Developing A Style of Play

This ebook has been licensed to: Lucas Jones (lucascjones@gmail.
com)
If you are not Lucas Jones please destroy this copy and contact WORLD CLASS COACHING.
This ebook has been licensed to: Lucas Jones (lucascjones@gmail.com)
Developing a
Style of Play
Using the core principles of
soccer to build your style of play
by
Jordi Pascual
Published by
WORLD CLASS COACHING
First published June, 2013 by

WORLD CLASS COACHING 3404 W 122nd Terr (913) 583-0030
Copyright © WORLD CLASS COACHING 2013
All rights reserved. No parts of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a

retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written
permission of the publisher.
Author - Jordi Pascual

Edited by Antony Penna
Front Cover by P2 Creative
Published by
WORLD CLASS COACHING
©WORLD CLASS COACHING 2 Developing a Style of Play
Table of Contents
1. INTRODUCTION – Page 5
2. THE STYLE – Page 8
2.1 The style's decision – Page 8
2.2 The positional playing – Page 10
2.3 The questions about the style – Page 12
2.4 The Formation – Page 14
2.5 The Roles of the players – Page 16
2.5.1 THE GOALKEEPER – Page 16
2.5.2 THE FULL-BACKS – Page 18
2.5.3 THE CENTRE-BACKS – Page 18
2.5.4 THE CENTRAL MIDFIELDER – Page 19
2.5.5 THE ATTACKING MIDFIELDERS – Page 20
2.5.6 THE WINGERS – Page 21
2.5.7 THE STRIKER – Page 21
2.6 The movements of the players – Page 22
3. THE PRINCIPLES – Page 29
3.1 Why Principles? – Page 29
3.2 The Attack – Page 31
3.3 The Defensive Transition – Page 38
3.4 Defence – Page 40
3.5 The Offensive Transition – Page 43
4. THE ATTACK – Page 47
4.1 How do we want to attack? – Page 47
4.2 What we should consider when we attack? – Page 50
5. THE DEFENSIVE TRANSITION – Page 61
5.1 Losing the ball – Page 61
5.2 The reorganization – Page 62
6. THE DEFENSE – Page 67

6.1 How we defend. The pressure – Page 67
6.2 The swinging – Page 69
6.3 How will we defend? – Page 71
7. THE OFFENSIVE TRANSITION – Page 74
7.1 Going out in transition – Page 74
7.2 Going out vertically – Page 76
7.3 Going out short diagonally – Page 77
7.4 Going out long diagonally – Page 78
8. THE TRAINING – Page 80
8.1 The kind of training – Page 80
8.2 The structure of training – Page 83
8.3 Small Sided Games – Page 88
8.4 The session – Page 92
8.5 The exercises – Page 94
9. SESSIONS AND EXERCISES – Page 98
9.1 The “pattern morfocycle” – Page 97
9.2 Exercises for the first session – Page 101
9.3 Exercises for the second session – Page 104
9.4 Exercises for the third session – Page 106
9.5 First day of the week – Page 108
9.6 Second day of the week – Page 123
9.7 Third day of the week – Page 128
ANNEX 01. THE END OF THE BOOK – Page 140
ANNEX 02. THE AUTHOR – Page 141
1. INTRODUCTION
The first thing that you will notice about reading this book it’s not about
Tactical Periodization, the ideas, activities and set-up are all according
to this Methodology.
This is a book about how a coach should prepare their team. This is just
an example and an idea, my idea, about how I would like my team to
play. This is not a book that tells you the right or wrong way to play a
football match.
But, what I really consider important is that all coaches should possess
something like this. Yes, we all have more or less a clear idea about the
kind of play we want but, most of the time, those who are not “Full-
time” coaches don’t do it. We just have a handwritten paper with the
“formation” we want to use and, the general movements of the players.
Also, we have the idea and the movements inside our head but,
sometimes we aren’t able to explain that information to our players on
what we want in certain moments. A Power Point presentation, a
diagram or any other kind of document can help; also, with new
technology it is possible that coaches go to training session or to
matches and show to the players’ specific moments, movements or
situations.
This is just one way to prepare and, again, this is not “the way”. For
sure, many coaches around the World use other ways or other ideas, in
all aspects.
As I said this is just a book explaining something, but this “something”

must go together with our exercises and try to record our sessions. It is
true we can plan whatever and we may have to change many things,
this happens. On the blackboard, we are all the best coaches in the
World and never lose a match! The reality is completely different. The
fact is that only one team can win a football match; so, if our team wins,
does this mean that the other coach did not prepare properly for the
match? On the other hand, does this mean that we prepare everything
in a perfect way? A little bit of all and, a little bit of both really. The
complexity of the game is so high that it is impossible to prepare and to
be ready for all circumstances that can happen in a match. It is true
that, as more things we have prepared it will be easier for our team and
our players to find solutions on the pitch.
I said before about exercises and keeping record of sessions: both are
needed; the exercises, kept together in a file or similar on our Computer
or other storage device we use will help us to choose the activities that
we’ll do in our next session. There are many different ways to keep the
session plans by number of players, by kind of activity, by degree of
complexity, etc. Each one is good and it will be the choice of the coach
to decide which one is better for him. The aims of keeping a record of
sessions are very simple to understand; we need to keep what we did in
a certain day, so, we can be sure that we’ll not repeat very often the
same activities (something that the players don’t like too much,
especially if the exercise is not all that fun). On the other hand, we can
make a review of the activities and find which were interesting or which
didn’t work properly, etc.
Also, with new technologies we don’t need to print all the things we do,
so, we don’t collect a large amount of paper and documents.
Of course, these are just some guidelines; you can organize the
training/playing as you wish; the more organized a coach is the easier it
is to be successful.
This book is divided into several chapters, covering the different parts of
our “Style of playing”.
We’ll start talking about which kind of style we’ll use, and, according to
it, the Principles (general ideas), Sub-Principles (more specific ideas),
and Sub-Sub-Principles (very specific ideas), that are needed to develop
the style and how to apply them in the different moments of the game.
Then, we’ll go to the organization of our training sessions and, we’ll

finish with some exercises related to our way of playing and the
practical application.
Another point to consider is that the style of play described here is a

possession style, known very commonly as “tiki-taka”. It’s the style that
has lead Spain National Team and FC Barcelona to the top of the
football world as a country and as a Club. I’m a firmly believer in this

style and I’ve spent many hours studying all facets of it. Of course, as I
said earlier, this is my point of view about how to play. Every coach will
have to take into account his/her own circumstances and players. I have
made some adjustments to my philosophy and methods from one game
to the next. This means that in one match my team can be more
“direct”, as the opponents will be pressing our building up. Another day
we’ll switch our right and left wingers in a “wrong-footed” way to make
it easier for them to run inside. On another day, we will play with width
to create spaces in the middle but against another team we might
concentrate more in the middle to create more chances on the flanks.
So, this will not be a “bible” about “How to coach the 1-4-3-3
formation”. That is not the intention. It could be called “How Jordi
Pascaual coaches the 4-3-3 formation”. But this is just one way to play
the 4-3-3.
This method has a lot of in common with the way that FC Barcelona and
Spain’s National Team play . As the book talks about this way of playing,
of course you’ll find a lot of the things used by them.
It’s up to every coach to decide how to use the system and, also, to
apply different “formations”. In fact, Spain normally uses a 1-4-2-3-1
formation and FC Barcelona uses a 1-4-3-3 formation. Remember that
the coach gives the roles and responsibilities to the players, not the
formation. The same formation can be used with different styles of play.
2. THE STYLE
2.1 The style's decision

The first thing that we have to decide is how we want that our team to
play and, of course this will be according to the players that we have;
another way would be to look for players that fit more into our idea.
There are, basically, two types of styles: the first one will be according
to ball possession and, the second one, according to not ball possession
or, better said, to counterattack.
In the first type of style, the Offensive Organization will be the main
thing when we have the ball. In the second case, the Transition
Defence-Attack will be the "manager" in the building-up of attacking
plays. We’ll see, also, how should be the players should be positioned
without the ball.
Style of Play
Witout ball
With ball
possession
possession
(counterattack)
Offensive Defensive Transition

Positional play
organization Organization Defense-Attack
What is it depending on? Is it our understanding or the way we like the

game? As said, the type of players that we have in the team are
important.
Regarding the concept of our game, this is something inherent to

oneself, how one thinks football should be structured and played and,
which is the best way to score a goal; after all, this is the main objective
of sport. Remember that, according to the Laws of the Game (LOTG),

the winner of a match is the team that scores the most goals.
As for the players we have, it's not the same to have a group of players
with a high technical quality, or to have a group of players that are not
so technically gifted, but have great speed. This will have a high
influence in our style of playing.
If we want our style to be based on ball possession, we need technically

gifted players with a lot of patience, because it’s going to be a long,
sometimes, to find the right moment for a crossing or a shoot. Also we’ll
need players able to move around the pitch, to different positions and,
at the same time, with the capacity to maintain the shape of the team.
On the other side, if we wanted to play a counterattack style, we need
players with very high defensive concentration and, at the same time,
the capacity to go straight to goal once the ball is recovered.
This will be, basically, what we have to think about when deciding our
"style of play".
In our case, we have decided that our style will be according to ball
possession, and, more specifically, to what is called "Positional Play",
though it may not seem, it is much harder to play than a game based on
Counter Attack. We note that, while in the Counter game (Transition),
the tactical discipline is more important when defending than when
attacking, as said before, in the Positional game this discipline is
necessary in both moments (Attack and Defence). Four (4) or Five (5)
players will participate, at most, in a counter attack, while the others
keep defensive position; so, the interaction of the players will be less
than in positional play, where all the players (including Goalkeeper), are
involved in the build-up of play. Don’t get confused between players
that don’t participate in the Counter with doing nothing; it’s very
important how these players will keep the shape of the team, while the
others try to score.
2.2 The positional playing

The question could be “Why this style of playing”? Well, I believe just as
the great Johan Cruyff said “If I have the ball, you don’t have it”. This
means that, if you have the ball you can decide what to do. If you don’t
have it, the first thing to do is to steal/recover the ball; then, you can
decide what to do.
What is meant by "positional playing"? it is based on two big principles:

the fast movement of the ball and the mobility of players (although this
may seem a contradiction when we talk about "position's game"). The
important thing, with this mobility, is not to lose "positions", i.e. if a
player moves to another place, someone must fill this empty space
created or, the other players must move so that this space is covered,
i.e. there is the need of a permanent structure, sufficiently flexible, to
allow these adaptations. And this is, I believe, the greatness of this style
of play: it is rigid enough to have the players in a certain place at a
particular moment and, on the other hand, has enough versatility to
allow these same players to be in a "non usual" place, without losing the
sense of a very strong structure.
POSITIONAL
PLAY
FAST
MOBILITY OF
MOVEMENT
PLAYERS
OF BALL
In other words, we start with a structure or formation that has to adapt

to every circumstance of the game (both offensive and defensive), to
allow a rational use of space which has options, in the defensive aspect,
to have the largest quantity of passing lanes occupied and, when
attacking, to create this maximum number of passing lanes.
We have to consider, however, that as with any way of playing, this one
has its strengths and its weakness also.
Strengths, include:
- It's played very close to opponent’s goal.
- Greater mobility of players

- There is a constant exchange of positions, because of the above.
- The creation of numerical superiority with the movement of players.
- Few (or none), risked passes at creation's zone, meaning that our passes
must be as easy and safe as possible in this area.
- Simplicity when passing.
Weakness, are:
- It's played quite far from own goal, with the risk of counterattack of
opponents.
- It's necessary that players have good ability to view the play.
- There is a risk of becoming predictable due to lack of mobility.
- There are many players in a small space (Own and opponents).
- There are players needed to dribble at opponents in tight spaces.
In fact, all models of play, in one way or another, are based in what we
might call the "cornerstone" o "backbone"; with this we mean that any
structure, in this case football, where a Goalkeeper, Centre Back,
Central Midfielder and Striker are reference points (for his play,
leadership, etc.), within the style, whichever style is selected.
However, we don't want to get confused and, if we have these types of

players we still don’t have everything done. If we don't have a clear idea
of how we want this style, with which foundation of actions, order of
ideas and how to do it, all this will not be useful for great things, and our
Project will be always be missing something.
All of this is needed when setting up a certain way of play. Good players
without a clear idea of organization is like having very good products to
prepare a meal but not having idea an on how to cook. On the other
hand, if we know how to cook, but our products are bad, the meal
prepared will also be bad, meaning that if our organization is good but
our players are bad, we won’t have success.
2.3 The questions about the style

Once we have decided what our style of play is (in this case, "Positional
Playing"), we must decide how this will be played, Its not enough to say
that we want to play based on the possession of the ball. We must
define what will be the way of having this possession. Moreover,
obviously, this must be done within the four stages of the game
(Attacking, Defending, Transition Attack-Defence and Transition
Defence-Attack). We don't have to think that the "positional playing" (as
any other way of playing, of course), is just to have the ball, and that's
all. Because, What happens when we don't have it? (Defence), What
happens when we recover it? (Transition Defence-Attack), and What
happens when we lose it? (Transition Attack-Defence).
For example, when attacking, we have to consider (and answer),

questions such as (among others):
- Who is starting the building up? The Goalkeeper? The Centre Back? The
Full Back?
- Do we start in the centre or on the flanks?
- The Midfielders are they coming to look for the ball, or we have to pass
it to them? Who must come, if any?
- Do the Full Backs incorporate into attack? Both? Until which position on
the pitch?
- When the ball arrives to the Midfielders, do we have to look for the
flanks? For the centre? First option, is a Full Back or a Winger?
- If the Full Back is overlapping the Winger, What is this one doing? Going
to the inside? Must he support the Full Back?
- If one of the Wingers crosses, what is the other doing? Going to shot on
target? Second play?
- The Striker, is he static? Must he go to the flanks?
When Defending, we'll have questions like:
- When withdrawing, it must be High, Medium or Low?

- Zonal Defence, Mixed, Man-to-man? Which players do each thing?
- How many players, at least, must be behind the ball?
- Where we do pressure on ball? Flanks? Centre? Under what conditions?
- Who will be following the wide players of the opponent team?

Full Backs? Wingers?
- How will be the covering of Defenders?
When we recover the ball (Transition Defence-Attack), we'll find:
- Starting with ball under control? Long ball?

- Ensure the possession of the ball? Back pass?
- How many players participate in a Counterattack? Who?
- What are the rest of players doing?
- What if the opponent stops the counterattack, but we still have the
ball?
And, finally, when we lose the ball (Transition Attack-Defence):
- Will we press immediately? Who?

- Which players will "forget" about the ball to go to mark opponents or
recover positions?
- Which players are allowed to interrupt opponents play to regain team's
structure?
- What do we have to do if we regain the ball in this transition?
These, and many more (all that we believe necessary to build up our
style of playing), are the questions that we have to ask ourselves, and
answer them, in order to assemble all the structure of our way of
playing.
It's obvious that the answers to the same question can be different
according to our way of understanding the game. Also, according to
the type of players that we have in our team or, depending on the
match that we are playing or, in which moment of the match we are in.
But, what we need to realize is that, as more questions we are able to
answer, it will be easier to have the organization of our team in a good
and structured way.
It’s also obvious that the questions that I’m doing my self don’t have to
be the same as another coach is asking. The important thing is not the
questions and the answers; the important thing is that, with all the
questions and the answers can we fill all the gaps and build our style of
play? (whatever we have decided).
2.4 The Formation

Once we have decided how our team will play, we have to distribute
the players (so called "system" or "formation"), and, as we said earlier,
this is the "adaptable" structure. As mentioned, this distribution must
respect the Principle of "Rational Occupation of Space", that means, it
must be a balanced way of putting players on the pitch, enabling us to
make these adjustments.
There are many systems that allow us to balance distribution (if not all),
and there are even some coaches who decide one structure (system), in
the offensive phase and another one in the defensive one.
In our case, we'll opt for a 1-4-3-3 arrangement, i.e. 1 Goalkeeper, 4

Defenders, 3 Midfielders and 3 Forwards located, as match's original
situation as shown in figure below:
Fig. 2-001 – THE FORMATION – INITIAL POSITION
This is a way to use this system, which has
1 Goalkeeper
2 Full-Backs
2 Centre-Backs
1 Central Midfielder
2 Attacking Midfielders
2 Wingers
1 Centre Forward (Stiker)
There are other ways to make the same basic distribution

1 Stopper and 1 Sweeper ("Libero")
2 Central Midfielders and 1 Attacking Midfielder (inverted triangle)
The advantages for this formation are:
- There are many areas of the pitch occupied.

