From Possession to the Game: Attack of Depth
In today’s article (originally published in April 2019) I present a progression that I used with a team of students and which can be addressed to all categories of competitive activity, including First Teams, but with appropriate premises:
✅ the group must be of a reasonable level (technical-tactical knowledge and skills);
✅ the group must have a high ability to concentrate (ability to stay focused for a long time), given the rather high cognitive load of the progression;
✅ in case you don’t want to risk it, propose only some steps of the progression;
This operating mode, which I have been using for a few seasons, has some huge advantages:
✅ dead times are effectively eliminated, with a drastic increase in working time;
✅ no need to travel from one exercise to another; you always remain in the same space;
✅ you don’t waste time going from one exercise to another;
✅ it is a situational job that gradually approaches the competition model;
✅ addressing the objective in progression, from simple to complex, there seems to be one better decoding of the complex situation;
Players involved: all included. This is already a first advantage, considering that possible last-minute absences could cause some exercises to be “missed”. However, the minimum number of elements necessary is 14, up to a maximum of 20.
The playing field is divided horizontally into five zones of equal size, with the respective attack zones “protected” by some shapes (posts in the figure). The five zones represent the defense zone, defensive threequarters, central zone, offensive threequarters and attacking zone. Inside the central area, a central rectangle is delimited with a tape (positioned approximately 20 cm from the ground). Having such well-defined spaces helps players visualize them more clearly, with a less abstract concept.
The size of each space and the total playing space depend as always on numerous factors, such as the number of players employed, the technical-tactical capabilities of the squad, the day of the week on which we use the proposal, etc.
The exercise is developed in several steps. The entire progression could involve an entire training session.
▶️ PHASE ONE
Form two teams and give a ball to each. Each team places two players in width (sides) but both on the same side (we will understand why shortly).
Each team moves their own ball, without actively countering the other team.
Every time I receive a pass from a teammate I can choose whether to play 1 touch to who I see or whether to move in the opposite direction.
Each team moves their ball to attack the two end zones alternately. The Blacks who, for example, start from the left, will initially attack towards the right but, once the action is concluded, they will attack the opposite area; in this way an infinite game loop is created.
When the bank attacks the depth, thus freeing the space, the closest player comes out to take his place.
to make it easier to read the situation, you can only insert your own side (if we put the sides one on each side, when the team rotates to attack the opposite area, the sides would both be in defense);
a variant could be to give the cushions a greater range of action, placing one on each side and asking them to cover the entire side of the pitch, following the development of the game;
one could think of removing the sides and allowing all the components to be inserted, increasing the cognitive load of the exercise;
The ball, before being played into the end zone, must pass through the central rectangle. This is one variant that I had inserted to force the game flows through central routes but if it is not deemed appropriate the rule can be removed and at that point also the central rectangle.
At this point we can also insert some constraints to attack the attack zone, such as:
✔️ STEP ONE: control oriented towards the attacking midfield and ball in space
✔️ STEP TWO: block play on the offensive midfielder and ball in space
✔️ STEP THREE: from the central area, parabolic passage into space
▶️ PHASE TWO
The two teams compete for possession (playing with a single ball) and line up to attack an area and defend their own (lined up in position). This time the banks line up on both sides (one on each side).
In the central rectangle you cannot tackle but the ball must always pass through the center before it can be played in the attacking zone.
The rule continues to apply: “I play 1 touch to whoever I see or 2 touches, orienting myself towards the opponent’s defense zone.
The objective is to attack the opponent’s goal with one of the 2 offensive wingers in the manner previously seen.
You get 1 point by driving to the goal in one of the 2 small doors and 2 points if you manage to lead into the furthest door, compared to the outside player entering (if the left bank enters, leading into the right door is worth two points).
The defense can lower itself to counter only vertically.
For the role of wingers, I personally chose to field only the players from the offensive department or the wingers in defense. When an outsider joins in, his place will be freely taken by one of the other members responsible for doing so.
