An Introduction To

SMALL-SIDED GAMES
Fewer Players = More Touches

FREE
EBOOK

SOCCER COACH
WEEKLY
 FREE
EBOOK

Dear Coach,
If youre reading this, the chances are youve heard of small-sided games, but
Soccer Coach Weekly
offers modern and easy
may not have used themnot knowingly, at least.
to use football (soccer)
drills, coaching sessions,
In fact, Im certain you will have used them. After all, in its basic form a small-
practice plans, small- sided games is exactly what it sounds like, a game between two teams of
sided games, warm-ups, fewer than normal players normally 4- or 5-a-side.
training tips and advice.
The resources are created Small-sided games are popular for many reasons, some specifically relating
for the grassroots youth
coach following best to player development, others down to practicality. How many of us are able
practice from around the to run a full 11v11 game in training with limitations on space and player
world and insights from
the professional game. availability?
Using small-sided games in training gives a number of coaching benefits:
Telephone
+44 (0)1483 892894
1. More player participation
Head Coach
David Clarke 2. More touches of the ball
david.clarke@coach-soccer.
com
3. More passes attempted
Illustrations
Mike Ronald 4. More 1v1s attempted
Cover Photography
E.W. Scripps School of 5. More goals scored
Journalism/Flickr
Production
6. More goalkeeper participation
Green Star Media Ltd
7. Different games mean different problems to solve and skills to use
Customer Services
Duncan Heard I put together An Introduction To Small-Sided Games to show you how
Marketing the small-sided game in its simplest form can be developed to coach specific
James Turner
skills and tactics.
Managing Director
Andrew Griffiths The games are taken from my coaching manual 64 Small-Sided Soccer
Games. To highlight the breadth of what can be achieved with games Ive
Published by Green Star
Media Ltd, Meadow View, selected two games from the beginner, intermediate, and advanced sections
Tannery Lane, Bramley,
Guildford GU5 0AB, UK. of the manual.

Green Star Media Ltd.

But fear not! Those ratings are only relative. The basis of small-sided games is
All rights reserved. No part
of this publication may be
that the game is the teacher so even if you or your assistants - have little
reproduced in any form or or no soccer knowledge, your players will still be learning. And youll look like
by any means graphic,
electronic or mechanical, the professional soccer coach you dream of being!
including photocopying,
recording, taping or
information or storage and
I hope you enjoy the games.
retrieval systems without
the prior permission in
writing of the publishers. Yours in soccer,
Note: While every effort
has been made to ensure
the content of this book is
as technically accurate and
age appropriate as possible,
neither the authors nor
the publishers can accept
responsibility for any injury Michael Beale
or loss sustained as a result
of the use of this material.

To subscribe to
Soccer Coach Weekly
call Duncan Heard on
+44 (0)1483 892894

SOCCER COACH
WEEKLY

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Wide Pitch
Set up 1
l Pitch size: 30 x 20 yards
(minimum) up to 40 x 25 yards
(maximum)
l Place the goals on the longer
touchlines, making the pitch wide
l Two teams of four players
l Two keepers
l No offside
l If the ball leaves play, you have a
few re-start options:
1. The coach passes a new ball onto
1. The coach feeds the ball to the black team to begin attacking the white goal.
the pitch
2. The players take a roll in
3. The players take a throw in 2
4. The players make a pass in
5. The players dribble in

Rules
l The game is played on a wide pitch
that is short in length. This
encourages the following tactics
from the teams:

1. Shooting from distance

2. The wide pitch should encourage your players to shoot from distance.
2. Passing the ball into wide areas to
create crossing opportunities 3

3. It should also encourage your players to get wide and get crosses on goal.

SOCCER COACH
WEEKLY

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Possession
v Pressure 1
Set up
l Pitch size: 30 x 20 yards
(minimum) up to 40 x 25 yards
(maximum)
l Two teams of four players
l Four keepers
l No offside
l If the ball leaves play, you have a
few re-start options:
1. The coach passes a new ball onto 1. The white team pass the ball around amongst themselves.
the pitch
2. The players take a roll in 2
3. The players take a throw in
4. The players make a pass in
5. The players dribble in

Rules
l One team starts on the pitch and
passes the ball around.

l On your whistle, the team on the
outside must race onto the pitch and
try to win the ball and then score a 2. The black team enter and apply pressure on the white team.
goal.

3
l The passing team must try to keep
possession.

l The passing team can use their
keepers to keep possession of the
ball.

l The pressuring team have 30
seconds to win the ball and score a
goal - if they fail then the passing
team is awarded the goal

l Rotate the teams for the next game.
3. The black team win possession and create an attack.

