Football training session for

amateur teams
Improve your team performance with
simple and fun exercises

FootballTechniques.co
Contents
Who this book is for 2
The training session 3
Warmup 4
Why is it important to warmup? 4
The drills setup 4
Part 1 5
Part 3 6
Passing and first touch 7
Setup 7
Variations 7
Benefits 7
Take it seriously 8
Possession game 9
Setup 9
Rules 9
Lessons to be learned 10
Attack vs Defence 11
Setup 11
Rules 12
Lessons to be learned 12
Conclusion 13

FootballTechniques.co
Who this book is for
This book was written with senior amateur teams in mind. If you are playing at a very
high level, semi-pro or pro, you may not find the content very useful. Or you may even
disagree with some of our suggestions. The objective of these pages is to provide a
fun way of giving some structure for teams playing in amateur leagues (Sunday
leagues; pub leagues; etc.).

Many of us have been there. We love football. We play the game any time we have
the opportunity. However, for one reason or the other we never made it to a
professional or semi-professional level. One day, one of your kickaround friends
suggests “why don’t we join a league?”. Next comes choosing a name for the team,
inviting friends to join the team, buying a kit for the team, collecting the fee, etc. And
that’s how everything starts…

However, often reality strikes early in the competition. You start losing games. You
realise that you and your mates aren’t as good as you thought. Everything starts to fall
apart. You have arguments with everyone and anything under the sun: the opposition
players, your teammates, the referee (if you are lucky enough to have one), your wife,
your dog… Your weekends become a horrendous experience. And many finally quit
the team.

Adding to the mix are injuries. The older you are, the longer you take to recover. Torn
muscles are a common occurrence. And finally, you stop playing all together.

It does not need to be like this. The following pages do not guarantee that you will
smash all opposition and never get an injury again, but they will help you to move to
the next level.

In order to be successful, you need to work for it. In football, like in any activity, there
is no substitution for hard work. If you want to enjoy playing competitive football, you
must train.

Don’t worry, this is not going to be a tedious book with a long list of nutritional facts,
boring individual exercises to tone your muscles or philosophical dissertations on the
importance of having a full existence. The drills described are simple, fun and to the
point.

I hope you find the content of this book useful. If you have any comments or
suggestions, leave us a message on our website or Facebook page.

Pablo M.

FootballTechniques.co Page 2
The training session
I believe that training must be fun. Fitness, at amateur level, can be achieved with a
ball at your feet instead of long running sessions or endless hours at the gym.

The drills in this book also assume that you have the basic individual skills covered.
While the exercises will help you improve, they focus on teamwork. All the drills
described are to be done in groups and resemble real game scenarios.

The main reason for this is that most amateur teams have limited time to train. So, you
want to focus on how you work as a team. Additionally, you want training to be fun.
Waiting in a long queue as part of individual drills is not fun, and in the middle of winter,
especially at an older age, can cool down your muscles and result in injuries.

Based on the above, I designed a training session made up of games involving all
players. It is organised in 4 sections with 5 minutes breaks between them to allow for
rehydration and coordination of the next exercise. The duration of the session is
approximately 2 hours.

● Warmup – 30 minutes
● Passing and first touch – 15 minutes
● Possession game – 30 minutes
● Attack vs Defence – 30 minutes

FootballTechniques.co Page 3
Warmup
30 minutes

Being on the pitch is more fun than being off the pitch. If you are serious about playing
football, you must warm up before training sessions and games. This is especially
important the colder the weather is and the older you are. The football warm up drills
detailed in this post are proven to reduce the risk of all type of injuries by 30%, and
severe injuries by 50%. It only takes 30 minutes to complete.

Why is it important to warmup?

Most people that just kick a ball around with friends never warm up. Even teams
playing in amateur leagues don’t. Eventually, they pay the price. Torn calf muscles,
strained hamstrings and more are the result of not warming up properly.

I suffered the consequences of ignoring this advice. As a youngster, I never bothered

to warm up properly until I damaged both calf muscles in one season. This has
affected my performance since then. Nowadays, I sometimes need to ask to be
substituted because I can feel the strain in my calf muscles building up.

Warming up increases body temperature, which reduces the chance for muscle and
tendon injuries. It also increases blood flow to the muscles to be exercised, which
delivers the fuel required for energy production. Another important reason for
warming up is to prepare the cardiovascular system for upcoming intense physical
activity. It helps the body adjust for the increase in blood and oxygen that is about to
happen.

