Defending against attacking wingers

A great drill to get your players clearing the ball.

Clearing the ball when you have players running at you is never easy. It often needs a calm head and a reminder not to jump into the tackle and make it easy for the attacker to get past you.

So in your next coaching session run this:

What you tell your players to do:

Have a “no one is going to pass” attitude.
Concentrate on each separate activity.
Make each move as realistic and difficult as it would be in a real game.

What you get your players to do:

A – defender comes across to receive thrown pass.
B – serves a ball to A.
A – makes headed clearance with height and distance.
D – immediately dribbles down the line and crosses for B.
B – gets into the box to score.
A – must react after initial clearance and get back to defend the cross.
C – once cross is defended, dribbles into the box and tries to score.
A – defend 1 v 1 against player C.

The defender gets one point for each successfully cleared ball but the attackers get two points for each goal scored. This will add to the competitiveness, concentration and intensity of the practice.

If you found your players enjoyed this session why not give them more? Simply click here and for just 97p you can get 8 weeks of coaching ideas from West Ham Academy Director Tony Carr.