- There are many options for creating situations of superiority in tight
spaces.
- High possibility of numerical superiority in midfield, with the inclusions
of both Full-Backs.
- Width when attacking, having clear and defined wingers.
- Many different options for triangulations and, also, constant support.
- Many players can be present in opponent’s box.
- Allow quick pressure when the ball is lost, because the players are
closer to opponent’s goal.
- Allow defenders to correct balancing if midfielders and forwards work in
the right way to avoid quick play from opponents.
The problems we can find with this system:
- Just a few number of players in every area of the pitch.

- A high physical strain, as a result, if lines are not together.
- Lines can be very opened, as consequence of the large width.
- Possibility of outnumbered at midfield when defending if team
compactness is not correct.
- Because the presence of many players, there’s a possibility of over-

occupation of the space when attacking. Because of that, we can have a
lack of mobility, and this can make the play very predictable.
2.5 The Roles of the players

Once we have the general idea of what we want to do, we will define
the roles of the players, that is, what each player will do on the pitch;
how they will act offensively, also defensively; when they have the ball
and when they don't have it, depending, also, of the state of play on the
pitch.
We have to consider that the roles that we are going to define are the
idealistic ones: not always will we have the possibility of having these
kinds of players. Sometimes we have other players and we can’t look for
the other kind (for whatever reasons); if we want to continue with our
plan as it was written, we’ll need to train the players to adapt to our
needs. If not, we’ll have to rewrite our plan/style of playing and, to
adapt it to the players that we have. It’s also obvious that there aren’t
two players that play exactly the same way. So, our style of play has to
be flexible enough to allow several to play the same role and, at the
same time, it has to be rigid enough for allowing to play the same way
with different players. As usual, it is about finding the right balance
among all the elements that we have.
2.5.1 THE GOALKEEPER

In today's football, and especially in positional playing, the Goalkeeper is
the last player in the defensive organization, but, especially the first
player in the building up of the game.
Defending:
- He has to order all the defensive organization; by the simple fact of
being in a backwards position, he has a wider vision of the pitch, and
this must allow him to reorganize the defensive system at every
moment of the game.
- Very high concentration; in many games, he can find that the opposing
team plays basically on the counterattack and, furthermore, that these
situations are rarely given; therefore, he has to be very attentive, as
he’ll play many times outside of the area, in order to interrupt these
counterattacks.
- To do all this, he must have a strong character and, also, the respect of
his peers, which means act with confidence and decision every time he
has to do it.
- Mastering aerial game, enabling him to catch crosses with authority and
to organize fast transitions or restart the game.
- Able to read the match, in order to know at every moment what he has
to do (and can do), once the ball is in his hands (or feet).
Attacking:
- Is the first organizer of the game. Therefore, he must be fluid playing
with both feet, to allow him to give continuity to the game when
there's an offensive circulation of the ball. Hi needs also a good and
accurate throwing with his hands, to give way to the players once he
has recovered the ball.
- By reason of this continuity, he'll play many times out of the box,
becoming a "sweeper", and, at the same time, must help to keep
correct distances between lines.
- Great location in space, because of the above mentioned. Often he'll be
far from his "natural habitat (the goal)", must be able to come back,
when necessary, without losing the flow of the play by going backwards.
- Coordination of movements: the fact that he has to run in all four
directions, most of the time without the ball, means that he needs to be
a very coordinated player, in order to make the necessary change of
directions without damage to either him or the team.
Think that our Goalkeeper has to be a “Goal player”, meaning that he is
acting like another player, but he’s playing in goal. Hence, the fact that
he has to play well with feet and at the same time, as a Goalkeeper, he
has to be ready to act (and, as said, it doesn’t have to be very often),
meaning our possession is good and we don’t lose too many balls. In our
case, the offensive functions of the Goalkeeper are as important as the
defensive ones. We need a Goalkeeper that can do several things on the
pitch, not only save balls.
2.5.2 THE FULL-BACKS

Both Full-Backs, considering the way we want the team to play, should
be able to give help when attacking, becoming wingers when necessary
and, to come back to their defensive positions once the play is finished.
Defending:
- They must follow their marked opponents until the end of the play,
making the opponent go towards the touch line.
- Defensive balance: the full-back from the other side where the play
takes place, must come to "close" the pitch, giving cover when
necessary to his line team mates.
- High concentration, with capacity to follow the play from the outside
and, to be prepared to give support to his colleagues.
- Speed to anticipate the movements of the opponent.
Attacking:
- Quick decisions once the ball is recovered: long pass, looking for
counterattack; or short pass, looking out for midfielders or, delaying the
game and playing with Centre-Backs or Goalkeeper to start the build-up.
- Quick opening to the flanks when the team starts to build up with the
Goalkeeper/Centre-Backs.
- Help to keep defensive balance if the other Full-Back goes up, but also
must be able to go up and create superiority and surprise at the other
flank.
- Able to maintain the positional playing and play very fast, 1 or 2
touches, in order to create 2v1 situations, especially at flanks.
- Along with this, able to go up by the side and overlap wingers.
2.5.3 THE CENTRE-BACKS

The Centre-Backs will be the axes of the defence, and the first option of
play for the Goalkeeper, once the ball has been recovered by the last
one. They must be very well coordinated between them, in order to
know what to do at every stage of the play (Who "jumps" over the
player between lines, who follows the opponent, who will be sweeper
at every moment, etc). When building up must have good control of the
ball, in order to run with it or looking for passing options as is the case
of the Central Midfielder/Attacking Midfielder who has strict marking

and can't give support to the building up.
Defending:
- They must follow their marked player until the end of the play.
- Provide cover to the Full-Backs.
- Organize the defensive system along with the Goalkeeper.
- Help the midfielders in situations of inferiority or players between lines.
Attacking:
- Give way to the Goalkeeper to start building up the play, which means
that must be opened very quickly, once the ball is recovered.
- Quick decision once the ball is recovered: long pass, looking for
counterattack; or short pass, looking out for midfielders or, delaying the
game and playing with the Goalkeeper for starting to build up (this,
normally, will be the best option, given the accumulation of players in
the central zone of the pitch).
- Support to midfielders when creating plays. Passing lines opened to give
continuity and circulation to the ball.
- Able to run with the ball, in case of midfielders marked, to create
superiority and passing lines.
2.5.4 THE CENTRAL MIDFIELDER

He is known, also, as the Defensive Midfielder. You will find that, in the
back, we talk about CM or DM. It’s exactly the same. He is the backbone
of the team. He is the key element in the action of all the organization,
both offensive and defensive. Keep balance when the team attacks and,
also, when defending. Must be the player most tactically disciplined of
the team. If he fails, all the team will suffer the consequences, especially
the negatives, which this can bring:
Defending:
- Keep distances, in order to not get too close or too separated from the
lines.
- Help to organize the position of forwards.
- Follow his marked man until the end of the play.

- Make covers to the Attacking Midfielders.
- Help the Centre-Backs if necessary.
Attacking:
- First vertical option to Centre-Backs/Goalkeeper.
- Give support to Attacking Midfielders, to turn the ball from one side to
another.
- Capacity for arriving and surprise at second plays.
- Help team compactness in opponents half of the pitch.
- He has to stop long passes in case of losing the ball.
2.5.5 THE ATTACKING MIDFIELDERS

These players must have a high versatility and ability to work. They also
must be able to defend and to attack. They must be ble to arrive at the
penalty box, for second plays or, simply coming from second line and
finishing.
Defending:
- They must follow their marked opponents until the end of the play.
- Give cover to Wingers and Central Midfielder.
- Keep the triangular structure together with the Central Midfielder.
- They must have options for recovering the ball when the opponents
start to build up (interception of the first vertical pass).
- Help the Full-Backs to "close pitch" if necessary.
Attacking:
- Give way at their own flank.
- Give support to Wingers and Centre Forward, so, the play can have
continuity.
- Easily get away from markers and create positive situations 2v1, 3v2
and 4v3.
- Capacity for arriving from the second line, for finishing or, shooting from
outside of the box.
2.5.6 THE WINGERS

They will be the ones that give us width when attacking and, the first
ones when compacting defence. First pressure over the opponents will
be done by the forwards, and the wingers must make the play go to the
flank, to confine the opponents and give possibilities for recovering the
ball.
Defending:
- They must follow their opponents until the end of the play.
- First line of pressure.
- Make the opponents go to the flank.
- Taking care of Full-Backs to avoid their joining to attack.
Attacking:
- Give width and, also, mobility, to allow the Full-Backs to join attack
following their channels.
- Easy play when searching 2v1, especially at the flanks.
- They must be brave players in 1v1 options, with capacity to dribble the
defender and cross (or, also, to face to goal).
- Easy arrive from the other flank for finishing.
2.5.7 THE STRIKER

He is the reference when the team attacks and the first option for
finishing, but also must sacrifice to work when the opponent team
recovers the ball. He must be the first defender, acting in coordination
with the rest of the team.
Defending:
- Pressure on Centre-Backs to avoid the building up of play.
- Support the Wingers, closing back passing lines to Goalkeeper.
- When the opposition arrives to their own half of the pitch, take care of
the Centre-backs, to avoid that these players can receive back passes
and progress to goal.
Attacking:
- First player for finishing.
- Movements against or, in the same way of the ball, to create spaces for
the second line (Attacking Midfielders, Centre Midfielder).
- Diagonal movements to look for a deep ball ("fall" to flank).
- Able to play back to goal, to allow fast opening to flanks, with playing
first touch.
- Able to hold the ball and wait for team mates, when he is alone.
2.6 The movements of the players

We have seen which roles our players have; now, we'll see how they
have to move, according to their initial position on the pitch
Fig. 2-002 – MOVEMENTS OF DEFENDERS
The four Defenders and the Goalkeeper will move this way. Full-backs
with a lot of way, able to arrive to offensive positions. The Centre-backs
also can be added to the attack and, all four moving to one side or
another according to the position of the ball (balance). They also will
close to the inside when one of the Centre-backs goes to the attack.
Fig. 2-003 – MOVEMENTS OF MIDFIELDERS
The three Midfielders have, as already mentioned, a long space to

cover, both toward and behind. The Central Midfielder is the player that
the team will move around him, and he will move in any direction that
will be needed, both in creating space, giving support to the Attacking
Midfielders, and covering them when defending. As with defence, all
players must move to one side or another, according to the position of
the ball. The arrival to the penalty area is very important, especially in
the case of the Attacking Midfielders.
Fig. 2-004 – MOVEMENTS OF FORWARDS
The Forwards must be able to help when defending. The Wingers must
arrive at the goal line and cross and, also must be able to arrive for
finishing, especially when the Full-backs overlap and cross. The Striker
has to finish or "fall" to the flanks, according to the play. Also, he must
be able to play back to goal and give support to the team mates, in
order to change the orientation of the ball (switch playing). As
mentioned before, they will also move from side to side according to
the situation of the ball.
We have to consider that these movements are generic, and only show,
as a big picture, how the players move and, by lines. We will see now,
some diagrams showing the movement of the whole team in some
moments of the game.
Fig. 2-005 – ATTACKING AT FLANK
This first diagram show the position of the player when the team is
attacking at the right side of the pitch. We can see the RFB giving
support to the winger (also with the possibility of overlapping him if
needed); the RAM is also closer and the ST, LWNG and LAM are the first
that are going to finish if we have the cross from the Winger.
Fig. 2-006 – TRANSITION AT FLANK
If, for example, the same winger that was running with the ball misses it
and, the ball goes to the Full-back that was marking our Winger, the
same player must go to pressure. The Striker will go behind the Centre-
Backs of the other team, to avoid a back-pass to the Goalkeeper and the
other Winger has to go to be placed between the RCB and the RFB of
the other team.
Fig. 2-007 – DEFENDING AT CENTRE
Now, our team is defending. The opposing team has the ball in the
middle of the pitch, quite centred, with the possibility of going to their
left (our right). In this position, our RAM is pressuring the carrier of the
ball, while the other AM stays between the other two players in the
midfielder’s line. We’ll try that one of our CBs is free, to make the cover
of the other CB. The RFB has to be ready to go to the flank, if the ball
goes there or, to cover for the CB; also, it is possible that the forward
goes to the flank. In this case, it will his responsibility to mark this
players.
Fig. 2-008 – TRANSITION AT CENTRE
In this position, our RAM has recovered the ball; if he has the option he
has to pass the ball to the RWNG or to the ST; these two should start to
run at the moment that the ball is recovered; the FBs will be now wider
and, all the team have to accompany the players that are doing the
counterattack, both, for keeping the shape of the team and to have the
lines closer; this will help in case the opponents recover the ball again
and try to organize a counter attack against us.
3. THE PRINCIPLES
3.1 Why Principles?

Any situation that exists in a football match, as mentioned in the
previous Chapter, is aggregated into one of the following four cases (or
MOMENTS from now on, as mentioned before):
A. ATTACK
B. TRANSITIONS ATTACK-DEFENSE
C. DEFENSE
D. TRANSITION DEFENSE-ATTACK
We could also mention set-pieces (Strategy, according to the definition

given by R.F.E.F.), but we feel that this is a different situation, so, we
won't go into it.
We have said that we want to play in a certain way, which is defined

with a 1-4-3-3 formation and with a play based in the possession of the
ball. In the previous Chapter we have asked ourselves some different
questions about different situations and, we have pointed out which
should be the different roles of the players in our style of play. But that
is not enough: we must define, also, what are the relationships among
the players of the same line (i.e. Defenders), between different lines
and, finally, the overall team performance. As mentioned, the more
questions and answers we have about our style, the more it will be
clarified and therefore, less things are given to improvisation. That
means, also, that all that we have answered will be worked later in the
training sessions, and, therefore, will make that the player can "live" a
whole series of experiences. At the moment of the match, these
experiences will be known, and, as far as possible, assimilated, so,
obviously, the player will have an easier decision-making capacity and,
at the same time, that he can give more benefits to the team (and this,
in turn, will make the team more able to have response-capacity to the
problems that may arise on the pitch). That is, the "decision-making"
will be much faster and this obviously, leads to a faster, fluid and bound
play.
Something that should not be confused is improvisation with creativity.

