WSC Topic - Defending

Warm Up – 10 mins / Organization
  • In a large group the team passes the ball around. The nearestperson to the player receiving the ball must place that playerunder pressure but they do not try to win the ball
  • Progress to the two nearest players to the player receivingthe ball placing that player under pressure.
  • The seconddefender wins a point if they can cut out the next pass being made.
/ Key coaching Points
  • 1st Defender: Close the distance, slow down the attacker, show the direction you want player to go, then shut down/stop the player
  • Close down run must be arced to take away one side of field, when defender pivots to adjust to attacker's advances, they must overcompensate and move to cut off other side from attacker
  • 2nd Defender: Cover at angle to cut out through ball or shift with play.
  • Always Communicate!!!!

Small sided game – 20 mins / 1v1 to goals
  • Set up the grid with a small goal on opposite corners and cone in middle
  • Defenders stand next to one goal, attacking players standnext to the other, with one attacking player standing next tothe cone as shown in diagram.
  • The attacking team (Red) plays the ball in to the person standing at the cone, who has to tryand turn and score past the defender.
  • Defendertries to winthe ball and try and score in to the attacker’s goal
/
  • Read the pass
  • Immediate chase
  • Can the defender cut out the initial pass
  • Delay the attack if necessary to get into a better position
  • Deny the attacker the opportunity to turn
  • Force away from the goal
  • Cover
  • Balance
  • Communication (if moving to 2 v 2 in drill)

Expanded small sided game – 20 mins / 3 v 3 v 3 or 4 v 4 v 4
  • Divide the group in to teams of 3 or 4 players, with two teamsplaced on each side of the grid (offense) and one in the middle (defense)
  • The teams on the outside (Red and Black) have a max of 5 passes amongstthemselves before trying to play across to the other side (red to black or black to red), offense gets 1 point for doing this. Ifthey take more than five or have a bad touch which sendsthem into the grid then that player must attempt to dribbleand play the ball through to the other side
  • If at anytime the defending team wins it or cut off the pass,they must attempt to dribble out towards the team thatmade the mistake, they receive 2 points for this.
  • Teams on outside cannot enter the playing zone to receive the ball.
/
  • Patience – wait for attackers to make a mistake
  • Shift with the play; move with the ball to cover possible through passes
  • Pressure – pressure the player with the ball to make him/her nervous
  • Cover – work as a team to cover the holes
  • Balance – make sure the defense looks evenly spread out to cover passes, worrying less about the weak or far side away from the ball
  • Communication amongst defenders is crucial to properly balance defense
  • Concentration

/ Regular Scrimmage
  • Divide the group into 2 equal teams
  • Teams now have GK in the goals
  • Have extra balls placed around the field to keep the gamemoving quickly
/
  • Emphasize all defending aspects covered
  • Communication
  • Balance
  • Pressure
  • Delay/Contain

Each segment of the session is started as a basic drill, if at any point you find that it is becoming too easy, you can increase the difficulty by decreasing the size of the playing area, then limit the number of touches each player has on the ball.