This sessions is created to help Liverpool prepare fro the challenge of Burnley, Burnley a side who are confident defending the box, which is shown the image below, this limits some of Liverpool's attacking tactics, a side that cross confidently swinging away from the Goalkeeper, Burnley cover this space extremely effectively, with a compact three, a physical 3 and dominate the arial space, they also drop deep limiting any space for the opponent to cross in to with any confidence or accuracy.



As can be seen from the second image, the way in which Liverpool counteracted this is to cross from deeper, forcing Burnley to defend with a 2 instead of a 3, which allows for greater space, but also forces them to defend with space in behind, something slower Centre backs do not feel as comfortable doing, Liverpool also then looked to create runners from the far side running from out to in, running between the full back and the centre back who have been forced to turn and drop as the cross comes in.

Session

Aims:

The aim of this session is very simple, to create some understanding of how to exploit a defense when you can't cross from more attacking areas, and then how we react and prepare for crosses from deeper areas.

- Wide players develop two different skills here, the first is to recognize the areas in which to cross, and when to cross dependent on the attacking shape of the team i.e. do we have players in the attacking third that can run of the shoulder of the opponent we need a minimum of 2 players in the opponent box. Secondly how can we make runs across the opponent to receive the cross from the opposite side

- Midfield players What is our role within this, can we make crosses from within the half space to force the opponent to defend high, if we aren't crossing can we lock of the box and pick up second balls

Setting Up:

The session is extremely simple it involves an 8 v8 practice with a 1v1 in each wide area, the players play 6v6 inside the central area and the team out of possession are challenged to get high and apply pressure, this makes it realistic to the challenge the team will face at the weekend, when possible the team look to get the ball wide and the wide player then needs to make a decision dependent on the picture ahead of them, however the coach should reward goals in accordance with the principles they want to see, i.e. if its a deep cross reward them with 3 goals.

When To Cross From Deep

When crossing from deep it Is important that the wide player knows how and why they are doing it, we are looking to see a pair of centre backs who are high and leaving space behind, whilst we are in a tactical shape that is allowing at least two players to occupy and penetrate the space in behind, forcing the centre back to turn and face their own goal. Crossing from deep is also dependent on the positioning of the full back, if the full back is applying some pressure and leaving space behind, the attacking player can then look to exploit the space behind and cut in, however more realistically the full back is likely to tuck inside and leave the opportunity for the cross from deep

How Are We Going To Score?

The below diagram best represents the method of scoring, if you are looking to score from a cross, you require more detail than just putting the ball in the box, first the cross must be a ball that is deep, likely swinging away from the goalkeeper forcing the centre backs to turn and face their own goal and then try to flick a header away from goal, when their momentum is carrying towards goal, allowing are central midfield players to pick up the second ball, and finish from outside the area, second to this, we are looking for the 9 to play on the shoulder of the furtherest centre back and then make their run across the centre back, whilst the opposite wide player runs behind the centre back and inside of the full back to score at the back post.