They are two very different concepts. The first refers to implementing
a unknown solution to an unknown situation, that means, the player is
facing to a situation that hasn’t been worked in practices and, what he
does is apply the solution at that time he believes is the most
appropriate, which will make the situation improperly resolved; the
second refers to an unknown solution when other solutions are known
for this situation, that means that the player, in a situation that he
knows, applies a different solution to those who had looked for and
worked.
As mentioned, we have made ourselves a series of questions, each of

which corresponds to a Moment of Play. Therefore, it is obvious that,
for every Moment, we have to establish some answers. As general we
have the question, as generally we have the answer. To general
questions with general answers, we will call them PRINCIPLES.
Questions with more concrete answers will be called SUB-PRINCIPLES
and the very specific questions with very specific answers will be the
SUB-PRINCIPLES of SUB-PRINCIPLES or SUB-SUB-PRINCIPLES.
The question can be: Why do we want these Principles? And the answer
can be: Organization. We need to know what we have to do at every
MOMENT of the game; so, we have to establish a kind of “routine” that
helps us to this. Just as example we’ll see later that our first Principle in
Attack is the ”POSSESSION OF THE BALL AND ITS CIRCULATION”; this
means that our first goal is to keep the ball safe and make it go from
here to there. So, this is our aim: to get the ideas organized.
It must be noted that there will be Sub-Principles and Sub-Sub-Principles

that will be repeated in different Moments and Principles; for example,
a rolling pass or a high pass is a Sub-Sub-Principle that can appear
both in Attack or when Transition Defence-Attack; diagonal movement
is a Sub-Sub-Principle that appears both in Defence or in the Transition
Defence-Attack. In other words: the PRINCIPLES are UNIQUE for each
MOMENT, but the SUB-PRINCIPLES and the SUB-SUB-PRINCIPLES can be
repeated in different Moments and Principles.
We are talking about something like that:
Principles General Unique

Sub-Principles Specific Repeatable
Sub-Sub- Very specific Repeatable
Principles
You should also keep in mind that not all Principles and Sub-Principles
are the same for each Style of Playing. What in the way we play is more
important, may not be in another Style and vice versa: what we value
less can be of crucial importance in another Style. So, what is here, it
should be clear that is unique and exclusive of this Style of Playing, but
this doesn't imply that there can be things shared in different Styles.
It should be clear also, that our Style is unique, because the players,
and, as a consequence, the relationship created among them inside the
pitch, are different with other players. With the same players we can
play in different ways, creating different styles. With different players,
we can’t have the same Style. We will have many things in common, but
the results will be different from the ones we got previously.
Finally, don’t get confused between the “Principles of the Game” and
the “Principles of Our Style of Playing”. We are talking about two
different things, without any relationship with one another.
3.2 The Attack

Considering how we said that we want our Style of Playing, it is clear
that our team will be, almost by definition, an attacking one. We want
to have the ball in attack, as the vast majority of things are done in
attack. It will be the situation where we must have more tactical
“wealthiest”, and therefore, more resources at all levels, as the one
which, in principle, we will have more time during the match. We must
not forget, however, that the situation of attack requires a very high
effort of concentration to the remaining players in defence, including
goalkeepers, as within seconds, from not being in the play to becoming
part of the play, because this is being developed so far from this zone,
to have to intervene immediately, considering, also, that this

intervention can be decisive to the outcome of the match.
Given this, it's also clear that we can't lose the ball and, therefore, in
front of a pass or movement in doubt, you should always ensure
possession. For example, if they (opponents), pressure the defenders,
before throwing the ball towards, without much of a chance to reach a
team mate, then we need to turn and look at the other side or, we'll
play with the goalkeeper and start again.
It should also be clear that all these Principles have an order, i.e.
PRINCIPLE 1 is before PRINCIPLE 2, and in succession, so that's the
order we'll follow when playing, thus, it is more important the
circulation of the ball with fast touches than the starting with the
goalkeeper, because, in addition, Principles and Sub-Principles are
chained, so, one leads to the other.
No matter the way we play, when a team has the ball, especially in this
Offensive Moment, we will have the following 3 Phases of
Organization. So, it doesn’t have to be a surprise that this will be our
first Sub-Principle (we’ll see it later), when entering in the Principles.
These 3 Phases or Organization are the following:
1) Creating spaces
2) Using spaces
3) Finishing
In fact, this is not strange, as football is a game about “time” and

“space”; the correct use of both is what can give success to a team.
The Principles, Sub-Principles and Sub-Sub-Principles that we will use in

Attack are 3:
The First Principle is about the Possession of the ball and what we have
to do in order to give it the maximum speed (both, individually and
collectively)
PRINCIPLE 1:
POSSESSION OF THE BALL AND ITS CIRCULATION (MOVEMENT OF THE
BALL)
OBJECTIVE: To score from our possession and organization, attempting
to disrupt the opponents through this possession.
SUB-PRINCIPLES
1. 3 Phases of Organization (Building up, Creation, Finishing)
2. Movement with fast touches, to break the concentration and the
organization of the opponents
Sub-Sub-Principles
1. Collective speed with the ball
3. Starting with the goalkeeper
Sub-Sub-Principles
1. Movement of Centre-backs and Full-backs
2. Movement of Defensive Midfielder and Attacking Midfielders
4. Accuracy at first touch
Sub-Sub-Principles
1. Stopped
2. With speed
5. Accuracy in passing (tense and fast)
Sub-Sub-Principles
1. Rolling
2. Aerial
6. Playing forwards/backwards
Sub-Sub-Principles
1. Support
Sub-Sub-Sub-Principles
1. 2v1
2. 2v2
7. Variation in short and long passes
Sub-Sub-Principles
1. Frontal pass
2. Diagonal pass
3. Face up pass
4. Backwards pass
8. Creation of spaces
Sub-Sub-Principles
1. Inside spaces
2. Outside spaces
Sub-Sub-Principles
1. Safe passing lines
2. Unsafe passing lines
9. Positional balance
Sub-Sub-Principles
1. Redistribution of team (players); balancing (Speed of team without ball
or collective speed; vigilance)
3 PHASES
BALL
BALL SPEED
MOVEMENT
BACKS
STARTING
GOALKEEPER
MIDFIELDERS
STOPPED
FIRST TOUCH
W/ SPEED
ROLLING
PASSING
AERIAL
1-POSSESSION
FORWARD 2v1
SUPPORT
BACKWARDS 2v2
FRONTAL
DIAGONAL
LONG
SHORT
FACE UP
BACKWARDS
INSIDE
CREATING
SPACES SAFE
OUTSIDE
UNSAFE
POSITIONAL PLAYERS
BALANCE DISTRIBUTION
The Second Principle in Attack is the Mobility that we need to have

when we move the ball.
PRINCIPLE 2:
OFFENSIVE MOBILITY
OBJECTIVE: To create spaces between lines and, in front, behind and
inside the lines of the opponents.
SUB-PRINCIPLES
1. Width
2. Depth
3. Playing between lines
4. Creation of lines and get unmarked
Sub-Sub-Principles
1. 1v1
2. 2v1
3. 2v2
5. Attraction of players to one side, to penetrate by the other side
6. Generating spaces with movements to profit them
WIDTH
DEPTH
BETWEEN
2-MOBILITY LINES 1v1
CRETATING 2v1
LINES
ATRACKTING 2v2
PLAYERS
SPACES
Finally, the Third Principle refers to Finishing attacking plays.
PRINCIPLE 3:
FINISHING
OBJECTIVE: Finishing plays with clear goal options and to score from it
SUB-PRINCIPLES
1. Playing in the last third
Sub-Sub-Principles
1. Creation of spaces
2. Viewing spaces
3. Using spaces
4. Finishing
2. Definition of the offensive mechanisms
Sub-Sub-Principles
1. Finishing at first touch
2. Finishing with heading
3. Control and finishing
CREATE
SPACES
VIEW SPACES
PLAYING LAST
THIRD
USE SPACES
3-FINISHING FINISHING
FIRST TOUCH
MECHANISMS HEADING
CONTROL &
FINISHING
3.3 The Defensive Transition

It is the Moment that we have lost the ball. Our team can be found
disorganized, and the opponents will try to take profit of this
circumstance, to attack our goal, trying to score easily. It is important
therefore, to stop this, because it could lead to difficult situations for
our interest. If we stop the counterattack, but we don't get the
possession of the ball, will go to Defence; if we get the ball, we would
be in Offensive Transition.
Here there is only one Principle, because the idea is to get the ball as
soon as possible; if this happens, we'll go to Offensive Transition or
Attack, according to what we can do with the ball.
PRINCIPLE 1:
FAST REACTION FOR CONDITIONING OPPONENTS
OBJECTIVE: To prevent the opponents to take profit of our
disorganization for scoring, recovering the ball as fast as possible.
SUB-PRINCIPLES
1. Change in attitude (Obvious)
2. Immediate pressure of the player closest to the ball
Sub-Sub-Principles
1. Help of closer players
3. Conditioning action to one of the flanks
4. Addressed Compaction (diagonally), of the team
Sub-Sub-Principles
1. Diagonal movement
5. Closing inside spaces
6. Formation of triangles and diamonds
7. Closing passing lines
8. Accuracy in the anticipation to opponent
ATTITUDE
PRESSURE HELP
FLANKS
DIAGONAL
COMPACTNESS
MOVEMENT
1-FAST REACTION
CLOSING
SPACES
TRIANGLES
CLOSING
PASSING LINES
ANTICIPATION
3.4 Defence
We'll go into Defensive Phase from the moment that the opponents
have recovered the ball and don't do counter attack, either because
they refuse to do it, either because we managed to stop it, but they still
have the possession of the ball. Since our aim is to have the ball in
attack, this means that, the objective of this phase is that the opponent
team make a mistake and, as a consequence, make them lose the ball.
Here we have the following Principles and Sub-Principles:
The First Principle is what is referred to how our defence will be
PRINCIPLE 1:
AGGRESSIVE PRESSING ZONE
OBJECTIVE: To bring the opponent into making an error, using collective
actions
SUB-PRINCIPLES
1. Detection of the zone of pressure
2. Doubling the pressure (Coverage)
3. Accuracy in tackling and anticipation
Sub-Sub-Principles
1. Tackling technique
2. Anticipation technique
4. 3 types of pressure: Conditioning, Aggressive and Very Aggressive
5. Spatial concept. Coverage
6. Inside defence (Closing spaces)
Sub-Sub-Principles
8. Extreme definition in defensive movements
9. Aggressive zonal pressure, avoiding passing lines of the
opponent
PRESSING ZONE
COVER
TACKLING
ACCURACY
ANTICIPATION
PRESSURE TYPE
1-AGGRESSIVE
PRESSING SPATIAL
CONCEPT
INSIDE
DIAGONAL
DEFENCE
TRIANGLES
MOVEMENTS
DEFINITION
ZONAL
PRESSURE
The Second Defensive Principle refers to what we have to do to lead the

opponent to not having space for progress
PRINCIPLE 2:
COMPACTING
OBJECTIVE: To have the team in the tightest possible area, in a rational
way, without giving options for inside passing or crossing to opponents
SUB-PRINCIPLES
1. Closing lines (Width and Depth)
Sub-Sub-Principles
1. Approach and balance between lines
2. Spatial concept. Coverage
Sub-Sub-Principles
2. Players who "jump" between lines
4. Balanced swing
APPROACH &
CLOSING LINES
BALANCE
DIAGONAL
SPATIAL
2-COMPACTING CONCEPT
"JUMPING"
BETWEEN LINES
TRIANGLES
BALANCED
SWING
3.5 The Offensive Transition

Finally, there is the moment when we have recovered the ball from the
opponent; here, we must see if it is more interesting with a fast build up
to opponent’s goal or, if we move to the Offensive Phase. If we choose
the first option, we have to finish the play to consider that the
Transition has been successful (Finish means shooting on goal); if, the
opponent stops this transition, but we are still in possession of the ball,
we'll go to Offensive Phase, and we will be apply the Principles and Sub-
Principles of this MOMENT.
The Principles and Sub-Principles that we will use are:
This First Principle refers to the moment that we recover the ball and, it
will decide if we advance to opposing goal or, we start Offensive Phase.
PRINCIPLE 1:
ASSESSMENT OF THE POSSESSION OF THE BALL IN THE ZONE OF
PRESSURE
OBJECTIVE: Start play once the ball is recovered
SUB-PRINCIPLES
1. Remove the ball from the pressured zone
2. Assess the possession of the ball so far
3. Clear and specific definition of the movements of the removal of
pressure
Sub-Sub-Principles
1. Choice of pressure output
2. Link between defenders and midfielders, defenders and forwards,
or, midfielders and forwards
4. Identification of diagonal pass or vertical pass to go out of pressure
5. Types of passes for going out: Short and long
Sub-Sub-Principles
1. Short diagonal pass
2. Short vertical pass
3. Long diagonal pass
4. Long vertical pass
6. Opening in width and depth
Sub-Sub-Principles
1. Long vertical pass
2. Long diagonal pass

3. Long horizontal pass (aerial)
This Second Principle applies in the case that once we have recovered
the ball, we have very clear counter options and, consequently, to
score.
REMOVE BALL
ASSESS
POSSESSION
CHOICES
MOVEMENTS
LINKS
PASS
IDENTIFICATION SHORT
1-ASSESSMENT DIAGONAL
OF POSSESSION
SHORT
TYPES OF VERTICAL
PASSES LONG
DIAGONAL
LONG
VERTICAL
LONG
VERTICAL
LONG
WIDTH/DEPTH
DIAGONAL
DIAGONAL
PRINCIPLE 2:
FINISHING
OBJECTIVE: Finish play (counter attack), with clear goal option and
achieve it
SUB-PRINCIPLES
1. Play in the last third

Sub-Sub-Principles
1. Creating spaces
2. View spaces
3. Using spaces
4. Finishing
2. Definition of offensive mechanisms
Sub-Sub-Principles
1. Finishing first touch
2. Heading finishing
3. Control and finishing
CREATING
SPACES
VIEWING
SPACES
PLAYING LAST
THIRD
USING SPACES
2-FINISHING FINISHING
FIRST TOUCH
MECHANISMS HEADING
CONTROL &
FINISHING
These are the Principles, Sub-Principles and Sub-Sub-Principles that we

will use for our “Style of playing”. You must take into consideration that,
even for the same style, you could use different Principles. As said, the
questions (and, of course), the answers that we made ourselves, will
give us these Principles. Note, also, that some of the Sub-Principles and
Sub-Sub-Principles are the same for different Moments and Principles.

Why? It’s very simple. The reason is that some things (small details) are
the same, no matter in which Moment. It’s also obvious that these Sub-
Principles and Sub-Sub-Principles that are repeated will be in relation
with the Moments with the ball (Attack and Offensive Transition), and
without the ball (Defence and Defensive Transition). Of course, it could
be possible to find Sub-Sub-Principles that were the same, with and
without ball, but this is very rare and it would be a very specific
movement.
4. THE ATTACK
4.1 How do we want to attack?

