Prepare players for the move to 11-a-side

Although the transition from nine-a-side to 11-a-side is maybe not as significant as going from seven-a-side to nine-a-side, it can still be daunting for players. As coaches, we must support them through this transition.

The rules of the game don’t change at this stage, unlike in the transition from seven-a-side to nine-a-side when the offside rule is added.

The only differences between nine-a-side and 11-a-side are player numbers, obviously, and the size of the field and goals. But this is significant.

An 11-a-side pitch is basically twice as big as a nine-a-side pitch. Yet, while the field is 100% bigger, the total number of players on the pitch only increases by four, approximately 22%. 

Therefore, the spaces the players will be expected to play in and the distances they will have to cover are nothing like what they will have experienced before.

Playing on a bigger pitch

When the game moves to 11-a-side, we often presume there will be more goals, as the goal nets are so much bigger, which obviously makes it easier to score.

However, because the pitch is so much bigger, it is a lot more difficult to get the ball close enough to produce a goal-scoring opportunity.

As soccer is an invasion game, its whole purpose is to maintain possession, gain territory and create opportunities to score. A bigger pitch makes this more challenging. 

There is also a greater emphasis on retaining the ball for longer periods of time within the 11-a-side game, progressing up the pitch with this possession and penetrating the different defensive lines of the opposition. 

To support the players with this, we can provide them with practices that have all of these elements within them. This often means running activities that have more of an emphasis on a larger number of players rather than an individual, 1v1 focus.

That is not to say we always have to have a full-squad practice - we can still provide players with ‘smaller pictures’ before moving on to the bigger picture stuff.

For instance, we can split the players into two groups and have two ‘mirror practices’ and then bring all of the players together for a bigger-picture practice.

Passing the ball longer distances

Another area to consider is the distances the ball can, and sometimes needs, to travel.

As coaches, we often like practices which have limited space as it requires the players to play and think quickly. These types of practices are doubtless beneficial for players - but when moving to full-sized soccer, there is a need to put them in environments where the ball travels greater distances.

Within the 11 a-side game, there are many more times when there is a need to play a longer pass; a switch of play, a long diagonal or a direct ball down the channel, for example. The players therefore need opportunities to practice these types of passes.

We can still include the shorter, sharper passing within these practices, but there needs to be a focus on longer passing, too. 

This type of play is quite often used by teams as a planned strategy; short passes to attract opposite players to the ball, before playing the ball long to exploit space in other areas of the pitch. Therefore, a practice that replicates this situation will be of benefit. 

If more repetition is required to improve the long passing technique, we can deliver practices that mainly require long passes.