Category: Drills
Type: Drill
U-18 WOMEN'S NATIONAL TEAM, ATTACKING HALF DEFENDING
Def. in opponents half
U-18 Women's National Team
Training Environments
During the last U-18 Women's Camp held at the ARCO Olympic Training center in Chula Vista CA, the team had a week together with head coach Steve Swanson and assistant coach Jeff Pill, in preparation for their upcoming trip to Bulgaria.
As we played, several problems surfaced that needed to be addressed. They were:
1. The coordination of the defending action of the back four and midfield four.
2. The coordination of the defending action of the midfielders and strikers.
3. Being able to consistently play in to the strikers and creating opportunities off of those penetrating balls.
The following addresses the second need, defending in the opponents half.
This activity was used during the course of the week as part of a bigger progression. It is the major teaching activity that was used to assist the players as they learned their roles within the team.
7 v. 7, DEFENDING IN THE OPPONENTS HALF:
To help improve the coordinated defensive action of our front players with our midfielders in the attacking half, we played this activity. Early on, our strikers had the tendency to charge after the ball, opening up a big gap between them and the midfielders. As a result, their backs played the ball easily around us and were able to penetrate into our half.
THE GAME:
6vs7 plus a keeper.
- The 7 'dark' players score a goal by dribbling over midfield.
- The 6 'light' players score by winning the ball back and shooting in to the big goal.
COACHING POINTS:
- Keep together and compact as a defensive unit.
- Strikers start central and at about the 75 yd line.
- Force play wide, then pinch it and try to keep it there.
- The rest of the team behind this 'slides over', basically ignoring the attacking players on the 'weak side' of the field.
- Try to double team on the sideline.
- 'Weak side' striker steps up and denies pass back to the keeper or central back, forcing play down the touch line.
- Insure that the gaps between the defensive players remain small, especially on the ball side of the field.
- If the ball is played directly in to the front players on the attacking team, the defenders need to step and deny a turn.
- Cover in behind the pressure on the ball to deny a penetrating pass and to assist if the pressuring defender is beat.
Submitted by: Jeff Pill
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