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Author: Steven Hall Date: Category: Likes: 0 URL: https://www.skool.com/coachingacademy/unopposed-passing-patterns
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Jamie Birch🔥
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Jamie Birch🔥 • Sep 9Hi Steven, hope you’re well?Coaches opinions on this will vary wildly and i even think me and @Kevin Middleton have slightly opposed opinions on it. 🤣 Personally i really like unopposed passing patterns, that evolve into an attack vs defence drill where you’re looking for the same patterns to be executed but with opposition now.U9’s might be a bit early, a lot of passing drills will be unopposed at that age but in terms of set tactical patterns you probably don’t see it as much as the focus is … See more0Reply
Jamie Birch🔥
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Jamie Birch🔥 • Sep 9Hi Steven, hope you’re well?Coaches opinions on this will vary wildly and i even think me and @Kevin Middleton have slightly opposed opinions on it. 🤣 Personally i really like unopposed passing patterns, that evolve into an attack vs defence drill where you’re looking for the same patterns to be executed but with opposition now.U9’s might be a bit early, a lot of passing drills will be unopposed at that age but in terms of set tactical patterns you probably don’t see it as much as the focus is … See more0Reply
Jamie Birch🔥
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Jamie Birch🔥 • Sep 9Hi Steven, hope you’re well?Coaches opinions on this will vary wildly and i even think me and @Kevin Middleton have slightly opposed opinions on it. 🤣 Personally i really like unopposed passing patterns, that evolve into an attack vs defence drill where you’re looking for the same patterns to be executed but with opposition now.U9’s might be a bit early, a lot of passing drills will be unopposed at that age but in terms of set tactical patterns you probably don’t see it as much as the focus is … See more0Reply
Ross Whitehead🔥
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Ross Whitehead🔥 • Sep 9Towards the end of our U9 season, we ran attacking drills that were unopposed so that the players learned where the were to run when the ball went down the left or the right. Ball goes down right, the right winger drives to the by-line to cross in for the forward, and left winger goes back post in case the forward missed it and vice-versa.As we progressed, we added defenders in who at first were passive, and then became active. This was when we were playing 2-3-1 and we had a left-footed left wi… See more1Reply
Steven Hall
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Steven Hall • Sep 9Just to put some context into my question…..we are newly level 2 and have played level 1/2 teams in friendlies and in our 1st league game, the only real difference I can see is not technical ability but game understanding in different areas of the pitch attacking the box through balls etc.With only 1 hour at training I’m edging towards some tactical attacking drills unopposed then opposed.Also playing out from the back drills.Will do 15 mins of ssgs. We have 4 players that do a pre academy which… See more2Reply
Kevin Middleton⭐🔥
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Kevin Middleton⭐🔥 • Sep 9At that age group, I personally wouldn’t be doing anything too tactical with them. That’s not to say I am right, but it is a personal opinion.I would also only do unopposed exercises to hone and refine technique.It sounds like some of your players just haven’t played enough actual football, Steven. This isn’t a criticism, it’s a curse that a lot of players suffer from these days as they don’t play in the street anymore or may have come into the game late. It’s also the #1 reason that players get… See more2Reply
Steven Hall
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Steven Hall • Sep 9@Kevin Middleton yeah I get it I would t doIt for long just get them running passing crossing and finishing etcWould defo end up being a 3v3 plus keeperetcCan tactical work be considered in a small sided game format ie 3v2 plus keeper, attackers vs defenders etc in certain scenarios ie corners etc as a repetitive ssg2Reply
Kevin Middleton⭐🔥
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Kevin Middleton⭐🔥 • Sep 9@Steven HallPlayers of this age may struggle with the cognitive load of predetermined patterns of play and tactics. They may not be able to execute them without a high level of technical competency to either perform them as rehearsed or work out how to get out of trouble if the move breaks down/doesn’t go exactly as rehreased.It might be more straightforward for them if they knew how to master the ball, beat their opponent 1v1, and work in small units of 2-4 players.You can make SSGs very tactic… See more2Reply
Steven Hall