To Attack, according to the Coaching Courses and books of the R.F.E.F.
(Spanish F.A.), is "to try to arrive at the opponent’s goal, with the ball,
once it is in play or when it has been recovered. It requires the action of
the whole team".
The attack has two different parts, but acting together and, at the same
time. One is having the ball and moving towards the goal. The second is
how our players will be on the pitch in relation to opponents
(surveillances). We don't have to forget that the opponent also plays,
and, therefore, can recover the ball and quickly organize a counter
attack. We must be prepared for this situation and, therefore, players
will have to be on the pitch in a way that makes this as predictable as
possible for us (or, at least, that we are able to minimize this situation),
i.e. how our 11 players will finish the play. All this means that, when we
are attacking, we can’t forget the situation of ALL our players on the
pitch, as the ball can be lost because a bad pass or good pressure from
the opposing team.
So let’s go to the first situation: Our team has recovered the ball, after a
wide shot or a save by the Goalkeeper. If there is no option for a fast
counter (we will see the cases of counterattack when we talk about
Transition Defence-Attack), the team must stretch and get the initial
positions from the kick-off. From here, the Full-backs have to go up
(push), to avoid the Forwards of the opponent who can pressure this
and, the Centre-backs must go wider (go to flanks), to give width. At the
same time, the Central Midfielder must drop off, to give passing lines to
Centre-backs and/or the Goalkeeper. In case this player is under
pressure, one of the Centre-backs will be the one who starts the build-
up. The Attacking Midfielder of the same flank must come to give
support, especially if the Central Midfielder doesn't have any options to
play. If we play with the Attacking Midfielder, the Central Midfielder has
to move to give passing options. If we can start with them (CB and CM),
the Attacking Midfielders must go up, to give more vision of the game
and more passing lines; at the same time they don't allow the
opponents to be very close to our players.
From the middle of the pitch, our first option should be an inside pass to
the Centre Forward or, to the Winger that comes from behind the
defence; as this, usually, will be very difficult, if it is not a counterattack,
we will choose, as the first option, to look for the Winger on the side
that we are playing and, to look for a 2v1 combination at the flank.
When the Winger receives, his first option is to dribble to his marker
and cross; the Striker, the Winger and the Attacking Midfielder of the
other side should arrive to finish. The Attacking Midfielder of the proper
side, the Central Midfielder and the Full-back of this side, depending
where which one of them is, should have to arrive as the “second line”
(First line is considered the Forwards; second line is the Midfielders and
Full-backs if these have gone to attack). If the Winger is stopped and
without a possibility of playing either a 1v1 or 2v1, we will go to the
Attacking Midfielder or the Full-back, and we will turn the ball to the
other side. A second option is to play with the Striker who comes
backwards to goal, to receive and take his marker with him. In this case,
we have to play first touch to the Attacking Midfielder and pass to the
other Winger, look for a cross and, for the players that arrive from
behind that have options to finish.
It can also happen that we don't have any passing options to

Midfielders, when starting; in this case, we have to look for a longer
pass to Forwards. We will always look for the pass with less risk, and
this, normally, will be to the Wingers, because, if we lose the ball,
maybe it is going for a throw-in. But, if we lose the ball in the middle, we
could give very clear options for counterattack. If the Forwards receive
the ball and don't have options to play it, they have to shield it while the
Midfielders arrive, to start building up, according to what has been
explained before. If the ball is lost and the opponent recovers it,
automatically we will enter into the Phase of Defensive Transition.
In any case, there is always something that we have to consider: for

using any of these options, we need to have the ball. This means that, in
case of doubt, we don't have to take any risks in the creation zone
(midfield); so, if we find ourselves stopped and we can't turn the ball
directly to the other side, we’ll have to play the ball with the Full-
back/Centre-back, and here is where we do this movement from side to
side. We also have to do this is if the ball arrives to the Wingers, and
they have no option to go through defenders or to play with Midfielders
to turn and continue. No matter if we have lost a few seconds to reach
the defenders and, from here on, start building play up again.
Together with this, patience is one of the virtues of "Positional Play"; so,
we should not hurry to arrive from one side to the other side and, from
one end to the other. The more we move the ball and the more the
players’ move, more options will come and spaces will appear, these
spaces are the ones that we have to use to take advantage. It is
therefore very important that this movement ("circulation") of the ball,
and the mobility of the players, especially the Forwards. If they are
static expecting the ball, the game becomes very predictable and, the
capacity of dribbling is very limited or nil. If, however, there are
variations in the positions and the movement from one side to another,
passing options are bigger and, at the same time, options to arrive into
the box for Midfielders are increasing.
Fig. 4-001 – SIDE-TO-SIDE MOVEMENT
As said, this is just an idea about how to use this “building up from the
back”; we can have and use several options, according to the qualities
that they have. We have to consider that not all players feel
comfortable with the ball and they will tend to panic if opponents are
coming to him. Think about it when preparing all the movements of
your players and, at the same time try to instruct these players to play
in the easiest way possible.
4.2 What we should consider when we attack?

As mentioned in the first chapter, there are a number of issues that
must be clear when defining our style of play. We made these questions
ourselves at the beginning. Now, we well put the answers (which we
have raised and as necessary to ensure that, there is as little as possible
left to improvisation). Think, also that as more questions are answered,
more options and different drills and exercises in practices, as our
sessions have to be always “game related” and, of, course, related to

our style of playing. If we can practice more and in different situations,
there will be less unknown things for our players.
- Who starts the building up? The Goalkeeper? The Centre-Back?

The Full-Back?
Always start with the Goalkeeper, either after a shot and a save by the
Goalkeeper, or a shot wide. We don’t have to start with the Goalkeeper
in the case that the Full-Backs or Centre-Backs have recovered the ball
and the opposing team aren’t pressing, which will lead the Midfielders
to be offered to start building up play.
- Do we go by the centre or by the flanks?

As a principle, we will start by the centre, as it is the closest and fastest
way to arrive to goal, unless we are pressured there; then we have to
play with the Full-Backs and, the Central Midfielder and/or the
Attacking Midfielder (from the same side we are playing), must be
offered later to continue playing. Whenever possible (in this situation
where we cannot play to the centre), we will always try to start on the
flank where we have the most technical players.
- What do we do when we cannot go on playing short?
If the opponents are pushing (pressuring), our starting, then we must go
to the flanks (if we are more centred, usually we can play with the
Goalkeeper), without options for short passing, we can look for a long
ball to the Wingers or the Striker. This can be used, especially when
distances between lines are very short and there is much space
between defenders (of the other team, of course), and goal. Obviously,
it is a more direct play, but to have this option is always a good idea.
Fig. 4-002 – STARTING OF PLAY
- Are the Midfielders coming to look for the ball or must we pass it
to them? Who must come, if this is the case?
The Central Midfielder is the first one that has to come to look for the
ball from the Goalkeeper and/or Centre-Backs, as it is from him that all
our structure of our game is moving (specially at offensive level). The
Attacking Midfielder of the flank where we start to play has also got to
come and give support. If the situation is clear, however we can play
directly with the Central Midfielder/Attacking Midfielder, without
having to make a great effort. It's necessary to avoid useless runs with
ball, when we can have an easy and safe pass.
- When the ball arrives to the Midfielders, do we look for the

flanks? Or for the centre? The first option, is it a Full-Back or a Winger?
As mentioned, our choice will be to play to the flanks if we don't have
the possibility of an inside pass (pass between defenders, with the ball
going from the outside of the pitch to the inside), to the Striker or the
Winger. We can also play, if the Wingers have not reached the position,
with the Striker, to hold the ball and give time to the arrival of the rest
of the players. If these are closer, another option is to pass to the Striker
to give back the ball at first touch and to switch the play to one side.
- Passing or running with the ball?

Our game is based upon possession and passing, but there will be some
moments that we will not have clear and safe passing lines. Also,
passing is “the tool” used to keep possession, but it’s not “the end”.
That means, “run with ball if you can, pass if you need”. What we have
to do, first, is to delay, to see if there is any movement of our
teammates that give us these passing lines. If this is not possible, the
player with the ball has to run with it, to attract opponents and thus,
create passing lines.
- Are the Full-Backs going to attack? Both? Until where?

The Full-Back of the side of play must always go to attack, and give
support to create 2v1 situations; also to overlap the Winger, and while
this one is going inside for finishing, it is the Full-Back who will cross the
ball.
It maybe also be the opposite case, the Winger is crossing and the Full-
Back will go to the penalty area. So, there is no limit for the Full-Back.
The Full-Back of the other side can go up, always surprising from the
defence or, in case that the opponents are closed in their own half. In
any case, we will have the option for playing at both sides. Otherwise,
his function is to close the pitch (as we saw previously when we were
showing the roles and movements of the different players and lines), at
the other side where the play is. At this point, it’s necessary to clarify
the meaning of “closing the pitch, as it is a term used very often.
“Closing the pitch” is the application of the P/C/B (Pressure, Cover,

Balance); the player that closes the pitch is the defensive player located
furthest away from the ball. Normally, so, this player would be the FB
at the other side where we are playing; so our weak FB. It can also be a
FB from the other team that arrives breaking from the back; in this case,
the player that has to go to “close the pitch” will be our WNG at this
side (again, our weak side).
We may also have the situation of both FBs going to attack; but, if we
are playing at one side of the pitch, the other FB only goes to attack
“breaking” from the back, to create a surprise; in this case, we can have
two options:
1) Switching play from one side to another to profit from this “surprise”
2) If some players of the opponent team move to mark our “free” FB, we
can use the gaps created.
In any case, the CM has to drop between the two CB’s. It’s not
necessary that he “sits” between the CBs, forming a real line with 3
players, but at least to be close enough to keep the shape at the same
time that he’s providing cover. Remember that, if we have the CM too
far from the two AM, they will not have support in case they need it.
- If the Full-Back overlaps the Winger, what is he doing? Going to

the inside? Giving support to the Full-Back?
When the Full-Back overlaps the Winger, the first idea is that this player
goes to the inside of the box, to profit from the crossing of the Full-
Back. In this case it is not possible, the Winger and the Attacking
Midfielder, together, must help to create the chance again; as
mentioned, if we are stopped we have to turn to the other side.
Remember that football, as all collective sports, has the idea to start on
one side and to finish at on the other side (if we start at the right side,
we should finish at the left side and vice versa; this means that we have
moved the ball in the right way from one side to the other). The Full-
Back will go back to his position, closing the defence.
Fig.4-003 – OVERLAPPING
Depending on where the overlapping occurs (if near to midfield), the

Winger continues giving support to the Full-Back; if the play is closer to
the opponents box, the Full-Back will perform the crossing and the
Winger will go to finish.
- The Wingers, as first choice look for crossing?

No (of course, if a player is arriving to finish with a clear option to score,
we have to cross, but not crossing just to put the ball inside the box).
The first option of the Winger must be to go inside (between opposing
Full-Back and Centre-Back), to attract this and create space for the
arrival or players from the second line (Midfielders). If this is not
possible, they have to look for the crossing from the outside and,
if neither is possible, wait for the Full-Back and/or Attacking Midfielder
to look for 2v1 situations. If none of these options are feasible, turn
back and look for playing at the other side, as said before.
Fig.4-004 – 2v1
- If one Winger is crossing, what is the other one doing? Go for

finishing? Second play?
As, said, one basic idea is to start on one side and to finish at the other
one; so, the fact that the Winger of the other side "appears" is always
positive, given the fact that this is a player that is always facing to goal,
while the defenders are back to it. Usually, this Winger should go to the
first play (meaning that he has to arrive to finish the play), but must be
aware and follow the play if there is a rebound or rejection (the “second
play”).
- The Striker, is he static? Must he fall to flanks?

As mentioned, mobility is one of the key points of our system; so, the
Striker cannot be static waiting for the cross. A player in movement is
always more difficult to control than a static one. He must come, if
necessary, to give support and switch play to the flanks. If the inside
passes, the Striker goes to look for the ball, the Winger must cross and
go to the inside of the box for finishing. So, he must "fall" to the flanks,
but as a resource, not as basic system.
Fig.4-005 – "FALLING" TO FLANK
- Who is covering the Full-Back when he goes up? And the Centre-
Back?
Both, Full-Backs and Center-Backs, must be incorporated in offensive
play. The Full-Backs will be used as part of the players close to
opponent’s box, while the Centre-Backs will be the players that will
close the pitch (with the help of the Goalkeeper, of course). We cannot
ignore, however, the options that the Centre-Backs can give us, both
running with the ball when we don't have passing lines, so that, with
their movement we can create both, the needed spaces and these
passing lines and, helping the Midfielders with long passes and
switching.
When the Full-Back moves up, the team will have to swing to this side
and we will close it with 3 Defenders (Both Centre-Backs and the other
Full-back). In addition, the Attacking Midfielder of the side where we
are playing must be behind the Full-Back and the Winger, to do two
things: give options to rotate backwards and change the orientation of
the game and, to cover the Full-back that has gone up. Depending on
the situation of the play, the Centre-Back can do this cover.
If the Centre-Back joins the attack, both Full-Backs, together with the
remaining Centre-Back, will close, with the help of the Central
Midfielder, that must be so far in order to give superiority options with
"walls" (1-2 moves) when the Centre-Back goes up, and so closer to the
Defensive line to help. In case of the Central Midfielder is in attacking
positions, one of the Attacking Midfielders will hold this position.
Fig. 4-006 – COVERING THE FULL-BACK
Fig. 4-007 – COVERING THE CENTER-BACK
- What is the Goalkeeper doing once the play has started?

Once the Goalkeeper plays the ball, he must follow the movement of
the ball, to keep balance between the lines, to finish, once the team is
closer to opponents box, and the Defenders close to midfield, out of the
own box, to prevent counterattacks with long balls of the opponents. It
is very important to have a high concentration, either to continue the
play if the ball is backwards, either to prevent a long pass in case the
ball is lost.
- How is the team positioned at the end of the play?

The team must always be in good balanced position, both to have
options to continue with the possession of the ball, if we cannot finish
the play, as if the ball was lost and the opponents try to counterattack.
Lines must be closer, and the Goalkeeper out of the box, as mentioned,
to prevent any long pass. If the play is finished at the right flank, the
team must be more to this side, and vice versa.
Fig. 4-008 – END OF PLAY
5. THE DEFENSIVE TRANSITION
5.1 Losing the ball

The Defensive Transition (Attack-Defence), begins when the team is
attacking and loses the ball. It means, therefore, a new situation, where
the team doesn’t have the ball and, therefore, should be tried, as quick
as possible, to recover it.
At this initial stage, the same player that has lost the ball (or, the closer
to the opponent that has the ball if this is not the same), is in charge of
putting pressure on the player of the opposite team who has it. This will
allow, at the same time, that the rest of the team is pressing on the
opponents players to avoid passes, forcing the opponents to pass the
ball to the Goalkeeper and to make that this one can only reject it. Also
we can make that the player with the ball throw it out of bounds (or just
send it away), due to pressure.
All this means that, the first step that the player must do is of a mental
kind. The goal goes from making a play to score, to recovering of the
ball. It's a CHANGE OF ATTITUDE, and this must be evident in the player
and, together, on the whole team as a group. Without this change, it
will be very difficult to pressure the ball, because we will not be
mentally prepared for it. This is something that must be worked hard at
when training, because there are many players that, in the moment that
the ball is lost (either themselves or a teammate), they "forget" that
they must go to recover the ball. It’s quite usual to see players moving
hands or head after losing the ball showing disappointment and not
going to recover it, allowing the opponents a fast and dangerous
counter.
As mentioned, the first thing that the player who has lost the ball must
do is going to press. This pressure, depending on the area where it is,
must lead to:
1) Making a pass to the Goalkeeper that puts pressure on him to just

get rid of it with a big kick.
2) If that is not possible, make the player with the ball go to the side-
line. It is always better that the ball is as far away from the centre, as to
better defend. If it is achieved to put the player on the side/corner, the
danger of the team with possession will diminish considerably.
If this pressure is on the middle of the pitch, because it is here where

the ball has been lost, we have to force the player with the ball to do a
bad pass or, to make him go backwards. This will allow our team to
reorganize while the opponents can't pass the ball to forward's position.
Obviously, if the opposing team is going back to side and not the centre,
much better, because, as mentioned it is farthest from the ball away
from the centre and easier to defend.
5.2 The reorganization

Together with what we have said, the team must put lines together
(closing spaces and gaps), to prevent, from one side, long passes with a
very long gap in the middle of the pitch and, on the other side, the
players of the opposing team have space to move and receive passing
from teammates. That is, what we have to do is CLOSE SPACES and
AVOID PASSING LINES, both inside and outside, to prevent the
progression of the opposing team.
As mentioned, we must pressure the carrier of the ball and, at the same
time, make him go to the flanks. This means that the whole team must
move diagonally. If the opponents are going backwards, our team must
go forward; to close and advance our lines, making it more difficult for
the opponent. Obviously, this doesn't mean that our defenders must
arrive at the opponent's box; we always have to maintain a rational
occupation of the pitch so, that spaces left behind our defence are
relatively easy to fill or, at least, there are players that can arrive to
defend a long pass. In this situation, the role of the Keeper is essential,
as we said before. In these situations, he will act more as “Sweeper”
rather than as a “Keeper”, (“living”), out of the box and ready to act if
there’s a long ball going to the back of the defenders.
Fig. 5-001 – CLOSING SPACES; DIAGONAL MOVEMENT
As in the previous case, when we were attacking, there is a whole series

of questions that we make and, therefore, a number of answers that
must be given. Let’s see them.
- Will we go to pressure immediately? Who?

