AJAX U17 Youth Team

Contributed by subscriber, Terry Michler. Terry has been the coach at Christian Brothers College High School, Saint Louis, MO for 30 years and has amassed a 602-159-74 record that includes 20 District Championships, nine State Final appearances and three State Championships. 230 of his former players have played college soccer and 32 have played professional soccer. Terry recently went on a 10-day trip to the Netherlands where he observed the training sessions of the Ajax professional and youth teams. This session is a series of passing drills conducted by the Ajax U17 team. Further sessions will appear in upcoming issues.

Passing Drill #1 Organize the players in a half-field as shown in diagram 33. This and the following exercises help the players become familiar with passing combinations designed to get the ball into goalscoring situations. Player 1 plays the ball up to player 2 who has checked away, then receives the ball sideways on before playing a pass to player 3. Player 3 can either play a long ball into player 4, dribble the ball back or play a long ball into the goalkeeper.

Passing Drill #2 Using the same set up as diagram 33, player 1 plays the ball up to player 2 who makes a flat, checked run before laying it back to player 1. Player 1 then plays a pass to player 3 who again, either plays a long pass to player 4, dribbles back or plays a long pass into the goalkeeper.

Passing Drill #3 Again using the same set up as in diagram 33, player 1 plays the pass up to player 2 who receives it sideways on. Player 2 turns and plays a pass up to player 3. Player 3 then plays a give-and-go with player 2 before setting himself up for a long-range shot to finish.

 

Passing Drill #4 Player 2 makes a flat, checked run and receives a pass sideways on from player 1. Player 3 makes a timed run around the cone to receive a square pass from player 2. Player 3 then dribbles forward before shooting.

Passing Drill #5 Player 2 makes a flat, checked run and receives a pass sideways on from player 1 before laying it back. Player 1 then plays a long ball to player 3. Player 3 plays a give-and-go, around the cone, with player 2 before setting himself up for a shooting opportunity.

 

Passing Drill #6 Player 2 makes a flat, checked run and receives a pass sideways on from player 1 before laying it back. Player 1 then plays a long ball to player 3 who has made a timed run around a cone to receive the pass before running on to take a shot.

 

Passing Drill #7 Player 1 plays a give-and-go with player 2 before playing a long ball to player 3. Player 3 has made a timed run around a cone to receive the long pass from player 1. Player 3 then plays a give-and-go with player 2, who has checked inside, and sets himself up for a long-range shot.

Passing Drill #8 Use the same organization as the previous drills with the addition of a fourth player. Player 1 plays a give-and-go with player 2 before playing a long ball to player 3 who has made a timed run around a cone to receive it. Player 3 then plays a long diagonal pass to player 4 out on the wing. Player 3 makes a run to the far post and player 2 heads for the near post to receive a crossed ball by player 4.

 

Variation Use the same set up as in diagram 40, however this time; player 1 becomes a defender once he initiates the passing sequence

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