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Steven Hall • Sep 10https://app.veo.co/matches/20250907-match-asfordby-allstars-e35aa078/Here’s our game you can speed run it and skip to the next action so it doesn’t take to long to watch2Reply
Kevin Middleton⭐🔥
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Kevin Middleton⭐🔥 • Sep 12@Steven Hall Steven, I missed this message from you. I will watch this later and comment. Thanks for sharing.I would love more people to share footage so we can give really accurate and evidence based feedback 👏1Reply
Niv Canterman
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Niv Canterman • Sep 10“In my opinion, football training should move away from isolated drills and fixed passing patterns. Instead, we should build exercises that simulate real game situations and let the players apply the principles themselves, through decision-making and perception.2Reply
Jamie Birch🔥
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Jamie Birch🔥 • Sep 10@Niv Canterman that’s certainly optimal Niv but i think depending on the age and development need there’s still a place for isolated technical training. Ball mastery being a great example. There absolutley should be lots of small sided games and real game situations, but we need to make time to teach the core technical skills (especially at a younger age groups)1Reply
Niv Canterman
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Niv Canterman • Sep 10@Jamie Birch noticed that when I taught my players just one simple principle to play as wide as possible with the center-backs suddenly our build-up improved. The opponent struggled to press the goalkeeper and close down the center-backs. I didn’t tell them where to pass or give them any patterns. Just one principle made a huge difference.applied this principle inside a simple positional game 4v4+3. I just explained how important it is to stay as high and wide as possible, in order to create bet… See more2Reply
Steven Hall
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Steven Hall • Sep 12Interesting comments in here and will help shape the next session.Just thought I would let everyone know how our training session went with the lads.We did our main drill (counter attack) as unopposed from the edge of our box with manakins set up as 2 defenders and 3 midfielders in the other half.This gave them spacial awerness and options to pass to with runners from one end of the pitch to the other with crossing through balls and finishing……the lads loved it and the keeeper was as having load… See more1Reply
Jamie Birch🔥
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Jamie Birch🔥 • Sep 12@Steven Hall Sound great Steven! Out of interest how many were involved in the 30 min session, how long did players have to wait between goes for their turn?0Reply
Steven Hall
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Steven Hall • Sep 12 (edited)The session was an hour long we did the new one at the start which they were doing well so let it run for 30mins changing positions etcThere were 7 outfield players plus gk to start then one turned up late.So did unopposed with manakins + gk1 striker stays in and plays with each group of 3.I tried to get them to understand counter attack when we win the ball back and play wide from the fullbacks.2 groups of 3 (split on cones across the top of the area) playing 3 touch passing through striker mid… See more1Reply
Jamie Birch🔥
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Jamie Birch🔥 • Sep 12Great - i really like how you got the sense that it was working and you let it carry on. You don’t have to stick to your session design, if somethings working, the players are enjoying it and your objective is being achieved then give them more time. Well done mate.0Reply
Steven Hall
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Steven Hall • Sep 12@Jamie Birch yeah in the flip side always have a go to still incase it’s a shamblesMoving forward tho defo goingTo do ssg and then into the main drill and base the main drill on team play/counter attacking/playing out form the backI find u need 3 things minimum to do to keep the attention span at this age group.Arrivals ssg’s then will do the same drill next week but add in defenders progressively so it’s got attacking overloads/defensive under loads then when it’s up and running as say 4v4 will progress it into playing on instead of resetting to make it more game realistic.1Reply
Jamie Birch🔥
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Jamie Birch🔥 • Sep 12@Steven Hall absolutley. You should plan for all possibilities. Experience will build you a toolbox and a feel of what works as well.I like to work to whole, part, whole. So SSG to start (whole), technical work in the middle section (part) and back into an activity with the whole group to finish. Everyone works differently though.1Reply