In the latest podcast episode, Eddy and I discussed ways in which coaches can go about improving their players’ finishing abilities. In this short article, I will present three exercises (two of which were discussed on the podcast) that I regularly use to improve the goalscoring exploits of my teams.
The four cornerstones of football coaching
When I think of football coaching, I take the four cornerstones of the Swedish FA into consideration. These are technique, football intelligence, physique and psychology. In all exercises I do, I want my players to practise all four aspects. In terms of finishing ability and goalscoring, the relevant technical abilities that should be practised are, in my opinion, shooting technique (with the inside, outside, and the laces), heading and first touch, as players often need to take a touch before finishing.
The football intelligence elements that come into play are understanding when to make a run, when to shoot, where to place the shot, which positions to pick up and so on. Physically, players need to be able, for instance, to make quick, sharp, short runs to get in behind a defence, to hold off defenders and to have enough power on their finish to beat the goalkeeper.
Finally, in terms of psychology, I believe players need to be able to finish in high-pressure situations when defenders are chasing them or when goalkeepers throw themselves at their feet. There is also the element of concentration, to finish properly since players won’t get many chances in a game and each finishing action needs to be executed properly.
Context
When I design sessions, I do so in regards to how I want the team to play and then I design exercises to fit that playing style. Thus, I don’t coach exercises just for the sake of it; I try to connect everything I coach in training to what we do on matchday. As such, when I practise finishing I want to create situations that we would encounter in matches. Therefore, I add defenders to create match-like situations for the attackers to deal with. I believe this increases the quality of their actions when there is a risk they won’t finish at all.
Exercise 1: Transition game
The first exercise is a classic transition game. We have two teams of players, reds and blues, that take turns in attacking each other.
As you can see above, the reds start with a 2 vs 1 attack. As soon as the attack ends, two blues enter the pitch and now the blues attack the reds in a 3 vs 2. Similarly, when the ball hits the back of the net or goes out of play, the reds then have another two players enter the pitch and the game ends with a 4 vs 3 attack in favour of the reds. When the next ball starts, it will be the blues attacking the reds in a 2 vs 1. In this game, the players will have plenty of opportunities to practise their finishing in match-like situations against defenders and goalkeepers who try to stop them from scoring.
Additionally, the defenders work on aspects important to their responsibilities in a game, such as defending the penalty area, and all players get to work on defensive as well as attacking transitions. In that sense, the players are put in a match-like context in which match-like actions will be performed.
Exercise 2: Runs into depth
The second exercise is a combination play exercise where the focus is on making runs into space behind the defensive line. You can see the setup below. The red team of five players look to play the ball into the space behind the defenders. The defensive team of three can’t defend in that space before the ball has been played into it. The idea behind this rule is to encourage the attackers to play into that space.
If the defenders win the ball, they can counter-attack on the goal behind the red team. Thus, we can weave our principles in attacking and defensive transition into the exercise. The defensive team will, in my system, be tasked with working really hard with their positioning when pressing and covering to prevent passes going between them.
When the attackers succeed in playing the ball past the defenders, the defenders will provide pressure from behind to recreate a match-like situation for the attacker looking to finish. Again, this type of setup creates a match-like context which I find to be crucial for implementing my style of play with the players. The positioning of the attackers and the number of players can be adapted to suit your principles and formation. There is also unlimited potential in terms of which attacking combinations you focus on; third man combinations centrally, diagonal blind side runs, overloads on the sides etc.
Every shot in this exercise will be prototypical of what would happen in a game, so even if a forward would only get four or five chances to finish in, say, 10 minutes, those four or five shots will be more beneficial than 20 unopposed shots, in my opinion.
Exercise 3: 8 vs 8 game
This would be a good exercise to end your finishing session. The game is set up with three zones, of which two are goal zones and one is the main playing area. The two teams are organised according to the team’s shape (so, for me, that is a 4-Diamond-2) with two players taken out (the full-backs, in my case). Just like in the previous exercise, the team in possession looks to play the ball into the goal zone, which the defending team can’t enter until the ball is played in there.
This type of positional game allows the team to work on everything; pressing, defensive shifting, build-up play, transitions and chance creation. The game can be flowing so there is no set attacking team, to further create a match-like exercise. Additionally, I have narrowed the goal zones to create an even more pressured environment when the defenders charge back to stop the attacker from scoring.
Conclusion
This context based session to improve finishing ability is not perfect, far from it. It’s just something I do with my players and which is typically appreciated by players and enjoyable for them, while still serving a crucial purpose in my efforts to create a well-functioning football team.
Bình luận