How to Coach the Principles of Attack in Soccer

The principles of attack in soccer are a framework from which all good attacking soccer derives. They are the fundamental ideas that govern all good attacking soccer play. The principles of attack are based on five aspects: Depth, Penetration, Width, Mobility and Improvisation. The more of these aspects that are mastered by a team, the better that team will be. In order for a team to be proficient at them, they need to be practiced and perfected in training.

Things You'll Need

  • Players
  • Field Space
  • Goals
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Instructions

  1. Principles of Attack in Soccer

    • 1

      Practice depth in a team by playing small sided games of 4v4 and 5v5 where there is always a defender, a forward and two wingers. Expand these games to 7v7 and up be creating zones on the field, three lateral zones, in which both teams must always have at least one player in each zone whether they are attacking of defending.

    • 2

      Penetration is the act of beating defenders with the ball, either through dribbling or passing. Dribbling practice should always take place in 1v1 drills. For team penetration, play practice games on long narrow fields, to encourage dribbling and direct passing. Coach supporting players to move at angles to the ball in order to receive passes.

    • 3

      Coach width by playing games on short and wide fields, no shorter than 36 yards long. Width is the principle of employing wide players in wide players in order to stretch a defense. Width can also be coached by using wing channels with neutral wingers who can't be tackled for the ball.

    • 4

      Coach mobility by conditioning training games as man-marking games. The easiest way to do this is to have even team numbers and designate pairs of players, one from each team, to mark each other exclusively. This way, players learn to move away from markers to receive passes, to create space for the player on the ball, and to use space created by other players to improve chances of winning 1v1 battles on the field.

    • 5

      Coach improvisation by playing free games based on all the previous principles of depth, penetration, width and mobility, while also encouraging players to try new and different things in order to solve the problems created by the actions of the defending team.