Just when the ball is lost, the player who lost it (normally, he will be the
closest to the ball), must go immediately to put pressure on the
opponent. With this, we prevent the fast offensive transition. If the ball
goes to another player, he must continue with the pressure, unless
there is a closer player; in this case, this one will have to pressure on the
carrier of the ball.
In the event that because of playing circumstances, there is another

player nearer to the ball, this player will go to pressure.
It is important that, at the same time there is pressure on the ball

carrier, all the team must pressure together, putting the lines together
(less gap between defenders, midfielders and attackers), to avoid

spaces, both inside and in depth.
- Which players "forget" the ball, at first moment, to go marking?

Those that are farther from the ball, especially defenders, are the ones
that must be more aware of the movements of the opponents. Given
that, what happens quite often is the attempt to pass a long ball over
the Centre-backs (putting the ball at their backs), these are the ones
that must have maximum concentration, to react to this fact.
It can happen also with a long ball passed over the Full-backs, either in
parallel (same side), or in change of orientation (from one side to the
other); that means that the Full-backs must also have high
concentration and, the Centre-Backs must be ready, at the same time
they are marking their Forwards, to give cover the Full-Backs if
necessary.
- Which players must "stop" the play, to allow the team to regain
the structure?
The players that go to recover the ball, at first instance, are the ones
that have to make, as much as possible, delay to the counterattack of
the opposition and allow reorganization of our team. These players
must be the closest to the ball, as we have said several times. It is
presumed that these players who have lost the ball were the ones that
were giving support when the team was advancing. As the position of
the ball is changing, the player that follows the ball will change also
(especially if there is another player closer to the ball) and, therefore,
the player that helps him in that task. Logically, if it is possible to
recover the ball in these circumstances, it must be tried. Think also
about the organization of the team when pressuring and the
Pressure/Cover/Balance concept. It will be applied also here, as a very
important part in the transition. Also, it will be used when defending.
Depending on the moment, it will be necessary to foul to stop this

advance. Obviously, this is the last resort, because often, such offenses
carry a yellow card (because normally, the foul is to interrupt a
promising attack), and, if the booked player already had one card, it
means that the team will be in numerical inferiority.
- What do we have to do if we recover the ball in this transition?

If we recover the ball with free space to go towards to opponent’s goal,
what we have to do this. The players that were accompanying in the
pressure must go to support the carrier of the ball. This means that we’ll
go from Defensive Transition to Offensive Transition.
If it is not possible to go towards the opponent’s goal, then we have and

there is no option to pass to a teammate with space to continue
advancing, look for support where we can pass the ball safely. That
means, we will do the same if the ball is recovered in the Defensive
Phase. From here, the team will go to Offensive Phase or Transition
Phase, according to the case.
In the next picture, we can see that the RFB has recovered the ball; no
options for him to play forward, as the opponents are very close to him
and to teammates; so, he has to do a “safe pass” (to retain the ball); he
can have two options:
1) CB is dropping to receive the ball and start the building up from the
back.
2) Pass to Keeper and start playing again.
Fig. 5-002 – SAFE PASS
- What do we have to apply in the transition?

To prevent the opponents going forward and/or recover the ball, it is
very important to anticipate, both mentally ("read the play"), and
acting. A good anticipation can lead us to recover the ball, with the
consequent possibility of a counterattack, depending on where the
recovery occurs. As said before, it’s possible that we recover the ball
and have a lot of free space to go to goal. And, for applying this
anticipation, concentration is vital. We have talked before about the
concentration of defenders, but the whole team must have a very
high degree of concentration. It doesn't help that the Defenders are
ready if the Midfielders of the opposing team can receive the ball so
easily because the players that should be marking them, are not doing it
in the right way. We are acting as a team, and the Transition for Attack
to Defence is one of the most important moments to see this “tea
attitude”.
6. THE DEFENSE
6.1 How we defend. The pressure

In the same way that we'll attack with the whole team, is also with the
whole team that we have to defend. From the most advanced player
until the last one (Goalkeeper), all of them will have to work as a block,
to prevent the play and the advancing of the opposing team.
Our retreat will be high, which means that we will go to look for the ball
in the zone where the other team starts their build up (with this, we
mean at the back –defenders-, of the other team). With this, we’ll
prevent what they can use comfortably in their way of playing
(whatever that is), whether it is based on the "positional playing", or, as
a more direct style of play; in any case, we have to avoid the opponents
playing in the way they like to do. So, it’s not possible to avoid
responsibilities. If one or more players are not doing well at their job
and the lines are not close enough, our team will suffer a lot.
Moreover, all this explained in an easier way means that we will be

constantly pressuring the players of the opposing team. We will force
them to play backwards and, that they just have to clear these balls or,
to force them to go to flanks and make them lose the ball.
If the ball arrives to the Goalkeeper coming from a back pass, the same
player who led to it is the one that has to follow the ball (unless there is
a player closer to that situation), and make the first pressuring point. If
this player is a Winger, then the one at the other side must be located
between his Full-back and the Centre-back of this side, while the
Centre-Forward will be between both Centre-backs, to "cut" the passing
lines.
If, the one that is pressuring is the Centre Forward, both Wingers must
be closed between Full-backs and the Centre-backs to prevent the pass.
Automatically, all other players must push up, to shorten the space
between lines and, to avoid short pass to the feet among the players of
the opposing team.
Fig. 6-001 – PRESSING WITH WINGER
Fig. 6-002 – PRESSING WITH STRIKER
This means that we have the whole team (except the Goalkeeper, which
must be outside of the box to prevent a long pass), between half-pitch
line and the opponents box (30-35 m. approx.), with players pressuring
the opponents, without spaces, ready for interception/anticipation.
This pressure should be, whenever possible, diagonally, to force the

opponents to be out of the centre and to go to the flank, where we can
close them a lot better.
6.2 The swinging

All this, however, cannot be understood without the swinging, i.e.,
movement-type pendulum from one side of the pitch to the other, to
cover spaces and prevent the progression of the players of the opposing
team.
As mentioned, we begin to defend and pressing with the forwards. If

the defence wants to play with their Centre-Backs, the Centre Forward
will go to pressure to the Centre-Back that wants to play with the ball,
while the Winger of this side will go on the Full-Back and, the Winger of
the other side will be between his Full-Back and the other Centre-Back.
If the Centre-Back is playing to his side, the Winger will go to pressure,
the Centre Forward will play between Centre-Backs (closer to one of the
sides where they are playing), and, the other Winger will be closer to
the other Centre-Back, "closing" the pitch.
Fig. 6-003 – SWINGING
Elsewhere, the Attacking Midfielder or the side where the play is must
go to cover his Winger, at the same time that he trims off the passing
lines to the creative players of the opposing team.
The key point when swinging, however, is the joint work of all the team,
that is, everyone must move in a coordinate manner, to one side or, to
the other, forwards or backwards. Here, it is very important the role of
the closest player to the ball, because this one will guide the position of
the rest of the players. For example, if the ball is located as in the figure
above, and it's moving laterally towards left (our right), it will be our
Centre Forward who will go to pressure the ball. If, the ball is going to
the other side, then our Right Winger will go to pressure, while our
players of the left side will go to close the pitch.
It's always important to keep the shape of the team, and there is no
excessive distance between lines (gap between players) or, among the
players in the same line, to avoid, as much as possible, spaces, both
inside and outside.
6.3 How will we defend?

As we did in the previous parts, there is a whole series of questions that
we must do ourselves when defending. These are:
- Is retreat High, Intensive, or Medium?

Our retreat will be HIGH; in fact, hardly will be a retrieve, because the
pressure is constant from the moment that the ball is lost, and also in
the same place where the loss occurs. The defenders must be pushing
always, so that, when the opposing team is doing a back pass, our
defenders must go forward.
- Zonal Defence, Mixed or Man-to Man? Which players do each

thing?
As a principle, our defence is Zonal. But, the players must follow the
opponent until the end of play; that means that we will switch to
Individual Defence at the moment in which a player has the ball; in case
that a player without the ball is leaving our position, we must alert our
team mates, to make them know that someone is going closer to him.
However, in the Finishing Zone, marking will be individual at any
moment. The only player that won't have a fixed mark will be the Full-
Back of the other side where the play is, because his basic function is to
close the pitch; if there is a very wide player, the Attacking Midfielder of
this side, or the Winger, depending of the situation of the play, must be
the one who will go close.
- How many players, at least, must be behind the ball?

There is not a minimum number, but, what is needed are full lines; if the
opposing team have the ball in defence, all our team must be behind
the ball. If the ball is in the Midfielders zone, our Midfielders and
Defenders will be behind the ball. If the forwards have the ball, at least
our defenders must be behind it; in addition, the midfielders must come
to help following the midfielders of the other team.
- Where do we pressure the ball? At the flanks? Centre? Under

what conditions?
The pressure on the ball will be always at the place where it is located;
but, as mentioned, we have to try to get the ball towards the flanks,
where, naturally, there is less danger than in the centre. As it has been
said also, this pressure will be constant and, at all times. The idea is to
regain possession as soon as possible and, as best we can drown the
opponents with our pressure, early and, in better conditions, it will be
possible to regain the ball.
- Who follows the outside players of the opposing team? The Full-
Backs? The Wingers?
As marking in these areas of the pitch are individual, the Wingers of the
other team will be followed by our Full-Backs when they try to look for
depth; if the one who tries to go by the side is a Midfielder, it is our
Midfielder that will follow him to prevent the crossing and/or the
penetration to the inside of the box. That is, there won't be switching of
marks, unless obvious that a player is overpassed and, the team mate
that was covering him goes to mark this player. As a general rule, the
Wingers and Striker should be close to Half-Pitch line, to avoid the
defenders of the other team to join attack: only when a defender breaks
(or try to break), in a fast run, our attackers have to follow them. The
idea is they are worried and aware about us, knowing that, if they lose
the ball, we can organize a fast counter. If our attackers come very deep
there’s a lot of space for opponents, with a lot of players; so, as less
players, less options.
- How will be the covers?

In principle, the cover will be done by the player closer to the one who
is defending the opponent with the ball, except in the case of a long
ball. In this case, one of the players free of vigilances (usually, one of the
Centre-Backs), will be the one that goes to look for the ball. As this will
be a ball on the side, normally, the Full-Back of this flank, that is the one
who has lost the position, will go to cover his team mate; obviously, if
there is a closer player without mark and/or vigilance, will be this one
who covers the Centre-Back that has gone to the long ball.
- Where we will close the pitch?

The pitch should be closed, approximately, in the middle or in 2/3; that
means, if we divide the width of the pitch in 3 parts, when we are
defending in one side, at most, our further player to the ball will be 1/3
of distance of the touch line (at the other side).
Fig. 6-004 – CLOSING THE PITCH
7. THE OFFENSIVE TRANSITION
7.1 Going out in transition

The last of the 4 MOMENTS that will allow us to complete the structure
is the Offensive Transition. In order to start this offensive transition, the
first thing that we have to do is to recover the ball. We have spoken
about these both, in the Defensive Transition Phase and in the
Defensive Phase.
Now, we suppose that we just have won the ball. The first pass is the
most important, considering that the option of a safe pass and starting
up moving the ball doesn't apply here, because, in that case, we would
be talking about Offensive Phase (Attack), and not about Offensive
Transition.
This first pass will show us which way to go; we have different options:
1) Vertically, using the lateral corridor (or central) at the place (area of
the pitch), where we have stolen the ball; that means a pass through
the middle of these defenders or a high ball behind the defence.
2) Short diagonally, towards centre (if we have recovered the ball in

one of the sides), or, towards the side, if the ball has been recovered in
the centre. In this case, a pass on the ground, tense and strong enough,
can serve to pass over defenders and allow our Forwards to have a clear
advantage over the opponent defender.
3) Long diagonally, switching orientation, to exploit the weak side of

the opponent or, in case the ball is recovered in the middle of the pitch,
take profit of either of both flanks. It is clear that we have to put the ball
at the back of the defenders, to profit that we are going facing the ball
and the opponents, backwards to it.
Any of the options implies a very quick decision and, above all, decision
of the players that are involved in the play, especially those that have to
receive the pass. Therefore, players must have a maximum
concentration: on one side, they are in the Defensive Phase, and they
have to do a maximum effort to avoid that the opponents from scoring.

At the other side, they must be ready to change attitude at the moment
that one of the team mates (or himself), recovers the ball. In the same
way as in Defensive Transition, the Offensive Transition has, in an
implicit way, a Change of Attitude, so, awareness and concentration,
again, are always present.
The option to choose must be always the most simple and easy to
perform. If the player closer to us is the Winger, we have to look for
playing with him; if the closest player is the Striker, we'll look for playing
with him, but, always, with whom we see as an easier option to the
opponent’s goal as quick as possible is the best pass.
7.2 Going out vertically

When we go out in this way, it is possible that only 2 players are needed
to finish the play. We will use it when the Forward in the area where we
have recovered the ball is close enough to the one who recovers the
ball, thus, a long pass to the feet of the Forward can put him in clear
advantage in front of the opposing goal. The closest player of this line
must go with the play, either for a finishing pass and shot or, either to
get the rebound (from Goalkeeper or Defenders). That is, if the player
going to goal with the ball under control is a Winger, the Centre
Forward must accompany him; if the one who goes is the Centre
Forward, one of the Wingers must follow the play.
Fig. 7-001 – OUT VERTICALLY
7.3 Going out short diagonally

This will happen when we have a player ahead of the one who has got
the ball, but placed vertically according to the position of the last one.
This action must be followed, at least, by the movement towards
opposing goal of the rest of the players of the same line. We have to
think that, with this first movement, it is possible that our player is not
facing the goal, but, for those who accompany him it is possible that,
after a second pass, they have options for shooting and scoring. Hence,
this is the importance of these players and their movement towards
goal. On one hand, they give options to the carrier of the ball, while, on
the other hand, they can force the defenders to run towards their own
goal, therefore, lose sight of the ball, with the advantages which our
team can have.
Fig. 7-002 – SHORT DIAGONALLY
7.4 Going out long diagonally

Here we'll profit from the opponent's weak side, changing the
orientation of the game once the ball is recovered. We try to pass,
quickly, to the other flank of where we are playing, with an aerial ball
over the defenders. It can be done in two directions:
1) From one side to the other of the pitch, taking advantage that the
team is swinging to the flank where the ball is at the moment of being
recovered.
2) From the centre to one of the flanks; in this case, we will take
advantage that the opposing team is more concerned in this area and,
normally, they will be more neglected at the flanks.
In any case, it is passing the ball over the Defence, so they have to run
facing their own goal, thus, often lose sight of our players. It is this
"confusion” that is created at certain moments the one that we have to
manage. It is clear that, once the first pass is done, we have to go to give
support to the team mate with the ball. A very interesting option is the
furthest player to the one who receives the ball; because it means that
the Defenders of the opposing team have two places to focus on with a
long distance between them. That means, there are many spaces to
profit for the players arriving from the second line once the ball is
passed and the player is running towards opposing goal.
Also, if the player that accompanies the run is the closest to the one
that has the ball, we can use it to make the furthest player arriving as a
second option, profiting from that of the opposing team will be focused
on a specific area of the pitch and, it will be easier that a player can
arrive later.
Fig. 7-003 – LONG DIAGONALLY
8. THE TRAINING
8.1 The kind of training

It is obvious that, considering all we have seen until now, our training
and, as a consequence, the sessions used for this training, will have to
be linked to the style of play that we propose.
It doesn’t make any sense, for me, a style of play based in ball
possession and training a direct style or, start running laps around the
pitch or, spend a lot of hours in the gym developing muscles. The same
way, if someone wants to play a direct style with long passes to the
strikers for them catching the ball and putting it on the ground for
someone shooting to goal, you won’t need any kind of positional
exercises.
This is a problem, for me, being repeated for many years (and still doing
it actually); long and heavy sessions abut “fitness preparation”, the
scrimmage on Thursday etc, and all together for, when the match
comes, the supporters start wondering: What this team is playing?
Without a schema or a defined structure, without clear ideas... yes,

about running, they run a lot, but without any sense mostly of the
times. And, when you ask them, the answer is always the same: “There
are a lot of new players”, “We are still joining the players” and,
whatever you want when, the truth and what is needed is to develop a
way of playing football, supposing that this way exist. But, of course, if
we have 3-4 training sessions per week (I’m not talking about
professional teams, I’m talking about lower levels, this idea are
applicable to any team), and we spend 2-3 sessions for “fitness
preparation” and set-pieces, When are we going to work our style of
playing? When are we going to work the tactical concepts?
Some time ago, I found, browsing Internet, the sessions of a “Fitness

