Soccer drill for floating player
If you have a particular player who excels when it comes to "reading" a game, for example, they have the vision to see where to pass the ball or where to run with it, you could try giving them a key role to nurture their skills for the future. Use the floating player soccer drill to help.
In the U9s team I coach, I get the player who has this particular "soccer sense" to sit at the bottom of my midfield diamond in front of the two central defenders. From here he can go wherever he wants to, as long as he makes sure the space in front of the defense is protected.
Key soccer coaching tip
To have a player in this position, you want to see them hold possession, allowing other team members to make attacking runs. The idea is for your player with vision to provide a “killer” pass which puts one of your attackers into a goal-scoring position.
I use this "floating player" soccer drill to practise using this player. The floating player is always on the team in possession of the ball.
How to set up the soccer (football) drill
- In a 30 yards by 20 yards pitch, have two teams of four and one chosen player in a different coloured bib.
- The chosen player only plays for the team in possession in this soccer drill.
- For either team to score a goal, the player in the bib must receive the ball and feed it through to the attackers.
- The player in the bib will see a lot of the ball and have lots of passing decisions to make. It is this repetition that will improve the player's passing, receiving and decision making skills.
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Click here for a soccer drill and soccer coaching tips to give your players vision.
Soccer coaching tips
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