SOCCER COACH
WEEKLY

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Possession BALL MOVEMENT PLAYER MOVEMENT

- Add One
1
Set up
l Outer pitch size: 30 x 30 yards
Inner pitch size: 15 x 15 yards
l Two teams of four players
l No goals

Rules
l One team act as the passing team.
1. To begin with, this is a simple 4 v 1 possession game.
l
The other team act as the defending
team. 2
l The passing team spread out into
the 15 x 15 yard area and begin the
game by playing 4v1.

l After 30 seconds, an extra defender

is added to make the game 4v2,
then another for 4v3, and then 4v4.

l The game is played for 2 minutes.

l The passing team must count the

number of successful passes that 2. Adding one more defender makes it a bit more of a challenge.
they make.
3
l The teams rotate roles for the next
game and the new passing team
tries to beat the number of passes
made by their opponents.

3. 4 v 4 takes it to another level. Which team can make the most successful passes?

SOCCER COACH
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Overload
Game 1
Continuous
Set up
l Pitch size: 30 x 20 yards
(minimum) up to 40 x 25 yards
(maximum)
l Two teams of four players
l Two keepers
l If the ball leaves play, pass a new
ball onto the pitch 1. Enter the pitch, three touches and shoot!

Rules 2

l To start the game, the first player on

the black team enters the pitch and
has three touches to score against
the white goalkeeper.

l Immediately after this ball has been

played, two white team players enter
the pitch to create a 2 v 1 situation
against the black player.

l The game continues until all the

2. Two opponents enter and try to score in the other end.
players are on the pitch. The series
of attacks is as follows:
3
Black V White
1 V Gk
1 V 2
3 V 2
3 V 4
4 V 4
l When all the players are on the
pitch, the game continues for a set
time period.

l The next game starts with the white
team attacking first. 3. Move on to 3 v 2 etc. for a different challenge each time.

SOCCER COACH
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Middle
or Wide 1
Advantage
Set up
l Pitch size: 30 x 20 yards (minimum)
up to 40 x 25 yards (maximum)
l Two keepers
l Two teams of four players
l One team play with all four players
on the pitch
1. Start with 4v2. The team in possession must look to use their use their numbers advantage to score quickly.
l The other team play with two players
on the pitch and two wide players
off the pitch 2
l This set up gives the teams different
tactics when in possession and
when defending.

Rules
White team
The white team have all four players on the
pitch.
When in possession they need to pass the
ball quickly in order to create an opening
to score a goal. 2. The black team have won possession but the white team are forcing them inside preventing use of their wide players.
In defence, this team can pressure quickly
as they have the extra players and attempt
to force the black players to play inside
3
and not towards their wide advantage.
Black team
In possession the black team need to try to
pass out wide quickly. This enables them
to get another one of their players into the
game.
The receiving wide player can choose to
dribble down the outside unopposed or
dribble onto the pitch and attempt to score.
In defence, the black team must try to drop
off and reduce the space for the white
team to exploit. 3. But the black team manage to get the ball wide and the attack is on.

SOCCER COACH
WEEKLY

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Two Goal
and End 1
Zone
Set up
l Pitch size: 30 x 20 yards (minimum)
up to 40 x 25 yards (maximum)
l Two goals, one at either side of the
pitch
l Two end zones, 5 yards deep, at
either end of the pitch
l Two teams of four players 1. The teams start 4v4 attacking the normal goals.

Rules 2

l This game is a combination of two

games - the Two Goal Game and the
End Zone Game.

l Each team attacks one goal and one
end zone. The aim of this game is to
score a goal in the goal or by
dribbling out and stopping the ball
in the end zone.

l You call out the name of the game 2. When you call for the end zone game, the attack shifts and white team try to get it to a player in an advanced position.
to be played.
3
l The players must react to your call in
order to change games quickly and
take up any advantages.

