Block D & C

Keep the ball moving

See how quickly these teams move the ball across the field. It constantly moves the opponent…

…and creates moments where we can…

Find the free player

A ‘free’ player is someone who is facing and can play forward, like you can see here from our First Grade…

In Block D & C, this might be a defender who can attack space by driving with the ball…

…or having our wing-backs flat, so we can play passes into free players “in the pockets” of opposition defenders.

When you get free in Block D & C, you want to be thinking – can I…

Play through, around or over

Here’s an example of playing through…

…here’s one of playing around…

…and when there is space in behind, let’s play over!

Block C & B

Once we get the ball higher up the pitch, we can start to look for our attacking patterns that will help us score goals. The first one is to…

Create triangles with rotations

…which means using our 8s, wide strikers and wing-backs to create flexible triangles in the wide lane and halfspace. Take a look at this below.

We should rotate to get players free in these triangles…

…ultimately looking to get someone free who can play a killer pass to a forward run.

Combine quickly to find forward runs in halfspace

Ideally, this forward run will be in the halfspace, where you can get into that crucial “assist zone”…

…especially if we can get the player making the forward run receiving the ball facing the goal…

…because this is where we can then create simple poacher goals!

Stay balanced in rest defence

When we are attacking, though, it is important we stay disciplined in our formation so we are “balanced” behind the ball. This is called rest defence, where we position so we can stop opposition counter-attacks…

…and be very aggressive pressing in the transition moment, so we can win the ball back and go to goal quickly!

Block A

Every time we get close to the penalty box, we think one thing…

find a poacher!

A poacher goal is a 1-touch finish with nobody to beat (not even the goalkeeper!), like you’ll see here…

…and here…

…and here!

If you get into that crucial assist position, look for the poachers at the front and back post! And if you can’t, then look to keep the ball moving, find another free player who can find the poacher themselves…

…and even if a teammate shoots, you’re still thinking poacher by attacking the opposition keeper…

…so we can celebrate, together, as a team!