Keith Hill

Coaching Sessions

Improving attacking players in and around the box

Attacking

This session improves attacking players in key skill areas – namely in pre-movement (dynamic and elusive), penetration (with and without the ball), link-up play, plus the ability to focus on positive outcomes.

Regain and retain techniques when outnumbered

Out of Possession

This session is imperative for reminding our lads that, in any game, possession is king, with players under pressure to regain and retain possession when outnumbered. At the heart of this is looking for a ‘sacrificial press’ in recovering possession quickly, then looking to retain the ball in what we call the ‘five-yard pass’.

Defending in and around the box

Defending

This session is about defending the 18-yard box when in control and when in states of ‘chaos’. It’s a great practice that improves both individuals and collective units, and instills rare fundamentals of the art of defending the red zone/danger zone (or 18-yard box).

Cutting out counter-attacks

Attacking

Analysis at the end of our 2008/09 League Two campaign showed we needed to develop a new collective responsibility to defend against the counter-attack. We knew this would increase our potential to keep clean sheets whilst also ensuring that we had players in good areas of the pitch in order to regain and maintain possession.

Biography

Rochdale boss Keith Hill returned to Spotland for a second spell in charge in January 2013, and in his first full season in charge guided the Lancashire club back into League One, just as he had done as manager four years previously. He subsequently managed hometown club Bolton in 2019-20. Hill has also managed Barnsley at Championship level, and as a player made over 400 league appearances for the likes of Blackburn Rovers, Plymouth Argyle, Rochdale, Cheltenham Town and Morecambe.

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