1v1 battles

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What this session is about

Dribbling with the ball.
Attacking in 1v1 situations.

What to think about

Players in possession slow down as they approach a defender.
Use the arms for balance, knees bent, maintain a low centre of gravity.
Body feints and deceptive foot movements are useful. Get players to try tricks, e.g. Robinho stepover.
Commit the defender then accelerate past him.
Keep the ball within playing distance.
Encourage players to dribble with their head up.

Set-up

Warm up	Session	Development	Game Situation	Warm Down
10 minutes	15 minutes	10 minutes	15 minutes	10 minutes

What you get your players to do

Set up the three, 10-yard long technique circuits as in the top picture. The first uses a random cluster of disc cones. The second has a pole halfway along and the third has no obstacles within it.

Players, going one at a time, dribble through the cones without hitting them, move to the second run, where they use a skill (feint or stepover for example) to go past the pole then, in the third section, run with the ball at speed from one end to the other.

Start the next player in line when the player in front completes the first section of the course.

Players dribble through the cones, feint or use skill to go around the pole and sprint through the final section.

Development

Split players into two groups – defenders and attackers – on the area in the middle picture. Defenders start in one corner, attackers start centrally at the opposite end.

The drill is a series of 1v1s and begins with the first defender passing to the first attacker, who tries to dribble past the defender to the end line. The defender then joins the attacking line and attacker joins the defending line.

Related Files

core-164-1v1-battles.pdfPDF, 269 KB

A defender passes to an attacker who comes forward in a 1v1 battle. The attacker tries to dribble the ball across the end line.

Game situation

Play a small-sided game as drawn in the bottom picture with a 10-yard wide zone on each wing, running the full length of the pitch.

Only one player from each team can be in either of these wide zones at any time. Encourage the wide player to take on the opposition defender in these zones whenever possible.

This will lead to a cross and goals being scored. Goals scored following a 1v1 in a wide channel count double. The team with most goals wins.

In a small-sided game, only one player from each team can go in the wide channel with the emphasis on taking on the defender 1v1.

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Smart Sessions - Core Skills

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Coaches Testimonials

Gerald Kearney, Downtown Las Vegas Soccer Club

"I have been coaching competitive soccer for over 20 years in Las Vegas. I feel like you are my personal club director. My players and myself have learned a lot from your sessions. The exercises from Soccer Coach Weekly are easy to understand and implement. I never run out of ideas and there is always an exercise for whatever problem we need to fix. Thank you!"

Paul Butler, Florida, USA

"First and foremost, Soccer Coach Weekly is truly unique and exceptional for its clarity and for explaining the "why?", in addition to the "how?". Soccer Coach Weekly is also professionally managed - any issues, which are infrequent, are resolved in an expedient and courteous manner. I place Soccer Coach Weekly at the top of my recommendation list for any new or seasoned coach of the beautiful game."

Rick Shields, Springboro, USA

"I coach both young club players as well as players at the High School level and both genders. The talent range is wide at times, however with the use of Soccer Coach Weekly I am able to apply the information to all talent levels and player ages and make the session fun and challenging for all players. It has helped spark me at times when I am at a loss for what to do at the next training session or offers a different approach to a current problem."

Tony Green, Pierrefonds Titans, Quebec, Canada

"My team and myself are truly enjoying the Soccer Coach Weekly downloads. Pierrefonds Titans are a great group of U16 Females who compete in the Lac St-Louis Association of Montreal, Quebec, Canada."

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