When talking to coaches about their experiences implementing a possession style of play with their teams the number one challenge expressed by nearly every coach is, “We can out possess the other team all day, but we struggle going forward and creating chances.”
Ah, yes. The final third. It’s where all of our hard work continually breaks down and causes us the most frustration.
For my club, it was the biggest frustration of our first season implementing the philosophy club-wide. We consistently outplayed the opponent for a majority of the game, failed to create (and finish!) enough chances, and would lose on one break down that resulted in a goal for the opposing team. It was the story of nearly every team in the club.
It was discouraging as hell!
When I traveled to Barcelona for the first time in Spring of 2013 it was one of my primary curiosities, “how do they train to be so effective in the final third?”
MANAGING TRANSITIONS
My previous post on managing transitions is a good place to start when looking to improve effectiveness in the final third. If you haven’t already, make sure to check it out.
DELIBERATE CHOREOGRAPHY
That is right, choreography; pre-planned patterns of play. In our coaching clinic they showed us how they train choreographed moves going to goal. After training two or three patterns they put them into an opposed-game with an offside zone. The attacking team could only enter the offside zone if they used a choreographed pattern. And (surprise!) if the defense won the ball they transitioned to attack (there are many variations of how the defense could score).
Attacking Pattern #1 (example)
Attacking Pattern #2 (example)
Attacking Pattern #3 (example)
The next phase was to put the players into a small-sided game (7v7 or 8v8) going to goal. They still used the offside zone, however. A player is a not allowed to receive the ball while standing in the offside zone (regardless of where the defenders are) unless they were played into the area via combination play. This eliminated any sort of poaching or overly direct play. Players had to earn their right to attack goal. Once a team successfully played into the offside/scoring zone they all could enter and attack goal.
Pay close attention to team shape in this 6v6+GKs game.
SHOOTING AND FINISHING
Even the shooting and finishing phase builds off of the choreography. At FCB’s Ciutat Esportiva one evening I watched a group of U8s use this passing pattern, which falls more into the realm of automatism, rather than straight choreography:
Here is another FCB shooting and finishing activity that they use in both the academy and the Escola. Don’t just take this at face value. The key components are obvious! Dig deeper and consider the possible nuance.
2v1 Shooting and Finishing Exercise
(All animations and images created using Efficiency Match)
AUTHENTIC SHOOTING AND FINISHING
The problem with the standard shooting and finishing activities we see out on the field here in the US, is a majority of them are unopposed and lack game authenticity. Very rarely to players actually find themselves in those trained situations in an actual game.
In Spain, they love to use these close goals games in training because they replicate what it is like when the ball is close to goal in an actual game. Players must recognize when they are given the small window necessary to take a shot on goal. This is authentic and more likely to transfer to the actual game.
At La Masia they use variations of this type of game a lot, especially with the older ages (U13-above).
4v4+4 Close Goal Game
PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER
Coaching a successful possession-style of play requires more than just passing and receiving. Yes, rondos and positional possession games are key components to the training, but must be supplemented appropriately. Ultimately, the goal of the game is to get the ball forward and into the back of the net. Everything we do is to position ourselves to do so! We must not forget how important this part of training is.
The patterns and activities provided above are examples of the basics. We are just scratching the surface here. So while not comprehensive, it is certainly a good place to start and should provide some food for thought.
Post your questions or thoughts below!
Other posts on COACHING POSSESSION
COACHING POSSESSION SERIES: Training the Defensive Phase
Christopher Cramer 