Crossing and Finishing/ Defending Crosses Saturday 1/3

I. Evan Fitness (8:40-9:05)

II. Crossing and Finishing Video (9:05-9:20)

III. Crossing and Finishing (9:20-9:50)

Goal of the Activity:

• Attackers work on the pattern, crossing and finishing
• Defenders work on their footwork to defend crosses

Set Up

• Forwards- 2 go each time: Gaffer, Greely, Magic
• Wingers- 1 goes each time: Rt side: Kari, Kenzie Left Side: Jazzy
• Center Mids- 1 goes each time: Lydia, Sizzle
• Defenders- 2 go each time: Brownie, Stoker, Becks (Rotate Lydia and Kenzie in)
• Recovery Defender: Whichever winger is not going next out of the 3

Progression I

• One striker posts up against her defender and calls for the ball
• The center mid plays her the ball
• As the ball is played the other striker drops off of her defender to be an option for a drop pass
• As the ball is played forward the winger makes her run down the line
• The striker plays the ball through for the winger and turns to make a run to the far post
• The other striker makes a run to the near post
• The center mid makes a run to the top of the box
• As the ball is played out to the wing, the defenders drop in to defend the cross
• The recovery defender chases down the pass to the winger as soon as the ball is played to add pressure
• The winger receives the ball and chooses to play in an early cross or take the ball end line to cross

Key Points

• The passes in the pattern must be made crisply and with the proper weight on each pass in order to get the cross off before the recovery defender gets back to block the cross
• The strikers must work together to make their runs and must not end up flat
• The center mid needs to read the runs of the striker and decide to hold at the top of the box or run through and attack the cross
• The center mid and the forwards must work together and if the center mid is going to attack the cross one forward needs to drop off from the defenders
• One of the three attackers will be open if the runs are made properly.  The key is getting the winger to take a look up as she is going to the ball and play the right type of cross

Progression II

Set Up

• Same set up as before

Procedure

• The ball is played into the first target forward but this time she lays the ball off to the other forward, who has dropped off her defender, and she spins outside to create a passing lane 
• The second forward then plays a ball through (either via a split pass between the defenders or a chip pass over the top) to the winger
• As the ball is played the recovery defender chases down the winger and tries to block the cross
• The winger gets to the ball and finds a cross
• The forwards and the center mid work together to make their runs and finish the cross

Make It Competitive

Points for the Attackers- Max per turn is 6 points

• +1 point for a sharp pattern and good runs 
• +1 point for a shot
• +2 points for a shot on goal
• +5 points for a goal

Points for the Defenders- Max per turn is 3 points

• Defenders +1 point for the first touch on the cross
• Defenders +1 point for good positioning
• Defenders +1 point for a clear 

 IV. Recovery Defending- Eric Organizes

Goal of the Activity

• How to organize our back four to deal with the ball in our defensive third
• How to deal with the ball when it is played into their forwards 

Number of Players needed:

• 8 players + a goalie working on defending for us
• 6 players attacking
• We should have 10 field players plus Sonic to play goalie, we will need 3 extra players.  1 is me, check if Macie can play, see if another of the 15's can play

 V. Cut Throat Crossing and Finishing

Set Up

• 3 teams of 4 players (Red, Blue, Green)
• 2 teams (Red and Blue) are on the inside looking to finish crosses
• 1 team (Green) starts on the outside supplying the crosses
• 1 all time goal keeper 

Procedure

• The goalie punts a ball up into the air to start the game
• The two teams in the middle battle for possession of the ball, whoever wins possession (Blue) plays the ball out to the crossers and prepares to receive a cross
• The crosser then plays a cross into the blue team
• When the crossers receive the ball the defenders can pressure them and try to steal the ball
• If a crosser is under pressure she can cut the ball back and play it to another crosser
• If there is no pressure on the crosser she can take a shot
• Offside is in effect
• If the goal keeper saves the ball she plays it to the defending team (Red) who try to play it out to the crossers to become on offense
• If a goal is scored the team that was scored on becomes the crossers and the crossers take their place.  The goalie then punts up a ball to begin a new game.
• If the attackers can score a goal without playing the ball to the crossers the defensive team has a quick fitness and has to switch out with the crossers.  If the attacking team tries to score without playing the crossers but loses the ball or takes a bad shot they have to switch with the crossers.
• Corner kicks are in effect

Tuesday 11/29

In an effort to save the U14's money and to help the U12's with training space I've sold part of our field to the U12 age group for all the Tuesday's in December.  While I really enjoy having half a field on Tuesday's so we can play big games at the end of training, our injuries/other sports/ and time of the year say that maybe we do not need all of this space right now.  

With the Laguna Hills Tournament not until the middle of January I decided that our money would be better used in scrimmages than in having half of the dome to ourselves on Tuesday's.  We will use half the dome again beginning in January in our lead up to the Eclipse event and then we will split the field for a couple of weeks following the tournament before we ramp up for spring again.

3-5 of Mark Yuiell's U13 Boys train with us each Tuesday and they really improve the level of our play.

I. Mark Yuiell Dribbling Activities

Mark runs the first 20 minutes of our training working on dribbling.

