Counter Attacking from deep

Consider: in possession
Formation: 1-2-3-2
Primary player/unit 10
Secondary unit 9&1;
Specific area of pitch: Trigger in and around penalty area to set up counter attack 'beyond'

LEARNING OUTCOMES
What do I want my players to achieve?

• Quick decision making to exploit opposition who may be unbalanced after losing possession
• Goalkeeper to assess further safest pass options
• Speed of attacks after winning possession (control the tempo)
• Movement of 10&9 to expose potential 2v1 opportunities
• Timing and movement of support runs from midfield (passing on the ground to feet and into space)
• Move forward up the pitch quickly with quality ball control
• Combination and interplay of 9&10

Does it relate to match day?
Yes - exploiting counter attacking opportunities are paramount to creating goal scoring opportunities

Principle of play
Attacking - Penetration, Create Space, Movement, Support, Creativity
Technical Components - Passing, Receiving, Turning, Dribbling, Finishing

KEY PICTURES
What are the game related pictures I want to recreate?
Opposition defender starts practice by playing ball through ball to opposition goalkeeper (transition)

PICTURE 1

• Attacking 10&9 to provide immediate option for goal keeper to distribute the ball to them as they expose a 2v1 situtation
• GK to play direct into attacking half to 9 or 10
• Creative combination play between 9&10 to create goal scoring opportunity
• Support provide by midfielders 7, 11, 4 (support options beyond, beside, behind, between)
• Tempo of passing (is one touch possible? Decision making on exploiting space by dribbling or passing)

PICTURE 2

• If opportunity to pass to 9&10 from GK is not available, option to is to exploit wide areas. GK to look to supply 7 or 11 on the weak side
• Supporting option from 9&10 to either attack the space for a forward pass from 7 or 11 or
• Pull away with cleaver movement allowing 7 or 11 to attack space by dribbling with the ball
• 9&10 rotation /cross over runs to create space (expose defenders) and support the decision making of 7/11 (dribble, pass, shoot)

PICTURE 3

• If opportunity to pass to 9&10, or midfielders is not available, option to play to 5 or 6 as next safest pass
• Movement of 5/6 to create space by splitting, look to receive pass from GK on back foot, side or to play forward quickly (furthest safest pass) to 9/10 or into midfield

COACHING DETAIL
What detail will help the player improve their understanding and performance?

• Transition from out if possession (compactness) to in possession (wide and depth)
• Timing of runs to exploit space (looking to receive pass into feet or space in front)
• Body position forward
• Timing and movement of supprting runs
• Speed and accuracy of passing over ground
• Interplay / combination of 9&10 and supporting midfielders

PRACTICE DESIGN
Area layout and size:60x40 (divided into three areas of 20, 20, 40 x 40 wide)

Other considerations:

• Realism from start of practice. Consider is the ball played from opposition defender direct to GK makes the game active quick enough. Would playing through to striker and recovering defender be more beneficial? How quickly do we progress this practice in to match based practice.

Scoring system:

• If counter attacking team can score within 10 seconds of GK receiving ball from opposition goal counts as two.
• If opposition with the ball back during play, same rule applies (effectively encouraging fast speed of thought to counter attack by both teams)
  

​Players per team:

• 1-2-3-2 vs 1-2-3-1 (8v7 creating the unbalanced counter attacking opportunities)