Exercise 1: Manchester United Warm-up (2 balls/3 people) Players should be about 10 yards apart, 20 yards total
Rotation: Player A passes the ball to Player B, Player B takes a touch to the side and dribbles to Player A’s position should turn quickly when he gets there. Player A comes to the middle and calls for the ball from Player C. C now passes to A, who takes a touch to the side and dribbles to Player C’s position. Player C now comes to the middle and receives the ball from Player B( who is now in Player A’s initial position). Continue.
Encourage players to call for the ball, dribble with speed, turn quickly. Coach can designate a particular turn.
Exercise 2: The Overlap (1 ball/3 people)
Player B serves as the target player. Should be 10 to 12 yards away from teammates.
Player A passes to Player B and makes a hard overlapping run. Player B should drag the ball inside and lay the ball off into the path of the runner. Player A should pass the ball to Player C and go back to his starting position. Play C now passes to Player B and makes the overlapping run. Player A rests for a moment.
Note: Ask player B to meet the ball when it is passed to him and to take a few steps back “drift away” when A is paying to C or C to A .
This is very demanding. Go 60 seconds and rotate target player.
Exercise 3: Long Pass/Sprint to support/ Receive open to the field
Worker needs to pass the ball 15 to 20 yards and sprint to support the ball. He should receive the ball in a manner that he can see the both the player he is receiving the ball from and the player he is going to play the ball to. Servers should pass the ball into the workers foot that is furthest from them. This will force the worker to open up with the ball. All players should be two touch. Work 60 seconds serve 120 seconds.
If you enjoy this exercise Coach Donahue recommends:
| Possible next Activity: | Match Related Game/Exercise to Goal: |
|---|---|
| 3v3 to 4 Diagonal Goals | Three Team Game Combined |
| 3v1 plus 1 to endlines | 3v3 to Four Goals with Vertical Divider |
