Introduction
Experienced soccer people know that the flank attack is an
important tactic. Roughly, 25 percent of all goals scored come
from crossing the ball during the run of play; perhaps another
10 to 20 percent come from crosses executed off dead-ball
situations, i.e., from free kicks and corners. In World Cup '94
for example, 141 goals were scored: 35 involved a cross, 7 more
crosses resulted in successful penalty kick, and another 14 goals
were scored from dead-ball crosses (seven corners and seven free
kicks). Forty percent of the 141 goals involved a cross from the
flank--another six had executed a flank cross earlier in the
scoring possession. My point: Crossing the ball, the flank
attack, is a major scoring vehicle, and as such, the mechanics
and tactical approach need constant development in practice.
Another important aspect of the flank attack, one I discussed in
Column 5 October '96, is that the team putting in more crosses,
invariably gets the ball into the penalty box more often too. As
you might expect, that's important. The following shows just how
important.
Richard
Pollard in the May/June issue of Soccer Journal last year
(1995) asked the question: Do long shots pay off? He answered it
with data he had gathered over 24 years of watching the game at
its highest levels: from an analysis of 184 matches played in
Europe, North Americia, South Americia, and Oceania, various
internationals as well as matches from the Brazilian National
League (10), the English Football League (17), the 1986 & 1990
World Cups (59), the Italian Leagure Series A (10), and the 1991
Copa (15)). Pollard tried to determine, among other things,
whether shooting from outside the box was more productive than
trying to enter the box before taking the shot. After analyzing
3,941 shots and the resultant 394 goals, he concluded that a
strategy of playing the ball into the scoring zone would have
increased the chance of scoring threefold! Any tactic that gets
the ball in the box more often is bound to produce more goals.
The flank attack is one such tactic.
Warm Ups for Flank
Play
Practicing crossing technique, both the delivery and the
reception, improves a team's scoring chances in match play.
While heading, first-touch shooting, and 1v1 skills are all
critical to success at the flank, here we concentrate on
developing the delivery and reception mechanics discussed in
Column 5. The technical session described here could be
preceeded by a skills session aimed at improving the necessary
technical skills.
An appropriate warm up session gets players thinking about the
delivery. There are many good ones that can be varied from
session-to-session to keep things interesting. Here, I'll
describe three.
Diagram 1 shows two teams of eight scrimmaging on a half
field. One keeper is restricted to play inside the center
circle, while the other must stay in a modified six-yard
box--modified with boundaries extending to the edge of the
penalty box (areas shown in yellow). The object is to cross a
ball from the dark-green flank areas to a teammate who, in turn,
must knock it on to the keeper (not at goal). When that happens,
the team scoring then changes direction and has a go at the
opposite keeper. Changing direction keeps the game dynamic and
forces a team to transition quickly. The first team to score
three consecutive goals wins. The other does 40 situps.
The next session highlights the accurate cross (Diagram 2). Two teams take turns delivering wide
crosses -preferably, but not necessarily, into a vertical net (a
Coerver goal). While members of one (red) dribble parallel to
the face of the goal, round a cone (brown), then deliver a 30
yard cross into the net--first a player from the left then one
from the right--the other (blue), with players positioned around
the sides and back of the net, attempts to play any errant air
ball, before it touches the ground, into the net's backside.
When the receiving team can keep the ball in the air then put it
in the net, the teams switch roles. The first one to put 20
crosses from the air into the net wins. Note: The receiving team
cannot interfere with a ball coming at the net; they play only
balls off target.
The
last warm-up session is a 4v4v4 scrimmage using keepers and
neutral crossers (
Diagram 3). Play is confined to the penalty area and begins
with a wing cross. Scoring comes as follows: two points when
goal is scored off the first touch following the cross; one
point for a goal scored naturally during the run of play; and
three points for a headed goal scored with both feet in the air.
