As a coach I love to sit down with other experienced coaches and discuss session plans, outcomes, learnings and football activity. This session plan comes out of a great conversation over pizzas and beers on Saturday night with a really good friend of mine Andy Hedge. Andy had faced the same issue I was having and he had come up with a solution that dovetails perfectly into what was happening with my group.
PROBLEM: Players in games are often forcing scoring opportunities and continually attack without any patience, decision making or guile. There is a thought from the players of more chances equals more goals.
Session Plan: Coach Patience and Decision making in the final third
Activity: Small Sided Game with constraints
Set-up:
- Field: 50x70m
- 2 Goals (I used 2 small 3×4 goals — 7-a-side goals)
- 9 players each team includes a goalkeeper
- Teams select their own playing formation and positions
- Normal football rules apply
Time: 4 periods of 12 minutes with a 2 minute break between
- Period 1: Normal football rules apply with no constraints.
- Period 2: Each team has 5 chances to score in the 12 minute period. A chance is deemed as a shot, a rebound, a header or a cross/shot. Regardless if it misses or is a goal it counts towards the 5. Once you have taken all 5 shots then you must keep possession without scoring.
- Period 3: Rules apply as period 2.
- Period 4: Chances are now increased to 7 chances.
COACHING POINTS:
- Scan to assess the situations BEFORE you receive the ball
- Make a decision PRIOR to first touch
- First touch to be proactive and create opportunities (does your first touch solve or create a problem)
- Pass the ball with pace and accuracy to the safe side
- Support the ball or the attack with runs behind, near and beyond the ball
DECISION MAKING:
Each player who receives the ball must quickly make a decision to attack or to maintain possession. To keep possession levels high decisions must be made early and the ball must be moved continually.
There were 3 games operating at the same time with players ranging from 12 to 16. The session outcome below is from the senior group and not from the younger groups.
SESSION OUTCOME:
Period 1: Normal game occurred with teams trying to score on every possession. Possession rates were high as per the normal activity of the group. There were a lot of shots with high energy movements to create chances. The decision making was about how the individual could get a shot away which created average decision making. Next time I will keep a track of the score but it was low scoring match with numerous chances. My feeling the score was 4-2 to the blue team.
2 minute break to explain the rules and constraints thus allowing each team the opportunity to discuss.
- What did the rules mean?
- What approach would need to be taken to achieve the constraint?
- Coaching Points were discussed
Period 2: Possession was very high but negative in its movement. Many passes were passed back when opportunities were on to score or to penetrate. The teams took far greater focus on retaining possession. 10 mins into the period the score was 2-1 with both teams having only used 3 of their 5 chances to score. They rushed the last 2 when made aware there was 2 minutes to go. The final score was 3-2. Interestingly the ball speed was higher and the movement of the players was slower. The score was similar to the first period with a lot less chances.
2 minute break to discuss what had occurred in each team group and how to alter their approach to achieve success. The leading questions I raised for them to discuss was “when and how will you penetrate to create a goal scoring opportunity”.
Period 3: The decision making in the pink team was exceptional. They scored 5 goals from 5 chances by the 9th minute. The final 3 minutes they worked harder to keep the ball and restrict the blue team from regaining possession. The final score was 5-2 with the pink team scoring 5/5 and the blue team scoring 2/3. Both teams finishing percentage was exceptional but the pink team certainly looked to penetrate centrally with significantly more passes forward to feet with support movements.
2 minute break to discuss each team’s approach to the final period. The blue team quickly discussed the approach the pink team had taken and decided to create a formation that would allow them to penetrate wider to see if they could go around the dominant central defender.
Period 4 (7 chances): Both team’s decision making and patience was significantly improved from the first period. The ball movement was continuous and at speed. The player’s energy output and movement was reduced yet the tempo of the game stayed high. The final score was 5-4 to the pink team with both teams using 7 chances with the final chance being taken late in the game. There was no markedly increase in energy when chasing the game which was really positive. The teams kept making good decisions about when to continue an attack and when to come away and try again from another angle. Most pleasing was the teams realised they needed to maintain possession higher up the field so that any chance to create a goal was taken. The defenders of the team in possession moved higher up the field and rotated possession from around half way not back on the front of their defending third.
SUMMARY:
- Goals were still being scored even with a shot restriction being in place.
- The percentage of goals scored from chances created was increased markedly with better decision making
- Attacks broke down when a closed first touch occurred thus allowing time for the defending team to get numbers back.
- Possession needed to be maintain in the front half of the field to enable chances to be created and finished quickly.
- When a chance was created team members supported very quickly to ensure the goal was taken with quick movement of the ball and players.
This is a great series of games if you want to let the game be the teacher in regards to your players developing better decision making skills and to have patience with a sharp attacking edge.