Total Finishing: Finish All Areas

The second part of Kevin Nicholson’s Total Finish Trilogy brings the final pass into play with attackers scoring from all parts of the penalty area from good possession and passing.

Why use it

This is a fantastic practice for coaching players to finish from all areas of the penalty box – great to get young players shooting on sight with one touch .

Set up

You need balls, cones and a goal. Take a moment to check out the layout of the session and follow it closely. You need three players on one side of the penalty area to serve balls in – they can swap sides to serve from different areas. Two wide players with two wide midfielders plus two attackers on the end line either side of goal. Two groups of three attackers are in the centre and on the half-way line. The defenders line up beside the goal - 5 in all. We used 21 players in the session.

How to do it

The three servers on the edge of the penalty area pass back to one of the players in the centre then runs around the centre cone to attack the area and support the pass. On this trigger a player from the half way line starts his run to the penalty are to link up with the first attacker and server and go 3v1 at goal. Then the wide midfielder passes to the winger who plays into one of the attackers on the end line. This triggers players from the centre and half-way lines to attack the penalty area and receive the ball from the end line going 3v2. Finally the penalty area servers pass back to the wide midfielder who passes to the winger and the winger attacks the penalty area to set up a goal chance for the onrushing players.

Technique

Fantastic combination play and one touch finishing with movement and passing vital to the success of the session.