Defending When Outnumbered How to defend when your opponents counter attack

Logistics Ideal number of players: – 12 including 2 goalkeepers Kit: – 2 goals – 4 cones – 2 sets of coloured bibs (orange and purple in this example)

Desired Outcomes Technical/Tactical Defending when outnumbered or out of position: Players in position: delay – how? Players out of position: recovery runs – where to? GK – defend space behind defenders (Counter-attacking ) Psychological Awareness – where is the threat, what do I need to do, where do I need to be? Decision making – where is the real threat? Don’t track poor/offside runs Physical This is a “full on” session with lots of running and aerobic activity. Be prepared to adjust the pitch size if necessary based on fitness levels Social Team work and communication – both attackers and defenders need to communicate well in order to succeed Fun – this is a competitive session which both sides will be desperate to win!

Set Up Small pitch – I used 25 x 30 with U13s. Goal at either end Two teams of 6 including goalkeepers Two cones on each side, marking the 1/3 and 2/3 points Goalkeepers start in position, all other players start behind the goal they are defending Outfield players should number themselves 1-5

Basic Premise Each team has five attempts to score a goal (more if you have higher numbers of players, but 6 v 6 works well) In each attempt, they have an overload (e.g. 2v1, 3v2), but only 1 minute in which to take advantage and score a goal The team with the most goals after their 5 attempts is the winner

The Game In this example oranges attack first Their GK starts the game by rolling the ball to Player #1 Players 1 and 2 start their attack, while Purple player #1 must defend. Oranges have 1 minute in which to score. If the purple defender steals the ball he can counter and attempt to score at the other end If the ball goes out of play, or the purple goalkeeper has possession of it in his hands, that turn is over

The Game (Continued) Once the oranges first turn is over (either because they scored, the ball has gone dead, or the minute is up), all players return to their starting positions. The next turn starts with the orange GK again – he rolls the ball to player #1, who is this time joined by players 2 and 3 Purples this time have defenders 1 and 2 in play (i.e. they face a 3 v 2 situation) 3 rd turn is 4 v 3, 4 th turn is 5 v 4, and the final turn is 5 v 5 (no overload) Once oranges have had their 5 attacks, the roles switch and purples have their 5 attacks. (This time start with player #5 first, then #4, etc) The team who score the most goals win Round 1

Progression = Round 2 Exactly the same set up and rules as before, but this time in Turn 1, Purples have defender #1 on the pitch as before. Defender #2 must run from behind his goal round one of the far cones and try to get back to help defend, i.e. make a recovery run. In turn two, defenders #1 and #2 are on the pitch, #3 tries the recovery run, etc This means that in Round 2 each team only has 4 turns. As before, once oranges have had all their attacks, the roles reverse and purples attack As before, the defending team can counter and try to score at the other end (within the given one minute) The winner is the team who score most goals across the 2 rounds 1 2

General Thoughts/Comments With 12 players (including goalkeepers), the two rounds will take almost half an hour (but see next page) – 5 x 1 minute x 2 = 10 minutes – 4 x 1 minute x 2 = 8 minutes – Plus time for them to number themselves, get organised between turns, etc With a warm-up activity and a match before/after, this will make a fun and tiring one hour session As well as the desired technical (defending) outcomes, defenders will face opportunities to counter attack, and attackers are forced to work together, attack at pace, dribble, pass, shoot, etc. Goalkeepers work as defenders, communicate, play the ball out from the back…there’s so much in this session!

Review Overall the session worked well, but it does take a while to explain. Well worth having session diagrams to show them, and then have a “dry run”/demo of Round 1 and Round 2 to make sure they understand the rules and what they are trying to achieve The three things the boys felt they got out of it were: – The defender who is in position must delay the attack as long as possible – The defender out of position must get back between the ball and the goal as quickly as possible – When the attackers have an overload they need to exploit it quickly, before other defenders get back In reality, the 1 minute rule needs to change to 30s. In two rounds (game + progression), I never once had to call “time” – the ball had always gone dead or a goal had been scored long before the 1 minute mark The fact the defenders could counter attack and score was a big motivator for them