FineSoccer Drill 81

This is a great exercise that works on both possession and penetration.

Start with a 10 x 20 grid with a midway line.  Have two players from Team A in one section along with one player from Team B.  In the other section, have one player from each team (see diagram below for setup).

The two players from Team A play keep away while the player from Team B tries to win the ball.  After X Number of passes (X can be anything from 3-5 depending on level of play) the two players from Team A try to find their teammate in the other section who is making runs to get open while the player from Team B tries to prevent this pass from being played in successfully. When the ball is played into the player from Team A, one of her teammates may join her in that section and they then begin playing 2 v 1 in that section until X number of passes are completed at which point they try to play the ball back into the original starting section.

Some of the things you want to emphasize to the two players trying to maintain possession of the ball are:

1. Get a look up to the person in the other section every time.
2. Try to receive the ball with the body opened up to the field whenever possible.
3. Play the ball to the correct foot in order for the player to receive the ball opened up.
4. Communicate every time to make sure someone goes over into the other section upon successful penetration.

The player from Team A in the section section should be looking to time her runs to get open when her teammates can get her the ball.  She also is working on being able to hold the ball under pressure to allow her teammate to join her in that section upon a successful penetrating pass.

Defensively, the player defending the lone attacker should start goal side to make it more game realistic.  Also, make sure this defensive player (and the offensive player as well) realizes that this is a situation on the field (defending a target player) where there is a lot of physical contact and while it should be done within the rules, if it's not practiced in a situation like this, it will never be handled well in a real game.

Do this for two minutes and then rotate the players so everyone gets to play offense and defense.

To get more success, you can start with a 3 v 1 in one section and 1 v 1 in the other or even 3 v 1 and 2 v 1.

There are numerous options that can be added so give this a try and adapt it to meet the needs of your players.

Any questions, comments or suggestions should be posted to the FineSoccer Forum

Have a great day!

Lawrence