Coach” (if my memory remembers, it was a U-18 or U-19 team). For me,
it was incredible: 20 sessions (90 minutes per session, on average), only
3 hours were for working the system/style of playing and the tactical
concepts. The rest of this time (27 hours!), was work on fitness, interval
circuits, fartlek’s and, other physical exercises. And, it has to be very
clear that everyone did the training the way he wanted. But, nobody
can expect this team to play good football, with clear and defined ideas
about the situations that you have on the pitch. And, beside, who is the
Fitness Coach to set the rhythm that we have to work? Isn’t there a
Coach/Manager? Is it not the Coach/Manager who has to say What and,
in any case, the Fitness Coach the one that has to say the “rules” that
must be accomplished according to assumptions indicated by the
Coach/Manager. But, what cannot be, in any way, is that the Fitness
Coach decides what is going to be trained or practiced. After all, if the
team loses, the one that will be fired is the Coach/Manager, and not the
Fitness Coach (I’ve never seen, yet, any Fitness Coach fired because of
the bad results of the team).
One thing that has to be absolutely clear is that I have nothing against
Fitness Coaches, if they are doing their job, that is, to be Assistant
Coaches (Fitness Coaches) and not Coaches/Managers.
With this introduction, more or less you can imagine the path that we’ll
follow when planning our training sessions. There is a basic and
fundamental element: the BALL and, around it, there’s all that refers
about training and playing football. If, in a football match there is ONE
ball (which is essential to playing the game), why do we have to do a lot
of activities when training where there isn’t any ball?
Because there is the ball, but, it doesn’t necessarily mean that our
training is designed according to our way of playing. For that to happen,
our training sessions have to be SPECIFIC, that means directly related, as
we have said at the beginning, to our way of playing and, the activities
that we have to include (the exercises), have to be also SPECIFIC.
Consequently, we will say that we are working on SPECIFITY.
What does this mean? Well, very simple. It means that, from the easiest
passing exercise to the most complicated one, where all the players
available are involved, ALL these exercises have a DIRECT and concrete
relation with our way of playing, that is, about how we want our match
or, better said, what kind of things we want to happen in the game.
Then the match can go in many different ways but, the more things we
have worked and prepared for, it will be easier for the player to
“answer” in the right way (and you can have several “answers” to the
same situation), to the situation given on the pitch. The more
information the player has received during training session, the more
situation the player has “lived”, the easier it will be for him to find a
solution to the problem (game situation), raised.
How do we work all this? Well, like any process, we need to have a clear
STRUCTURE. If we give a STRUCTURE to our way of playing (with
Principles and Sub-Principles), then they must be respected when
training. This means that we won’t be working the same every day.
Some days, we’ll have activities related to Principles and, other days,
related to Sub-Principles and Sub-Sub-Principles because, besides, the
physical and mental load is directly related. Yes, there is a physical load,
even someone could think that we have forgotten it; what happens is
that this load is as a consequence of our specific work, and not the
opposite.
8.2 The structure of training

We are going to explain a little bit about this idea that we have written
before:
For a simple matter of consistency, when we work on Principles we will

be working Sub-Principles and Sub-Sub-Principles, as these are included
in the others and that ones are included in the major Principles. In the
same way, when we work specifically (in a concrete manner, because
our work is always SPECIFIC), the Sub-Sub-Principles, we will be working
the Principles that those are derived from but, obviously, we will not
have all the interrelations, just because the number of players will be
different, especially in terms of opposition.
We are going to imagine a passing exercise among 4 players. We have

to remember that this passing sequence is related to any part of our
style of playing (It can be among 4 defenders, 2 defenders and 2
midfielders, 3 forwards and 1 midfielder, etc.). There is no opposition.
Distance can vary between 10 and 20 meters, according to the kind of
pass that we want to do and the player is following his pass and/or
doing a certain kind of movement. It would be an exercise like this
(1,2,3,4 is the order of the passing sequence):
FIG. 8-001 – PASSING SEQUENCE
This exercise is simple (at a mental level); the load is virtually

nonexistent; there is no “decision making”, simply the player executes a
pass according to a situation that can occur during the game. The
physical load is completely Anaerobic Lactic (very short efforts).
Now imagine that these 4 players that were doing passes are doing it in
a similar space, but with an opposition of 2 players that are trying to
steal the ball, as in the following picture:
Fig. 8-002 – 4v2
Here, despite having a similar physical load (short and ongoing efforts,
but without long movements), the fact of having opposition (2 players),
increases the complexity of the exercise. The player in possession has 3
passing options and, at the same time, there are 2 players that are
trying to stop it.
Let’s go to a third type of exercise. In this, our four players are facing
another four, but, we’ve added also, two Goalkeepers and we expanded
the space to have 40x30m., such like this:
Fig. 8-003 – 4v4+2P
Now, although still it is an exercise where passes can be crucial, the fact
of having a larger space with more players and much more opposition,
makes this kind of work, both at mental and the physical level, is much
more complex. At the mental level, we have now the interactions of 5
players, against the interactions of another 5 players. There are many
more options for passing, shooting (finishing), marking, support, etc.
Now, either we will not be working in Anaerobic Lactic way. Now, we
will be between an Aerobic work and an Aerobic Lactic work, depending
on the approach of the exercise.
Finally, we go to a fourth type of exercise. Here, the space is much

larger and there are more players involved (11v11), so the interactions
and the complexity is much higher. Here all the team and all the
opposing team, with all the possible interactions. We will work different
activities (One touch finishing, two touches finishing, team

compactness, etc.). Any kind of activity related to our style of playing.
Fig. 8-004 (MATCHES WITH DIFFERENT SPACES AND CONDITIONS)
And, we have changed, also, the kind of physical effort. Here, we are
talking about a work that is mainly Aerobic (A lot of time working, but
with all the components involved in a football game (we will have
jogging, running backwards, sprinting, bumps, jumps, etc.)
Well, the first exercise is a work about Sub-Sub-Principles. The second

and the third are work about Sub-Principles (which automatically will
include Sub-Sub-Principles) and, the last is an exercise about principles
(that has, logically, all the Sub-Principles and the Sub-Sub-Principles).
Therefore, if each activity is different, with a mental a physical load

matched that is also different, don’t we have to work, at every training
session in a different way? Don’t we have to do activities related to a
same goal, to be mentally and physically consistent with the work

related to our model/style of play?
There are many ways to approach a training session. In the Anglo-Saxon

countries (basically), sessions, especially at grassroots level, are
prepared in terms of progression. That is, they start with 1v1 or 2v2
exercises, to finish with a game about the “theme” of the session. (Such
as shooting, passing, dribbling, heading, etc). Also, here we have more
of an intervention of this “physical” compound that we have talked
about at the beginning of the chapter. There are many purely physical
activities and even the entire session. Others, especially Latin, go more
about to spend every day of the week for a different kind of activity
(physical, technical, tactical, etc.)
Personally, none of these ways for training finishes convinces me,

although I respect them. I understand that training is in conjunction
with the game: “As you train, as you play”, however and increasingly,
“as you play, as you train”. That is, if you want to play football, you have
to train football.
8.3 Small Sided Games

We have seen, in the examples above, that the activities were
developed in terms of small spaces and low number of players. In
addition to what we have said regarding the physical load, there is a
basic reason to use this kind of activities: we have talked about the
SPECIFICITY of the training and, all these activities are SPECIFIC.
What does this mean? Well, very simple; the vast majority of situations
that happen on a field of play, during the course of the game, there are
situations ranging from 1v1 to 5v5. This means 1v1, 2v1, 2v2, 3v2, 4v2,
4v4, 5v5, etc. We’ll be working these situations, mainly, during the
training sessions, so the player has, as far as possible, “known” and
“assimilated” them. When the match is starting and he is facing these

kinds of situations, it will be easier for him to solve them, given that,
having worked on them; it will be easier to find a solution, hence, the
great importance of this kind of activities.
But, we don’t have to be confused with the fact of using the Small Sided
Games (SSG), that it’s enough with just them. Often, these kinds of
activities are used without any link to our Style of Playing. Possession
Games, “Rondos”, etc. that have no attachment to the way that we
play. Does it make sense to play a “Possession Game”, when our team
plays with a Model based in transitions and, there isn’t possession and
circulation (movement) of the ball? Clearly not.
Therefore, these SSG’s always need to relate to our Style of Play,

whether we play a “Positional” game or a “Transitions” game.
There have been teams, in the past that made SSG’s a large basis of
their training. Teams like Borussia Moenchengladbach or Liverpool. In
the 70s, they developed a complete style of playing around SSG’s,
among many other things, of course.
What do the SSG’s have which makes them of high interest when
training?
Well, many things. A great use of the space; with half of a pitch (let’s say
60x60m), we can have different working activities at the same time. This
allows many different kinds of activities at once.
Fig. 8-005 (SPACE OCCUPATION- 1)
Pitch 1: 1v1 Pitch 2: 2v1

Pitch 7: 6v2
Overall, we see that, in a space of 60x60m. We can work up to 39

players simultaneously. This is just an example; there are several ways
to profit from the space. Here we have a different one.
Fig. 8-006 (SPACE OCCUPATION-2)
Pitch 1: 20x10m. (Skills – Tennis, 2v2)

Pitch 2: 40x20m. (Possession – 4v4)
Pitch 3: 18x16,5m. (Finishing – 3v3+2P)
Pitch 4: 40x16,5m (Dribbling – 3v3)
We also see that, while we can work with a lot of players, at the same
time we can work with different kinds of activities. This will allow that
the player to work on different things in the same session. We can
divide the spaces in a way that we have areas with individual work,
group work, active recovery, etc. but always keeping in mind what day
of the week we are on and, what kind of work corresponds to it.
From here, thus, a wide range of possibilities are opened, depending on

the number of players that we have for the session, the number of
coaches, the amount of material available (balls, bibs, cones, goals,

etc.), the time that we have for the session.
As usual, it will be a question for the Coach on how to divide the time
and the space available, in order to take the most from our sessions. As
more organized that we are, more possibilities for our players to
improve. Think, also, that players are intelligent and they quickly see if
the Coach is organized or not. As the more organized we are, the more
respect we’ll have from our players.
8.4 The session

Having seen all the above and, taking into account all the parameters
expressed, let’s see how we can prepare a training session.
Already we know that in each session we’ll have to work different

concepts, in order to do two things: to work all the Principles, Sub-
Principles and Sub-Sub-Principles and, to work all the energy systems
(Anaerobic Lactic, Anaerobic Lactic and Aerobic). If that weren’t this way
we would lack in different areas when training, that could be noticed
when playing matches.
In addition to all that we have said, we have to take into account, in the
design of the activities, how we want our training.
As noted before, there is a tendency, when preparing the training

sessions, about doing what it is called “progressions” (and at grassroots
level, even more). That is, to have an aim or topic for the day (shooting,
passing, control, etc,) and, around this topic is the entire session, but,
starting at the lower level (1v1 or similar), to finish with a match about
the topic. With young children, I think that it is quite important, but,
when they start to reach certain ages, I don’t agree so much. First, there
is no dominant aspect regarding our style of play (which, with young
kids should be practically non-existent. That means, kids have to play for
the pleasure of playing and having minimal rigidity at the moment of

facing matches), because when we work different exercises related to
an idea, what we do is to put the idea as starting point, and the starting
point has to be our way of playing. On the other hand, the progress
made in that way prevents the player’s physic and mental work to
develop fully, because not everything will be worked specifically and, at
the same time, the player will move from very simple things to very
complex ones in the course of the same session.
However, it has to be clear that every session needs to have goals; we

can make a session dedicated to shooting (finishing), without problems,
but always bearing in mind that we have to work it within our style of
play, what we were saying about being SPECIFIC.
Also, certainly, there are certain parameters that we must follow for any
session, that is, a WARM-UP, a MAIN PART and a COOL-DOWN.
How will we distribute these sessions? Given everything we have seen

so far and, that we have 3 sessions per week, with a match on
weekends (usually on Sundays), the distribution will be:
1st Session: Working Sub-Principles and Sub-Sub-Principles, focused on

technical elements (passing, shooting, control, heading, tackling,
anticipation, etc.). Small or very small tactical situations. The physical
work associated will be Anaerobic Lactic. Medium spaces (from 10x10 to
30x30m.), with a low number of players (up to 10 players maximum)
and, medium opposition (4v2, 6v3, etc.). Short working time (2’-3’ per
répétition)
2nd Session: Working on Principles, focused to the big tactical situations

that occur during the match. The physical work will be Aerobic. Large
spaces (from 40x40 to 2/3 of the Full Pitch), with high number of players
(20-22), and high opposition (11v11, 11v9, etc.). Working time is large
(10’ per repetition)
3rd Session: Working Sub-Principles focused to positional situations.

Tactical situations are smaller than the 2nd session. Here, our work will
be Anaerobic Lactic. Small spaces (from 8x8 to 15x15m.), with a low
number of players (4-8) and high opposition (3v3, 4v4). Also, large
spaces (40x40, half pitch), without oppositions. Working time is short or
very short (30’’ a 1’30’’).
8.5 The exercises

We can divide the exercises in several ways. But, for the kind of training
that we will use, these are the best.
TYPE OF EXERCISE (According to the number of players)
 Individuals (1v1, 2v1, etc.)
 Sectorial (by lines: Defenders, Midfielders, etc.)
 Intersectorial (relationship between lines; Defenders and Midfielders v
Midfielders and Forwards)
 Collectives (all the team)
Individual and Sectorial exercises are those that we can apply when
working with Sub-Principles and Sub-Sub-Principles. Interserctorial
exercises can be applied for working with Sub-Principles and Collectives
will be applied for Principles.
This is not a fixed rule; we can work Intersectorial exercises, for

example, doing a 4v2 (with 3 defenders and 1 midfielder) and this can
be for working in Sub-Sub-Principles. It will depend, as was exposed
before, according to the number of players, space etc.
TYPE OF EXERCISE (According to the activity)

 Warm-up
 Passing-Control
 Running with ball/Dribbling
 Possession/”Rondos” (Keep away)
 Decision making
 Finishing
 Etc.
We will see exercises of different types in the following chapters, when

we will be more focused on it.
Here, the activities used are for all: Principles, Sub-Principles and Sub-
Sub-Principles. Again, what is going to lead us is the number of players,
size of grid, duration of the activity, rest period, etc.
For example, we can have a match 10v10 in a grid of 70x50; it’s

supposed that we will work on Principles; but we can be interested, for
whatever reason, to finish a Sub-Principle of Finishing like “Definition of
offensive mechanisms” and here a Sub-Sub-Principle like “Finishing First
Touch”. So, we will be working a specific Sub-Sub-Principle at the same
time that we are working the Principles.
This is just an example and, of course, we can apply whatever we need

or we want in our training sessions.
Another important point that we’ll see later is that the exercises are
based about the “Principles of the Game” (Don’t confuse these
Principles with the “Principles” of our style of playing: the “Principles of
the Game” are the same, no matter which style we want to play. The
Principles that we use for our Style of Playing are unique for us and our
style).
For example, in Spain, “Principles of the game” are divided in two:

offensive and defensive.
As offensive, we have “Attack”, “Free spaces”, “Support”, “Wall (Combo

1-2)”, “Delay”, etc. Principles used in other places like “Width” or
“Depth” are not principles in Spain.
As defensive principles, we have, among others, “Marking”, “Retreat”,

