Category: Communication

Objective: To encourage communication and taking scoring chances quickly.

Age group: U8s and upward.

Set up: Play this game in half a small-sided pitch (about 30 yards square) with a regular-sized goal at one end.

Split your squad into pairs and let each pair choose the name of a country.

Use bibs to differentiate the pairs of players.

How to play: All the teams of two play against each other in the playing area.

If you don’t have a spare player, you go in goal.

The first team to score is awarded five points, the second team to score get four points, the third get three points and so on.

When the fifth team has scored, the sequence begins again.

Play for a set time or until one team reaches a set number of points.

The winners lift the World Cup!

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Objectives: To improve passing, receiving and movement off the ball.

Age group: U8s to U14s.

Set-up: Create a 40×30 yards playing area with a five-yard box marked out in each corner.

Divide your players into two teams of five or six.

How to play: Teams score a point by passing to a team mate who is in one of the corner boxes.

• To begin with, allow players to wait inside the boxes for a pass.
• Once they have got the hang of the game tell them that waiting in the boxes is no longer allowed. They must retain possession in the area and only make a run to one of the boxes when a pass is on.
• Passes only count if they are controlled inside the box by the receiving player.

Progression: Points are only scored if the receiving player can pass the ball out of the box to a team mate.

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All small-sided games (football “matches” usually with four to six players on a team) help improve teamwork but Everyone’s a Striker! is particularly useful for coaches who are trying to mould their players into a team.

Age group: U8s to U14s.

Set-up: 4v4 plus goalkeepers on a 30×20 yards pitch with a goal at each end.

How to play: Normal rules apply and the first team to score four goals wins the game. But no player can score more than once.

This condition encourages the “star” players to focus on helping their team mates and helps every player, no matter how new or inexperienced, to enjoy success.

For more soccer coaching tips and products visit Soccer Coach Weekly.

Soccer players up to age of about eight or nine tend to be self-centered.

That’s not to say they’re selfish – they just lack the ability to see the pitch in 3D and find it hard to see spaces and team-mates to pass to, unless they’re virtually standing on their toes!

But as your youngsters get older they begin to see that there is more to a soccer pitch than the patch of grass they’re standing on.

That’s when you can start thinking about teaching some simple combination play.

At it’s most basic, combination play is simply passing the ball. So that’s where you should begin: practising passing between groups of players as they move up and down the pitch.

It’s easy to do. Split your squad into two groups of four or five (if you have more than ten players divide them into three groups and have one group play a game of keepaway while they’re waiting).

Then put a group of players at each end of a 30yd x 40yd grid.

Ask the groups to spread out so that they make a diamond shape. If you have four in a group it’s one back, two wide and one up front. If you are playing with five it’s one back, three in the middle (two wide and one in the middle) and one up front.

Ask your players why they should always try to keep this shape while they’re playing (clue: it gives them passing options and provides cover if one player loses the ball to the opposition).

One group has a ball.

Ask the group with the ball to move it quickly from one player to another and from one end of the playing area to the other while they maintain their positions and the diamond shape.

Then they leave the ball for the other group to do the same exercise.

Make it competitive by timing each group and give them objectives such as ‘every player must touch the ball twice before you get to the other end’ or ‘make two short passes followed by a long pass’ etc.

When they have mastered this, start each group off at the same time so that they play through each other. Again, make it competitive – who can get to the other end first – without making a mistake?

Objective: to improve speed of transition, passing and communication.

Age group: U9 upwards.

Number of players: whole team.

Set up: Create a 30 x 40 yard playing area with a half way line marked.

Divide your team into two teams. They don’t have to be evenly matched.

How to play: Play ordinary soccer with one condition: a goal only counts if every player in the team is in the opposition half when the ball crosses the line.

Progression:

• Goals count double if the defending team fails to get all its players back into it’s own half.
• Goals have to be scored with one touch (great for encouraging assists).
• Goals have to be scored after X number of passes.
• Every player on a team has to touch the ball before a goal can be scored.

Objective. To build up out of the back using quick, accurate passes.

Set up: Create a playing area about 60×40 yards or use a seven a side pitch. One one end place two small goals that can be marked with poles or cones. Put a full size goal on the other end of the playing area. Divide your players into two teams, wearing bibs. One team has an extra player.

How to play: Play soccer with the following conditions:

• the team with the extra player defends the large goal and gets a goalkeeper;
• all restarts begin with the goalkeeper.

Key soccer coaching points: Encourage possession, (‘if you can’t shoot, pass….if you can’t pass forward, pass back’) quick, accurate passing, good communication and supporting play (movement off the ball).