Italy U15 National Team
Contributed by long-time subscriber, Dave Brown. This practice was observed during a Coaches Familiarization Tour
to Italy with GoPlay Sports Tours. Dave Brown holds a USSF B License and is currently the coaching and program
director of the Cascade Avalanche and Shooting Stars Soccer Clubs located in Snohomish County, north of Seattle. For
further information contact James Mathews at 1-800-888-ACIS or by email at james_matthews@acis.com.
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Antonio Rocco (Head Coach, Italian Boys U15 National Team) forms part of the team of national youth coaches that come
under the jurisdiction of the director of all the youth national teams, Ottaviano Bianchi. Bianchi is the famous former
manager of Napoli during the Maradona era. This session focuses on the positioning and roles of defenders in a Flat
Back Four . The sessions were held at a small training field attached to the headquarters of the Italian National Coaches
Association. The squad of 19 field players were split into two groups (the three goalkeepers trained separately). The
session was first done with a group of 10 players and then repeated with the remaining nine. The two-hour session had four
separate parts.
" Warm-Up: The focus is on general positional sense and and roles assumed at a high tempo.
roles, with an emphasis on responding to two specific " Modified Scrimmage: Emphasizing the main points
situations (defense challenged by an attacker in a wide from the training session.
position and defense challenged by an attacker in a
central position).
General Points of Interest
" Shadow Play: The focus is on a defensive player s
Sixteen of the 19 boys were six feet tall. The remaining
response to being challenged by a ball carrier and the
three were around 5 9 and all were of a powerful build.
supporting position when the nearest teammate is being
All of the players were very quiet and deferential to the
challenged by an attacker.
coach. The atmosphere was of relaxed, but serious work.
" Build up from 4 v 1 to 4 v 4: Emphasis on positioning
Warm Up
Following an agility warm-up (quick footwork through
Diagram 1
small cones) and a stretch, the players took the field in the
formation shown in diagram 1. The goalkeeper for this
session was a rotating field player, but the session could
use a real goalkeeper and goals as shown.
Organization
Play 3 v 4 plus a goalkeeper for the defending team. The
coach acts as the middle player of the attacking triangle
whose role is to circulate the ball from wide to middle to
wide again. During this time the back four players adjust
positions to counter the threat from a wide player or one
from the coach in a central position.
Tackling was not a feature of this exercise, only closing
down .
A1 Attacking Player Path of Player Path of Dribble
D1 Defending Player Path of Ball Target Area
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Italy U15 National Team
Diagram 2
Playing The Ball Wide
When the ball was played into a wide position,
the nearest outside defender would challenge
the player by closing him down quickly and
forcing him infield into the covering defender
(center back/stopper) who takes a very close
supporting position. The other center back
slides over to cover him, as does the opposite
outside defender.
Diagram 3
Pressure From The Center
When the attacking challenge came from a
central player, one of the center backs stepped
up to challenge with the other center back and
the closest outside defender forming a positive
triangle . The other player was instructed to
hold in a line with the last center back and not to
drop off deeper. As the defense was challenging
near the edge of the penalty area, it was the
goalkeeper s duty to intercept any through balls.
(The defensive line was formed and held about
two yards in front of the penalty area.
Coaching Points
" The quickness of the center backs to come and challenge an attack from the middle
" The communication by that center back with the other center back as to who would step up and who would drop off
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Italy U15 National Team
Diagram 4
Shadow Play
This was a simple drill with players in mostly static
positions as shown in diagram 4. The coach was very
particular and demanding that they get relative body
positioning exactly the way he wanted it. The players
simply lined up in the positions of two opposing
back fours and the coach jogged with a ball through
the middle.
Diagram 5
Progression
As the coach approached each player, it was the
player s turn to advance and challenge the coach.
Emphasis was placed on the player s reaction and body
position. The coach went through the sequence several
times.
Diagram 6
Progression
The exercise in diagram 5 was advanced to
emphasizing the role of the supporting player, then the
two nearest supporting players and finally with all four
players responding to the position of the player with
the ball and his own teammates.
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Italy U15 National Team
Diagram 7
Build-Up from 4 v 1 to 4 v 4
Emphasis again was placed on defensive player
positioning and the roles within the flat back four.
The focus was on good body positioning and quick
feet.
Set Up
The area used for this drill was a modified triangle
funneling towards the goal as shown in diagram 7.
The attacking team was set in a crescent formation
of two wide players and two central players.
Diagram 8
4 v 1
Four attacking players circulated the ball among
themselves without interchanging positions. When
an opening was created, they attacked the goal and
went 1 v 1 against the defender. The attacking players
were not allowed to circulate the ball more than one or
two positions at a time and the ball was played on the
ground.
Note: Only one attacking player was allowed in the
attacking zone at one time.
4 v 2
Diagram 9
Again, only one attacker could drive into the attacking
zone with the emphasis still on defensive support
play. The wide attacking player was always shown
inside, now into a covering player as shown in diagram
9. The attacking players advancing from a central
position were pushed into other defenders as well.
Points
As the defending team knows that the attacking team
can only advance one player at a time, the covering
defender is close enough in support to be nearly double
teaming the other player. Each player got into position
immediately and worked very hard to adjust their
position as the ball was circulated among the attacking
players.
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Italy U15 National Team
Diagram 10
4 v 3
Same organization with the emphasis now on the
defensive positioning of the third or balancing
defender.
Point
This was the first area of real emphasis by the coach
and where he took time to correct almost every player
as their first tendency was to be both farther and
deeper than he wanted them to be.
4 v 4
For the first time, the attackers were allowed to interchange positions in one prescribed way - by an overlap. (One of the
central attacking players played the ball to the wide player closest to him and then overlapped behind him.) Still, only one
player was allowed into the attacking zone at a time.
Diagram 11
Attacker A has the ball and passes to attacker
B and starts his overlapping run. Defender D1
responds by double teaming attacker B. On
completion of the overlap, defender D2 now
releases his original player (B) to defender D1
and is free to track attacker A as he makes his
overlapping run.
Coaching Points
The back four players were coached to handle the
situation as follows:
" Nearest center back double teams
" The wide defender passes on or releases
the original player and tracks the overlapping
attacker. This way the back four never loses its
shape.
Points
The portion of the session which the players found most difficult was when players where allowed to move from their set
positions (i.e. overlaps) and this is where the coach was most explicit in his direction.
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Italy U15 National Team
Diagram 12
Small-Sided Game
To end the session, the coach joined in to play 5 v
5 in a 20 x 20-yard area. The game was played for
10 minutes. Goals were scored by dribbling across
the opponent s end-lines. The play was extremely
quick and the tackling highly competitive.
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