55: Grow Coach Newsletter
Football Coaches: Develop your Coaching Craft.
Welcome from JustCoachMD. We are happy to have you on board and look forward to providing you with helpful content.
Here is What to Expect:
Coaching Craft: How to coach running beyond opponents?
Full 60-Minute Practice: 3 x practices to work on running beyond the back line and creating scoring chances.
“Possession means nothing when the opponent takes its chances.” — Franz Beckenbauer
Unlocking Possession: Creating Scoring Chances
Creating Scoring Chances Through Intelligent Runs
Creating scoring opportunities is at the heart of any attacking philosophy in football. Whether it’s an individual unlocking a defence with a moment of brilliance, pairs combining intelligently, or the collective team exploiting space, the ability to turn possession into chances is what defines successful teams.
This guide provides actionable coaching points, thought-provoking questions, and tactical considerations to help your players excel in possession and create consistent goal-scoring opportunities.
Use these insights to develop your team’s ability to unbalance defences and capitalise on the moments that matter.
Key Coaching Points
Here are key points, questions, and tactical considerations to help you coach the topic of producing scoring chances effectively, focusing on individuals, duos, trio’s, and collective team play:
Individual Focus
Key Questions:
Are you in a position to receive the ball where you can impact the attack?
What is the best way to unbalance your direct opponent (e.g., dribbling, passing quickly)?
Tactical Considerations:
How can you exploit your marker’s weaknesses?
What cues from teammates or opponents tell you it’s time to play forward or hold possession?
Duo and Trio Focus (Combinations)
Third-Man Runs: A player makes a run after playing the ball to create depth.
Wall Passes: Use one-twos in tight spaces to bypass defenders.
Overlaps/Underlaps: Create width and overloads in wide or central areas.
Synchronisation: Timing runs and passes to exploit gaps in the defence.
Key Questions:
How can you use your teammate’s movement to create or exploit space?
When is the right time to combine versus holding the ball or switching play?
Coaches Tactical Considerations:
Are your duos and trio’s movements and actions drawing defenders out of position?
How can you disguise your combinations to prevent predictability?
Collective Team Play
Key Questions:
Are we creating overloads or isolating key players in 1v1 situations?
How can we identify and exploit defensive weaknesses as a unit?
Coaches Tactical Considerations:
Is the collective structure creating consistent scoring opportunities (e.g., through overlaps, cutbacks, or crosses)?
Are players maintaining the right balance between risk-taking and ball security?
“To win, you have to score one more goal than your opponent.” — Johan Cruyff
Full Practice: Running Beyond
4v2 into 2v1 | Running Beyond | Breakout Practice
⚽️ Created On: @SSPlanner
Aim:
Develop patient possession to spot the correct time to slide in a runner.
Set-Up:
Five zones are required to play the game. The attacking team uses three-thirds: a central third where the game starts in a 4v2, and two outer zones on either side of the centre that the attacking team breaks out into.
The approximate pitch size would be 50 yards - by 24 yards (Outer zones are 20 deep and the central zone is 10 deep)
The defending team have the orange-shaded zones (A defender in each) and two defenders in the centre of the pitch.
👕 Teams: ⚫️s vs 🔴s plus 🟢s support the team with the ball.
How to Play:
4 x⚫️s vs 2 x 🔴s start the practice centrally. The ⚫️s must connect at least 2 passes then look to slide in a runner beyond the orange shaded zones.
Within the orange zones is a screening defender 🔴 who can intercept through balls. This player also becomes the defender if the ⚫️s break out.
Once in the outer zone, the ⚫️ must use the 🟢s as support to help them. This creates a 2v1 situation as one 🟢 can join in to help the attacking team score in the mini-goal.
If the 🔴s win the ball they can use the 🟢s to score. The 🔴s score by dribbling into the corners of the pitch.
🚧 Constraints:
🏆Reward: Extra time as the attacking team for consecutive steaks of breakouts and goals.
👨🏫 Review: The timing of the run and the quality of the pass.
🚫 Restriction: Touch limits in the central zone.
4v4 + 2 | Half Space Support | Runs Beyond the Backline
⚽️ Created On: @SSPlanner
Aim:
Develop three-player connections to create scoring chances.
Set-Up:
On a 50 by 30-yard pitch set up two inside channels that run up the pitch (orange zones). Then add 10-yard end zones at each end of the pitch for the attacking teams to break into.
Each team has a pair of mini-goals to defend.
👕 Teams: ⚫️s vs 🔴s with 🟡s acting as support
How to Play:
The game has normal conditions for the ⚫️s and 🔴s. They attack and defend an endzone each. The 🟡s are fixed into the orange zones and must help the attacking team play their way into the end zones.
When a team breaks out into the end zone 2 x attackers can go and 1 x defender can recover.
🚧 Constraints:
🏆Reward: The attacking team keep the ball if they score.
👨🏫 Review: Players read the pictures the game presents and move to become the third player that receives the ball.
🚫 Restriction: Could start the game by only allowing 1 attacker to break into the end zone and zero defenders but attackers have 1 touch to finish once they are in there.
5v5 | 3 Lanes | Small Sided Game
⚽️ Created On: @SSPlanner
Aim:
Improve timing of runs and weight of passes.
Set-Up:
On a 50 by 30 pitch with end zones built in (orange), the pitch split into three lanes. Add a pair of mini-goals at each end.
👕 Teams: ⚫️s vs 🔴s
How to Play:
Each team attacks and defends an end zone (orange). The game has a condition that a goal and assist cannot happen within the same lane.
The defenders are not allowed to enter the orange zones and the attackers have one touch to score once they are in there.
🚧 Constraints:
🏆Reward: Double goals for a slide into the orange zone and a cutback finish from a different player.
👨🏫 Review: Movement off the ball to show the passer where to play the ball.
🚫 Restriction: Through balls into the orange zone have to be off 1 or 2 touches.
“Tiki-taka is founded upon team unity and a comprehensive understanding in the geometry of space on a football field.”- Unknown
“Good players see space; great players create it. Runs off the ball confuse defenders and open the game.”– Arsène Wenger
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