Football with Purpose: Training to Play, Not Just to Repeat
As we have previously discussed, in this section, we will talk about football training exercises that were used in the teams I coached, contextualizing them and analyzing the reasons and objectives behind them.
If you want to learn how they were created and the ideas that led me to this training approach, click here.
Context
If you have read the previous exercise, you will know that this is a continuation. It is a drill that we could implement right after the passing circuit with movements that we discussed last week. In this case, the context remains the same—we continue in the 2023/2024 season at Black Leopards FC in South Africa, working with a group of young and talented players.
75% had no professional experience, and 50% were under 22 years old.
Among the 9 players in winger and forward positions, 7 were under 21 years old, all with the ability to repeat high-intensity efforts, with many also possessing great speed. In midfield, we had skillful players capable of delivering through balls between lines and driving forward with agility.
We were looking for mobile players who could attack the space behind defenders (through penetrating runs) to disrupt the last defensive line. If another player received the ball in an interior position, they prioritized turning and driving forward quickly, adapting to the demands of the game. This was our first key principle: breaking the last defensive line to create spaces behind or in interior areas.
As a continuation of the drill from the previous article, this positional possession exercise involved 20 outfield players (without a goalkeeper), aiming to develop natural dynamics and reinforce positional understanding.
Positional Possession with Deep Movements
A 10v10 drill in a restricted space, with four finishing zones per team:
- Central zones: 3 points if the ball is received inside.
- Wide zones: 1 point.
The attacking team had to make runs behind the opponent’s last defensive line and connect passes inside the designated zones. Later, when we repeated the drill, we added two central goals to work on transitions, limiting finishing time to X seconds depending on the distance between the goals and the playing area (maximum of 6 seconds).
Key Considerations
- Coach positioning: With balls in central and wide areas.
- Dimensions: Adaptable to the conditional objective of the session. In our case, 40 meters deep across the full width of the pitch, performed on the third day post-match.
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