Goalkeeper Skills and Actions Overview

Good evening, welcome to the webinar tonight. We are looking at the goalkeeper in possession, actions and skills. With us all tonight we've got Adrian Tucker who sat next to me who's a national goalkeeping coach in the coach education lead, Matt Doyle who's currently at SGP who's also a national goalkeeping coach in the YDP lead and myself Anthony White national goalkeeping coach PDP lead. Really it's not a case of covering everything for this evening but if we were looking at different types of the aspects in the technical sort of phase we'll be looking out aspects such as the effective actions of the goalkeeper and then also from their distribution elements and the type of distribution they might use as a goalkeeper whether that be from the foot or from the handling in obvious situations here. In other areas the tactical elements or how they manage the game, can they slow the game down, can they make the game quicker at the relevant times but also then exploit the opportunity of space when in possession so you Picking really the right choices and I'm sure you can think about a number of different scenarios through your past where you've seen the goalkeeper in possession of the ball and how well or how poor they might have not exploited space when in possession. So from a tactical element, we'll be looking at that. Then from the psychological elements, you know, the nerve strength and the self-awareness. So again, as a goalkeeper, when they have the ball, you see a lot of goalkeepers now that are... are fully focused on their in-possession aspects and that takes a lot of nerve strength and a lot of character in dealing with the ball at their feet as well. Being robust, consistently handling the physical demands of the international football and club football obviously. So again, in possession, when we talk about our international goalkeepers, we put a lot of emphasis on keeping the ball and moving the ball in a variety of ways. So, you know, that's a demand in itself. And obviously they need to be robust and, you know, physically demanding elements of play there. And finally, then that connection to the team. So from a social element, being in possession, you know, their distances, their support play and so on is vitally important. And that will help them to establish a good relationship with the team. You know, we can all think of a number of good goalkeepers that are really... really good in possession and no doubt that'll offer a lot of confidence to the players in front of them. If we take position as an example to begin with, try and think about it as your goalkeeper that you might have at your club or your individual goalkeeping scenario that you've got. They might support near to the ball, they might be central, they might be opposite high or deep. Now you'll see a little bit later on Doyler's going to go through all of that in really good detail. Now the second part might be the action. Now the action in this case might be the physical action that they're going to deliver. So if you look at a throw it might be underarm, overarm, javelin. The pass might be driven, lofted, it may be even an instep and then from your kicks from hands it might be your volley, your side volley or what's been common in the game throughout many years has been the half volley. And then overriding throughout all of this and what should occur at all times will be the communication which you've seen in the chat box quite often. quite a lot which is your visual or spoken so suppose when we're going through this now you know within this webinar it's really important to try and just get your focus around particularly position and action what's the position that the goalkeeper is taking up why would they be taking that position and then what's the action that they may produce off the back of it and underneath what might be the communication that the outfield player might need to hear or might need to see and what might the goalkeeper feel comfortable with saying or delivering the idea behind this is just to zoom in on a few certain areas of our dna that we we use here um so here you can see the support part which which you've seen flash up in the video which is which is a great video um so i'll let you read that there so i think it's important that when you're designing your sessions that you really understand what you want from your goalkeepers first and foremost because that should be the starting point so if we just nudge it on and we'll play this video one more time just to refresh your memory on support We reference in the slides that I'm presenting with you there, certain parts that we look for is different ways we can support as the goalkeeper. And as you can see there through that text, we're looking at providing the optimum position for the specific in possession phase of the game. So it's really important. I'll make an obvious point here that the goalkeepers recognise how and when they may need to support. Naturally, some considerations with all of them things that I've just discussed there. You've got to consider when the turnover possession happens, what might happen then. So certainly on the transition of it all, that's one thing we've got to