Wide Play

Our picks

Try these sessions selected by our coaching team if you're not sure where to start. Or scroll down to browse all the sessions in this section

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Dario Vidošić

Wide Combinations

By focusing on wide combinations and the principles that underpin our attacking identity, the session encourages players to understand th...

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Diogo Peral

Wide play and decision-making in the final third

I believe football should be played with balance – and finding that balance is always based on the players you have available

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Jody Caudwell

The game model

The session is an example of our individualised program. It illustrates how we bring to life a player’s individual development plan and h...

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Ian Dawes

Playing through the mid third from the full-back

This session is delivered to give my team ideas, principles and an understanding of how to play through the mid third and enter the final...

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Neill Collins

Unlocking the wing backs

This session is designed to teach teams to utilise the wing backs in build-up play and attack.

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James Brayne

Utilising the full back in build-up play

This session is designed around using our full backs in build-up play. It is split into two activities, with the first technical practice...

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Stephen Clemence

Attacking patterns against a deep block

This session helps to break down opponents who set up in a deep block against us.

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David Artell

Creating scoring opportunities from wide areas

This session is all about building relationships in wide areas. The players are given guidelines but they also have lots of freedom to br...

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Alex Bruce

Attacking and defending in wide and central areas

In this session two teams work on attacking and defending in wide and central areas of the pitch

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Aaron Callaghan

Efficient finishing

These exercises will help the midfield players to recognise space and encourage them to exploit it when in possession, as well as looking...

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Nigel Pearson

Creating scoring opportunities

This session is about attacking with purpose and quality. It focuses on developing good combination play between attacking players and pr...

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James Marrs

Wide play

This session is all about exploiting the opposition in wide areas in order to gain the opportunity to either cross or shoot at goal. Our ...

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Steven Gerrard

Creativity in the final third

This session is designed to help a team’s creativity in the final third. It looks to provide opportunities for the players to create goal...

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Frankie McAvoy

Wide attacking in a 3-5-2 formation

This session is based on attacking at pace with wing backs in the wide areas of the pitch. It’s all about getting the wing backs into goo...

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Phil Brown

Finishing with realism

This is a shooting and crossing session for a front three, generating shots from the edge of the penalty box, just inside the box and fro...

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Keith Boanas

Wide dribbling and crossing

This session was designed through an analysis of player needs and it helps to create more positivity in attacking areas. It is aimed at e...

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Roy Hodgson

Developing inside forwards

This session is all about working on opportunities for wide players to receive the ball infield – it helps them to understand how and whe...

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Chris Hughton

Wide attacking runs and crosses

This training session encourages players to make attacking runs in wide areas of the pitch leading to crosses into the penalty area.

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Walter Smith

Striker movement from a cross

This session is all about the movement that strikers make when attacking a cross. Defenders take up specific positions when the ball goes...

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Steve Cotterill

Crossing and finishing

This session is primarily about good quality crossing and finishing, but it also works on players making well-timed runs and improving th...

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Peter Taylor

Crossing and scoring areas

This session covers crossing areas in the final third of the pitch, and isolates the key need for attackers – to instantly know which are...

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Keith Curle

Crossing and finishing with combination play

This session is about how quick and measured combination play – in midfield and wide areas – using short and long passing as well as over...

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Gary Bowyer

Crossing and finishing from wide areas

This session is about crossing and finishing from wide areas, and is one we’ll perform up to three times a week because in Jordan Rhodes ...

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Jonathan Woodgate

Crossing & finishing

This session is aimed at giving attacking players plenty of opportunities to make front post and back post runs and finish with a side-fo...

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Mark Robins

Attacking crosses in a 4-3-3

This session focuses on attacking crosses when playing in a 4-3-3 formation and looks at what happens when the centre forward drops deep ...

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Sammy Mcllroy

Crosses from danger zones

This session looks at crossing the ball into the penalty area from advanced positions, also known as danger zones. These areas are crucia...

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Dario Gradi

Play around the box

This session looks at attacking play around the box, movement within the box and delivery into it. It’s not unique but it is important fo...

