Passing / Receiving, Movement into and communicating space
Technical Content:
- Use inside, outside or laces part of the foot when connecting with the ball (not toes!)
- Foot connects through the middle of the ball to keep the pass grounded
- Two key components of passing: ACCURACY and POWER
- For accuracy, standing foot placed at the side of the ball pointing in direction of intended pass and striking foot remains straight throughout making contact with the ball
- For power, step-into the contact with the ball to increase momentum of the pass, swing your leg further back and also ensure follow-through of the ball
- When receiving a pass, have your head-up to enable eye contact with the ball-carrier. With an open body position, make a positive first touch out of feet when receiving the ball, then look-up and execute next move (pass, dribble into space etc.)
- When off-the-ball, look for gaps in the field to run into (exploiting space). This will ensure that you are providing an option for your teammate to pass to (should they wish),and may even pull defenders away creating space for the ball-carrier to exploit
- Once in space, communicate your actions to teammates and remember to keep moving as the momentum and direction of the game constantly changes
- If your teammate with the ball is under pressure, drop-off and find space close to them at an angle. If they have more time and space, move further up the field and call for the ball.
- Decision-making and timing of runs are crucial – e.g. is my support play of value to team?
Unopposed:
* To begin with the technique of passing, place players in pairs and have them pass the ball backwards and forwards to each other using: (1) Inside of foot (2) Outside of foot (3) Laces
+ Introduce the concept oftaking a positive first touch out of feet after receiving the pass
* Can have pairs passing through a coned goal. Once a player receives a pass from through the goal, they take a touch to the right and pass back at the side of the goal. The opposite player then takes a touch to the left and passes back through the goal and passes continue with players working from side-to-side (left of goal, through goal, and right of goal).
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* To advance this, organise players into groups of three with two players as outside servers (with soccer balls) and one player positioned in the middle. This player receives a pass from the outside and plays it back, then turns to receive and play back a pass from the other side
* Now remove one soccer ball, so that the player in middle receives a pass from an outside server, turns with the ball and passes it to the other side in one, flowing motion.
+ Check that middle players have an open body position and are making positive touches
FUN ELEMENT – Middle player who completes the most passes in allotted time wins the round
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* ‘Through The Gate’ – In pairs, players must move around the playing area passing the ball through the coned gates. Only complete passes count, i.e. your teammate must take a touch and receive the pass as it comes through the gate. Encourages movement around area and head-up
FUN ELEMENT – The pair who complete the most passes through the gates, and in the allotted time, wins the round. Take off three passes from a pair’s total if the ball exits the playing area.
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* ‘Pass-And-Move’ – Create several grids, with a group of 3-4 players (and one soccer ball) in each. Players pass the ball to each other – however, after passing the ball, that player must run around one of the outer, tall cones positioned in their grid before re-joining play. After receiving and playing their next pass, they must run around a different cone and so on. Encourages movement off-the-ball, communication and head-up when both receiving and passing the ball
FUN ELEMENT – Give each group a fun name (The Spiderpigs etc.) and explain that the group which completes the most passes in the allotted time, wins the round. Take off five passes from a group’s total if the ball exits their grid. Check that players are running around cones after passing
(Throughout the unopposed drills, if players are finding the activity easy, increase the difficulty by having them make only one-touch passes and/or receiving and passing the ball with weaker foot)
Opposed:
* Introduce Gatekeepers to ‘Through The Gate’ drill, who block gates and encourage pairs to turn and find a different, vacant gate to pass through. Make sure that Gatekeepers move around gates
* Expand ‘Through The Gate’ drill to have only one ball in play with 5-6 attackers vs 2 defenders. To score, attackers must pass the ball through the gate. However, only completed passes count, i.e. someone must receive the pass on the other side of the gate. Defenders score one point if they intercept the ball. Encourages runs into space and dropping deep to support the ball-carrier.
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* Introduce one defender to each ‘Pass-And-Move’ Grid. If attackers string together 3 or 4 passes (depending on no. of attackers) then they score one point, while the defender scores one point if they intercept the ball. Re-start the most recent pass count if the ball goes out of the grid.
DIFFICULTY – Attackers must still run around an outer, tall cone after passing the ball. However, if this is too challenging, then remove this requirement but continue to check for runs into space.
* Expand ‘Pass-And-Move’ drill to have two grids with 5-6 players (or three with 4-5 players) and one soccer ball in each grid. Of those 5-6 players, there will be an assigned defender who, on the coaches command of “switch!”, runs into the opposite grid and attempts to win the ball before the rival defender running into their original grid does so. The first defender to win the ball in the other grid, secures one point for their team. Before “switch!” command, the defender is just a normal attacker in their own grid. Check for calmness on the ball, communication, clever runs into space
Game-related:
* ‘Neutral Player’ Game – Two teams, with 2-3 players standing in different neutral zones dotted around the playing area, and only one soccer ball is in play. To score, a team must work the ball around, eventually passing it to a neutral player AND receiving the pass back – without interception from the other team. That team, who retains possession, then works the ball to a different neutral player (you cannot pass backwards and forwards in the same neutral zone). The first team to ten points wins the game. Teams are also not allowed to crowd the neutral player – must stand 5 yards back from each zone (can mark this with cones).
+ Coach is looking for accurate passes, clever play, communication and runs into space
* ‘Long-Pass’ Game – Two sets of attackers stand in two opposite end zones (usually around 4-5 players in each) and in the middle are four defenders numbered 1-4. Coach plays the ball into one end zone and shouts out a number from 1 to 4. The defender who corresponds with that number then runs into the end zone and attempts to win the ball. If they do, the defenders score one point. The attackers are looking to work the ball away from that defender and send a long-pass over to the opposite end zone, from which they score one point (attackers cannot leave their own end zone). Should the other three defenders in the middle intercept that long pass, then they would score one point. The first team (attackers or defenders) to ten points wins the game.
* ‘Targets’ Game –Two teams in the middle, with one soccer ball in play, and two players outside of the game who stand in one end zone each. To score, a team must work the ball around finishing with a pass to one of the two end zone players. That end zone player must then look to pass the ball to someone from the same team, so that they can begin their attack towards the opposite end zone. If the other team intercepts the ball, they can then quickly choose which end zone to attack first to score one point. All outfield players are not allowed to enter either end zone.