11/10 Training 1v1-4v4 Numbers Up Game

0-10 Partner Juggling

10-20 Footskills: Lots of rollover moves

20-60 1v1-4v4 Numbers Up Game
This was a game that I had seen Mark do with the U12's last Saturday that I really liked.  It is so nice being surrounded by great coaches that I can pick up lots of really good session ideas.

Set Up: 4 yellows, 4 Blues, 1 gk
To start the first yellow player dribbles at speed and takes a shot from outside the 18 yard box

 After shooting the yellow player now becomes a defender and the first 2 blues step up and go 2v1 against the yellow.
 

After shooting the Blues now become the defenders and the next 2 yellows step on to create a 3v2 with the original yellow who now gets to start in the position of being a target player.  We played with an offsides line at the 18 and I encouraged the new blue defenders to step up quickly after they finished going to force the yellow target player to have to work to get back onside.
 

*To make the exercise more game like I had told the girls that when they were defenders and they won the ball they could score a point by dribbling the ball past the half line.  This meant that the defenders would be starting in different positions throughout the game.  Sometimes they would be straight in front of them but other times there would be a defender or two recovering from behind so it gave them lots of different looks.  The game was great in always presenting something different to the girls and transitioning quickly from offense to defense.

After the yellows went 3v2 the final 2 blues stepped up and created a 4v3.  This part will be great in working on how our forwards should move to create space and combinations as we do this exercise more in the future.
 

The last part is for the 4th and final yellow player to come out and make finish the exercise with a 4v4 to goal.

The girls picked up the game really quickly and it was a lot of fun.  I had originally set up a points system for the game but the girls were so into it that I didn't bother with it because they were competing so hard.  This game was also good for fitness for the first 3 players that went because they stay on the field for so long and are constantly moving.

Today I really just focussed on the dribbler and runners moving diagonally, having the dribbler draw in the defenders, and when to pass the ball.  I want to do this exercise again the next time that we have a half of field to work with so I can start to work on some of the other aspects of the game.

We finished the day with a 7v7 scrimmage that included some of our U16's to give us enough numbers.