consider. Another area that will certainly tie into this is pressing distances. So as some will know, if we're closer to the ball, we're potentially at risk of getting pressed quicker, but that might entice the opposition and shorten the passes up. So it's a bit of a pro and a con type of scenario there. So just moving on to playing around. As you can see there, we're talking now about circulating the ball in preparation to penetrate the opposition. So again, I'm going to move you on to the video again just to refresh your memory. So I think it's important that playing around is simply circulating the ball in maybe all areas of the pitch if required. So some examples we might show you, it might be the goalkeeper supporting on the opposite side and he's got to find the really high full-back, you know, because that's what the opposition structure is like and that's the best way to get the ball, you know, to your teammate. Some more scenarios this could be and as you can see in some of the clips that will flash up and that you've seen now, this could be simply playing into your pivot, your six, whatever number you might reference that midfielder as. and simply bouncing out to the fullback. Likewise, in particular, that Ramsdale clip that you just saw, the goalkeeper may be required at times to miss a few lines and go right into the nine, for example. So these are the things that would be great if the goalkeepers can start exploring with this. There will be some failure along the way, I'm sure, but ultimately if we want them to reach this high level, as we've just seen in the clips, they certainly need ample opportunities to... to try. What does the opposition structure look like? For example, you might be playing against a team where they're being coached specifically to close off the middle. So it might simply just not be on. Or it might be going back to the around phase of the game. The goalkeepers might be required with their outfield players to circulate the ball enough eventually to wear the opposition down to hopefully find them gaps to eventually play through. That might be the phase of the game that they need to be good at. I think what's really important here is that third point. If you can imagine if you're in opposition and you're in a mid-block or whatever type of block and you're watching the goalkeeper, they may have to stay on the ball a little bit to entice, they may have to step in a little bit to entice, they may have to have loads of disguise and lots of control and craft about their game. So again, when we talk about bringing it to life, are we giving our goalkeepers and our speakers as a whole, are we giving our goalkeepers opportunities to... to work on their craft, which I think is really important. Music What does playing into look like? That can be in the clips that you've seen there, Hannah Hampton playing it from one side of her box all the way to the opposite side of the pitch. It could be a winger coming down into the pitch. This example here is simply playing over an opposition line, over their players and into your fullback, for example. Likewise, again, depending on the state of the game, it could be simply that you might be getting high pressed. There may be gaps that appear. And playing into might be straight into the highest line, whether that be a winger or the number nine. So just going on to the on to, and again, I'm just thinking with them younger goalkeepers now trying to play that ball, you know, 30 or 40 yards will become a little bit more difficult. But, you know, this is what we're looking to do is really play on to a player where they can try to give themselves the best opportunity to win the ball or maintain possession of the ball. It might be playing up to the higher part of the body with a bit of chest control or to the head where they can flick on and maintain possession for a second phase or a second sort of... Different options, so you can play that longer pass as shown out in maybe out to the winger. And then this one, little example, could be playing into the 10, playing into the 9 to play forward from there as well. Again, assessing the situation in front of you. So if you're being closed down or got opposition being closed on from different sides, it might be one attack, it might be two attackers. You know, the choices may change based on what's presented in front of them. Playing behind the defensive unit. of the opposition trying to play, you know, as far up. Again, this could be any part of the pitch. If you think about where the goalkeeper's playing from, it could be coming from a goal kick. If people can clear from there, it could be out of the hands, as Anne says, maybe from a volley or side volley, that type of thing. Or it could be someone, you know, just receiving the ball, you know, five or six yards outside the area and then looking to penetrate, as I said, beyond the opposition. Again, hopefully that explains what you may have seen on social media, on the internet, which we look at. Certainly things that we go through on current coach education at the UEFA B licence and the A licence. And we're always referring to these sort of elements. The pitch set-up there with the sort of 4v4 in the middle and the goalkeepers on