“Cover”, “Permanent support”, “Anticipation” or “Interception”.
We mean that we will be using our “Principles” (referred to the

guidelines of our game and, in our practices, within our “Style of
playing”, we’ll refer to those Principles listed earlier.
Just to put an example, we can have an exercise about the “Offensive

Transition” and will be using “Support” to do this transition.
9. SESSIONS AND EXERCISES
9.1 The “pattern morfocycle”

We have talked a lot about the first, the second and the third session,
and also, that our training has to be according to what happened in the
previous match (to avoid to do the same mistakes), and, how we think
(or how we play, according to the opponents), that the next match will
be.
As we don’t work specific “fitness”, there aren’t “peaks of form”,
“loads” or similar. There is no “seasonal plan” in this aspect. Our plan is
based about the things we want to work and of course, it has to be
adaptable.
But of course, we have a season plan. And it’s about our Principles, Sub-
Principles and Sub-Sub-Principles. We have to decide in which order we
have to implement them, if Attack, or Defence or Transition. We also
have to decide which of the Sub-Principles we will be working with are.
And for this, we use a “weekly plan”, also called “pattern morfocycle”.
What does this plan have? Well, the first thing is that the “pattern
morfocycle” is the same for all weeks of the year. Only in the
first/second weeks (pre-season), we have to adapt it a little bit for the
players, as they are back from a resting period and, also, maybe it’s
possible that they are new to the team (or the coach is new to the
team) and, we have to adapt to each other. So, in general, the exercises
won’t have a high complexity. But, we’ll use the same “pattern” during
all year.
This means, for example, that our Principles, Sub-Principles and Sub-
Sub-Principles well be worked always in the same order, but we’ll apply
all them to our needs. We will work in our second session the
“Principles” but, one week we can work about “Ball Circulation” and,
the next one, about “Mobility”; we can also, when working Sub-
Principles, apply “Starting with Goalkeeper” or “Accuracy of first touch”

or whatever. And, exactly the same idea with Sub-Sub-Principles.
It’s the same way if we want to keep the shape of our team during
matches, we have to keep our “shape” when training. That’s why it is
very important to establish a clear “pattern morfocycle”, where the kind
of activities, working and resting time, etc. has to be clear. Also, this will
help us when preparing our sessions, as we’ll have clear guidelines for
it. The next figure shows a “pattern morfocycle” (or weekly plan),
according to the parameters that we have been talking about. We have
only 3 sessions per week and 1 match in a weekend, so, the rest days
are not included. Working days are considered Tuesday, Thursday and
Friday and matches are on Sunday.
TUE THU FRI SUN
PRINCIPLES REC/SUB PRINCIPLES SUB/SUB-SUB MATCH
SECTOR SECTOR/ ALL SECTORS SECTOR/INTER MATCH
INTER
“FITNESS” REC/ ENDURANCE SPEED MATCH
STRENGHT
COMPLEXITY LOW HIGH LOW MATCH
SPACE MEDIUM LARGE SMALL/MEDIUM MATCH
TIME MEDIUM LARGE (2x30’) MEDIUM (4x15’) MATCH
(4x15’)
INTERVAL 4 PARTS 2,3 PARTS 6 PARTS (3’ EACH) MATCH
(4’ EACH) (10’ EACH)
RECOVERY SHORT (3’- LONG (6’-8’) MEDIUM (5’-6’) MATCH
4-)
OPPOSITION NUL/LOW HIGH (11v11; LOW (4v2; 6v3) MATCH
(5v0; 5v2) 11v9)
Principles mean the kind of activities that we will work in a given day.
Sector is which player we’ll use (defenders, defenders + midfielders,
etc.). We’ll talk about Individual exercises, Sectorial exercises,
Intersectorial exercises and, Collective exercises. This mean:
- Individual: 1-2 players are involved in
- Sectorial: A line (defenders/midfielders/attackers)
- Intersectorial: 2 lines (defenders +midfielders or defenders + attackers,

etc.)
- Collective: All lines are/can participate at the same time in the exercise.
Fitness means the main “physical” component of our training. This
“fitness”, of course, has to be always “specific” and related to our way
of training and within our exercises or activities. This means that we
don’t have any training like running laps or other “physical” activities
that aren’t football related.
Complexity means how complicated are the activities, if they have a lot
of decision-making or not.
Space is the area used for an activity.
Time means how long are our exercises.
Interval is how many times we repeat the same activity.
Recovery is the time needed for recover between different activities.

Opposition is the number of players involved in the activity.
One thing has to be very clear: this is “MY” pattern, not “THE” pattern.
With this, I mean that I have adapted a pattern to my needs. In this case
my needs are:
1) When do I play matches?
2) Which days do I have training session?
3) Which space can I use?
Important to mention about 2 and 3 is that most of the non-

professional teams (especially in medium/large cities), facilities are
shared with other Clubs, so the days you have training are not the ones
that we would like, if not the ones we can have. In addition, some teams
can have 3 sessions per week, but others only 2 and others, maybe 4.
The same applies for the pitch. You’ll find a lot of times that 2/3 teams
are sharing the pitch at the same time so; we have to prepare a pattern
that fits with it. And, also, the activities that we prepare have to be
according to that.
Another important point is how complicated our activities will be. It’s
not the same the beginning of the season as it is the end of the season.
When we start a new season we have some (more or less), new players.
Maybe we are going to a new Club, where none of the players have
worked with us before. This means that our first weeks training has to
be different, in order for us to adapt the players and in turn they can
adapt to the way of our playing and training. At the end of the season,
our players should know all it, so we can have apply very complicated
activities. And, of course, is not the same an adult team (amateur or
semi-pro), than a U-14 or U-16 team. We have to consider all this.
However, all this, always, within our “style of playing” and following the
pattern and Principles, Sub-Principles, etc. More or less complicated just
means about the drill or exercise itself will be, not about missing style,
pattern, etc. These are two different things.
I will not show a typical pattern for a Pro-Team (5 days training, 1 day
rest, 1 day match), as this topic has been explained dozens of times in
several books, presentations, etc. and also can be found very easily
browsing the internet.
Another thing that I won’t include is warm-up activities. There are
hundreds of them, players in groups of 3, 4, etc. using feet and/or hands
with different approaches. The ball, as in the rest of the session is
always present, of course.
Another point to consider is that the GKs will be used as field players
many times. We have talked, when explaining the roles and
responsibilities of players and, when explaining our Model with
Principles, Sub-Principles, etc. how important is the Goalie for our
system. So, we need them to feel comfortable with the ball at their feet
and, when they are not having specific GK training or, when we have
drills without goals, we’ll use our GKs as any other player (which means
that sometimes they’ll be “normal” players, sometimes they will be
“neutral” players, sometimes they will be chasing the ball). The idea is
that they can play as any other player.
9.2 Exercises for the First Session

Let’s go to practice. We will now see some exercises for the First session
of the week. As mentioned several times, the activities are depending
on what happened at the last match and, what we want to happen for
the next one. The exercises should be simple, without too much
complication.
The exercises shown here are not a complete session (the same applies
for chapter 9.3 and 9.4). These are just examples of drills than can be
used in a session. Chapters 9.5, 9.6 and 9.7 show complete sessions.
Another point to consider is that you won’t see exercises using half
pitch with one goal and one GK. The main reason is that exercises, as
has been said several times, must have the Four Moments of the game.
In general, when using this kind of activities, when defenders get the
ball, the exercise has to restart, meaning there are no transitions. In
case I only have 1 GK, I’ll put 2 small goals at the other end and, the
defensive team has to score there (meaning a transition); then, teams
swap roles.
First exercise. Here we have a passing sequence that represents a part
of our “formation”. Can be the Goalkeeper, the 2 Centre-backs and the
Central Midfielder, but they could be any group of 4 players.
Fig. 9-001 – PASSING SEQUENCE
In this first exercise, the players pass to a position (Arrow) and run to
another position (Dashed arrow). It’s a simple exercise, but the intensity
and the concentration has to be maximal to give a good pass.
Type: Sectorial/intersectorial
Goal: Pass and control (2 touches)
Space: 10x10m.
Players needed: Groups of 8
Time: 3x(3’+1’) (3 minutes working and 1 minute resr; repeat 3 times).
Total time: 12 minutes
Let’s go to a second exercise. In this one, all the team follows a

sequence of movements (passing again).
In this second exercise, the players pass the ball to a place and follow
their pass. As before, it’s a simple exercise, but it needs intensity and
concentration to make a right execution.
Type: Collective
Space: Half pitch
Players: All the team (if we have 22 players, 11 at each half)
Time: 3x(3’+1’) (3 minutes working and 1 minute rest; repeat 3 times).
9.3 Exercises for the second session

We have done the first day of training; now, the second is coming; as
usual, the activities have to be according the last match that we played
and the next one.
In our particular case, given that we only have three sessions per week
and, tomorrow there is no session, this will be the most “complicated”
session of the week. This means that this will be the day with more
players involved at the same time (can be 11v11) and, also the space
will be larger (2/3 or more of the total area). Here is where we will work
our “Great Principles” of our Style of Playing. The fact of having teams
with this high number of players will allow us to work as much as
possible our concepts of playing. As a result, we will also work the Sub-
Principles and the Sub-Sub-Principles of our model.
FIG. 9-003 – MATCH BOX-TO-BOX
Examples of activities:
- Match box-to-box (wide as normal pitch)
o Variations (3 touches, 2 touches, 1 touch, free touches, finishing at 1
touch, finishing heading, etc.)
- Match at the flanks:
o It’s a match from box to box, width as the box; you can pass the ball to
this area so, a player can receive it and crossing (first touch, for
example); if the finish from this crossing is goal, it counts double.
Fig. 9-004 – FLANK’S MATCH

- Pressure match
- It’s a normal match, but GKs are playing on opposite sides (which mean
that the attackers of one team are the closest to their own Keeper). To
score, you have to pass the ball to your own Goalkeeper, who has to
catch the ball; to score again, once the ball is played again by the GK, it
has to arrive to the defensive line. In this case, in addition to the
pressure, we will be working the building up from the back
There are many possibilities. We can put as many rules/challenges that

we need (or play different matches, each one with a different topic), in
order to work with the different aspects that we consider to work. We
can also make the pitch bigger or smaller.
In these cases, our working time will be around 10 minutes each one,
with 1-2 minutes of rest between the different matches.
9.4 Exercises for the third session

This is our last session before the match. In this session we will work, as
explained before, Sub-Principles and Sub-Sub-Principles, again,
according to our Style of playing; exercises will be not too long (1-2
minutes) and recovery around 30 seconds to 1 minute.
Fig. 9-005 – 1v1+4

In this activity, a player must run through the gate with the ball, using
the support of the wide players.
Type: Individual/Sectorial
Goal: Pass/dribbling
Space: 10x10
Players: 6 per group
Time: 6x(1’30”+30”) (Rotate players after every working time)
Our next activity is one of those that can involve many players working
at the same time in a very small area
Fig. 9-006 – 4x(2v2)+2C

Here we a have a big grid (20x20m.), divided in four smaller grids
(10x10m. each one); in every grid we have a 2v2 situation, where the
players in possession try to keep the ball. There are 2 Neutral players
(red), that move from grid to grid to give support. Neutral players are
just for that; this means that they give a pass and move to another grid
to give support. This exercise needs a lot of awareness: the players

inside each grid have to shield the ball and look for the support to
continue playing. The Neutral players have to arrive scan the situation
(who has the ball), touch and move to another grid.
Type: Sectorial/Intersectorial
Goal: Shielding/Control/Support
Space: 20x20 (divided in 4 of 10x10m.)
Players: 18
Time: 4x (2’+1’) (Rotate players from grid to grid after every working
time)
The exercises shown before (and, at point 9.1 and 9.2), are just isolated
activities that can be part of a complete session.
The next step will be how to do the set-up for all exercises and activities
for a given and to show complete sessions for the different days of the
week.
9.5 First day of the week

I’ll put, for every day of the week, 2 different and complete sessions.
One of them will be at the beginning of the season, and a second one in
the middle/end.
As I wrote before the complexity of the activities will increase gradually;
also, we have to establish the main points of our “style”. Our activities,
at the beginning of the season will be quite easy, without missing our
way of playing.
A key point is that the sessions are focused in technical or tactical

points. Without forgetting that we are always working our “style of
playing”, the first day of the week we’ll work on “technical” aspect, like
can be dribbling, tackling, finishing, marking, etc.
The second session of the week will be the “most” tactical. As we

explained before, we’ll use larger spaces with more players involved in.
Finally, our third session will be tactical again, but with medium spaces.
We’ll work in situations that can appear during a match, but with a
medium number of players.
DAY 1: SESSION 1: EXERCISE 1

After warm-up (around 20’), our first activity will be a passing sequence.
Players pass the ball and follow their pass.
This is a simple exercise, to show the players the concept of passing the
ball and running. And, of course, we are using some of our Sub-
Principles when having the possession of the ball:
- Accuracy at first touch
- Accuracy in passing
Space: 10x10m.
Time: 3x (3’+1’) (3 minutes working and 1 minute rest; repeat 3 times).
Fig. 9-008 – DRIBBLING
This is a more complicated activity. Here, the players score running with
the ball through the narrow line of the penalty box. Again, we are using
some of our Sub-Principles when having the possession of the ball:
- Playing forwards/backwards
- Variation in short and long passes

- Creation of spaces
But, also, we have some Sub-Principles for the team without the ball:
- Spatial concept. Coverage
- Inside defense. Closing spaces
- Formation of triangles
Goal: Dribbling
Space: 40x16,5m. (Penalty box)
Players needed: Groups of 6 (3v3)
Fig. 9-009 – 1v1+N (RUNNING WITH BALL)

Our third activity is this 1v1 with outside support. Again, we are using
some of our Sub-Principles when having the possession of the ball:
Also, we have Sub-Principles of our Second Principle when attacking
(Mobility); these Sub-Principles are:
- Width
- Creation of lines and get unmarked
And, also, we’ll have some Sub-Principles of our third Principle
(Finishing); these Sub-Principles are:
- Definition of the offensive mechanisms.
As before, we have some Sub-Principles for the team without the ball:
- Accuracy in tackling and anticipation
- Inside defense. Closing Spaces
Type: Individual
Goal: Running with ball
Space: 15x15m.
Rotate players every time you stop
Fig. 9-010 – SHOOTING

This is a different activity for ending the session. We have divided our
group in 2 teams, but only 3 of them are playing at the same time.
Always starting with the GK rolling the ball out. No corner kicks or
throw-in. If this, happen, GK restarts. Again, we are using some of our

Sub-Principles when having the possession of the ball:
- Starting with Goalkeeper
- Width
- Formation of triangles.
- Aggressive zonal pressure
Type: Intersectorial
Goal: Finishing
Space: 16,5x19m.
Players needed: All but playing 3v3+2GK
Time: 20’ (Every time a goal is scored, 3 new players enter the pitch in
the place of the players that conceded the goal; the scorers continue
playing).
We’ll finish the session with a cool-down; the same as the warm-up,
there are many ways for it, so, it’s up to anyone to decide the best way.

