Systems of play

Featured

Julen Lopetegui

Attacking the 4-4-2 diamond

The main goal of this session is to prepare a team set up in a 4-4-3 system to beat an opponent playing in a 4-4-2 diamond system, through a specific building up game plan.

After a deep analysis about how teams use a diamond formation to defend in a medium block, the drills have been designed to counteract the strengths and to better attack the weaknesses that this formation has.

Veljko Paunović

Finishing patterns in the final third

This session is designed to rehearse players in the kind of attacking patterns we want them to use when playing in a 4-2-3-1 shape. The focus of the s...

Carlo Ancelotti

Attacking movement in a 4-3-2-1 formation

This session is based on tactical work, movement and patterns of play in the middle and attacking thirds of the field. It uses a 4-3-2-1 formation, ...

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 to link the g...

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Arsène Wenger

Simon Davey

Attacking central areas in a diamond system

This session aims to improve combination play in the attacking third of the pitch. It focuses on movement, interchanging of positions and disguised pa...

Steve Bruce

Defensive organisation playing 3-4-3

This session is all about defensive organisation when playing in a 3-4-3. More specifically, it is focused on pressing in the middle third of the pitc...

Kenny Jackett

Attacking in a 4-3-3 formation

This is a positive attacking sessions that rehearses players in the specifics of attacking in a set 4-3-3 formation. Although a rigid set-up, the inte...

Craig Brown

Shaping a 3-5-2 formation

This training session is about maximising the full potential of the 3-5-2 system, which was very much in vogue in the 1990s. The formation has been ut...

Andy Scott

Adopting a high back four

This session is about defending as a group or unit. It looks at the relationships between players and teaches them how to use recovery moves to maximu...

Jim Bentley

Build-up play in a 4-3-3

This session is about playing out from the back in a 4-3-3 formation, coaching players on how to move the ball well and build through the units. It fo...

Stephen Robinson

Forward play in 3-4-3

The session is about working on the front three players in a 3-4-3 formation. It creates 1v1 situations, and shows players how to deal with the ball i...

Darren Ferguson

Playing through teams in a 4-4-2 formation

This session is about wide players or strikers receiving in between the lines. The focus is on quality of passing and timing of movements, and it’s ...

Alan Pardew

Playing forward in a 4-3-3

This session is about playing forward in a 4-3-3 formation, outlining passing options to three rotating midfielders and three advanced forward players...

Michael Appleton

Counter-attack team shape in a 4-4-1-1

In modern football, it’s becoming rarer for teams to play with two out-and-out strikers. Instead, they line up in a 4-4-1-1 formation, so this sessi...

Danny Wilson

Defending from the front in a 4-3-3 situation

This session coaches players on understanding defensive positioning. It enables us to teach how to channel opposition passes into areas of strength fo...