the outside. So they're just on the sides there, as I say. And we talk about on the sides, on the longer area, so you can see the distance from... From top to bottom, as we look at it, it's a longer area compared to, if we look here, when they go on the ends. So if we're looking at it there, they're on the shorter area. If you want to make them pass more so, as Doyle was talking about, around and maybe through, it's probably best that you have them on these type of areas. So the shorter passes are going to go around and the shorter pass from goalkeeper to goalkeeper is probably playing that pass from the goalkeeper to the... to the number six in the sort of centre and midfield area. Whereas if they're on the end side, you can see now they'll have more opportunity to play them longer type of passes. So this might be that in two or on two type of pass, dependent on obviously the age group and dependent on the individuals that you're working with. So have a little think about, you know, when they are integrated, where you're going to integrate them and the main reason why. Integrate them within the game. Small side of games, again, we've only got sort of a 4v4 there, but these can be any numbers. Someone mentioned about 7v7s, 9v9s. Again, think about them elements. So obviously small numbers gives them more opportunities and more contact actions on the pitch. Again, always referring position, action, communication. If anything you take home from this evening is position, action, and communication, you know, it will be a massive... I think it will be a massive benefit. Certainly sometimes I use all the time and I know Ante's as well in relation to utilising. these words and trigger words in our minds all the time so the pros and i've seen that you know regards to 360 awareness skills have to play quickly because there's more bodies around ball manipulation skills and support positions as well so always on the move always moving so like a player themselves but obviously with that with the gloves on in the middle there obviously you've got no reference area like the goal mouth as we as we would generally utilize uh and obviously that full support position so realistically would they support that so really opposite to to what them pros are so again trade offs in in what you do whether you use them on the inside whether you use them on the outside there are some benefits but also at the same time there are some cons towards that as well but you know your choice is to pick up but again we utilize this and can utilize that throughout the throughout the pathway so the pros will be there's loads of social interaction here so you're connected to the team that's a big part that we keep going after There's reference points that can be added, like we've spoken around. It might be a six and an 18-yard box. If you haven't got a six and an 18-yard box, what might you include? It might just be a six-yard box. And the 18-yard box might be part of the practice, so the goalkeeper might be overlapping into the practice. Low defender goal focus. So unless adding a goal, what's the risk and reward? So if the goalkeeper has possession of the ball and he plays a through pass or a round pass and he gets intercepted, what is the outcome? You know, what is the... The risk that the goalkeeper has to pertain with any game, any skill that the goalkeeper is developing, there always has to be a risk to something. It can't always just be a reward with nothing else on the end of it. And like we just said before, stretch and support opportunities. So you can see here, the other ideas might be defend the goal concepts added in. So simply, if the goalkeeper plays through and it's intercepted by the blue, is there an opportunity there just to go and score? If the goalkeeper then retains possession off the back of that, fantastic. It's a normal game. So really, taking a small-sided game that might look end-to-end on a rectangle, looking at the smaller ends, you're now just twisting the game on its side and the outcomes for the goalkeeper might be slightly different. Definitely get into the habit of thinking a little bit more around it's not just always with your feet, it can also be with your hands. Yeah, brilliant. There's been loads of good answers. Yeah, touch limits is a common theme. changing the pitch slightly, weaker foot, starting with a pass to the opposite goalkeeper because you might be working on something specific, which is great. So yeah, just to give you some that we jotted down really. So, you know, a lot of the time in these practices, the goalkeepers can't get pressed. So if your goalkeepers are, you know, at that stage where you feel like they're ready, it could be as simple as the goalkeepers can get pressed. We've all done it with and without, just a simple idea. And obviously the consequence is that they can now lose the ball and the players can score in the goal. So there's that consequence element for the goalkeeper, which is important. The time limit, restricted touches, as we've said, and tweaking with the area size, which has been good because a lot of that's been coming through, which is great. In terms of support, there's no press on them. So again, you could have a goalkeeper that just