2000 Pan American High
Performance Coaching Course
February 10 – 15, 2009
Hamilton, Bermuda
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Course Conductors: FIH Coach Grade 1 – ShiazVirjee (Canada)
FIH Coach
- William (Bill) Gaudette (USA), FIH Coach
Olympian - Jorgelina Rimoldi (Argentina)
Transition Counter Attack
• You teach your team offense
• Your teach your team defense
• How do you change from one to the other?
Offense to Defense
• Immediate Intelligent pressure
– Reduce Options
– Restrict Space
– Deny Penetration
Organize Behind the Pressure
– Fill passing channels of remaining options
– Force offense to make the most difficult pass
– Force Opponent to play “rushed”
Defense to Offense
• Immediate Intelligent expansion
– Option to relieve pressure – long
– Option to maintain pressure – short
Look to relieve pressure
If defense compact look to go around
If defense “stretched” look to find gaps
Speed of Play
Don’t wait for pressure – it reduces your options
Don’t allow defense time to organize
Dictate the pace and don’t allow defensive pressure to dictate it
Weighing the risk of attacking immediately vs. possession
Don’t give the ball right back after winning possession
Psychological Transition
• “Win the ball mentally” where the idea is to force
the speed of play beyond the ability of your
opponent OR
• “Keep the Ball mentality” where the pace of the
game must be within the offensive teams ability
• Other Concerns
– The transition of in-between moments (restarts, 16
yard hits, goalkeeper possession, etc)
– Goalkeepers role in transition
• Defensively immediate communication and organization
Transition
• Warm up – Watch them play. Coaching is taking
players somewhere new, with good coaching the
player can get somewhere faster than he could
on his own. Start the next phase of the warm up
by allowing players to throw a soccer ball, they
can use two hands to throw the ball or one hand.
Play 7 v 7 now, watch, listen and allow them to
throw the ball into the goal to score. See the
shape they choose. With this game I can get
them to play direct or indirect. If I want them to
play indirect, I tell them they must use two hands
to throw.
Transition
• Get the players to look long first and see underneath
where they are looking. Initially you can only throw the
ball and not run with it. But once you are touched you
must throw the ball immediately and end our running.
Initially there is no running with ball and ask do you see
the movement that we are looking for, the moment of
transition. Still not enough talking, yet. GK finally says
“drop in” drop into you own half so drop back, leave a
couple players on the other half to pressure and defend
and win the ball high for us, so now we’re looking a bit
more at shape. Stop play and see if the player could
play it long, if marked tightly, probably no as there is a
defender in your face, but someone else probably can.
Transition
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Now go to a 4 v 4, drop in: bring your team back to organize your defense
and leave a couple players forward to defend, pressure and score.
So this is coaching, fixing the problem quicker that they’ll fix it on their own..
Two Schools of Thought: There 2 types of coaching, Coaching in the Game
and Coaching from the Game. Coaching from the game is when you roll
out balls and the coach coaches what he sees. I have an actual topic I’m
trying to accomplish, Transition. The first tenant of the counter attack is
defending. A pressing counter attack is not going to happen when you gain
possession in the D, it happens when you gain possession and are able to
drop in.. What you as coaches need to do is take ideas and make them fit
you as a coach, see it in a different light for yourself.. When you are ready
to move on, don’t let them play any way they want to finish, add the
restrictions that you want based on what they are learning. Here you are
organizing the team to counter attack, not just running around passing and
defending, it is a calculated plan to go forward with the ball.
transition
• Initially 4 v 4 in middle with two teammate in opposing ends
• Any time the ball is played into 01 or X1, they must play it across to
02 or X2, this will give your players time to get ready. The passing
01 to 02 and x1 to x2 allows the team to organize and I’ll eventually
take that piece out.. That’s what we are looking for, players who just
out think the opponent. Sometimes we get caught up in the
possessing but what we need to get is vertical possession.
• As ball is traveling we are moving from one moment to another, as
ball is passed from 01 to 02, can a yellow player drop off a bit and
begin to organize. As blue passes can we get a player to apply
pressure.
Transition
• Now progress in area in front of GK to a 1 v 1.
• X1 marks goal side or center
• Understand what was the space looking like between our mid field
layer and the back layer? We need that space so that when the ball
is played in advance for us to support underneath. Make sure we
are applying enough pressure to ball, players need to do more than
just defend. One thing we loose as we play possession is that there
is a moment that we must take care of.
Transition
• Keep space tight in mid field and now add goalkeepers. The front
runners can go wide but the field remains tight and a bit narrow. I
feed in all the balls that go out.
• Here is what you are thinking, let them come at us with the ball and
we’re going to take it away and cut their throats. We need to win the
ball and go to goal. It is not random, it is a calculated intercepting of
the ball. If it is very hot like here, are we going to press up front,
probably not. We are going to drop off and we’re going to counter.
Transition
• When yellow scores, drop off, coaches
who am I watching now. Who, the blue
front runner.. Why. You see there is what I
call advantage space and right now I am
coaching the blue team, they have
possession, there is no transition at this
time, we need to teach our front runner to
properly position.
Transition
• Any ball 01 plays to 02 into this space, it is advantage space as it is
to 02’s advantage space and any ball played to x’s area is his
advantage space so don’t piss it away and play to the wrong
advantage space and give the ball away.
• When we talk about advantage space we need to see where you are
moving and where you are playing it. Keep watching the front runner
to see if he is keeping the field long. Did you see where that ball was
going, it was going into advantage space, can you see the
advantage space?
• You can also play shorter to get into advantage space forward. Now
watch other front runner.
Transition
• Look at the wide player, can you see this player
underneath,. No you can now look long and now
can you see this player underneath.
• When we talk about counter attack, we need to,
can you make this quick pass and turn and
shoot. .
• There is good advantage space, you could see it
Look at the midfield layer, look long so you can
see underneath. Get in the habit of looking long.
Transition
• I just want to show coaches a picture. Have
target player go wide and take defender with
you, defender has to make a decision so he’ll
follow and tuck inside. Now weak side attacker
show up.
• Remember, you loose possession you drop off.
• This ball probably could have come down to
midfield layer.
• see that subtle look, look long and decide he
could not go long so play short.
Transition
• As I’m using Coaching in the Game, I need to be looking
for something. It makes this style of coaching a bit more
challenging. I need to look for the moment to teach, that
moment will come off the moment we win the ball.
• Has this player had success against us, if we drop off
then we get behind him, which way are we facing, yes
forward.
• Look at a decision to go forward but if the attack stalled.
Look at what we see, if we don’t go forward quickly the
defense sets up, look how many defenders they have
now set up. So we cannot stall the attack, if we do not
stall the attack they will not get set up.
Transition
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Change the point of attack off the counter.
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Set up 02 to beat X2 & then look down field as 01 can drag X2 wide
creating space behind. A good service and we’re in.
Good try, we just broke down technically. You must close down the shooter.
It’s good as we have the mind set, we just need to clean it up so we create
a better picture.
You can see coaches that that little piece of information that we need to
drive home each session to get them to think about the moment that we
loose possession and then starts when they have it. The point is however
that we must win the ball.
Blending, this other session may take place a week from now. I like to get
away from training session that only have one moment. Blue attacking that
way, is your shape ready. When you are in the clear pass, you can still take
care of players and if your attacker turns out and need help, you can come
off and help out on your side. We need to take sessions a bit further.
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Transition
• X2 come in to 01, you are in possession and if
x1 turns outside & needs help you can slide out
to help.
• Now we’re looking at: do they drop off, do they
get ready for the moment of attack; do they
maintain their shape as they do it – team shape
and individual shape.; Can you play it forward.