You’re on the side line, watching your team dominate possession. They’re moving the ball well, passing between the lines, but there’s something missing. Despite all the effort, the final product isn’t there – no killer pass, no space being created, no clear scoring opportunities. Sound familiar?
This is where understanding and mastering the attacking principles of play comes into focus. It's one thing to control the game, but teaching your players how to exploit space, create overloads, and develop scoring opportunities is what truly elevates a team’s performance. For grassroots coaches, this can be the difference between a team that just plays and a team that plays with purpose.
In this blog, we’re diving into the core attacking principles of play, breaking them down into actionable insights that can transform how your team approaches the game. Whether you’re coaching U9s or U19s, getting these principles right will set the foundation for dynamic, confident attacking football.
Introducing the Attacking Principles of Play
Attacking principles are the fundamental concepts that guide your team’s offensive movements on the pitch. They form the structure of how a team should behave when in possession of the ball and dictate how players should move to create space, manipulate the defence, and ultimately score goals.
At the grassroots level, teaching these principles is essential. It helps players understand the "why" behind their movements and gives them the tools to make intelligent decisions in a game. Here’s what we’ll cover:
Width – Stretching the play to create space.
Depth – Providing forward and backward options for ball retention and progression.
Support – Ensuring players off the ball are offering options for the player in possession.
Penetration – Breaking through defensive lines to create goal-scoring opportunities.
Mobility – Dynamic movement from players to confuse the defence.
Improvisation – The creativity and flair needed to break down rigid defences.
Mastering these principles isn't about complicating the game but giving your players the framework to attack with confidence, intent, and fluidity.
How to Work on Attacking Principles
Now that we know what the principles are, let's dive into how you can start working on them with your team. For each principle, we’ll break down the focus, give practical coaching tips, and suggest drills to reinforce these concepts in training.
1. Width
Focus: Width creates space by stretching the opposition defence horizontally across the pitch, opening up pockets of space for midfielders and attackers to exploit.
Coaching Tips:
Encourage wingers or full-backs to stay wide during the build-up phase, making use of the side lines as much as possible and so, creating space for central players to operate.
Use wide areas to create 2v1 overloads with overlapping full-backs or wingers.
Quick shifts in play from side to side can help make use of wide areas and the space created.
Drill Idea: Set up a small-sided game (6v6 or 7v7) with marked channels on each side of the pitch. The rule is that the team in possession must always have at least one player in the wide channels. This forces players to think about stretching the play and using the full width of the field.
2. Depth
Focus: Depth refers to the positioning of players both ahead of and behind the ball, providing options for forward passes, back passes, or retaining possession.
Coaching Tips:
Teach strikers and midfielders to make runs in behind the defence to stretch the pitch vertically.
Encourage midfielders to drop deep to receive the ball from defenders, helping to maintain possession and keep the play progressing forward.
Central midfielders can pop up behind wingers or attackers to create a deep option or make an overlapping run to stretch higher up the pitch.
Drill Idea: Use a rondo-style possession game with two target players: one behind the defence and one deeper in the midfield. Encourage your players to connect passes through these target players, teaching them to recognize and exploit depth effectively.
3. Support
Focus: Supporting players are crucial in every attacking move. They provide the passing options that allow the team to retain possession and progress up the pitch.
Coaching Tips:
Train players to move off the ball and offer passing options. The player on the ball should always have at least two or three options at any given time. players behind and opposition defender are not a passing option and must move to find space and create support.
Emphasize the importance of triangles and angles in passing combinations to create fluid movement.
Drill Idea: Set up a positional play exercise where players are restricted to specific zones. The objective is to move the ball quickly through the zones while players off the ball move to support the ball carrier, creating passing triangles.
4. Penetration
Focus: Penetration is about breaking through the opposition’s defensive lines, either with a pass, dribble, or movement off the ball, to create goal-scoring opportunities.
Coaching Tips:
Encourage midfielders to look for penetrating passes between the lines of defence and into the feet of attackers.
Train forwards to make diagonal runs in behind the defence to receive through balls.
Drill Idea: Use a 3v2 or 4v3 game focused on penetrating defensive lines. Limit the number of touches or passes allowed before attempting to break through the defence to encourage quick, decisive play and forward movement. An attacking overload should give attacking units the advantage, award a bonus point for splitting the ball through the defence (a penetrating pass).
5. Mobility
Focus: Mobility is the movement of players to disrupt the defensive shape and create space for themselves or teammates. This could be overlapping runs, diagonal runs, or positional interchanges.
Coaching Tips:
Encourage players to make runs off the ball even if they don’t receive it. This pulls defenders out of position and creates space for others.
Teach positional rotation, where midfielders and forwards interchange positions to confuse the defence.
Drill Idea: Set up a drill where players in specific positions must make off-the-ball runs while the play develops. For example, wingers cut inside while full-backs overlap, or strikers drop deep while midfielders push forward into attacking positions. Sacrificial runs can be effective when shown live to players, emphasizing the benefits and displaying the space created.
6. Improvisation
Focus: Improvisation is the creativity and flair that can break down even the most organized defences. It’s the unexpected touches, dribbles, or clever passes that lead to scoring chances.
Coaching Tips:
Give players the freedom to express themselves in the final third. Encourage them to try new moves, tricks, or clever passes when the opportunity arises.
Use small-sided games to encourage 1v1 situations where players can practice their creativity.
Drill Idea: Introduce a 1v1 or 2v2 drill in a tight area where the attackers must use creativity and skill to beat the defenders. Add conditions such as points for successful tricks or improvisational moves to encourage flair and innovation.
The Benefits of Mastering Attacking Principles
When your team masters the attacking principles of play, they become more confident, unpredictable, and dangerous in front of goal. Here’s what you can expect:
More Scoring Opportunities: With better understanding of how to stretch defences and exploit space, your team will create more goal-scoring chances.
Improved Possession Play: Mastering support and depth will help your players retain possession more effectively, reducing turnovers and increasing control of the game.
Greater Team Cohesion: Players will start to understand how their movements impact their teammates, leading to a more fluid, cohesive style of play.
Increased Creativity: Teaching improvisation fosters a sense of freedom and creativity in the final third, helping players unlock even the tightest defences.
Conclusion
Attacking football is more than just scoring goals; it’s about understanding how to manipulate the opposition, create space, and move the ball with purpose. By mastering the principles of width, depth, support, penetration, mobility, and improvisation, your team will not only become more dangerous going forward but will play with greater confidence and fluidity.
As you implement these principles in your coaching, you'll notice your team developing a more sophisticated attacking style, one that creates chances and, ultimately, wins games. Start by focusing on one principle at a time, building it into your training sessions, and watch as your players become more adept at creating space, finding teammates, and finishing with style.
If you’re ready to take your team’s attacking play to the next level, why not try our 14-day free trial? Our exclusive drills and full session plans are designed to help coaches implement these attacking principles effectively, ensuring your players get the most out of every training session. From width and penetration to improvisation and creativity, our resources will help you build a dynamic, attacking team that can break down any defence. Sign up today and start seeing tangible improvements in your team’s performance!
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