needs success. They just need success. So no press, no time restrictions, just be really comfortable, as many touches as you want within reason, which might help that individual. Extra touches, as I've just said there. So when we talk about depth of support, you know, how often do you see a really small, thin area that the goalkeeper's got to work left and right? When do we give them an opportunity to work on, you know, knowing when to drop off, for example? So again, how you build that. in your own setting is important because it doesn't want to just be specifically for the goalkeeper to the detriment of the actual practice but you might offer a bit more depth the last slide on this here from from myself would be would be as you can see so when we're talking about in the game you know there's some time in the place just let them play 100 but you may have you know opportunities to still affect them in certain ways in the game so how might you stretch them The question I'd pose is, you know, what are you going after? It could be a real competitive psych-social one that you can't let in as many goals as that goalkeeper up there and then you might get some more competitive and be able to zoom in on some mentality stuff, for example. Hopefully it's just got you thinking about different ways you can cleverly, I suppose, plan different types of practices. And again, you hear it a lot. The collaborative approach to this is massive, I think. So just the last couple of minutes, really, we're just going to show you some goalkeeping practice examples, small numbers, and then what it might look like in a bigger space. Try and look at it as a developing craft. So rather than calling it technique, they're really looking at their craft and how they build it. You've got multitude different options there of whether you're looking at, you know. be a coach on the outside it might be an individual and this might be where you're not integrating with the with the team and it's just you you guys you coaches in isolation working with your three four five goalkeepers there might just be simple passes that are looking around through receiving options um etc so it's movement of outside players will vary to support and promote support play really and the variations of passing sequences are entirely up to you it's as simple as that you The next one is looking at developing skills. So again, we try and look at this as a like a rondo really, you've got four players on the outside of a square, two players in the middle. It's a support square so they can go and support wherever they want, either on the outside or on the inside. Again, six goalkeepers working there, you're trying to take what you've worked on on your craft and bring it into a skill with opposed practices. You might change it then to a rectangle that might look slightly different. On one side, you've got supporting quite narrow. Wide, you've got supporting quite wide. And these don't have to be just goalkeepers, Ant. Like you say, if you've only got two goalkeepers at your club and you can borrow three or four other players to help you within your practice, everybody's benefiting from it, as well as the goalkeepers as well. So have a look at it from the numbers of the 4v2, but it all depends in your own environment what you've got as numbers. If you've got six goalkeepers, great. If you've only got one, you know. Borrow five goalkeepers and, oh, five all three players, sorry, and still put the same practice on. At grassroots level, you might take a family member. So brilliant if you've got four parents there. Brilliant, how can you make the practice better? We've definitely done it at the levels we've worked at, where we've included the doc or the analyst or the PPC, and they've come over and supported the session. Because they better knew that was a hurt. And again, knowing your players, what's right for your players in your setting and how you can bring these to life. because we can all throw down a couple of goals and set something up like this. So this is just to give you an example of something that I've done. You could zoom in specifically. Well, let me start by the aim. Ultimately, it's you receiving a pass from one side and you're playing out the other side. So this is you're playing around scenarios. So how you bring it to life is up to you. Some adaptions you might have. You might change the width of the smaller goals. So if we're talking on the defending the goal actions, I'm not sure if anyone joined. Was it Yilmaz and yourself, Ant, on the Defending the Goal webinar a few months back, where they specifically spoke about different zones and types of dives? You know, you might keep them close to focus on the zone one type dives, so the sweep or even the foot saves, for example, zone ones and two, or you might widen them to look at zone threes. And again, you might play around with the distances and the width of everything to get out. So... Although we're focusing on playing around, the point I'm trying to make is the out-of-possession stimulus in the session, I'd like to think is making the in-possession task a little bit more tougher. So therefore, are we developing more skill, more craft, rather than just playing into an empty goal?

