Attacking Principles of Play: Width
Teaching an attacking principle to young players
In my mind, there are a few principles of play that should always be present when a team is in possession. One of the most fundamental building blocks in my game model — which can be difficult for young players to grasp — is the concept of width.
The language I use to describe my attacking principles of play (which are slightly tweaked versions of those used by the USSF) are: Width, Support, Triangulate, and Threaten. Broadly speaking, the colored zones in the image above represent each of those principles in our defensive half.
Each of those terms has a specific definition that I like to use – not least of which because it forces players to actively pay attention.
Width – Having a passing option around a defender with the intent to play forward.
Support – Providing a passing option underneath the ball to maintain possession.
Triangulate – Forming a triangle using teammates & open space to advance the ball past a defender.
Threaten – Exploit space behind opposition to access goal & gain better field position.
Having clear definitions allows you to use check for understanding questions that have specific answers. Using close-ended questions ensures that players are paying attention and gives them a good base of understanding that they can structure future problem-solving on. It sounds a bit hooey-gooey but it does work. It gives you very clear parameters to set the standard of behavior and communicate key ideas concisely. Not only that, it also gives them a sense that they are learning something, which is crucial to good coaching.
Introducing the Attacking Principle
When I first started coaching there were lots of debates about whether or not to tell players what the learning focus was for that day. In hindsight, that seems silly, and today I always tell my teams what we’re working on to prime their focus. So depending on the weather and how much housekeeping needs to be done, I’ll gather the group either before or after the warm-up and say something like:
“Today we’re going to focus on the attacking principle of width. Width means providing a passing option around a defender with the intent to go forward.”
I’d then arrange some players in front of the group to create an on-field situation to visually represent the concept. Next, using language within the definition, I’ll explain what’s happening.
“Charlie has the ball and Xavier is pressuring. Now let’s have Elton and Kailum step out there and provide a wide passing option around the defender. Excellent. Now Charlie has two different teammates providing width. If Charlie passes the ball to one of them – go ahead, choose – it’s important that their first touch takes them toward our attacking goal. Ideally, the purpose of providing width is to go forward with the ball.”
I’ll bring the group back together, give Charlie, Xavier, Elton and Kailum a round of applause for helping demonstrate, and then use some check for understanding questions (CfUs) to A) make sure they understand B) make sure they’re paying attention.
“Now raise your hand if you know. What’s the attacking principle of play we’re focusing on?”
[Easy answer: Width.]
“And what does it mean to provide width?”
[Here I’m looking for three main components: a passing option – around a defender – intent to go forward.]
After setting the definition, providing a short example, and using CfUs, I’ll put them in a game where they will get lots of repetitions providing width.
Practicing the Attacking Principle
Now it’s tempting to overload the players with details about how to properly provide width when you’re first explaining it. We know there will be some things they get wrong right away: poor spacing, wrong first touches, incorrect body orientation, etc.
There are times when you’ll want to set a clear standard of expectations from the very beginning, but generally I find it helpful to allow them to try it for themselves first. Then, after a period of observation, you can step in with individual coaching points and highlight positive behaviors in front of the group that individuals are doing.
If you find there’s a generalizable pattern that applies to most players then it’s worth issuing a Freeze and offering a correction.
When there’s a break in the game – whether it’s switching roles, getting water, ball run, etc. – you can then make your coaching points or use questions to examine some of the conceptual fundamentals. These types of questions can be open-ended and guide them to specific moments to watch out for.
This is a key piece of the puzzle – we have to coach the cognitive elements that go into recognizing a situation and deciding on which course of action to execute. I like to give the players a mantra of “Scan, choose, execute,” and I’ve devoted entire training sessions to what scanning means, how to do it, when to do it, etc. It’s paramount to player development to have that skill and make sure that the technical or tactical aspects you’re coaching tie into what they see on the field.
