Attacking in the final third

This session is aimed at encouraging players to attack with confidence in the final third. To play attacking football it is really important to train your team to attack, especially when opponents are sitting deep in their own half and space is tight. That means players need to find the right timing for passes, through balls and chipped balls, as well as deep runs and runs in behind.

The narrow space in these exercises leads to players having to make quicker decisions under increased time and space pressures and under intense pressure from opponents.

What do I get the players to do?

Rondo 4v2+1

After a 15-minute athletic warm-up [not shown] that includes exercises that fit with this session, such as ball touches and quick changes of direction, we would run a rondo activity. We set up an area of 14x7 yards split into two boxes of 7x7 yards. We’re using seven outfield players: a possession team of five (the blues) and a pressing team of two (the reds).

The blues start with one player on each of the four sides of the first box and one player on the outside end of the second box. The four players around the first box must pass one-touch to keep possession from the two reds in the centre of the box, as shown [1a]. After the blues complete five passes, they must pass to their team mate on the edge of the other box. He is allowed two touches on receiving the ball.

1a

With that pass, the players change positions. The two blue players at the top and bottom of the first box should sprint along the edge of the second box to give options at the top and bottom again. The blue at the end of the first box switches positions with the blue between the boxes, as shown [1b]. The two red players sprint to the second box to press the ball again and the game continues in the new box.

1b

If a red player wins the ball, he always switches position with the blue player who lost possession.

How do I progress this activity?

We can progress it so that when the change of places happens, if a player from the bottom of the first box has passed to the opposite end player, the central blue must run to the top of the second box for his new position. At the same time, the player at the top of the first box must swap places with the player at end of the first box.

This change in positions at different angles helps preparation for the following possession games and has a tactical meaning for possession in the last third.

What do I get the players to do next?

Possession game

Next we play a possession game. We set up in an area of 58x29 yards, divided into boxes and end zones, as shown. We have a middle zone made up of eight 11x11 yard boxes. To either side of the middle zone are 22x7 yard end zones and above the middle zone are two 22x7 yard top zones.

It’s a game of 8v8+4 and we’re using 20 outfield players divided into a blue pressing team of eight, a red passing team of eight and a yellow team of four who support and feed the reds. Each of the eight 11x11 yard boxes contains a blue pressing player and a red passing player. Each of the side boxes and the top boxes contain one yellow player. All the players are two-touch.

The game starts with a pass from the coach to one of the yellow players in the top box, who passes to the yellow player in the side box nearest to him. In the middle zone the blue pressing players have to stay in their individual boxes but the red possession players are allowed to make 2v1 situations by leaving their own box and creating an overload in another box, as shown [2].

2

The aim for the red possession team is to play from one yellow side player to the opposite yellow side player to score a point and if needed they can use the support of the top yellow players in the passing move. The ball must be passed in at least four out of the eight boxes.

If the blue pressing players win the ball, they have to play it into the box of one of the four yellow players at the top or the sides – the red team has to react and counter-press to stop this happening.

We run this activity for two games of 10 minutes each.

How do I progress this activity?

We can progress the activity by restricting the reds and blues to one-touch. We can increase the speed of the passing by allowing players to overplay one box – in other words, to play a pass through an adjacent box. We can also instruct the passing team to play the ball through five boxes rather than four and limit them to using the help of the top yellow players just once.

What do I get the players to do next?

Possession game and finish

We use the same basic set up and rules as the previous activity but now we add a penalty area, a goal and a goalkeeper, so after the possession part of the activity, the passing players have the opportunity to score.

Once the reds have managed to transfer the ball from one side to the other, they are now allowed to break out of the middle zone and receive a through ball in the penalty area to finish on goal, as shown [3]. The blues aren’t allowed to follow them – they remain locked in the middle zone. The 18-yard line doubles as the offside line.

3

How do I progress this activity?

We can allow the two yellow players on the sides to join the attack and finish themselves, or cut-back to a team-mate, or play a chipped ball into the penalty area. To add an extra level of difficulty, we can release two blue centre-backs to make recovery runs to defend in the penalty area. We can progress this further by allowing more defenders to recover.

How would you put this into a game situation?

11 v 11 game

We extend the playing area used in the previous activity to the halfway line and add another goal, as shown [4]. We’re using 20 outfield players and two goalkeepers, split into two teams of 11.

4

The game starts with one of the red centre-backs passing into the middle zone. The reds should pass to create an opportunity to play a through ball or a chipped ball into the penalty area for a player to run onto and finish. If the red attacking team loses possession of the ball, the blues are allowed to counter-attack directly towards the opposite goal. If the reds regain the ball through quick counter-pressing, then they can counter-attack immediately or decide to build an attack through patient passing – the important thing is to find the right timing for deep runs and runs in behind.

The line into the penalty area represents the offside line for the reds. We play for 20 minutes.