II. 5v3 Split the Defenders

Set Up

• 1 big grid (20x30 yds) is divided into 3 smaller 10x20 yd grids
• 5 Blue Attackers: 3 defenders, 1 mid, 1 target
• 3 Red Defenders are in the middle grid

Procedure

• The 3 Blue defenders must pass the ball 3 times before looking to play forward
• The Blues receive one point every time they play the ball into the attacking grid
• The Red's receive one point every time they stop the Blues from playing the ball into the attacking grid

Coaching Points For The Attackers

• The 3 defenders need to move the ball quickly
• The midfielder and the target need to find the gaps between the defenders and anticipate where the ball is moving
• One touch passes will have the best chance to get through the defenders

Coaching Points For The Defenders

• Work together to force passes into your help
• Keep your feet moving and recover quickly after you have stepped up to a ball 

Variations

• Allow the Blue midfielder and target to switch grids to work on the target checking to and the midfielder running through.

III. 3 Team Keep Away to Straight Diagonal

IV. Scrimmage With One Zone

2/28 Defensive Training With Eric Singer

We continued our defensive training this morning and we were lucky to have Eric Singer lead the training.  I have learned a lot of defensive training techniques from Eric and he personally plays the type of defense that I want our girls to play.  High energy.

Eric started off with a lot of footwork exercises for the girls.  The repetition and detail that goes into becoming a great defender is incredible.  Eric just started working with a couple of the girls on defending last Wednesday and watching the details that he puts into it has been really good for me to watch and the girls to learn.  We definitely need to spend more time on the basic footwork.

After 30 minutes of footwork Eric played his favorite 2v2 to 2 goals continuous game.  Eric really focussed on the footwork of how to pressure someone, being loud, and not stabbing in.

Next he played 4v4 cut throat to large goals with no goalies.  The point of this game is to find the balance between immediate pressure on the ball and protecting your goal.  It is a really good game that focusses on how to defend as a group.

We finished with playing 6v6.

After the on the field stuff Evan led the girls through a lot of ball work/conditioning exercises so we could get the touches on the ball that we missed during the on field training portion and to help increase our fitness level so we will be prepared to play when the games come.

Optional Training 4/8 Tennis Soccer

Although we approached the game seriously and worked hard at it, we hoped everything we did would help the game be fun and fulfilling for our players.
-Dean Smith

Today was a great day.  A majority of the girls arrived to the optional training session early and while I was working with our U10 Girls team, the U12's made their way up a hill, past the basketball court to 2 tennis courts and they began playing tennis soccer all on their own.  When I finished with the U10's and made my way up to the courts they said "This is fun.  Can we keep playing?" 

So for the next 45 minutes we played tennis soccer.  Every 10 minutes we switched up the teams and I added in different restrictions like; You cannot hit the ball back over the net without passing to a teammate. 

After 45 minutes I said we were moving on even though they still wanted to play.  I figured if they left training tonight still wanting to play more tennis soccer they would be excited to arrive early to all our sessions here and play.

For the last 30 minutes we played a 1v1 game that works on seeing teammates who are making runs from behind you.

1v1 With Two Support Players
Set Up: 25x20 yard grid with cone goals or flag goals
Procedure:
-1 Player from each team step out into the middle and play 1v1
-The other 2 players from each team are behind their end line on opposite sides of the goal from each other
-If you cannot score you can turn and play one of your two support players and they attack the same defender that you were just playing against.

We talked to the girls about which support pass will create more for us offensively.  The support pass that goes straight behind you or one that goes to an angle.  We decided that the pass that goes off at an angle is more dangerous because the defender must now change her angle to close you down.
We also talked about after the player makes the support pass at the angle that we should rotate our positions instead of following your pass because it will be quicker and you will be more likely to be open for a return pass if you don't run on the same line as the pass.

As the girls played longer they started to realize that the support player could start to realize when the ball was going to be played back and she could make her run early and receive the ball into space running full speed.  By making this run the girls would beat the defender with the pass.

The key point to this run was not to make it too early.  If the run is made too early the defender does not have to choose who to defend because the runner will be flat with the passer, or if the run is made to early the runner may have to stop her run to wait for the ball.  It is much better to receive the ball running into space.

As the girls became better at this we added in the option for a give and go between the runner and the passer on the condition that the passer yelled "Back" as she was passing the ball.

An added benefit of this exercise is that it helps us to work on our team shape.  Whenever the player in the middle was beaten 1v1 the two players on the end line needed to drop back and central behind the goal to stop the ball as it was shot through the goal.  It they did not drop then they would have to chase the ball down as it flew by them.

After we finished we talked about the fact that we basically just played a 3v3 game with really good defensive positioning and explosive runs from behind the ball.  This game went really well and we will be using it a lot in the next couple of weeks.

3/2 Futbol Sala- Recovery Defending

A leader's job is to develop committed followers.  Great leaders inspire their teams to believe so deeply in their mission that they become immersed in what they're doing.
-Dean Smith

0-10 Tennis Ball Work

10-30 Recovery Defending From An Angle
Today's focus was on how to take a good angle to cut off a girl who has gotten the ball on the outside of the field and is cutting in towards goal.

The big point that I wanted to get across to the girls was to hustle back and cut off the shot to the far post.  Our goalies should be able to take away any shot to the near post.  If you can get your body in the way of the far post shot and not get cut back, we should be ok.

30-50 3v4 Games
We had one team play short handed to work on playing defense a man down.  The key point was to make the play predictable.  I also wanted the girls to be competitive and play to win even though they were a player short.  At the same time I wanted the team with a man advantage to show a killer mentality and win with the extra player.

50-75 4v4
Just Play