Alas, I digress. Let’s say the players are gathered up and it’s time to ask questions. Here’s some questions I would ask depending on the context I’m trying to create:
What’s the purpose of providing width? [This is a simple review question just to re-focus everybody and reinforce our definition. I don’t spend a lot of time on this question.]
When does width need to be provided? [There’s a few answers that you might expect to be given here: when a teammate has the ball, when there’s pressure, once we have the ball, etc. If your training session is going to focus on a specific moment then this is a good line of questioning.]
Who is responsible for providing width? [The easy answers here might be outside back, outside midfielder, winger, whatever wide positions are in your formation. You can choose which answer to focus on based on if your training session is going to be position-specific.]
If the intent is to play forward, how should that dictate your body position or first touch? [A technical question with a pretty specific answer. You could also just start with the answer and then use CfU’s to reinforce what you said.]
If the objective is to go forward, what should you be scanning for before you receive the ball? [The given answer here would probably be how much space they have which you can stretch into them needing to recognize where the closest defender is positioned. This gives them a specific thing to scan for once they return to play.]
There’s a million questions you can ask. I find it best to just use the simple 6 beginnings (Who, What, When, Where, Why and How) based on what your learning objective is for that session or exercise.
As an aside, I actually find that rondos and positional-play games can be useful when teaching the core components of width (body orientation, first touch, providing wide options). However, after the first exercise, the next activity should introduce more complexity/chaos for players to make sense of.
6 Goal Game
One of the exercises I’ve used recently is a 6 goal game where each team has 3 goals they can score on. This provides an incentive for players to move the ball horizontally, but truthfully very rarely does that happen automatically.
In the first exercise (which I didn’t specifically dictate but could be a rondo or positional play game) players received repetitions providing width, and in this following exercise players now need to recognize when to go wide and how to actually move the ball into wide areas. This is situational recognition which is the most important piece of the puzzle.
Once again, I find it very helpful to be incredibly specific about situational cues they can use to determine their decisions. It may be a simple line of questioning that goes like this:
“Mika, on that last play, you made an excellent choice to pass out wide. Why did you do that?”
“Well everyone in front of me was guarded.”
“Ah, okay. There were no forward passing options for you. That’s a good moment to look out for. So Oliver, when’s a good moment to pass wide?”
“Mm.. when you can’t pass the ball forward because there’s too many defenders.”
“Excellent! Who can give me another situation of when to pass the ball wide?”
So now there’s at least one specific moment you can use as a CfU to remind players what to focus on before exercises, or ideally before their next game. Hopefully that last open-ended question will lead to another situation players should be aware of. Now they should have at least two different answers they can give next time you ask “When should you pass out wide?” and this is how knowledge is grown.
Altered Scrimmage
Now either after playing the 6 Goal Game — or instead of it — I like to use modified scrimmages to create a more game-like environment. Players can still score normally or they can get points for moving the ball into wide areas. Of course there’s tons of variations on this: they can get a point for going into a wide zone, or get a point once they move the ball from wide zone to wide zone, or they can be forced to go into a wide zone before they can score, or every time they go into a wide zone adds +1 to their goal if they score. It just depends what you want and what they need.
What’s nice about this is that it’s very easy to transition into a normal scrimmage after this exercise, and players will already have an idea about what switching the ball looks like in this playing space.
I think it’s best to treat scrimmages like a real game. So score is kept, kickoffs are from the center, offsides is called, fouls and cards can be given, everything. Make sure each team has a formation that suits their players and is set up in a way that reinforces the concepts taught at practice.
Wrapping Up
I’ll just recap the highlights here. First, introduce the concept with a strict definition and use the first exercise to give players lots of repetitions and develop the basic building blocks for it. Next, increase the complexity/chaos that forces players to create order out of it and direct their attention into what guides their decision making. Give them specific cues to look out for and then put them into a game-like environment to apply it. Treat the game environment as competitively as players can handle it. Use lots of closed/convergent questions to grab player attention and reinforce concepts, and open-ended/divergent questions to help players identify situational knowledge and guide their problem-solving on the field.
That’s it. Good luck coach!