team if they can play a ball to their GK
• +1 point for the defending team if they win the ball and play to their GK

Coaching Points

• 1D (first defender) must close at speed and DELAY, not dive in and make a commitment to a tackle
• 2D must first cut out the dangerous pass into green's GK.  The illustration below shows what could happen if both defenders go to pressure the ball.

• Instead, the back player's first movement should be to cut off the dangerous ball up the middle of the field

• Once the dangerous pass has been cut out, if the back defender stays put, she leaves her teammate in a 1v1 defending situations.  We always want numbers up when defending, so a 1v1 situation (even numbers) is not good for us.

• As 1D applies pressure to the attacker (get the attacker's head down looking to protect the ball from the pressure), 2D can close the gap to cover

• Good communication from both defenders

II. 1v2 Recovery Game

Set Up

• Two teams blue and green with designated GKs
• 20x35 yard grid with defending and dribbling cones as marked below (dribbling cone is 6 yards away from defending cone)
• All the soccer balls with the players at the dribbling cones

Procedure

• Green attacks first with the first green player in the dribbling line dribbling out versus the first blue defender in the defending line
• The minute the first green dribbler leaves the dribbling cone, green GK calls the first player in the green defending line out to be ready for the next attack

• The green dribbler tries to score a goal
• Immediately after a shot or a loss of possession by the green attacker, the first dribbler in the blue dribbling line attacks the green defender who was called out by the green GK

• The green dribbler that just shot or lost possession now recovers to make it a 1v2 situation
• NOTE - only the initial sequence is a 1v1 to get the game going.  All others become 1v2.  Also, it is very possible for the dribbler who took the shot or lost possession to pressure the opposing dribbler right away (instead of recovering)

Make It Competitive

• +1 point for a goal

Coaching Points

• Immediate transition from attack to defense by the dribblers
• Pressure and delay from the first defender while also encouraging their dribbler who just lost possession to recover
• Recovery runs should be at a sprint and goal side of the ball and the recovering defender should be verbally encouraging the pressuring defender to delay

• Once the recovering defending is in a good cover position, they should encourage the first defender to tackle and win the ball

Training - Tuesday, January 2

I started the month of defensive sessions with the basics of 1v1.  The idea today was to work on closing the ball down quickly with the correct angle of approach, assuming a correct defensive position, then delaying and jockeying the attacker. 

I. Closing At Speed

Setup
- 3 players to a ball (A, B, and C)
- A and B stand together, C stands about 10 - 12 yards away

Procedure
(1) A passes the ball to C
(2) B closes to defend
(3) B assumes a good defensive position
(4)  C gives B the ball, B plays to A and C closes down A

Coaching Points
* Defenders close at speed while the ball is moving

* Defenders should shorten their strides as they approach the attacker.  Why?  Long strides = less frequent foot contact with the ground = less ability to change direction.  Short strides = more frequent contact with the ground = more ability to change direction in reaction to the attacker's movements.

* Defenders need to find the correct "buffer zone" between themselves and the attackers.  Too far away and the attacker will not feel pressure, too close and the attacker can take a quick touch by you.

* Correct defensive position is side on, offset defending.  Defenders are trying to make the attackers predictable in order to help defender's teammates make adjustments. 

- Square defending allows the attacker to go either way, while also not letting the defender have a good chance of recovering if beaten.

- Side on defending allows the defender to better recover backwards if beaten, but still allows the attacker to go either way.

- Side on, offset defending allows the defender to better recover backwards if beaten while channeling the attacker to one side or the other.

I then took these concepts into a 1v1 exercise to goal.

Defense Wins Championships

After a ten-day "break" from structured soccer training, we began our Winter II (Jan - Mar) training program yesterday.  I say "break" as we had 12 girls participate in an optional two-day holiday indoor tournament over the holiday week.  We actually had 9 teams from our club participate in the Christmas Cup at the Corner Kick Indoor Facility in Maplewood, MN, and it was a fun change to have the girls play the fast-paced 6v6 boarded indoor game.  It a fantastic semifinal game, we avenged a 1-2 group play loss to the Bangu U14 girls, scoring the winning goal with 3 seconds left on the clock to pull ahead 2-1 and move to the final game.  It was actually one of the hardest fought games that our girls had in a long time and the U13 girls showed some real guts and heart to battle back from a 1-0 deficit against the older girls.  The two teams will meet for friendlies a few times later this winter/spring and then come up against each other in the U14 Premier League this summer... all the meetings are sure to be hard-fought battles!

Most of Winter I was geared towards technical shooting/finishing.  My goal for the first part of Winter II is to focus on both individual and team defending.  Once a solid defensive foundation is set, I will then look to move into attacking build up.

Defense was engrained in my blood during my days with the MN Thunder.  I think Buzz Lagos (Head Coach) was one of the great teachers of defending principles, and the long hours the team spent dedicated on defensive was the cornerstone of the success we had since the organization's inception in 1989.

