Attacking With a Numerical Advantage -- http://www.insidesoccer.com/is-web/movie?id=533&pro=1
This exercise helps players practice executing scoring opportunities with a numerical advantage. Help your players understand that in a game there will most likely be other defenders recovering back to the goal, so the attack needs to be performed with pace and direction. If a player takes too many touches and slows the attack down, they will almost certainly lose their chance on goal (if you need to emphasize this point, you can add a second defender who starts ten yards behind the attackers and chases down the play after the attackers take their first touch). Encourage quick decision making and early shots on goal. Note the overlapping run of the second attacker--this adds horizontal movement to the vertical direction of the play, which is an important concept when going to goal as it makes life difficult for the defender (a defender loves it when attacking players stay in their "channels" and make the play predictable). In a numerical advantage situation, the player with the ball usually wants to draw the defender before passing (although holding the ball too long can create an offsides situation). However, please be advised that this is a dangerous concept to teach players and needs to be done with care. In possession scenarios, if players always try to draw defenders before passing the ball, it often slows down the play, kills ball movement, causes the flow to become static, and allows defenders the time to get organized behind the ball. In these types of situations, players are usually better off moving the ball quickly, even if a defender is not in their immediate vicinity, and making the defenders constantly shift and chase, which creates gaps to exploit and makes possessing the ball much easier.
Attacking With a Numerical Advantage 2.0
If you think your team is ready for a more advanced attack exercise, try http://www.insidesoccer.com/is-web/movie?id=531&pro=1. This is a very realistic counter attack situation where a midfielder plays the ball into a strikers feet and then it is laid off creating a 3v2 situation. Note how effective the overlapping runs, or horizontal movement mixed with the vertical attack, are when the players choose to execute it. In this case, the defenders should be looking to force play into the corners and also try to block shots and passes without stabbing.
Transition -- http://www.insidesoccer.com/is-web/movie?id=317&pro=1
This is a great exercise for players of all ages, as it promotes the essential concept of transitioning in the flow of play. In the game of soccer, a team has a huge advantage if they can transition quickly, specifically from offense to defense and vice versa, as they stay much more organized as a team. This ability usually translates to more attacking/scoring opportunities for your team and less easy chances for your opponents. But this concept must be embraced and executed by the players--it cannot be something achieved by a coach yelling from the bench (much like most other soccer tactics). The best part about this exercise is that the pair that "falls asleep" suffers and the teams that stays mentally sharp benefits. As a coach, have a number of balls ready for quick restarts in order to promote the fast pace, up-tempo action, and quick transitions.
Crossing & Finishing -- http://www.insidesoccer.com/is-web/movie?id=532&pro=1
Please fast forward to the 1:13 mark of the video (the first minute is a shadow walk-through that focuses on crossing, which you can choose to explore if you would like, but I want to concentrate on the second part of the video). This is one of my favorite conditioned crossing games because it provides many repetitions, a number of scoring opportunities, and constant flow combined with quick transitions. You need two goals, so if you are sharing a field, you might have to work something out where you borrow a second goal for a limited amount of time. The wide players in the channels are neutral serving crosses into whichever team plays them the ball. You can advance the exercise by allowing the outside players on the weak side to come in as an additional attacker on a cross. The crosses should be delivered with pace (not lofted). It is always easier to simply redirect a cross with pace into the back of the net than try to put extra force behind a shot when trying to finish a "floated" pass into the box.
Also, try to explain to your players the advantage of early crosses. Many players feel the need to dribble to the end-line before crossing the ball into the box. Often, this mistake allows the defenders time to get back, set up, and organize in front of the goal. A wing player looking to play the ball early can often exploit the defense by sending a cross into the area behind the defenders and beyond the range of the goalie (usually between the top of the eighteen and the penalty spot, sometimes closer depending on the keeper). This allows the strikers to run onto a ball in front of them and also makes the defenders turn and have to defend facing their own net, which is always difficult. Additionally, make sure the attacking players "frame" the box with smart runs to different spots (usually near post, far post, and penalty spot), and they must be sure to time their runs accordingly so that they don't get too deep too early, which would result in the cross landing behind them. Lastly, if the cross ends up at the back post and there is not a good scoring angle, get your players into the habit of heading or serving the ball back across the face of the goal (toward the top of the six-yard box) in an effort to find a teammate with a better scoring opportunity.
Possession, Scoring & Defending -- http://www.insidesoccer.com/is-web/movie?id=570&pro=1
This is a great conditioned game that incorporates a lot of soccer concepts and creates an environment that allows for many scoring opportunities in order to practice shooting and attacking. In the video, Valencia's reserve team uses the entire half of the field for this game, however it can be performed in a much smaller playing area. I like to play on a field that is approximately 30 yards long and about the width of the 18-yard box. I love playing with two large goals, however if you do not have such access, they can be substituted with smaller goals (without goalies if need be). The emphasis for the team in possession should be to move the ball quickly in order to exploit the find gaps in the defense, thus creating scoring opportunities that MUST be taken quickly (this game punishes the player who takes too many touches in front of goal which is why I love it so much). The team on defense wants to stay as organized as possible and transition quickly after winning possession. Note the touch restrictions explained in the video (two-touch for the players on the field and one-touch for the neutral players off the field). This is the standard we should strive for with all of our older teams, and although the restrictions might might be tough with some of the younger teams, we should still be emphasizing quick ball movement. In the video, the Valencia coach lets the teams play for four minutes before rotating them out with the neutral team on the outside. I often like to modify the game so that when a team scores a goal, they immediately get the ball from the goal or goalie that they just scored on and they attack in the other direction. The neutral team hustles on to take the place of the team that just got scored on, who becomes the neutral team on the outside. This way, the players on the outside are always involved as neutral players, however they must be ready to quickly defend the appropriate goal after a goal is scored.
