Attack v Defence is what football is all about.
How to set your defence up to repel an attack, and how your attack can break down the defence.
But its not just as straight forward as 2 attackers running at 2 static defenders.
These Attack v Defence Drills look at the different ways the scenarios can arise and how you can set up in training.
Defending – The Key Principles
Here is a little video that you should show your defenders that will really help them with these drills
Attack v Defence – 2 v 2 Head on
This is a great drill and it can be reversed which changes it up altogether.
2 x Defenders start on the Goal Line.
2 x Forwards start on the halfway line.
Defender plays the ball to one of the Forwards, the Forwards then start their attack and try and score a goal past the keeper.
Defenders have to stop the goal and then try and pass the ball through the two coned goals on the halfway line.
The alternative option is to switch who starts with the ball.
Same setup as above, but this time the Forwards pass the ball to the defenders, and they have to play their way out and try and reach the halfway line goals.
Forwards have to Press, try and win the ball back and score themselves.
Not only will it teach your defenders how to defend together, it will teach your forwards how to defend from the front.
How to Press the players, rather than both chasing the ball, to cut out options and force a mistake, and then how to turn that over into a goalscoring opportunity.
It will also teach defenders how to play out from the back, and give them confidence to receive the ball in potentially challenging scenarios.
Its a great way to encourage Goalkeepers to be involved in that as well. To get them talking to the defence, and if needs be, offering themselves for a pace to turn a 2 v 2 into a 3 v 2 and therefore allow the defenders to think about creating space to play out.
Communication is so important. Getting your players to talk to each other on the pitch can be really difficult for a number of reasons. Getting them talking during drills like this will only help them improve
Scale it Up
Start off all at first, get them used to the concept, then start bringing in some rules
- 4 touches / 3 touches / 2 touches
- Defenders can only “score” from 5 yards away
- Forwards must be in the box to score.
- Must be a first time finish
The ways you can tweak it are limitless, the more often you do the drill, the better they get and the more there understanding grows.
Attack v Defence – 2 v 2 – Chasing Defender
The next Attack v Defence – 2 v 2 is with one Defender already in the defensive zone. 2 Strikers out wide, and a tracking defender starting alongside the Forwards in the middle of the pitch.
The Key element to this, is that the tracking defender can’t move for 3-5 seconds after the forwards receive the ball from the defenders.
After that, they are released to track back and help their defender out.
During those 3-5 seconds, the player should be encouraged to see what is developing in the play and assess where they are most needed.
The other defenders job is to DELAY. As per the Video from @traineffective / effectivecamps
Delay the attackers to allow the tracking defender to get back into play and give them backup.
So its all about positioning and body position.
Placing themselves between the two attackers so they can’t pass forwards and get through on goal.
Placing themselves in a position where they are forcing the attacker out wide
Buying time for re-enforcements to get back into position.
Attack v Defence – 2 v 2 – Static & Chasing Defender
The next Attack v Defence – 2 v 2 is with one Defender already in the defensive zone on edge of the area. 2 Strikers out wide, and a tracking defender starting alongside the Forwards in the middle of the pitch.
The forwards start with the ball and can pass as much as the like to create the space before the tracking defender joins in.
Real emphasis on the one defender to slow the play down and real emphasis on the forwards to move the defender around to create the space.
Again, communication and movement key here to create that opportunity.
What other drills
In preparation for this drill and in terms of teaching your defenders the Key Principle of DELAY. This Back Peddling and Controlling the attacker drill is perfect and ideally would be used before going into these Attack v Defence drills.
As a follow on from these drills, this Linking Play Drill is a great way for defenders to start the transition from defence into attack.
