As was shown in the Barcelona v Chelsea game, there is a lot to be said for positive, and sometimes opportunistic, approach play in football.
When the ball is turned over and possession is lost it's important you put pressure on the attacking team collectively, from congesting the midfield to cutting off the channels and preventing the fast break. The key here is to force the error quickly, regain possession and look for depth once again (this is what lead to Drogba's extra time goal).
To get your side defending with a Chelsea-like-doggedness we start this session with a number of agility drills to work on fast footwork and explosiveness without the ball, preparing your players to apply pressure on the ball quickly, as soon as they have lost it. Following this we then focus on the following defensive techniques:
in more ways than one
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in more ways than one
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Roughly a fifth of Premier League goals come from set pieces, and the gap between teams who plan their routines and teams who do not has never been wider. Here is how the modern set-piece specialists design attacking corners, free kicks, and throw-ins - and how you can apply their ideas at any level.
The next frontier in football coaching is not physical, it is mental. Cognitive load training - the deliberate use of perception, decision-making and dual-task demands inside football drills - is reshaping how the best academies develop players. Here is what it means and how to use it.
If the last decade taught us about pressing, this one is teaching us about what stands behind it. Rest defence is the shape your team holds while attacking, and it is the difference between dominating a game and getting picked off on the counter.
