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Last week I looked at formations for the 9 v 9 format that will be used for U11’s and U12’s in the US next year. A coach pointed out that I missed an important one, the 3-2-3. It’s the formation that is often used by Ajax and others when they are playing 9 v 9.
As I looked at it, the formation has all of the qualities you need in a balanced system. It gives you numbers in attack, cover in defense and central midfielders that can work together.
It’s a great formation to use if you’re going to transition to a 4-3-3 or a 3-4-3. I appreciate Keith for pointing this out and giving me another option for my own teams this fall.
This week I discuss the important factors that you should consider as your team makes the transition from small-sided to 11 v 11 games.
This has always been an issue with teams making this jump but it’s even more pronounced this year since there are players that will be going from only one year of 8 v 8 as U11’s straight into 11 v 11 as U13. That’s one of the strange consequences of the changes to the age groups.
The change will take time to adjust to but if you have a plan for dealing with each of the key areas then you’ll make the transition as smooth as possible for your players.
Using small-sided games to introduce young players to soccer is meant to make it easier for them to understand the game by breaking it into small parts and then building to the full sided game over time. Even with an incremental increase in the number of players and size of the field, making the final jump to 11 v 11 can still be a challenge. If you look at the four key areas of development and have a plan to address each one you can help to smooth this transition for your players.
The four areas I’ll focus on today are physical, technical, tactical and psychological.
- Physical
- Needed to meet the demands of a larger field
- With the ball or without
- Pre-Season Fitness
- E19 PreSeason Skill and Conditioning
- 24 Minute Runs
- During the season
- 10-10-10 (90 on 90 off)
- Without or with a ball
- Small-Sided Games
- Continuous Flow Exercises
- Playing with a larger ball
- 10-10-10 (90 on 90 off)
- Pre-Season Fitness
- Technical
- Different Skills
- Longer passes
- Passing progression
- Lofted passes
- Crossbar Challenge
- More crossing and finishing
- Four Line Shooting Pattern
- Longer passes
- Skills that become even more important
- Running with the ball
- First Touch
- Always important
- I’ve found players relax and don’t think ahead as they should
- Cage
- Receiving out of the air
- Different Skills
- Tactical
- Larger Area
- Break it down
- Diamonds
- Connecting small groups together
- Center Backs with Center Mids
- Outside backs with Center Mids and Forwards
- Attacking Mids and Forwards
- More Players
- Build up defense from 1v1 through 4 v 4
- Training Midfield Connections
- Movement and Roles of the Forwards
- Attack v Defense Games
- Patterns of Play with Shooting Exercises
- System of Play
- Hopefully a connection to what they did in 8v8 or 9v9
- 11 v 11 Formation
- E26 Developing Players in Full Sided Games
- Discuss each of the most popular formations
- How they can be used to maximize development
- Larger Area
- Physiological
- How do you eat an elephant?
- One Bite at a Time!
- Relate the game to what they already know
- Build up in training so they see how it fits together
- Scrimmages before the season
- Friendly tournament as first event
- How do you eat an elephant?
Making the transition to full sided soccer will be a daunting process for many players but if you have a plan for dealing with each of these four key areas then you’ll be putting your players on a path to understanding and appreciating the game in it’s true form.
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In Future Episodes
I have a number of topics that I’m working on for upcoming episodes including the importance of the size of your training areas, training players to use space effectively and a crossing and finishing session. Let me know if there’s a certain topic or idea that you’d like to hear more about and I’ll add that to my list.
while playing U9/U10, we played 8v8. I used a 2-3-2 formation, but it was a very dynamic group I had, because that is how we trained. The players knew to rotate depending on the situation, both defensively and offensively. On the former, we became a 3-3-1 or 3-2-2 (depending on whether we got the ball quickly); on the latter, we were 2-2-3 or 2-1-4. We worked very hard to develop the formation and system of play, a quick one-, two-touch ball movement and positioning to be an option.
I don’t particularly care for the new rules, as I thing that kids should play 11v11 from the get go. I don’t see any other sport changing the configuration of the squads, Perhaps just the size of the pitch, but nothing else.
Playing 9v9, I would use a 3-4-2 against anyone. Training the team to shift the formation to be a 3-2-4 while attacking or 2-3-4 or 2-4-3. It all depends on the type of a) players you have, and b) the type of futbol you want to play. The most important thing to do would be to develop the vision necessary to play ahead of the game.
I love the 3-2-3-2 formation because it is very dynamic, but the players must know their roles. Same here.
How can 9v 9 have
3-4-2?
No keeper?