Players, this is what we will talk about tonight during our Tactical Traning... These are some of the basics you need to understand...
With our conditioning program we will be most fit team... and with our tactical training we will be the smartest team!
“Passing to OPEN SPACE and movement off the ball” - Being able to pass to open space, anticipating passes to open space and your teammate’s "movement off the ball"
Playing this way allows a team to have a much faster, more fluid and more creative attack. It is a way of thinking, as opposed to "passing to feet". A player who can only pass to feet and who doesn't know how to pass to space or move to create space is very limited.
“Center of the field" - The center of the field is the area between the 2 goals (as opposed to the "wings" or sides of the field where the sidelines are). The center of the field is where the "Center Fullback", "Center Midfielder" and "Center Forward" mostly play. When your coaches say "center it", we usually mean to kick the ball to the area in front of the goal.
“Middle of the field" - The middle of the field is the area of the field that includes the "Halfway Line". Many coaches say "go to the middle" when they really mean "go to the center".
"Attacking Third" - The Attacking Third is the third of the field that is closest to your opponent's goal (i.e., the goal the opposing Goalie defends). When our team attacks, we want our Forwards and our Midfielders to get the ball into the Attacking Third. When our opponent is attacking our goal, we will not have any players in the Attacking Third, since our Midfielders will probably have dropped back near your "Penalty Box" line to help defend and your Forwards will have dropped back to the Halfway Line or to the inside of the "Center Circle" so they are in position to win "cleared" balls. This “shifting " with the ball is very important so you have "support" on offense and defense).
"Middle Third" - The Middle Third is the third of the field that includes the "Halfway Line" and the "Center Circle". When we attack, if our Fullbacks (Defenders) "Push Up" they will come up into the Middle Third. When our opponent is attacking our goal, our Forwards should come back into the Middle Third to the Halfway Line or even to the inside of the Center Circle so they are in position to win "cleared balls".
"Defensive Third" - The Defensive Third is the third of the field that includes our goal (our goal is the one your Goalie defends). Our Fullbacks (Defenders) will spend most of their time in the Defensive Third unless our Fullbacks "Push Up" when we attack. Our Midfielders should drop back into our Defensive Third to help out when our goal is under attack, but our Forwards should not come into your Defensive Third, because if they do there won't be anyone in position to win the ball when our Fullbacks or Midfielders "Clear" the ball.
Coach Jim
