Wednesday, 08 January 2020 / Published in Concepts & Principals

Generating Forward Passing Lanes

In order to achieve the objective of progressing the ball into the spaces close to the opponent’s goal, a central element of any game model must involve the consistent creation of forward passing lanes. As we will see, an attacking team’s basic build-up structure can help to maximise the number of quality options ahead of
Tuesday, 31 December 2019 / Published in Features

10 Lessons from Pep Guardiola

With 27 trophies to his name so far, Pep Guardiola will no doubt be remembered as one of the greatest football managers of all time. A disciple of Johan Cruyff, Pep is a major reference point for most aspirational coaches around the world, with many inspired by his 'Juego de Posicion' philosophy.
Saturday, 28 December 2019 / Published in Features

Football Documentary Recommendations

With the volume of documentaries, interviews and training videos that get released nowadays, insights into the daily workings of top football clubs are becoming more accessible. However, the sheer number of options can make it difficult to find genuinely worthwhile content. This article will recommend ten quality documentaries for football coaches, analysts and fans.  
Monday, 14 October 2019 / Published in Phases of Play, Tactics Board Article

Nuno Espírito Santo: Counter-Attacking with Wolves

During their return to the Premier League last season, Wolves made a habit of preying on clubs much bigger than themselves. Portuguese coach Nuno Espírito Santo guided them to 16 points against the top six, a record bettered only by title winners Manchester City and runners up Liverpool. While Nuno’s team excelled in the championship
Sunday, 18 August 2019 / Published in Phases of Play, Tactics Board Article

Tim Walter: Innovative Build-Up Play

Currently in charge of German second division team Stuttgart, Tim Walter is one of the most innovative figures in modern football. The 43-year-old spent last season training Holstein Kiel, and his bold approach drew admiration from coaches across the globe. As we will discover in this article, Walter deploys a wide variety of inventive methods
Thursday, 04 July 2019 / Published in Exercises

5v4 Possession

  Basic Organisation: Main area with 5 attackers and 4 defenders. Two mini goals behind defenders. Two gates and an ‘end zone’ behind attackers. Ball returns to attacking team for each restart.   Objectives: Attacking team look to move opponents and create space/lanes to progress through and score in one of the two mini goals.
Thursday, 04 July 2019 / Published in Exercises

Draw Out to Play Through

  Basic Organisation: Attacking team begin with a 5+GK vs 2 inside the first phase of build-up. Grid ends approx 25 yards out from goal. 3 additional defending players are positioned just outside the grid. Further forward, 2 attackers flank the last man on the defending team. Small goal either side of centre-circle.   Objectives:
Saturday, 08 June 2019 / Published in Exercises

Breaking Lines

  Basic Organisation: 2 separate identical grids. Each with two start/end zones seperated by middle zone. In one of the grids, the reds are the attacking team and have two players in both the start and end zone, as well as two players in the middle zone. Two yellow players also occupy the middle zone
Friday, 07 June 2019 / Published in Exercises

Dismarking

  Basic organisation: Grid with 4 players on each side and a small goal placed at both ends. Players on both teams assigned numbers from 1 to 4, matching the players directly across from them. Coach calls a number and passes the ball into centre to start the play.   Objectives: Players on both sides
Friday, 07 June 2019 / Published in Exercises

Overload to Isolate

  Basic Organisation: Begin with 5 attacking players in grid on one side of the field. ‘Switcher’ for attacking team positioned outside the possession grid at the half-way line. Additional attacker positioned in the far half-space. Defending team begin with 2 players inside box. 3 more defenders start on the edge of the penalty area.