1 vs. 1 after a starting action | Soccer Coaching Drill

Activity Flow:
1. The exercise starts on both sides at the same time by command of the coach
2. The coach calls out a color (the color of the cone gates - in this case red or blue)
3. Immediately afterwards player A passes the ball to player B
4. Player B must now dribble through the goal that the coach has previously named (here - first action: red)
5. The special thing is that both the red and the blue player B have a different path to go, because the colors of the cone gates are reversed
6. In this case, the red at the bottom of the screen passes the goal into the goal and then defends the two goals against the player at the top of the screen who first dribbles through the red goal and then is allowed to attack the two goals on the other side.
7. If the player on the bottom wins the ball he is allowed to counterattack to the opposite goal
8. If two goals are scored or if both balls are out of the field, the two players leave the field and a new action starts on the coach's command
9. If the coach shouts out the colour blue, then the roles of the players in the centre flip.

Organization:
1. Mark an approx. 15x15m field
2. Three mini goals
3. 14 cones in total (4 of them in a different color - here blue)
4. Place 8 cones in the previously marked field (first two cones 2 m away from the starting position - the next two cones in the middle of the field)
5. Check your setup with the help of the image
6. Enough balls next to the starting positions
7. Coach must be audible, always gives the start signal

Coaching Points:
1. Control - Always maintaining control of the ball recognising when to keep ball close to body and when to move ball further away to attack the space
2. Awareness / Orientation - Keep eyes on the ball as much as needed but off the ball as much as possible to assess where the space is
3. Changes of Speed - Slow to quick or quick to slow look to adjust speed of body and ball to escape defenders and maximise space available
4. Changes of Direction - Right to left, left to right, back to forward, forward to back look to change direction of body and ball to escape defenders and maximise space available
5. Creativity - Encourage players to improvise to find solutions to escape opponents

Variations:
1. Easier - bigger goals to produce more sense of achievement for players
2. Harder - players start the pass themselves - as later the coach calls the color, as more important the quick reaction in the right direction becomes
3. Competition - count point/goals: Each goal gives one point. Who has collected the most points after a certain period of time?