Attacking Set Plays

This article is a series of four attacking set plays from the edge of the penalty area. The material is provided by Soccerperformance.org, a great web site for soccer coaches that includes many interesting articles including animated drills and training sessions. Visit them at www.soccerperformance.org

Variation One A passes to B. B moves to the ball, fakes to shoot and then plays the ball back to the left. C moves to the left side of A and shoots at goal, wrong-footing the goalkeeper.

Organization  Half football field + normal size goal.  Personal choice of coach for the number of attackers to be included.   The session can be rehearsed with or without defenders (at the beginning). Tips  Concentrate on the delivery of the passes, speed, angle...  Concentrate on the quality of the shot - always hit the target.  The player who goes to shoot but in fact plays the ball to his left must really emphasize that he is the one to shoot in order to fool the defense before playing the ball to his teammate on his left.  The player in the wall should move off the wall in order to fool the defense even more into thinking that the shot will come from this side of the pitch.  Click here for an animated version of this diagram - http://www.soccerperformance.org/drills/freekick1.htm

Variation Two A passes to B. B moves to the ball and fakes to shoot and then plays a through-pass to his C who is on the end of the wall. C fakes to move toward the kicker and then turns to receive the through-pass so that he is now facing the goal and can shoot.

Organization  Half football field + normal size goal.  Personal choice of coach for the number of attackers to be included.   The session can be rehearsed with or without defenders (at the beginning). Tips  Concentrate on the delivery of the passes, speed, angle etc and on the quality of the shot - always hit the target.  The player who goes to shoot but in fact plays the ball forwards must really emphasize that he is the one to shoot in order to fool the defense before playing the ball through to his teammate.  The player in the wall who moves off the wall must be careful to time his movements in order not to be caught offside. His teammates on the side of the penalty area must try to drag their markers away to create more space for the pass.  Click here for an animated version of this diagram - http://www.soccerperformance.org/drills/freekick2.htm

Variation Three A passes to B. B stops the ball. C moves to the ball, fakes to shoot and instead, chips the ball over the wall. The player on the end of the wall turns, moves onto the ball and volley's the ball toward the goal.

Organization  Half football field + normal size goal.  Personal choice of coach for the number of attackers to be included.   The session can be rehearsed with or without defenders (at the beginning). Tips  Concentrate on the delivery of the passes - speed, flight, angle etc and on the quality of the shot - always hit the target.  The player who goes to shoot but in fact plays the ball over the wall must really emphasize that he is the one to shoot in order to fool the defense before playing the ball through.  The player in the wall who moves off the wall must be careful to time his movements in order not to be caught offside. His team-mates on the side of the penalty area must try to drag their markers away to create even more space.  Click here for an animated version of this diagram - http://www.soccerperformance.org/drills/freekick3.htm

Variation Four A passes to B. B dribbles the ball forward drawing the defender toward him. B fakes to shoot, then passes the ball to C. C shoots a swerving shot toward the far post.

Organization  Half football field + normal size goal.  Personal choice of coach for the number of attackers to be included.   The session can be rehearsed with or without defenders (at the beginning). Tips  Concentrate on the delivery of the passes - speed, flight, angle etc and on the quality of the shot - always hit the target.  The player who goes to shoot but in fact passes must really emphasize that he is the one to strike at goal in order to fool the defense before playing the ball to his left.  His teammates on the side of the penalty area must try to drag their markers away to create even more space.

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