Opening playing variants against various defense systems. Jörg Madinger

their ball (

plays double passes with

, and

with

). The other groups do the same.

      - As soon as the groups have arrived at the opposite goal line, they run back to the upper goal line, while passing their ball again.

      - The teams should do several rounds (two lines each), using different passing variants (direct passes, bounce passes, passes behind the back, and so on).

      Course 2 (upper half figure):

      - The two teams of 2 now are a group of 4.

      - Initially,

and

each have a ball.

      - The four players start running in direction of the opposite goal line (A).

      -

, and

to

(B).

      - After the pass,

and

cross without a ball (C) and receive the ball back from the player on the other side (D).

      - They pass the ball back to the player on the wing (E) before initiating another crossing (F) and then receiving another return pass (G), and so on.

      - In the upper half, the players switch positions and repeat the sequence on their way back.

      - The players should run four lines in total, each player on each position once.

      

The players should pass the balls simultaneously in order to maintain the overall flow. They should also pay attention and time their passes and movements properly.

      Course 3 (bottom half figure):

      - The four players start running in direction of the opposite goal line (H).

      -

(J).

      - After the pass,

and

cross without a ball (K) and receive the ball back from the player who received their pass (L).

      - Now they should play long passes to the opposite wing (M), initiate a crossing without a ball in the center (N), catch the return pass (O), and so on.

      - In the upper half, the players switch positions and repeat the course on their way back.

      - The players should run four lines in total, each player on each position once.

      A5.2 Preparatory exercise 2: Goalkeeper warm-up shooting

      Setting:

      - Define the starting positions with two cones (see figure).

      Course:

      -

starts by passing the ball to the coach (A).

      - Following the pass,

and

cross without a ball (B and C), and

receives a pass from the coach, into his running path (D).

      -

shoots at the goal as instructed (e.g. top right / bottom right / top left / bottom left) (E).

      - The goalkeeper should observe the players from the goal center, touch the left post in a well-timed manner (for shots at the right) (F), and then try to save the ball shot at the right side of the goal (G).

      -

lines up behind

picks up a new ball and lines up behind

(J).

      - Immediately after the coach’s pass (D),

starts the course over.

      

The players should do the course on the other side as well, i.e. the center back crosses with the right back (without a ball).

      A5.3 Implementation: Crossing without a ball in two variants

      Course:

      - Two teams play against each other 6-on-6. The defense players play a 6-0 defense system.

      - The attacking players play 10 attacks; they get one point for each goal.

      - Switch tasks after 10 attacks. Which team scores highest?

      Offense tasks:

      - In each attack, the players should use one of the two initial actions.

      - They may keep playing freely afterwards.

      (Figure 1)

      Initial action 1:

      - Following the pass from

to

moves to the left (B).

      -

crosses dynamically behind

(C) and receives a pass from

(D).

      - Afterwards,

may either break through directly (E) (= option