The drills setup

The following paragraphs describe football warmup drills created by a panel of
experts in conjunction with FIFA. These exercises were designed to reduce the risk of
injury in football. You only need 6 pairs of parallel cones, approximately 5-6 metres
apart from each other. Split into two groups with two players starting at the first pair of
cones and working their way along the cones performing the various exercises.

The full programme is composed of 15 drills divided in 3 parts and different levels of
intensity. Part 1 and Part 3 focus on running, while Part 2 covers strengthening. In my
experience, most amateur teams (aka, friends that decided to form a team) will get
bored quickly if all parts are included in a training session. Therefore, start with Part 1
and incorporate the other sections as your team gets fitter and players are keen to
do a more comprehensive warmup. Our team only uses Part 1 and then we complete
warming-up with ball exercises (e.g. rondos).

This book focuses only on Level 1 – Part1 and Part 3.

FootballTechniques.co Page 4
Part 1
Jogging straight ahead: Jog to the end of the cones and back with good form.
Concentrate on keeping your hips, knees and feet aligned and your upper body
straight. Make sure you’re not shuffling your feet and keep hands out of pockets.
Perform this exercise twice.

Hip out: Jog to the first cone then lift your knee out in front of you to hip level rotate
the knee to the side while keeping your body facing straight ahead and then place
your foot back on the ground. Control the movement by engaging your core muscles.
Alternate legs at each cone and then jog back to the start. Perform the exercise
twice.

Hip in: Jog to the first cone. Lift your knee out 90 degrees to your side and rotate
inwards. Control the movement by engaging your core and place your foot back on
the ground. Make sure you keep your body facing straight ahead. Alternate legs at
each cone and then jog back. Perform the exercise twice.

Circling partner: Jog with your partner to the first cone and then side shuffle towards
your partner. Perform a nice tight circle around your partner then side shuffle back to
your cone. Bend at the hips and knees slightly so your glutes are engaged. Make sure
your body is facing forwards keeping your weight centred. Try to match the intensity
of a game movement. Make sure to communicate to your partner if you are going to
circle in front or behind. Repeat the exercise to the end of the cones and then jog
back. Perform the exercise twice.

Shoulder contact: Jog to the first cone. Then inside shuffle and towards your partner
and jump together aiming for height, bump shoulders gently. Try to land softly with
feet shoulder-width apart and knees in line with toes. Pause on landing to check your
form and then side shuffle back to your cone. This exercise is good for developing
body awareness and neuromuscular control. Repeat the exercise to the end of the
cones and then jog back. Swap sides and then repeat the exercise.

Quick forwards and back: We are now starting to build the intensity. Run quickly to
the second cone then quickly change direction and backpedal one cone. Keep your
body facing forwards and try to use your peripheral vision to see the cone behind
rather than turning your head. Make sure heels are lifted when backpedalling and
keep your hips, knees and feet in line. Repeat forward two cones and then back one
cone. Jog back and repeat the exercise.

FootballTechniques.co Page 5
Part 3
Part 3 is running at a higher intensity to raise the heart rate and prime the body so it’s
ready for training or a game.

Sub maximal effort sprint: Run the distance of the cones at around eighty percent of
maximal effort thinking about form over speed. Use your arms to help drive the
movement while keeping the upper body straight and your chest up. Jog back to the
start at an easy pace and then launch straight into your next drill. Repeat twice.

Bouncing: Take a few warm-up steps swinging each arm in time with your opposite
leg and then perform six to eight bounding leaps with a high knee leap driving
movement. Aim for height and distance driving off the ground at a 45-degree angle.
Make sure the knees stay in line with toes on landing and do not buckle inwards.
Bounce until the end of the cone and then jog back. Perform the exercise twice.

Plant and cut: Run diagonally to the first cone. Using your outside foot, plant and then
change direction by driving off your grounded foot. Perform the planting and cutting
movements to the end of the cones and then jog back. Try not to let your knees
buckle inwards. Do a slight pause on each cone on the first time through and then
aim to perform the exercise faster on the second run. Repeat the exercise twice.

FootballTechniques.co Page 6
Passing and first touch
15 minutes

Possession football is a playing style made popular in recent years. There are many
drills designed to favour possession over a vertical game. The rondo is one of these
exercises. It is a passing drill that improves player decision making, coordination, team
play, creativity, competitiveness, and physical conditioning. This drill is as old as
football. Rondos begun as a game to relax or as a warm-up. With the passing of time,
coaches made rondo a key component of their training sessions.