3. The white player must stop the ball in the end zone to score a goal.

SOCCER COACH
WEEKLY

8
 This free ebook is a sample from the
best-selling manual
64 Small-Sided Soccer Games

64 SMALL-SIDED
SOCCER GAMES
Fewer Players, More Touches
by Michael Beale

SOCCER COACH
WEEKLY

To buy the manual visit:

www.soccercoachweekly.net
 touchLine taLes gET ouT oF your comForT zonE THRILLS AND SKILLS ON EVERY PAGE TEAMWORK AND TACTICS TO EDUCATE YOUR PLAYERS

SOCCER COACH SOCCER COACH SOCCER COACH

WEEKLY

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WEEKLY
MAGIC
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SOCCER COACH SOCCER COACH

COMPLETE WARM-UPS
SESSIONS

WEEKLY

WEEKLY
MIDFIELDERS DRIBBLE TURN
BE A GOAL SCORING, TOUGH
CREATE A CONFIDENT gOALIE TACKLING, GAME CHANGER
GHOST INTO THE FINAL THIRD
GAMES THAT INVOLVE YOUR
ORGANISE YOUR DEFENCE PLAY LIKE MAGICIAN DAVID BLAINE
TOUCHLINE
STANDING POSITIONS
COME AND COLLECT
WIN GAMES WITH CLEVER PLAY MANAGING TALES
SET PIECE POSTIONS Learn Train Develop Enjoy
DONT LET THEM SCORE
SWAP ATTACKERS
March 11 2015 Learn Train Develop Enjoy TEMPERS
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DAVID DE GEA
safe hands FIvE MINUTE SIX TIPS
aT Man UTd >
wORkSHOP

5
< FRANK < PAUL POGBA

ATTACKS
LAMPARD JUVENTUS GENIUS

In new YORK
ON FIRE FOR
RUNNING WITH THE BALL
MANCHESTER
ONE-TWO WORKOUT
CITY

PHILIPPE COUTINHO >

FRANK LAMPARDS A MATCH WINNER CREATE OPTIONS BY

POGBA
ADDED INGREDIENTS ATTACKING FROM THE BACK
STOPPER KEEP BALL OR SHOOT!
IN CONTROL OF THE CAUGHT OUT ON THE COUNTER

SESSIONS ATTACK IN NUMBERS

TOUCHLINE bANTER LATE RUNS IN THE FINAL THIRD
ATTACK CENTRAL OR WIDE
GIVE PARENTS A PLAN FOR BEHAVIOUR ON
TECHNIQUE, VISION MATCH DAYS AND REMIND THEM OF IT
AND HARD WORK tEAm tACtiCS
ATTACKS
START AT PaSSInG
THE bEST SOCCER PRESS & < BRANISLAV

ThE bACK TRAINING TIPS GO 1V1 I SCORES

WANT TO BE THE BEST PLAYER IN THE WORLD
IVANOVIC

teCHnIQUe
GOALS
FOR CHELSEA

EvERy wEEk
> COMBINATION PASSING > FORCE MISTAKES HIGH UP
> KEEPER AND DEFENDERS FUN WAYS TO GET YOUR > ATTACK FROM HALF-WAY LINE > WORK YOUR STRIKE FORCE > SCORE LIKE POGBA
> DEFENSIVE DIAMOND > IMPROVE DEFENSIVE PRESSING
TEAM LINKING PLAY

4
proven coaching tips for your team WHY YOUNG PLAYER DECISIONS ARE NEVER WRONG TURN DEFENDERS THE BEST SOCCER PRACTICE PLANS EVERY WEEK

SCORe INTO STRIKERS

> GOAL SCORING DEFENDERS
> RECOGNISE WHEN TO ATTACK

FROM OUtSIde
tHe BOX THRILLS
WITH TONY DICICCO & SKILLS ExCLUSIVE
WARM UP / FREE-KICK / LONG SHOT EVERy wEEk SESSIONS
the best sessions for player development SOCCER PRACTICE PLANS fOR TEAm PLAy

30-DAY TRIAL
FOR 97p ATTACKING CENTRE BACKS
PSGs David Luiz scores
against Chelsea

Become a better
WORKSHOP
NEW SERIES

5 Minute Technique: Dribbling

> Dribbling and changing direction

Focus on control to Each player has a ball we

cHange direction used 6 balls in the session
SCORE LIKE POGBA This is a great warm-up to get your

coach and win

players ready for a match or training
session.

Work Your Strike Force

Key elements
> Running with the ball under control,
changing direction and passing.
> Arrange your players into two groups.

