FineSoccer Drill 14

Here are two more drills that can be used to work on both offense and defense but really put a tremendous emphasis on defensive intensity.

First start with a standard small sided game but on a very large field.  For example, this could be a 6v6 game on a full sized field with two keepers in the goals.  Each player on Team A is assigned a player on Team B.  The rules are quite simple for this game.  A player can only mark the player they are assigned on the opposing team.  This means that there is no defensive support at all.  If the player you are assigned beats you, then she can go to goal unhindered.  This forces a player to really work hard to get back on defense because there are no ifs, ands or buts about whose fault it is when a goal is scored. If the player you are assigned to scores a goal, everyone will know it was your player and you were at fault.  This is a great conditioning drill plus it will show real quickly who wants to win more (some players will turn this into a game of full field sprints where they get back on defense and go forward on offense at full speed.  Other players will stand around talking to the player they are marking thinking that if neither runs very hard, they will both look good.

I like to use this game for a couple of reasons.  First, I can see who will make a commitment to defend (it has always amazed me that a player would allow themselves to get beat repeatedly in this game without becoming totally embarrassed. It also works on defensive footwork and attacking 1 v 1.  You might want to check out http://finesoccer.com/newpage11.htm for a review on 1 v 1 play.  Another thing it works on is conditioning which will become real apparent real quickly.  However, emphasize that the players should play normal soccer and not turn this into a complete game of 1v1.

As this game continues, switch the defensive responsibilities around so that players are constantly being challenged.  This could mean having a fast player match up with another fast player or a forward match up with a marking back (or have a forward match up with a forward and see who wins the battle.  Players are allowed to intercept passes, just not interfere with a player with the ball.

The next step in this progression is to do the exact opposite.  Instead of having players pre-assigned to marks, have them not allow to mark anyone until a predetermined captain or the keeper assigns them to the mark.  This means that after each loss of possession, the keeper and captain must quickly assign marks so that the players can slow the ball down and start to defend properly.  This is a GREAT way to get keepers and sweepers to work on communication (I have yet to have a player who liked this drill but that has never bothered me at all).  When possession is lost, the defensive team can sprint back toward their own goal but may not do anything more then that until they have been assigned their marks.  This encourages both better talking as well as better listening and complying then most players are accustomed to.

It is not good enough for the keeper to say "you get Lisa on every loss of possession) rather this must be reassigned after each change of possession.  Offensively, teams should play normal soccer (although the quicker they can pass the ball around, the harder it is for the team to defend).

Please realize that players will get discouraged playing both of these games and will try to find ways to get around them but they really do work well once you sell the players on their value.

Give them a try and let me know what you think

Have a great day.

Lawrence