We are glad to welcome Tim Lees back as our contributor this week. The following text and training activities have been taken directly from Tim’s latest book – ‘Developing an Elite Coaching Philosophy in Possession’. Over the coming weeks we will post excerpts and further activities from the book.
Tim has experience working within the elite professional academy system in the UK. He worked at Watford and Wigan Athletics’ academies. At Wigan, where we was the Youth Development Manager until August 2014, he oversaw the coaching programs and philosophy under Roberto Martinez. In August 2014 he announced he would be leaving Wigan and was joining Liverpool as part of their Academy staff.
He is also Academy Director of Soccer School UK, based in Warrington, UK. He holds a BSc Hons Degree in Sport Psychology, a UEFA A Licence and has been a guest speaker at several youth national coaching events.
To purchase the latest book, which has elite level session plans and exercises, visit www.playfromtheback.com.
Follow Tim Lees on Twitter: @timlees10
*Excerpts from ‘Developing an Elite Coaching Philosophy in Possession’
The Starting Point: 2019 and Beyond
In order to develop players for the future, we first must have excellent knowledge of the end. The starting point therefore when designing a long term player development programme, must be to understand what the game will demand of elite players in five years time and beyond. If we prepare a thirteen year old for the elite game as it stands now, that skill-set might not be as relevant in a few years time. The best managers speak about how the speed of the Premier League increases each pre-season. This progression must be put under the microscope in all four Long Term Player Development areas; technically, tactically, psychologically and physically, the latter seeing the biggest change with each successive year. At the outset this may appear to involve some guess work, but using stats at the elite level over the last ten years we can draw several conclusions:
• There are 48% more successful passes than in 2004
• 80% of passes are now one or two touch
• 78% of passes are now under 25 yards
• Games can feature over 1000 passes per game
• There is much less time and space in the opponents half
• Players rotate and play in multiple positions per game
• There are twice as many receiving situations than in 2004
In short, these points mean that it will be vital to produce technical players who can receive in tight spaces under pressure, can play quick combinations, can dominate players in 1v1 situations and be tactically flexible in order to find space.
*Excerpt from Page 8
This manual contains opposed sessions only. There are no unopposed drills, movement patterns or repetitive technical practices. This is not to say I neglect these type of sessions at all but my personal philosophy is that I believe players should be training as close to the real game as possible, as often as possible. I believe in constantly putting players in scenarios they will face on a weekend (game), making realistic decisions frequently and consistently. The best way for players to learn how to play the real game is to play the real game. If it doesn’t look like the real thing then why bother as it won’t transfer across the weekend.
The following are sample activities from Tims book:
Developing Movement of Strikers:
Setup:
A 7v6 is organised as follows: 7 attacking players vs. 5 opponents + goalkeeper. 5v3 in deep zone, 2v2 + GK in advanced zone: Players must remain in their respective zones.
Developing Movement of the Front Two:
The 5v3 in the deep zone represents realism to the game; Black team set up as 3 Defenders + 2 Midfield players ahead. The Defensive team (Red) sets up as 2 Central Defenders, 2 screening Midfielders + 1 Striker. Play begins with a pass from Coach (C). Priority is to pass the ball to the top zone Strikers (S1+S2). Passes must be varied depending on the screening midfielders positioning; Possibilities – passed through the lines, lofted over the press, disguised, bounced off C. Mid to pull screeners out.
Coaching Points:
- Once the buildup play and patterns have been established, the Strikers must work different kinds of movements to create goalscoring opportunities
Progression:
Setup:
A 7v6 is organised as follows: 7 attacking players vs. 5 opponents + goalkeeper. 5v3 in deep zone, 2v2 + GK in advanced zone: Players must remain in their respective zones.
In the diagram, the left-sided player has bounced the ball off one of his Central Midfield players; Striker (S1) has pulled away from the central area – a passing lane to the feet of Striker (S2) has been created.
Individual Coaching Points:
- Late / Explosive movements to get behind
- Dragging defender deep to spin in behind
- Laziness on the buildup then ‘trigger’ for movement when teammate gets his head up
- Pinning and retaining in 1v1 situations (pressure behind)
Group of Two Coaching Points:
- Opposite movements – react to each other
- One to drag defender deep / laterally, creating space for other Striker to spin in behind
- Combination play, one-two, around corners, etc.
Establishing the Press
Setup:
Playing area divided into 3 zones. Goalkeepers are utilised in full-sized goals. Zones (A) include 2 Defensive players vs. 1 Striker; the Central Zone is 3v3 + 1 Floater. **Floater acts as an extra DEFENSIVE player for the team out-of-possession.
Instructions:
2 Themes: Playing Out of Pressure / Establishing the Press:
Play starts with either Goalkeeper.
Team in possession: Attempt to create situations to play forward through the central 3 players.
Defensive Team: Work together on ‘Pressing’ techniques / application. Extra ‘Floater’ on the defensive team creates confidence in establishing the ‘press’ in various areas.
Coaching Points:
- Extra ‘floater’ will allow success in various situations – shutting down lines, pressing high, flooding the opponent’s half, etc.
- Steer the team in possession into predictable areas, tot he sidelines, a quarter of the pitch in order to regain possession