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Winter Training Recap

Academy training resumed at the beginning of January with players keen to get back to it after a wet festive period continued to keep players off the grass.

In the subsequent weeks, most groups have had a good balance of training sessions, mixed with inter Academy competition, and some matches against older club sides.


See below for some of the recent themes which have been worked on at training:


Finishing and Marking - In the final few weeks before Christmas, there was a heavy emphasis on players learning about finishing. This included ideas about when to shoot, how to create openings, and different techniques that might be used in different situations in and around the box.

Marking comes hand in hand with this from a defensive perspective, and players were given the responsibility to track and stay with their opposite number in order to help their team minimise the chance of conceding a cheap goal.


Transition - This looks at what players need to do in that moment that they either win the ball, or when the ball is turned over to the opposition. This is often more of a psychological test for the players. It challenges them to maybe put aside immediate frustrations to act in the best interests of the team by trying to delay the opponent or win the ball back. Alternatively, it could be how to best exploit the opposition quickly with a counterattack when you win the ball.


Patterns of play - These allow teams to play out from the back, through the thirds into areas where they can score. Finding a variety of exit routes out of defence into the attacking half of the pitch can provide control when a team is in possession. The players have been learning different patterns and options, which includes unselfish off the ball movement to maybe create space for someone else.


Switching Play - As well as playing from back to front, players have also been working on switching play from one side to the other. The benefit of drawing the opposition over to one side means that there should be space on the opposite side of the pitch that can be exploited with intelligent ball movement. Practicing this allows us to work on getting the ball into 1v1 situations out wide, which can in itself lead to some good crossing and finishing exercises.


Covering/Recovering – Players have recently worked on learning to cover their teammates to delay an attack by marking/challenging a player who poses a bigger threat, even if it means they are out of their normal position. This idea of emergency defending allows the nearest player to move towards the opposition ball player to maybe stop or, at least, delay an attack, while their teammates take up recovery positions centrally to protect the goal.







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