 Hi guys, hope everyone's doing well out there. My name's Bradley Morrison, I'm the first team coach here at Gardner Web and I'm going to be doing today's tactic corner, all right, and the theme of today is going to be possession to go forward. So we're going to look at three different scenarios and we're going to look at how we possess to create space so that we can move the ball forward and have numbers in the attacking half when we actually create chances. And so when we're going to look at situation one here, so what we have here is a goal kick for the opposing team. The keeper has pushed up all of his players so we expect the ball is going to go long. As he plays it long, we're going to win the ball back off the initial header, okay, and now this is the part where our team has to transition from a compact shape to a more expanded shape so that allows us to keep possession. And so that's initiated by a few one-touch passes between the midfielders and the back lines so that we can now look to find someone facing forward with a chance to find an attacking player and play a penetrating pass. So we move the ball from one side to the other pretty well. Our center mid turns out of pressure here and finds our left wing back. Okay, now when this happens, our left wing back now is able to receive the ball on his front foot, take a touch forward, and what that does is it initiates the runs from the forwards and the midfielders so that now they know he's taking a touch forward. He can see the space in front of him. We need to make some penetrating runs so that he can play the ball into that space. He plays the ball great space in between the back line and the midfielders of the opposing team, and once we get into this area, now we're looking to get runs into the box and have movement so that we can create a goal-scoring opportunity. The defense does well, gets back into the space, so we swing the ball out to the other side, and now, through this buildup time, we have a player that's in. The attacking third has a touch, is able to see if he can play a cross into the box. Cross comes into the box, unfortunately for us, it's just a little bit high, but we do have a good chance in there, it's 1v1, and unfortunately the cross goes out of balance. So now we're going to move to situation number two. Situation number two is going to come from our center backs receiving the ball. Okay, now we're in a nice wide shape, we have our three center backs spread across the field. We have our two wing backs, nice high and wide providing options, and we play the ball back to the goalkeeper, and when that happens, that allows the three center backs to expand, they're pressuring with two forwards, so we have, including the goalkeeper four versus two in our defensive third. With the pressure coming on the goalkeeper, he chooses to skip the first line, so we always talk about in that buildup phase, if there's pressure and you can play to the next layer, then he's going to do that. The ball comes wide, initial touch off the chest of the player, but as that ball's traveling, now our two midfielders are moving underneath to create support and options for the wide player. He plays inside to the midfielder, they combine with each other, nice little move there, and then now that allows him to play out the other side. So the team has pressed us, they've shifted as we've played that long ball to the wing back, and now as they shift, we're able to play out of that pressure, combine in the midfield and get the ball to the other side. So this buildup phase is allowing us to stretch and move the defending team. Now our center back receives a ball that's set back from the opposite wing back. He plays forward into a forward checking back into the space. Now our wing back recognizes, okay, the outside back of the opposing team tracked our forward into the space, that's going to leave space in behind. So he starts to make the run, our forward lays the ball back to the midfielder who's showing up underneath, and now we're able to play the ball over the top into that space and have a chance to get across into the box. Okay, the ball, once the ball is lost here, we're in the attacking third, we're near the byline, we want to apply immediate pressure to the ball so that we can try to win the ball back in that area and create a dangerous opportunity. So we go and pressure the ball, we win it back, and now we have another chance to cross the ball into the box, we set the ball back, good body there, and then we have a shot and it goes over the goal. So now we're going to move to situation number three. This situation is initiated off a throw in for the opposing team in our half. So we apply pressure on the throw immediately and we win the ball back. Okay, so now as soon as the possession is switched, we're in transition. Okay, and the faster you can make your transition to attack in a sense of play the ball quickly but also expand your shape so that now you have more space and time to play those passes the better. Because what you want to do is create space and time for your player so that maybe you can get the ball facing forward and look to play a penetrating pass. So here, our center back wins the ball, plays into one of our forwards who sets the ball underneath. When that happens, our midfielder receives it on the half turn and now he is able to play a penetrating pass into the forwards. Unfortunately, this pass just misses the forwards feet and it's played behind him. But again, here's another transitional moment. We have runners running forward into space. We were able to play a penetrating pass. The team recognizes that. Now they all step because we have to win the ball back. That's the next transition is now we immediately transition to the fence. We pressure their center back. He plays the ball long. Our wing back now comes and pressures that player on the ball. It's a bad setback by them. He wins the ball and is able to run into the space. Now we're in the attacking third in a wide area. We want to look to combine and have a chance to cross the ball into the box. He heals the ball back and is able to combine. Now he has space. The defenders dropped off. We have two runners into the box that see his body shape is open. He delivers the ball in the first touch and we're able to finish the ball into the goal. Okay, so again, the major theme here is in those transitional moments, when you win the ball back and you're going, you have to find possession so that you can create a chance to penetrate and go on the attack. And so the biggest thing for us is create that space with your team shape. Play quick, one in two touch passes to move the defense and try to play from zone to zone so that the defense is really stretched and chasing the ball around. And during their shifting moments, if you can find a player facing forward that's now able to play a penetrating pass, then you can go on to the attack, okay? And then once that happens, whether you get the ball into the wide airs or central airs, can you look to combine, get a player open in those airs, either for a shot or for a cross into the box. And if it's a cross, we need runners crashing into the box. I enjoyed today, I hope that you guys did and I hope that you learned something in the tactics corner. Please make sure that you leave a comment and like below if you enjoyed it and we'll do this again soon.