Pass, turn, shoot then move quickly to get back into position this>>session
Two balls work simultaneously.
encourages

Turn Defenders Into Strikers

The players must dribble between the
your players to get to the ball first and shoot quickly first two poles then back between the
The players make one
second two poles in order to make a pass
change of direction and
to the opposite team.
WHY USE IT make a return pass away

more games with

A server passes the ball
> Get your players to run with the ball out from the direction of run
On match days it is always
each time into the striker
who has his back to goal
GoalscoringcentraldefenderslikeThiagoSilvaandDavidLuizcanofferanattacking
of their feet and then slow down in order
great to be given the role
to change direction. threattocatchopponentsbysurprise
of attacking midfielder
> The practice is repeated for a set time

P
but players must be up
period. remier League history boasts many
to the task this session vital goals scored by centre backs
will give them a good en route to winning the title. Who
workout for scoring goals. can forget Tony Adams unstoppable
volley for double-winning Arsenal versus
Everton in 1998 or Vincent Kompanys
SET UP header for Manchester City at home to
You need balls, bibs, cones local rivals United in 2012?
and a goal. Use half your It shows that having a scoring centre
Real in his debut season, and a goal for
Madrid away to Getafe in 2007 when he
ran the full length of the pitch to slide in
a move he had started on the edge of his
own penalty area.
If you want to turn your central backs
into strikers, take note of the training
sessions on the following pages. These
will not only show you how defenders
central defenders and Chelsea also got a Words by:
goal through a central defender from a Andy Greeves
shot in the penalty area. Activities by:
Indeed Thiago Silva won the tie for PSG David Clarke
with his headed goal and moved them
into the quarter finals. Gary Cahill scored
first for Chelsea with a volley but former
Chelsea player David Luiz scored to bring
the game level at 1-1 and then Silva won

30-day trial of
normal pitch for the session. back in your team can be a real asset, not can be an attacking threat in the air at set the game for PSG on away goals.
Set up four cones 5 yards The striker must take a touch only giving extra support to your front pieces, but also how they play a part in That is some goal scoring by the PSG
from the half way line, spread and turn and shoot making men at set pieces, but also shaking things forward movement to score in open play. defenders both with headers.

5 Minute Fitness: First touch and pass

out across the pitch, with one
cone in the penalty D and two
cones on the six yard line.
HOW TO PLAY
You need a server, a
goalkeeper and a working
striker. The server passes into
the feet of the striker who
sure the shot goes through
the cones on the six yard line
If the shot misses going
through the cones it > One-two work out
doesnt count as a goal
This is all about first touch and
anticipating the pass. Good for fitness
and getting players ready for movement
and passing in matches.
up in the penalty area and enabling your To illustrate the variety of goals a central Try using the training sessions on the
team to take the opposition by surprise. defender can score, show your players the following pages and encourage your
While the Premier League can highlights of the Chelsea versus Paris St centre backs to score their fair share
currently boast its share of prolific Germain match in the Champions League. of goals, just like PSGs David Luiz and
centre backs, such as Tottenhams PSG scored both goals through their Thiago Silva and Chelseas Gary Cahill.
Jan Vertonghen, Manchester Uniteds
Nemanja Vidic, and Chelseas
The working player Then the Branislav
working TIPS FOR ATTACKING CENTRE BACKS
Ivanovic, Gary Cahill and John
player runsTerry,
around
receives and passes Ensure your attacking centre backs keep their play simple by
back to the server perhaps Europes best goalscoring
the cones to the far
defender plies his trade in and
side Spain.
repeats making quick, short passes around their own half, but they mustnt

Soccer Coach
takes a touch to move the
ball, turn and shoot through
the two cones. Then runs and
touches a cone and returns to
get the next ball. Once all four
cones have been touched,
switch the players around and
see who scores the most from
four goes. Add a defender to
put pressure on the striker.
TECHNIQUE
So far this season, Real Madrid skipper be predictable and should try to recognise the right time to make a
How to do it Sergio Ramos has netted seven times for difference to the game. They should
Real in La Liga and has scored nearly 50
> Split players into pairs with a working > Advance higher up the pitch and join in with the midfield
goals already in his professional career.
player and a server. > Pick out risky passes to the forwards and follow with support play
5yds
As well as his many headed goals when
> Put 3 cones in a triangle with 5 yards > Attack all aerial balls with power, purpose and timing
5yds
joining the attack for set pieces, his most
between each cone. > Shoot when the opportunity arises Thiago Silva
When the striker shoots
notable goals have included a long-range
> The server stands 5 yards in front of > Support attackers with good movement around the box celebrates
he then runs to touch free-kick for former club Sevilla against
the triangle. a cone and returns to
> The working player shoot
startsthe
at the
nextback
ball
cone. SoccerCoachWeekly.net Issue412 SOCCER COACH WEEKLY 7
Add a defender to make it
> The server passes a ball to the outside
harder to score who can press
of the cone on the working players
but not tackle the attacker

Weekly for
right and the player runs to receive it.
First touch to get the ball > The player returns the ball and runs
from under their feet is back around the top cone to the far
important for the striker. cone where the play is repeated.
Good shooting technique to > Switch players every minute.
shoot through the cones.

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