Football with Purpose: Training to Play, Not to Repeat

 

As we’ve discussed previously, this section focuses on football training drills I’ve used with teams I’ve coached, always placing them in context and explaining the reasoning and objectives behind each one.

If you want to know how they were created and the ideas that led me to this way of working, click here.

Context

 

We’re in the 2023/2024 season at Black Leopards FC in South Africa. Our goal was to work on defending against 1-2 combinations (wall passes), and for that we drew inspiration from Marcelo Bielsa. Marcelo Bielsa trains these defensive situations in wide areas, repeating the same 1-2 action multiple times with the same player.

In our case, we wanted each action to be unique and to have players rotate through the same space where coaches could provide feedback directly. We divided the field into three areas for three different situations: the left and right wide zones (for wingers and fullbacks), and a central zone to work with the interior players. This way, the entire squad was active but working more specifically within their roles.

1-2 Defensive Drill (Wide Zone)

 

We need three offensive players and one defender.

The three attackers take up positions as center-back, fullback and midfielder. The defender (winger) starts from the midfielder’s position, which can be marked with a mannequin. The action starts with a pass between the center-back and fullback, and the winger steps in to press. When the winger stops or slows down, the fullback plays a pass to the midfielder, who returns it into space. The defender’s objective is to win the ball or position themselves between the ball and the goal. The offensive goal is to receive the ball behind the defender.

1-2 Defensive Drill (Central Zone)

 

In the central area, we need five attacking players (two center-backs and three midfielders) and one defensive player, as shown in the diagram.

The action starts with passes between the center-backs. When they decide, they pass to the closest midfielder, who immediately looks to combine with one of the two players positioned near the mannequins.

Key Points

 

• In the central zone, while the center-backs are passing, we require the midfielder to move and adjust their body shape.
• The mannequins can be replaced with a cone as a reference.
• Rotation in the wide zone follows the direction of the ball: center-back to fullback to midfielder to winger. In the central zone, players rotate in pairs. Center-backs move into the midfield roles, and midfielders rotate into the center of the drill.

Want to keep improving defensive decision-making and timing?

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