Attack! Attack! Attack!

Whatever age group you are coaching - at 7-a-side or 11-a-side - breaking away with a three-man move will always cause havoc in the opposition defence. It’s a quick, skillful way to goal, says David Clarke.

Watching it in the English Premier League

Watching Liverpool versus Chelsea recently I was impressed in the first half with the way Liverpool’s front three players - Babbel, Crouch and Kuyt - broke away at speed and used the ball that Steven Gerrard played through to them with pace and quick passing.

Each time it led to a shot on goal usually from Crouch who was in the center of the three. Crouch often touched the ball two or three times in the move. It was a shame for the Liverpool fans that his shots were more often than not just off target. Any young player watching that would have been given plenty of food for thought, so I thought at my next training session I would spend half an hour practicing it.

Go in threes to practice attacks

* Organize three lines of players around 40 yards from a goal which is defended by your goalkeeper.
* Tell your players to make runs and passes attacking towards the goal.
* They must take a shot after four passes.

What to look for during the session

* Get your players to play this at match pace.
* Tell them the aim is to pass and move as quickly as they can to get to the goal.
* They should be using sharp bursts of speed and calling out names so they can run onto passes.
* Shoot one or two-touch.

Progress the session with defenders

Add two defenders to apply pressure to the three attackers. Begin with passive defenders and then move to active defenders to challenge the players to play with more speed and quality.

Key coaching tip: Speed and ball control are the important elements of this practice.