Wide Channel Small-Sided Game

Categories

Attacking Passing Small-sided game

Age group

U12 U14 U16

Sport

Soccer

Players

10 - 16

Difficulty

Medium

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Description

A small-sided game designed to encourage players to use the full width of the pitch and switch the point of attack. Two neutral wingers are positioned in wide channels, one on each side. The wingers always play with the team in possession.


The attacking team must use at least one winger before they are allowed to score. To emphasize switching play, encourage or require the team to transfer the ball from one winger to the other before attacking the goal. In the base version, wingers cannot be tackled but are limited to 2–3 touches.


Progressions

  1. Start with wingers as safe neutral players who cannot be pressed. Once players understand the pattern and begin using the width effectively, progress by allowing defenders to press the winger. Defenders may only enter the wide channel after the ball has been played into that channel.
  2. Both wingers must be used before the attacking team can score.
  3. Wingers are limited to two touches.
  4. Allow wingers to dribble into the pitch after receiving, creating overloads centrally.
  5. Remove the neutral winger advantage and assign wide players to each team.

Coaching Points

  1. Encourage players to scan the pitch so they can see both sides of the pitch before receiving.
  2. Players in possession should look to recognize when one side is crowded and switch the ball quickly to exploit space on the opposite side.
  3. The switch does not always need to be a long pass; it can be built through the central players if done with tempo.
  4. Wingers should stay wide, receive on the back foot, scan before the ball arrives, and decide quickly whether to play back, inside, or across to the opposite side.
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