Il Mister. Our experts will endeavour to show you all the methods and tactical secrets employed by Serie A’s best football coaches.
It is perhaps quite naïve of some fans to think that professional players and coaches spend a couple of hours every day running round a field and smashing footballs randomly at a goalkeeper before entering the stadium at the weekend, in an attempt to fulfil all our sporting dreams and win the match.
The reality in fact, is wildly different. Forza Italian Football aim to dispel this misconception and bring you a series of articles after speaking to a top Serie A coach, to find out exactly what goes into preparing for the weekend’s match.
Having already looked at Tuesday, we now move on to Wednesday which is by far the most intensive day of the week.
Wednesday
Class room
Twenty minutes will be spent watching highlights of the opponent’s last match with a further 10 minutes of footage showing the team’s attacking and defensive strategies. This part of the video will also underline where their strengths and weaknesses lie and how they can be exploited.
The final few minutes will be a montage of goals the opponent has conceded to help the team psychologically and prove that they are beatable.
On the field – Morning Session
Warm Up – 12-15 minutes
The squad will warm up with some various running routines over an area of 50 metres. There will then be a mix of dynamic and static stretches.
Exercise 1
11v0 –20 minutes
The coach will take a potential starting eleven and go through some set patterns he will expect his team to carry out on match day. There will be no opponent during this exercise, the team will ‘rehearse’ the moves on the pitch with the coach adjusting the positions of the players and the runs he wants them to make.
Exercise 2
Tactical work on defence when out of possession – 12 minutes
Fig. 1
The defenders must move in relation to their opponent to try and stop them attacking the goal. Both forwards and defenders must remain within their allotted sectors. To begin with (fig.1) the two main forwards play as a pair in line with the defenders. The drill then progresses to the forwards playing with one just behind the main striker (fig.2).
Objective of drill – Team
• Covering space
• Balance and teamwork of the defensive unit
• Perfect offside trap and pressing of space
Objective of drill – Individually
• Read game situation
• Activate the press to reduce time and space of the opponent
Fig. 2
Conditions of drill
• Players can only defend within their marked sector
Playing area – half of full size pitch
Variations
• Defender can enter different sector if player he is marking also moves into sector
• Defenders must try to complete 5 passes once ball has been won
Exercise 3
Tactical work on defence when in possession zones – 12 minutes
Defenders learn how to move ball around their area. In fig.3 the right back plays ball behind nearest centre back that collects and takes ball forward. In the mean time the second centre back has already dropped off a little to cover the goal in case ball is lost but then moves forward to receive pass from team mate. The ball is then played out to the left back.
As the ball works itself across the pitch, so should the whole defensive unit move across also.
Fig.3
Objectives of drill
• To move the ball around the defence quickly
• Coach covering of your team mates
• Coach when to move forward for the ball
• Improve technical ability of defenders
Conditions of drill
• Maximum of three touches
Playing area – half of pitch
Variations
• Add a midfielder as support player
• Add an opponent to improve realism
• No limit on touches
• Impose that ball must go both left then right in succession
Exercise 4
Fitness drill – plyometric circuit – 25 minutes
To be decided by the fitness coach
Exercise 5
Attacking drill for forwards and midfielders when in possession – 25 minutes
The three midfielders move the ball around before looking for the trequartista who then will look to pass a through ball for one forward or wait for the second striker to drop deep then make a run into box before passing ball vertically to him.
Fig. 4
Second variation (fig.5) sees midfielder pass ball to striker who is farthest from play. He then unloads ball to trequartista who has made a run towards goal or plays ball wide to second striker who has moved across to find space.
Further patterns are also practiced.
Objectives of drill
• Improve timing
• Coach depth and verticalising of play
• Synchronisation of movements
Team objectives
• Synchronisation between midfield and forwards
Individual Objectives
• Improve technical quality of play
• Finishing
Fig. 5
Conditions of drill
• Maximum of two touches
Playing area – half of pitch
Variations
• Once move is concluded players must return to starting positions as quickly as possible
• Add two opponents to improve realism
• Remove pattern and play freely
• Remove two touch
Exercise 6
Fitness drill – plyometric circuit – 25 minutes
To be decided by the fitness coach
On the field – Afternoon Session
Exercise 7
Technical drill – 25 minutes
Fig. 6
Half of the players are placed outside the circle with a ball whilst the others are inside. The inside players must go towards a player with the ball and perform the technique as suggested by the coach (header, volley, chest control etc.) then move to a different player outside the circle and perform the same technique.
Objectives of drill
• Improve technique whilst on the move
• Improve perception of space
• Improve athleticism
Conditions of drill
• Players outside the circle must use their hands
• After each technique the intensity must be increased
• Coach to decide what the technique is to be
Variations
• Player decides which technique to do
• Outside players now must also use their feet
Exercise 8
Small sided match with conditions – 12 minutes
May have limit of touches, only score with head, only score with volley, must score from ball played out wide, possession only etc.
Exercise 9
Drill to improve pressing – 15 minutes
Players are split into three teams (black, white and red). As soon as the ball is played to the team on its own (black), the coach calls a colour (e.g. red) and that team must now run to opponent and press space trying to stop them making 6 consecutive passes.
If they succeed, the losing team (black) must run over to the white team who are now in possession and stop them making 6 passes. If the whites fail to make 6 passes, they must now run over to the reds that are in possession and the drill continues.
Fig. 7
Objectives of drill
• Losing your marker and keeping possession
• Pressurising your opponent
• Ability to change focus depending on game situation (whether in or out of possession)
Conditions of drill
• No maximum touches
• Must make 6 passes to remain in your zone and not have to press
• Coach to throw ball into zones
Pitch size – 50m x 30m
Pressing zones are 15m x 30m
Variations
• Increase or decrease players per side
• Change size of playing area
• Add in extra ball
Exercise 10
Game of 5v5 with support players – 15 minutes
Teams must look to score as quickly as possible, either through individual technique or by using team mates positioned outside of the playing area in the attacking half. The outside players should only be used when it’s difficult to find one of your infield team mates or if it will help you to score.
Outside players only have one touch.
Fig. 8
Objectives of drill
• Create scoring opportunities using support players and as quickly as possible
• Speed and intensity of attacking play
• Losing your marker
Conditions of drill
• Outside players have only one touch
• Inside players have a maximum of three touches
• Goal scored from pass received by outside player counts double
• Change players every 90 seconds
Pitch size – 32m x 32m
Variations
• Increase or decrease players per side
• Change size of playing area