In other areas the tactical elements or how they manage the game, can they slow the game down, can they make the game quicker at the relevant times but also then exploit the opportunity of space when in possession so you Picking really the right choices and I'm sure you can think about a number of different scenarios through your past where you've seen the goalkeeper in possession of the ball and how well or how poor they might have not exploited space when in possession. So from a tactical element, we'll be looking at that. Then from the psychological elements, you know, the nerve strength and the self-awareness. So again, as a goalkeeper, when they have the ball, you see a lot of goalkeepers now that are...

are fully focused on their in-possession aspects and that takes a lot of nerve strength and a lot of character in dealing with the ball at their feet as well. Being robust, consistently handling the physical demands of the international football and club football obviously. So again, in possession, when we talk about our international goalkeepers, we put a lot of emphasis on keeping the ball and moving the ball in a variety of ways. So, you know, that's a demand in itself.

And obviously they need to be robust and, you know, physically demanding elements of play there. And finally, then that connection to the team. So from a social element, being in possession, you know, their distances, their support play and so on is vitally important. And that will help them to establish a good relationship with the team. You know, we can all think of a number of good goalkeepers that are really...

really good in possession and no doubt that'll offer a lot of confidence to the players in front of them. If we take position as an example to begin with, try and think about it as your goalkeeper that you might have at your club or your individual goalkeeping scenario that you've got. They might support near to the ball, they might be central, they might be opposite high or deep. Now you'll see a little bit later on Doyler's going to go through all of that in really good detail.

Now the second part might be the action. Now the action in this case might be the physical action that they're going to deliver. So if you look at a throw it might be underarm, overarm, javelin.

The pass might be driven, lofted, it may be even an instep and then from your kicks from hands it might be your volley, your side volley or what's been common in the game throughout many years has been the half volley. And then overriding throughout all of this and what should occur at all times will be the communication which you've seen in the chat box quite often. quite a lot which is your visual or spoken so suppose when we're going through this now you know within this webinar it's really important to try and just get your focus around particularly position and action what's the position that the goalkeeper is taking up why would they be taking that position and then what's the action that they may produce off the back of it and underneath what might be the communication that the outfield player might need to hear or might need to see and what might the goalkeeper feel comfortable with saying or delivering the idea behind this is just to zoom in on a few certain areas of our dna that we we use here um so here you can see the support part which which you've seen flash up in the video which is which is a great video um so i'll let you read that there so i think it's important that when you're designing your sessions that you really understand what you want from your goalkeepers first and foremost because that should be the starting point so if we just nudge it on and we'll play this video one more time just to refresh your memory on support We reference in the slides that I'm presenting with you there, certain parts that we look for is different ways we can support as the goalkeeper. And as you can see there through that text, we're looking at providing the optimum position for the specific in possession phase of the game.

So it's really important. I'll make an obvious point here that the goalkeepers recognise how and when they may need to support. Naturally, some considerations with all of them things that I've just discussed there. You've got to consider when the turnover possession happens, what might happen then.

So certainly on the transition of it all, that's one thing we've got to consider. Another area that will certainly tie into this is pressing distances. So as some will know, if we're closer to the ball, we're potentially at risk of getting pressed quicker, but that might entice the opposition and shorten the passes up. So it's a bit of a pro and a con type of scenario there.

So just moving on to playing around. As you can see there, we're talking now about circulating the ball in preparation to penetrate the opposition. So again, I'm going to move you on to the video again just to refresh your memory. So I think it's important that playing around is simply circulating the ball in maybe all areas of the pitch if required.

So some examples we might show you, it might be the goalkeeper supporting on the opposite side and he's got to find the really high full-back, you know, because that's what the opposition structure is like and that's the best way to get the ball, you know, to your teammate. Some more scenarios this could be and as you can see in some of the clips that will flash up and that you've seen now, this could be simply playing into your pivot, your six, whatever number you might reference that midfielder as. and simply bouncing out to the fullback.

Likewise, in particular, that Ramsdale clip that you just saw, the goalkeeper may be required at times to miss a few lines and go right into the nine, for example. So these are the things that would be great if the goalkeepers can start exploring with this. There will be some failure along the way, I'm sure, but ultimately if we want them to reach this high level, as we've just seen in the clips, they certainly need ample opportunities to... to try.

What does the opposition structure look like? For example, you might be playing against a team where they're being coached specifically to close off the middle. So it might simply just not be on.

Or it might be going back to the around phase of the game. The goalkeepers might be required with their outfield players to circulate the ball enough eventually to wear the opposition down to hopefully find them gaps to eventually play through. That might be the phase of the game that they need to be good at. I think what's really important here is that third point.

If you can imagine if you're in opposition and you're in a mid-block or whatever type of block and you're watching the goalkeeper, they may have to stay on the ball a little bit to entice, they may have to step in a little bit to entice, they may have to have loads of disguise and lots of control and craft about their game. So again, when we talk about bringing it to life, are we giving our goalkeepers and our speakers as a whole, are we giving our goalkeepers opportunities to... to work on their craft, which I think is really important. Music What does playing into look like? That can be in the clips that you've seen there, Hannah Hampton playing it from one side of her box all the way to the opposite side of the pitch.