Setup
In a rondo, one group of players keeps possession of the ball by passing it around,
while a smaller group of players tries to take possession. It is a game of piggy in the
middle but played with the feet. Rondos take place in proximity, with the possessing
group often circled around the opposing group.

Usually a rondo is setup as a 8 vs 2 game. Eight players stand in a circle and attempt
to pass the ball to each other, while the two in the middle try to intercept it. The goal
of the players on the outside of the circle is to reach a target: 10, 20 or 30 passes. The
players in possession of the ball are allowed one or two touches before passing it. If
one of the players in the middle retrieves the ball, the drill restarts and the player
responsible for losing the ball takes their place.

Variations
There are many variations of this drill: 6 vs 2, 5 vs 2, 3 vs 1, etc. Sometimes coaches
switch rondos to a positional game. For example, two teams with the same number
of players work inside a box. Players are free to move anywhere in the box. One of the
teams try to pass the ball using only one, two or three touches while the other tries to
recover the ball. Once the ball is intercepted, teams switch role.

Benefits
The rondo has multiple benefits: it improves technique in tight areas, encourages
intelligent movement and forces players to pass the ball in neat triangles. From a
defensive point of view, it teaches to press with maximum efficacy, closing passing
lanes and attempting to read the intentions of the player on the ball.

In Stan Baker’s book Our Competition is the World, Johan Cruyff says about the rondo:
“Everything that goes on in a match, except shooting, you can do in a rondo. The
competitive aspect, fighting to make space, what to do when in possession and what
to do when you haven’t got the ball, how to play ‘one touch’ soccer, how to
counteract the tight marking and how to win the ball back.”

FootballTechniques.co Page 7
Take it seriously
Players often see rondos as a bit of a laugh or a good way to start and end warm-ups.
However, players must put 100% effort, or it is better not doing them at all. Rondos
require constant work on the training ground and high levels of concentration. Players
should not slack off or joke around.

The intensity of these drills is crucial. At the beginning, the ball may go outside of the
perimeter of the rondo often or the passing team never reaching the target number
of passes. Ask players to pay attention to how they positioned themselves, how they
received the ball, whether they controlled it with their left or right foot, etc.

If you can, film your rondos to compare. You will be amazed at the results. Have a
laugh with your team. Watch videos of rondos from professional teams and compare
them with your own team videos.

Use rondos in every training, and you soon will notice improvements in your team’s
possession of the ball. Spice it up a bit and introduce your own flavour but keep it
simple. After all, rondos must be fun and simple.

FootballTechniques.co Page 8
Possession game
30 minutes

When we were little, we learned football by playing with a ball on our own, with our
parents or a couple of friends. Simple and fun games taught us the basic skills we
needed for the game. Later in life, some of us joined a club or an academy and things
got more serious. Unfortunately, often coaches miss the point and forget about the
spirit of the game: to have fun. I am not talking only about kids coaching, football
training should be an enjoyable experience for all ages and levels. In this post we will
discuss a fun passing drill that will make your training sessions a more pleasant
experience.

Setup
The Box gets its name from its setup: two opposing teams play a small football game
in two boxes. The first box is the defence area of a team, the second box is the whole
pitch.

The setup is easy. Use a set of cones and small goals to create a 7 aside or 5 aside
pitch. The number of players will depend on the size of your squad. Having a squad
of 20+ players showing up at training is unrealistic for amateur teams. You could play
this game with as little as 2 players per side.

Rules
The main objective of this drill is keeping possession of the ball by using accurate
passing and good positioning in the field. The basic rules of the game are:

● Players are allowed only 3 touches (e.g.: 1 touch to control the ball, 1 touch to
change direction and 1 touch to pass the ball).

● There are two phases when in possession of the ball: defensive possession and
attacking possession.

● To move into the attack phase, a team must complete the defensive phase. The
defensive phase is done when 5 consecutive passes are completed in the team’s
defensive half of the field.

● Once the defensive phase is finished, the team in possession moves into attack. In
this phase a team can shoot to goal once a total of 10 passes is completed. This
number includes the 5 passes done when defending. A key difference with the
defence phase is that passes in attack can happen anywhere in the field.

● The count is restarted once a team recovering the ball completes their first pass. If
a defending player touches the ball but doesn’t complete a pass and the ball
goes back to the attacking team, the attacking team can continue with their tally
of passes.

FootballTechniques.co Page 9
There are some variations to this game that you may want to consider. Often a conflict
between teams is that a player stays in front of the small goal all the time, so a
variation is to delimit an area around the goal where nobody can step in. Another
interesting variation is to allow the team that scores unlimited touches of the ball, the
opposition must score to re-establish limited touches and score again to gain free
touches. You can also use bigger goals and goalkeepers.

