Italian Training Concepts - Part 2 

Create Finishing Chances and Score - 24 Positional and Small Sided Games

Author: Luca Bertolini
Edited by: Peter Schreiner
Editor: Institute of Youth Soccer, Essen – Germany
Pages: 48 Graphics: 38

Description:

In this second e-book by Luca Bertolini the main theme is the organization of positional games involving eleven players (goalkeeper included) with the three classic roles of these games: players with possession, without possession and free players as support to the team with possession. One of the main goals is to create always numerical superiority for the players in possession to allow them to have the chance to finish and score.

The most important difference with all the other positional possession games is that all the free players are placed in crucial roles in the games as they would have in the most important systems of play we see on the pitch in modern soccer: 1-4-3-3, 1-4-2-3-1, 1-3-5-2, 1-4-4-2.

Another interesting focus of this e-book are the never-ending transitions phases of the exercises; the goal to score is always the same and for this reason when the defenders recover the ball they must replace themselves on the pitch looking for the help of the free players and they look for it again when they have to organize a new attacking move. It would be very interesting to find a physical training point of view on the games; as they are small sided games, with the coach who always kicks new balls inside the pitch, they can be useful also for athletic workouts for the players, changing the role every established limit of time.

The sequence of the exercises depends on the level of complexity as the games are always organized with a goalkeeper and 4 vs 4 duels with two free players or 3 vs 3 duels with four free players; all these games are easier for the attacking team as one of the main goal is to create finishing chances and score.