After warm-up (around 20’), our first activity will be a drill with passing,
moving, width, depth, unmarking and finishing.
Fig. 9-011 – 2v2+4N
This is a 2v2 situation, with 4 Neutral players, 1 at each side of the pitch.
The players inside have unlimited touches and, the players outside play
always first touch. Our Sub-Principles (from the First Principle
(Possession), when attacking, are:
- Playing forwards/backwards
- Creation of Spaces
From our Second Principle (Mobility), we have
- Width
- Depth
- Creation of lines and unmarking

- Generating spaces
Form our Defensive Principles, we have:
- Coverage
- Inside defense
Goal: Pass and control / tackling-anticipation
Space: 15x15m.
Players needed: Groups of 8 (2v2+4N)
Time: 8x (2’+30”) (2 minutes working and 1 minute rest; repeat 8 times).
Rotate players every time.
Fig. 9-012 – 4v4+2N
In this second activity, the aim is to pass the ball from one Neutral
player to the other, using all the depth of the pitch. One team starts
with possession, and must pass to the Neutral player before progressing
to the other one. A goal is allowed if the second Neutral player give back
the ball to the team in possession (no matter which player); if the ball is
recovered by the other team, restart the process with the Neutral
player, which means they have to play first with one Neutral player
before trying to go to the other. After a “goal”, the play doesn’t stop, so,
the team in possession can score again playing with the other Neutral
player. The team can decided which Neutral player to use as starting
point, and always can be used to give support. The drill can be played
with restricted touches or unlimited ones. Notice that this is a non-stop
game, meaning that, if a team wins the ball, the other has to prevent it
to play with the first Neutral player.
I will not put the list of all Sub-Principles, as there are many, but, in this
exercise you’ll find all the four moments: We have Attack, Defense and
both Transitions, so, a lot of Sub-Principles will appear in this drill. Of
course, it’s up to any coach to decide the Sub-Principles to be used. A
lot of them can exist at the same time, but you can put restrictions in
order to use only some of them.
Goal: Passing, Depth
Space: 25x20m. (With 2 End-Zones of 5 meters)
Players needed: Groups of 10 (4v4+2N)
Rotate players at the Ends.
Fig. 9-013 – 2x4v4 (AWARENESS)

This can look like very difficult, but it isn’t. This drill helps a lot to
develop awareness and spatial concept. It’s a grid of 40x40 divided in 2
of 40x20. In the first one, it’s a 4v4 with 2 small goals. The aim is to
score there. In the second, also a 4v4, scoring when running with the
ball through the line. One team plays North-South in one grid and,
South-North in the other. There are 2 balls, and the balls can be in any
grid: this means, e.g. that a black player in one grid can pass the ball to a
black player in the other grid and we can have, at some moments, 2
balls in one grid and none in the other. Players can’t go the other grid.
We have mentioned several times that one of our aims when defending
is the formation of diamonds and triangles. We mean that, with 4
players, the most natural option is to use 1-2-1 formation, as it gives us
the triangles and diamonds.
Again, we will have a lot of Sub-Principles here and, we have to decide

which ones are the most interesting for us
Goal: Running with ball/Passing/Finishing/Defending
Space: 40x40m. (Divided in 2 of 40x20m.)
Players needed: 8 for each grid; total = 16
Fig. 9-014 – 7v7+2GK
For the end of the season will use this activity; it’s a 7v7+2GK, but each
team has 4 Defenders and 3 Attackers; this means that the Defenders,
once they restart the game or they recover the ball, have to pass it to
the attackers in order to score a goal. No corner kicks. If this happen, GK
restarts. Again, we are using some of our Sub-Principles when having
the possession of the ball:
- Starting with Goalkeeper
- Width

- Formation of triangles.
- Aggressive zonal pressure
Type: Intersectorial
Goal: Finishing
Space: 40x30m. (Divided in 2 of 30x20m.)
Players needed: 16 (included 2GK)
As usual, we’ll finish the session with a cool-down.
9.6 Second day of the week

As we explained, today is the day of the Principles of our “Style of
playing” and we’ll use larger spaces with more players.
DAY 2: SESSION 1: EXERCISE 1 to 6

After warm-up (around 15’), we’ll start to play some matches, with
different conditions/restrictions. All the matches have the same area
(box to box, and using all the width of the pitch), and all the matches
are 11v11.
Fig. 9-015 – MATCHES BOX-TO-BOX
The Set-up is as follows

1st match: 2 touches match
nd
2 match: Finishing first touch
rd
3 match: Finishing heading or long shooting4th match:
Compactness: all team must be in opponents half to score (except GK,

of course)
5th match: 1 touch match
6th match: Free play
All matches are 9 minutes, with 2 minutes between matches and, 10
minutes between the 3rd and the 4th match.
We’ll finish with a cool-down, as usual.

After warm-up (around 15’), we’ll start to play some matches, with
different conditions/restrictions. All the matches have the same area
(50x30m.), and, all the matches are 11v11
Fig. 9-015 – MATCHES WITH LESS SPACE

1st match: 1 touch match
nd
2 match: Finishing after crossing
rd
3 match: Free play
All matches are 9 minutes, with 2 minutes between matches.

Now, we move to a larger area (Box-to-Box), using only the width of the
box, but the activities will be the same as before. Again, all the matches
are 11v11
Fig. 9-015 – MATCHES BOX-TO-BOX (NARROW)

4th match: 1 touch match
th
5 match: Finishing after crossing
th
6 match: Free play
All matches are 9 minutes, with 2 minutes between matches. Between
the first and the second part, there’s a break of 10 minutes. We’ll finish
with a cool-down.
With these activities, we’ll be working all our Principles (and, as a

consequence, Sub-Principles and Sub-Sub-Principles). Also, we’ll have
the Four moments of our “Style”: We’ll have Attack, Defence and
Transitions. It’s up to us to decide which Moments and Principles to use;
we have seen that some of the exercises are focused in Finishing (One
Principle), others are more focused in Possession (another Principle) or
Mobility (another one); also we have some of the Matches where we
have a lot of Transitions (matches with 1-2 touches). We can prepare a
session using different matches to fit with our Principles.
9.7 Third day of the week

This is our last session of the week; here, we work in some Sub-
Principles and Sub-Sub-Principles.

After warm-up (around 15’), we’ll do our first exercise
Fig. 9-016 – FREE PLAYER
This is a very simple exercise that uses a few Sub-Sub-Principles.:

- Rolling pass
- Frontal pass
- Support
Goal: Pass/support
Space: 10x10m. per grid
Players needed: Groups of 4 per grid.

Time: 4x (3’+1’) (3 minutes working, 1 minute rest; repeat 2 times)
The next exercise has a high compound of speed, but, as usual, working
in our style.
Fig. 9-017 – 4v2 (SPEED)
Here we have 3 grids of 10x10m. Each grid it’s played a classic “keep
away” 4v2 (by couples). Grids are separated 40m apart from the other
grids. At the signal, players from grid #1 go to #2; from #2 to #3 and,
from #3 to #1. The last couple to arrive at the new grid starts in the
middle chasing the ball.
Goal: Passing/Defending
Space: Grids of 10x10m. (Separated 40m.)

Players needed: 18 (6 per grid)
Time: 4x (3’+2’) (3 minutes working, 2 minutes rest; repeat 4 times)
Note than during the 3 minutes working, players will move to another
grid several times. So, the players have to recover properly in order to
have a good performance.

This exercise is similar to the previous one but, in this case, the action is
continued.
Fig. 9-018 – 3v2 (CONTINUOUS SPEED)
We have a grid of 30x30m divided in 4 of 15x15m. In two of the grids,

there’s a 3v2 keep away game; in the other two grids, the action is 3v0.
When the chasing players (yellow), touch the ball (just touch, not need
to stop/intercept it), they move immediately to a grid with no
opposition and try to do the same. Every time they touch a ball, they
move to another grid.
Goal: Passing/Interception
Space: Grid of 30x30m. (Divided in 4 of 15x15m.)
Players needed: 16
Time: 8x (1’+1’) (1 minute working, 1 minute rest; repeat 8 times).
Rotate players every time
This is a non-stop action; yellow players (chasers), need to recovery
completely before to start again the drill.

Our final activity of the day is a very funny and competitive one based
on finishing.
Fig. 9-019 – FINISHING
Now we have to goals with GK separated enough for not disturbing one
to the other. Players are 25m away. One player passes the ball to a
teammate, which has to run, control the ball and decide if shooting,
running with ball, etc. GK can’t move off the line before the player
makes his first touch. The winner is the team that scores more goals. If
both teams score the same number, the one that finished earlier gets
the point.
Goal: Passing/Finishing
Space: Grid of 25m. long
Players needed: All (in 2 teams)

Time: 15 minutes (after each reply, restart when the coach gives the
signal)
After this activity, cool-down

For our last session, we’ll start, as usual, with a warm-up (around 15’);
then, we go to our first exercise.
Fig. 9-020 – UNMARKING

The aim of the drill is to find spaces and get out of the marks. In a grid of
20x20m and another grid of 10x10m. Four balls at the same time; the
black players at the outside have to pass the ball to the black players
inside; if the yellow players get the ball, they swap positions with the
black player that missed the pass. Again, we will have some Sub-
Principles and Sub-Sub-Principles for the attackers:
- Rolling pass
- Frontal pass
- Support
And, for the defenders, we’ll find some of the Sub-Principles, like:
- Coverage
- Inside defense (Closing spaces)
- Formation of triangles
Goal: Pass/Marking
Space: 20x20m. (With inside grid of 10x10m.)
Time: 4x (4’+1’) (4 minutes working, 1 minute rest; repeat 2 times).
Players will rotate when they lose the ball. You don’t need to rotate
them.

Here we have a different kind of drill; a lot of players are involved at the
same time.
Fig. 9-021 – 4x2v2+4N
Here we have a grid of 20x20m divided in 4 grids of 10x10m. In each

grid it’s played a 2v2 and there are 4 Neutral players (one at each side),
that give support to 2 different grids, to create 3v2 situations (or 4v2 if 2
Neutrals go to the same grid); the Neutral players CAN NOT enter the
grid. They only give support to create the superiority.
Goal: Passing/Shielding/Support
Space: Grids of 20x20m (divided in 4 of 10x10m.)
Players needed: 20 (4 in each grid, and 4 Neutrals)
Time: 6x (2’+1’) (2 minutes working, 1 minute rest; repeat 6 times)

This activity can be complicated the first time that you try to run it,
especially if the players don’t have the habit of using Neutrals or not in
this disposition. You can try making the grid larger (30x30, divided in
15x15) and, later, after some days working on it, reduce it to 20x20m.

Similar to the one shown before, but now this is a “positional” drill quite
complicated
Fig. 9-022 – 4v2 (SHARED PLAYERS)
We have, again, a grid of 20x20m divided in 4 of 10x10m. This is a

“positional” drill, meaning that the players at the outside don’t enter
the grid. For each small grid, there are 4 players with possession of the
ball. 2 of them are outside and 2 of them “share” with the next grid. The
four players that “share” are those with arrows, meaning that they can
play at any of the grids. To increase difficulty, the players with ball are
restricted to 2 touches. As before, you can start with a grid of 30x30m
and move later to 20x20m. When chasers (yellow), catch the ball, they
swap positions with the outside players.
Goal: Passing/Support/Coverage
Space: Grid of 20x20m. (Divided in 4 of 10x10m.)
Players needed: 20
Time: 6x(2’+1’) (2 minutes working, 1 minute rest; repeat 6 times).
Rotate inside players every time

Our final activity of the day is one based on pressing.
Fig. 9-023 – 6v3 (PRESSING)
Three teams of 6 players. Black team has the ball. At the signal, 3 yellow
players enter the grid to recover the ball; when they do it, the other 3
yellow players go to do the same with the red players. Take the time,
and change teams every time; the winner is the team that recovers both
goals early. A variation for that is to play with one ball; after a number
of passes, the black team can decide to keep possession or to pass to
the red team, and so on. The team that loses possession goes to the
middle.
Goal: Passing/Finishing
Space: 35x15m. (Divided as the figure)
Players needed: 18 (3 teams of 6 players each)

Time: 15 minutes (1 minute break between each time the ball is got, to
change teams and recover)
After this activity, cool-down
ANNEX 01. THE END OF THE BOOK

This is my second book. As I said when I finished the first one, I’m not a
writer, just a football coach so, I hope readers can understand the
mistakes made when writing.
The book is about the “building up of a style of playing”. No matter how

we want our team to play, we need to be very clear how to do it. It’s not
a book about “possession style” or “tiki-taka”. This is the way I like to
play, but what it’s written here can be applied to any way of playing. Of
course, for those who want to play with possession I think it can helps
but, of course also, every coach needs to adapt to the players,
circumstances, facilities, etc.
As in the previous book, I want to say “THANK YOU!” to my friend Chuck

Bales again. He helped me with suggestions, ideas, diagrams, etc. If the
book has something good, probably Chuck is “guilty” a lot about it.
As I said, I really enjoyed writing the book. I hope everybody enjoys it

when reading.
ANNEX 02. THE AUTHOR

Jordi Pascual was born in Vic (Barcelona, Catalonia), in 1962. As a player,
he finished very young, at the age of 18. He played as Goalkeeper.
He started coaching in 1990, when the “Dream Team” of Johan Cruyff

was one of the best teams in the World. Being always a Barça supporter,
is not strange that he always liked this “possession style” of football.
He has worked for the Catalan FA with U-11 and U-14; also he has been
Manager in some different Amateur and Semi-Pro squads. Since 2000
he’s living in Andorra, where he has been Assistant Coach of the U-19
and U-17 National teams. He also worked with U-12 and U-14 for
several years. Actually, he’s the Manager of FS La Massana, a Club in the
Andorran 2nd Division.
As a Manager, he holds UEFA “B” and UEFA “A” license, together with a
“Monitor Course” (similar level to UEFA “C”) by the Catalan FA, some
years ago.
He has also a Degree and a Master in Management of Clubs from a

private school in Barcelona.
A few months ago he published his first book, “Coaching Spanish

Soccer”, about the success of the Spanish National Team and the
organization of football in Spain. The book can be found at World Class
Coaching also.
More Great
Coaching Books
To order books, magazines or DVDs

visit WorldClassCoaching.com

Developing A Style of Play

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Developing A Style of Play

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This ebook has been licensed to: Lucas Jones (lucascjones@gmail.

First published June, 2013 by

Copyright © WORLD CLASS COACHING 2013

All rights reserved. No parts of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a

Author - Jordi Pascual

Front Cover by P2 Creative

©WORLD CLASS COACHING 2 Developing a Style of Play

©WORLD CLASS COACHING 3 Developing a Style of Play

6. THE DEFENSE – Page 67

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As I said this is just a book explaining something, but this “something”

©WORLD CLASS COACHING 5 Developing a Style of Play

Then, we’ll go to the organization of our training sessions and, we’ll

Another point to consider is that the style of play described here is a

©WORLD CLASS COACHING 6 Developing a Style of Play

football world as a country and as a Club. I’m a firmly believer in this

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2.1 The style's decision

Offensive Defensive Transition

What is it depending on? Is it our understanding or the way we like the

Regarding the concept of our game, this is something inherent to

©WORLD CLASS COACHING 8 Developing a Style of Play

of sport. Remember that, according to the Laws of the Game (LOTG),

If we want our style to be based on ball possession, we need technically

©WORLD CLASS COACHING 9 Developing a Style of Play

2.2 The positional playing

What is meant by "positional playing"? it is based on two big principles:

In other words, we start with a structure or formation that has to adapt

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- Greater mobility of players

However, we don't want to get confused and, if we have these types of

©WORLD CLASS COACHING 11 Developing a Style of Play

2.3 The questions about the style

For example, when attacking, we have to consider (and answer),

When Defending, we'll have questions like:

- When withdrawing, it must be High, Medium or Low?

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- Who will be following the wide players of the opponent team?

When we recover the ball (Transition Defence-Attack), we'll find:

- Starting with ball under control? Long ball?

And, finally, when we lose the ball (Transition Attack-Defence):

- Will we press immediately? Who?

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2.4 The Formation

In our case, we'll opt for a 1-4-3-3 arrangement, i.e. 1 Goalkeeper, 4

Fig. 2-001 – THE FORMATION – INITIAL POSITION

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This is a way to use this system, which has

There are other ways to make the same basic distribution

The advantages for this formation are:

- There are many areas of the pitch occupied.

The problems we can find with this system:

- Just a few number of players in every area of the pitch.

©WORLD CLASS COACHING 15 Developing a Style of Play

- Because the presence of many players, there’s a possibility of over-

2.5 The Roles of the players

2.5.1 THE GOALKEEPER

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2.5.2 THE FULL-BACKS

2.5.3 THE CENTRE-BACKS

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of the Central Midfielder/Attacking Midfielder who has strict marking