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Brian McDermott

Variable crossing and finishing practice

The principles of quick, positive and clever attacking and defending processes are the same at any level. That’s why we’ll run this sessi...

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David Unsworth

Wide players and shape

This session is about wide players making quick, dynamic, well-timed runs, so as to create goalscoring opportunities.

It’s impor...

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Roberto Di Matteo

Attacking Aims

This session improves and develops attacking balance when going forward.
Often we have to switch play or break out at pace, and it’s ...

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Paul Lambert

Crossing and finishing

At Norwich City, we believe that you have to train the way you play, and this is a positive crossing and finishing routine that is direct...

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Stephen Constantine

Attacking wing play

With this session we can get everyone in the team involved in thinking about how can we get the ball forwards as quickly and as efficient...

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Sean Dyche

Attacking from crosses

This session is about attacking from crosses with two centre-forwards.

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Roy Hodgson

Attacking combinations

Run this session and develop patterns of attacking play and movement that will create space in wide areas and goal scoring opportunities ...

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Tony Docherty

Switching the point of attack

Encourage your players to switch the point of attack at pace – get the ball into wide areas of the pitch and enable the wingers to cross ...

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Tony Pulis

Supporting the striker

Encourage your players to make forward runs to support the striker. Also, use this session to make attacks lightning fast, with the focus...

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Dean Holdsworth

Support play and swapping roles

Encourage players to problem solve and find space with this session, which is formed of four different game scenarios. The practice offer...

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Tony Mowbray

Combination play and finishing

Work on crossing and finishing techniques with this session that focuses on passing and combination play between wing backs and wide play...

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Justin Edinburgh

Crossing and finishing with shooting scenarios

Being clinical in front of goal when chances arrive can be the difference between winning and losing, so make sure your strikers are read...

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Tony Pulis

Positive attacking play

Encourage positive play in your team… Any coach who runs this session will be guaranteed to see their players making plenty of crosses, t...

Attacking centrally

Get your attacking runners playing through the lines centrally, then progress to get players ‘going around the outside’ and pinning the far ...

Attacking team play with ‘lock-out’ mentality

Look to improve attacking options and movement with this session, which utilises strong player mentality and concentration in trying to ...

Attacking wing play and shooting

This session is about attacking from three different positions and is something that offers versatility in the final third, which is always ...

Crossing and finishing

No matter how good you are as an attacking player, you’ll always need great service, and that’s what this session coaches, notably in ...

Crossing and finishing

This fast paced crossing and finishing blueprint is perfect for getting strikers to hit the net

Crossing and finishing

Encourage your players to make positive and ambitious runs into advanced areas with this practice, which rehearses good finishing and ...

Crossing and finishing

Create situations where wide players are encouraged to use as many different kinds of crossing technique as possible to set up goal-scoring ...

Deliveries from wide areas

The focus of this session is on combination play that results in a crossed delivery from a specific wide area. We play with attacking full-...

Penalty box session

This is about high quality of crosses into the box with good finishing. It’s important to practise this because it is basic technique, ...

Pure wing play

Pure wing play is about developing wingers’ ability to cross the ball, whilst promoting relationships and understanding with strikers and ...

Wing and wide man contributions

A progressive and precise session that outlines some of the intricacies of smart wing play. It has been put together to offer a basic wing ...

Assisted crossing in the final third

The exclusive session is about improving the technique and quality of crosses into the 18-yard box.

Scoring from crosses

This session is about scoring from crosses. Balls in from wingers contribute to more goal chances than anything else in the game, so ...

Wing play

Wing play can be the winning difference for teams on match days. This session works on giving players the ability to make quick decisions ...

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Wide Play

Our picks

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Coaches' Testimonials

Alan Pardew

Arsène Wenger

Brendan Rodgers

Carlos Carvalhal

José Mourinho

Jürgen Klopp

Pep Guardiola

Roy Hodgson

Sir Alex Ferguson

Steven Gerrard

Join the world's leading coaches and managers and discover for yourself one of the best kept secrets in coaching. No other training tool on the planet is written or read by the calibre of names you’ll find in Elite Soccer.

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