Coaching Diaries #4 : Switching play — Creating an overload by dribbling
The previous session covered one in many ways in which the switch of play can be used to penetrate through defensive units. More specifically, it covered how the team can perform a passing combination ending with an underlap from the fullback to receive the ball behind the defensive line into a dangerous area.
This time instead of movement without the ball, the session is going to emphasise on movement with the ball. The aim of this movement is to create an overload into a dangarous area which would result in a higher probability of the attack ending with a shot. Lets first explore which area are we talking about.
Modern football has been known with the use of the half-spaces and that is a result of it being effective against a very popular formation used to defend before — the 4–4–2.
When teams decided to include fullbacks into their attacks, the 4–4–2 quickly became inferior to other defensive formations due to its unability to deal with overloads.
In the figure above it can be seen that the space between the wide and central defender is too big and can be taken advantage of with an underlap run — just like the one that was covered in the previous session. Movements like this resulted in players receiving the ball in the box, while the central defenders are worried about closing down this player, the attackers create space for themselves with diagonal runs and before you know it, the ball hits the back of the net.
This has happened enough times to make teams reconsider their way to defend against this form of attack. Teams have started to drop an extra player to cover the half-space.
By doing this, teams out of possession now have an extra player to deal with the threat of the underlap run. However, by focusing on preventing the immediate danger, the midfield block loses one player. This in result creates space on the other side of the pitch which can be exploited with a dribble.
When the ball reaches 7, the player can then take advantage of the space by dribbling and creating an overload just inside the penalty area. From there attackers can combine in different ways to create danger in front of goal (a topic for another session). For now, the focus will be on how to get into that overload situation in the first place.
A couple of considerations need to be in place:
- Players need to recognize the defensive shape of the team out of possession and use it as a trigger to execute the above.
- Passes need to be quick and accurate, on the back foot, receives need to be in the direction of the following pass. Otherwise the defense will have enough time to regroup.
- The player who is performing the job of 7 needs to be aggressive with the ball and attempt to win space by dribbling once he receives the ball.
Having outlined the priorities of the session, lets get into the practices.
The team starts with its warm-up routine, followed by a fast-paced rondo to get a feel for the ball.
The warm-up is followed by a passing practice to emphasize on the importance of proper passing.
As mentioned previously, the emphasis of this practice is on the weight of the pass and the passing accuracy.
- The ball needs to be passed firmly and to the back foot of the receiver.
- The player who receives needs to time his run and make sure that his body is opened in order to continue the play with the fewest touches possible.
This practice is followed by one that allows for repetition of opposed dribbling.
The dribbling practice is important for the players to get into the habit of dribbling. Some players may recognize the situation but do not have the confidence to perform the task. On the other hand, there are players who recognize the situation and are confident enough to dribble, for them it is about repetition and perfecting what they already know how to do. As for the players who haven’t recognized the opportunity to penetrate with dribbling, this practice will allow them to understand the details behind the action.
Emphasis should also be given on how the players dribble.
- Ball should be kept close to the foot for greater control over it.
- Centre of gravity should be kept low so that the dribbler is not easily thrown off balance.
- If the defender is close, the dribbler should use his body to keep ahead
- An alternative to the above is for the dribbler to make a movement which crosses the path of the defender. This way the defender will be forced to either leave the dribbler ahead or make a foul
The session will continue with looking at the pattern that was mentioned in the beginning.
Players will start by doing this pattern unopposed with interventions that explain the details and the reasoning behind the action. After ~10 minutes of that, the players will start doing the pattern semi-opposed — the defensive units will allow the ball to reach 7 and start defending from there. This will continue for another ~15minutes before the practice goes into fully opposed.
The session will end with a game where the players will have the opportunity to implement what they have learned in the session.
With this session the block will come to an end. There are a lot more scenarios and specifics to cover on this topic i.e different types of movements that the players can make to create space for themselves and confuse the opposition. However, in the context of grassroots football, it is good to keep things moving and keep it interesting for the players.
For that reason, starting from next session, the team is going to start working on combination play, which can be treated as a natural progression from what they have learned here i.e combinations after 7 receives the ball.
