45 Professional Soccer Possession Drills

Book excerpt: This book contains the best possession drills I have used in my 20+ years of coaching. The training sessions come from Barcelona FC, Everton FC, Arsenal FC, Wigan Athletic, Liverpool FC, Stoke City, Valencia FC, Sporting Lisbon FC, Inter Milan, Ajax FC and many more famous clubs. Coaching possession is about teaching decision-making, guiding players to become problem solvers, helping players understand the importance of positioning and placing players in training sessions that challenge them. One of the most important aspects of possession training is the number of meaningful touches a player gets. A competitive possession drill should demand player's play on the edge of their ability to be successful while receiving many touches. The tempo of the drills should be high, forcing quickness of thought and speed of play. In the modern game players must be able to play under pressure without losing the ball. Players and teams that can hold the ball under pressure know how to save seconds on the ball. Playing possession soccer is all about positioning and coordinated movement. Without proper positioning keeping the ball would be impossible. Positioning and coordinated movement allows players to create overloads all over the field. Creating a numerical advantage is critical to unbalancing the opponent, keeping the ball and scoring goals. Focus on the details when training your team. Make sure you are providing an environment for maximum learning and growth. There will always be debates about possession soccer and whether controlling possession means winning more games. I personally believe players and teams that possess the ball well have more tools and options to break their opponents down. Possession training makes players well-rounded, skillful, composed, gives them the ability to find soccer solutions on the field and increases passing accuracy. Teams with higher passing accuracy win more games. Teams with overwhelming possession (over 65%) win more games as well. "45 Professional Soccer Possession Drills" will be a valuable tool for developing your players' possession ability.