Any ball leaving play is immediately replaced by service from
the opposite flank (the two neutrals alternate service). The
third team gathers balls and provides the neutrals, then comes
on when one of the two engaged manages a four point lead. The
session maximizes shots on goal while providing excellent keeper
training for the rapid directional changes so typical of wing
play and for generally dealing with flank crosses.
One of the above sessions is then followed by a continuous
crossing session like the one shown in
Diagram 4: midfielder 1 dribbles onto the field and passes
to striker 3, who has dropped back from delivering the last
cross; his first touch plays the ball to midfielder 2. Two,
following a positioning dribble, plays the ball back to
one as the latter continues his run down the wing. Players 2, 3,
4, and 5 make near-post, far-post, top-of-the-box, and
back-of-the-box runs, respectively, each trying to arrive at the
ball with as much forward momentum as is possible.
Players 4 & 5 then join the
off-field lines while the crosser, in turn, drops to receive the
next group, and players 2 and 3 retreat to the midline to
replace players 4 and 5. The length of the field is made shorter
to emphasize technique or longer to add conditioning. As the
session progresses, adaptations can be made: one, two, or three
defenders can be added (three are shown here in blue), and the
crosser can periodically fake the cross, cut the ball back, and
thus force runners to rotate their positions so as to remain
dynamic. Simultaneous runs can be made at the other goal, which
is shown here being defended solely by the keeper.
As
a prelude to the full session just described, the runs of
players 4 and 5 could be eliminated: players 2 and 3 would then
step off the field after each cross.
The technique sessions end with a 7v7 scrimmage, one utilizing
neutral servers (Diagram
5). Neutral players, confined to the wing zones, play with
the team in possession. Scoring coming from the first or second
touch following the cross counts double, while a goal scored any
other way counts one. Additionally, here the early cross is
being emphasized by the additional restriction that requires
interior players to stay in the middle box (dark green) until
the crosser has first cleared the early cross boundaries.
Tactical Development of the
Flank Crossing Game
Once a team becomes proficient at
delivering and receiving crosses, a more tactical session
introduces wing play into that team's normal scheme of attack.
Diagram 6 shows such a session being played out on a field
two-thirds the conventional size. Conditioned play is 8v8 with
two strikers, two midfielders, three defenders, and a keeper to
each side. Zonal restrictions condition the play: in the wing
zones (yellow), play is limited to 2v1 (with violations
resulting in a free kick); marking defenders and the sweeper
must play in their defensive halves, strikers in their attacking
halves, and midfielders over the whole field. Additionally, with
a ball played out from the back, the opposite-side defender is
freed to attack the far post.
While the run of play develops as it will, goals scored by the
second touch following a cross count double, from a header
three, and if the header comes with both feet off the ground,
four. The middle third (dark green area) could be again used to
emphasize the early cross as was done in Diagram 5.
The offense overloads the wide zones, while the defense can
overload the inside. Wing play flows naturally as a result.
Here, a marking defender plays a ball out to his midfielder as
the latter enters the right-flank zone. A striker and his mark
have anticipated the pass and entered the zone higher
(precluding entry by the midfielder's mark). While the 2v1
situation plays out at the flank, the other striker and
midfielder run respectively to the near post and penalty spot,
and the weak-side defender attacks the far post. The
off-the-ball attacker in the flank zone retreats to the center
above the penalty box: to slow any counter, to support play
inside, and to look for "second-touch" shots coming out from the
box. On the other side, defenders and midfielders funnel back in
front of goal with their marks; they need to get numbers up
inside, and on winning possession, to counter quickly.
Conditions can be added to further direct play. All highlight a
particular aspect of play. Examples: (1) requiring goals to be
scored only from crosses made to the near post; (2) using the
early-cross option; (3) requiring the cross be made on the
ground and be played back at an angle from the goal line.
The
crossing option is available to every team. Frequently, it is
the easiest to execute because space at the flanks has fewer
defenders, and even if you fail to score from the first touch
off the crossed ball, continually dropping the ball in front of
goal creates chances. At worst, possession is lost in the best
possible area of the field to lose it.