Though I've been preaching solid defensive habits since taking this team back in 2004, I feel the girls are at a stage at which they can really start to understand why we do certain things on our defensive end, and how these aspects relate to the game as a whole.  All the girls who have been with me in previous years have had experience with pressure, delay, cover, channeling, double teams, recovery runs, and tackling.  After revisiting these topics for the benefit of the new girls with us this year as well as to reinforce the ideas in the heads of returning players, I plan on moving to more team defending aspects.  Here is a rough outline of the topics I want to cover and the order in which we will touch on them.

1v1 Defending

• Pressure
• Footwork
• Patience
• Angle of Approach
• Channeling
• Denying the Turn
• Moving with the Ball
• Block and poke tackles
• Tackle Feints
• Verbal and visual communication

1v2 Defending

• Recovery runs
• Delay/Jockeying vs Diving In
• Double Teams
• Cover
• Channeling
• 1st and 2nd Defender
• Communication by 2nd Defender

2v2 Defending

• Cover
• Drop Steps
• Ball Watching
• Visual Communication

2v3 Defending

• Triangle Shape
• Balance/Shape
• Double Team Opportunities
• Communication

4v3, 5v3 Defending

• Blocking Passing Lanes
• Defensive Work Rate
• Communication

High Pressure Defending

Transition to Attack

Playing a Flat Back 4

Counter Attacks

Some of this stuff will be more of an ongoing lesson (like playing a flat back, transition play, etc) but I think I can cover a lot of stuff in the next dozen or so training sessions.  With the girls be pros by the time I'm done with them?  No way.  But I think they will be better all around players and our team will end up much stronger in the long run.

First Dome Training

Tuesday we began our winter training at the StarDome at the Academy of Holy Angels in Richfield.  This will be our winter training home as our club books nearly $150K of dome space each year.  It is a decent dome in a great central location.  It's going to be interesting to get the feedback from the Woodbury families as to what they think of the commute to Richfield twice per week.  They have been used to training in Woodbury under the East Academy banner for two years and I'm sure many of them would have preferred to have all the training continue to be located in the East.  I hope they understand (and I think that they do) that this central location is important as we are starting to draw players from all around the metro area.  Also, the Woodbury-based players have the ability to carpool - a luxury that many others on the team do not have.

I walked in the dome at 6:45PM for a 7:15PM training session.  Two other U13 teams in our club, our White team (second team) and our Green team (third team) were on half the dome using a quarter each, and the other half of the dome was filled with young Edina Soccer Club players.  It looked like a madhouse on the Edina half as there had to be 75+ kids.  Simon Whitehead of Coerver Coaching fame was leading the training and it looked to be managed chaos.  I have known Simon for a long time and have a lot of respect for what he has done for Minnesota soccer.  Through his Educational Sports Programs (ESP) he has brought in many quality trainers from the UK, many of whom now hold Coaching Director positions with different clubs in the area. 

I believe the Coerver method is a fantastic technical development program for young kids, and I use many of the training drills and ideas in our Academy training programs.  Earlier this year I had actually approached Simon (and Charlie Cook, head of Coerver USA) in the hopes of somehow looking to develop a relationship between Coerver Coaching and our Academy programs.   I wanted to try and help develop our Academy coaches and somehow tyr and "certify" them as Coerver trainers, arming all our staff with proven training ideas for their young teams.  I thought it would be a no-brainer on Coerver's end as I was sure they would jump on the opportunity to get involved with top athletes who have made a commitment to year-round development and who, in general, have good success on the fields; both here in Minnesota and across the region at events.  What a perfect fit! 

However, Charlie said everything in MN had to go through Simon, and Simon felt that an affiliation with Bangu would alienate Coerver in the Community Clubs and negatively impact the Coerver Camp business.  I was stunned.  For an organization that touts player development, it all comes down to making money at camps.  Amazing. 

Anyway, I'm sure I'll approach the subject with them again as I still see the potential.  In the meantime, we will continue to use some of their training methods to help build more skillful players.

Where was I? 

My girls started showing up a little before 7PM.  We had 16 of 17 players attend tonight.  With 3 U13 teams and 2 x 75-minute dome slots, we've come up with a rotation.  Week 1, White and Green come in at the earlier time slot and split half a field, the Blue team comes in later and has the entire 1/2 dome to work on.  The next week, White comes in later to utilize the 1/2 dome while the Blue and Green teams share the 1/2 at the earlier time slot, the third week Green gets the 1/2 dome.  The cycle then repeats itself. 

My plan on Tuesdays is to have the girls show up 30 minutes prior the time when we get on the field.  This time will be used to focus strictly on individual technical development, or the Ball Masters Program as I call it.  When we have 1/2 the dome to use, I will look to focus on larger field tactical development.  The weeks in which we have the 1/4 field, it will be all about individual and small group defending and shooting/finishing. 

Today for the 30 minutes prior to taking the field, I ran the girls through a Coerver setup.

• Set Up Touches
• Outside Inside (one foot)
• Outside Inside (two feet)
• Stop & Go
• Sole Stutter
• Stop Toe

I wanted to work on playing into target players today, so we began by playing 3v3 to Targets.

We then moved to pattern play involving crossing and finishing as well as target play, then finished with 8v8, again with the focus on finding our forwards' feet.

The girls worked hard and looked to be having a lot of fun.