Dutch-Style Counter Attacking

There is such an emphasis on everyone trying to play a short passing game that many youth players cannot play an accurate long ball. But the best players can hit 40, 50 or 60 yard passes, says David Clarke.

Putting the pressure on

If you want your team to make a statement during a game you can practise playing a quick long ball to put the opposition on their heels and get your team back into their half of the field.

Making long passes work

And I’m not talking about a hoof up field over the heads of the opposition and a charge after it. A long pass well executed can be a clever way of counter attacking against your opponents. If you look at the great players and great teams in soccer you will see some wonderful long passes that catch opponents out. The great Brazilian teams and the Dutch ones that can play short, short then a defense splitting long pass. It is a great skill to have in any players armory.

Get the ball to your wingers

Practice with your defenders playing a long pass up to one of your midfielders so he can pass it outside to his winger who can run on and cross it into the box. Make sure all your players know their roles in this one. It has to be swift and deadly. That means it needs players running into the box to put away the cross.

Put your best foot forward

The way in which you move the ball depends on several things, such as:

* Where it’s going
* What you want it to do when it gets there
* Who’s in the way

Increase your team’s chances of success

By fine-tuning your players’ skills as passers, you can significantly increase your team’s chances of success. What you must tell your players to do is communicate so the pass reaches the receiver and your player must be able to control a hard hit pass.

How to coach it

Tell your players to use their long kicking technique for crossing the ball to the back post as well as for passing. Once your players have perfected this they can begin to use them in match situations.

* Player A moves the ball to the side and kicks long to player B.
* B controls and passes to C.
* C pushes the ball forward and crosses for player D to run and attack the cross attempting to score.
* Repeat on left side starting with player E.