Be creative and add your own rules. The main point is that the game must keep the
spirit of passing the ball among teammates, forcing players with individualistic
characteristics to plays as a team.

Lessons to be learned
Although on the surface this game seems like a fun passing drill only, it teaches a few
important lessons:

● Accurate passing. The rules of the game focus on passing. You can only score after
completing a given number of passes. Therefore, the only way of winning at this
game is by players improving their passing technique.

● Accurate finishing. Because the game is played with small goals, it encourages
clinical finishing.

● Players must play as a team. Although individual skills play a part in the game,
limiting the time players can hold the ball forces everyone to play as a team.

● Transitioning from defence into attack in an orderly manner. The only way to move
into attack is by passing the ball in defence instead of hoofing the ball away.

● Players positioning. In order to keep possession of the ball, and increase the
number of passes, players must move in a block and be close to each other.

FootballTechniques.co Page 10
Attack vs Defence
30 minutes

Attack vs Defence drills are part of most training sessions. These exercises help players
to familiarize with the team’s preferred formation and game style. However, many
football offense drills only focus on the attacking players. This section describes a drill
that involves all players in your team.

Setup
This drill closely resembles real game situations. Therefore, you need to practice it in a
real football pitch with a full 11 aside team if possible. You only need half of the field.
So, if your squad is over 20 players strong, you can have your substitutes practicing the
same drill in the other half of the pitch.

You will need 4 cones and 3 small goals (or 6 cones). Position the 3 goals in the middle
line, one in each wing and one right in the centre of the field. Then use the cones to
make one gate outside each side of the penalty area. Position these gates just behind
the penalty spot line and between the side-line and the penalty box. The picture
below illustrates the setup for teams using a defensive line of 4 players.

FootballTechniques.co Page 11
Rules
The objective of this drill is to practice possession football by moving the ball across
the park. The basic rules of the game are:

● 2 teams of 5 players each.

● 1 goalkeeper.
● Only 3 touches are allowed (e.g.: 1 touch to control the ball, 1 touch to change
direction and 1 touch to pass the ball).
● The attacking team must pass the ball through both gates to be allowed to shoot
at goal.
● If the ball is intercepted by the defensive team, the attacking team must pass the
ball again through both gates.
● When the defensive team recovers the ball, their objective is to score in any of the
small goals.
Be creative and add your own rules. For example, you may want to only allow passes
on the ground, no high crosses. You may also want to play with unlimited touches.
Whatever the changes you make to the base game, make sure to maintain the spirit
of the drill: working from the side-lines and a clean transition from defence to attack.

Lessons to be learned
Football offense drills are often designed to improve individual skills (e.g.: crossing and
shooting). This exercise focuses on working as a team. It is a great drill that involves
every player in your team and keeps everyone moving constantly.

● Creating opportunities from the wings. The side-line gates simulate wingers running
by the line. When the first gate is cleared, players are forced to circulate the ball
instead of shooting at goal or crossing high to the head of a teammate.
● Transitioning from defence to attack. The objective of the defensive team is to
score goals too, but in a different way. Therefore, is not enough to intercept the
ball and kick it high and out. The defensive team must pass the ball around to
score in the small goals located in the middle of the field.
● Passing. Since limited touches are allowed, players need to circulate the ball
around and, in the process, improve their passing technique.
● Playing as a team. Although individual skills play a part in the game, limiting the
time players can hold the ball forces everyone to play as a team.
● Players positioning. This drill is designed to give a chance to practice your preferred
formation. Players get used to their positions in the field.
● Finishing. This drill is played with a goalkeeper. Therefore, your offensive players
are faced with real finishing scenarios.

FootballTechniques.co Page 12
Conclusion
The exercises on this book focus on basic conditioning and playing a simple style of
football. It is by no means a professional training session, but it will help your group of
mates to move to the next level of the game. You will be able to compete even
against other teams that on paper have better skills than yours, but in practice are not
as well organised.

The main takeaway is that to have fun and not be trashed every weekend, you need
to be organised and work as a team. To achieve this, you need to train at least once
a week. Don’t overcomplicate training, simply warmup to avoid injuries and then find
drills that are fun. If your friends are not keen on drills, even just playing an actual game
of football will do, as long as you use a similar formation to the one you use on official
matches.

In summary, if you make training fun and keep your playing style simple, you will go a
long way.

FootballTechniques.co Page 13