It could be a winger coming down into the pitch. This example here is simply playing over an opposition line, over their players and into your fullback, for example. Likewise, again, depending on the state of the game, it could be simply that you might be getting high pressed. There may be gaps that appear. And playing into might be straight into the highest line, whether that be a winger or the number nine.

So just going on to the on to, and again, I'm just thinking with them younger goalkeepers now trying to play that ball, you know, 30 or 40 yards will become a little bit more difficult. But, you know, this is what we're looking to do is really play on to a player where they can try to give themselves the best opportunity to win the ball or maintain possession of the ball. It might be playing up to the higher part of the body with a bit of chest control or to the head where they can flick on and maintain possession for a second phase or a second sort of... Different options, so you can play that longer pass as shown out in maybe out to the winger. And then this one, little example, could be playing into the 10, playing into the 9 to play forward from there as well.

Again, assessing the situation in front of you. So if you're being closed down or got opposition being closed on from different sides, it might be one attack, it might be two attackers. You know, the choices may change based on what's presented in front of them. Playing behind the defensive unit.

of the opposition trying to play, you know, as far up. Again, this could be any part of the pitch. If you think about where the goalkeeper's playing from, it could be coming from a goal kick. If people can clear from there, it could be out of the hands, as Anne says, maybe from a volley or side volley, that type of thing. Or it could be someone, you know, just receiving the ball, you know, five or six yards outside the area and then looking to penetrate, as I said, beyond the opposition.

Again, hopefully that explains what you may have seen on social media, on the internet, which we look at. Certainly things that we go through on current coach education at the UEFA B licence and the A licence. And we're always referring to these sort of elements.

The pitch set-up there with the sort of 4v4 in the middle and the goalkeepers on the outside. So they're just on the sides there, as I say. And we talk about on the sides, on the longer area, so you can see the distance from... From top to bottom, as we look at it, it's a longer area compared to, if we look here, when they go on the ends.

So if we're looking at it there, they're on the shorter area. If you want to make them pass more so, as Doyle was talking about, around and maybe through, it's probably best that you have them on these type of areas. So the shorter passes are going to go around and the shorter pass from goalkeeper to goalkeeper is probably playing that pass from the goalkeeper to the... to the number six in the sort of centre and midfield area.

Whereas if they're on the end side, you can see now they'll have more opportunity to play them longer type of passes. So this might be that in two or on two type of pass, dependent on obviously the age group and dependent on the individuals that you're working with. So have a little think about, you know, when they are integrated, where you're going to integrate them and the main reason why.

Integrate them within the game. Small side of games, again, we've only got sort of a 4v4 there, but these can be any numbers. Someone mentioned about 7v7s, 9v9s.

Again, think about them elements. So obviously small numbers gives them more opportunities and more contact actions on the pitch. Again, always referring position, action, communication.

If anything you take home from this evening is position, action, and communication, you know, it will be a massive... I think it will be a massive benefit. Certainly sometimes I use all the time and I know Ante's as well in relation to utilising. these words and trigger words in our minds all the time so the pros and i've seen that you know regards to 360 awareness skills have to play quickly because there's more bodies around ball manipulation skills and support positions as well so always on the move always moving so like a player themselves but obviously with that with the gloves on in the middle there obviously you've got no reference area like the goal mouth as we as we would generally utilize uh and obviously that full support position so realistically would they support that so really opposite to to what them pros are so again trade offs in in what you do whether you use them on the inside whether you use them on the outside there are some benefits but also at the same time there are some cons towards that as well but you know your choice is to pick up but again we utilize this and can utilize that throughout the throughout the pathway so the pros will be there's loads of social interaction here so you're connected to the team that's a big part that we keep going after There's reference points that can be added, like we've spoken around.

It might be a six and an 18-yard box. If you haven't got a six and an 18-yard box, what might you include? It might just be a six-yard box. And the 18-yard box might be part of the practice, so the goalkeeper might be overlapping into the practice.

Low defender goal focus. So unless adding a goal, what's the risk and reward? So if the goalkeeper has possession of the ball and he plays a through pass or a round pass and he gets intercepted, what is the outcome?

You know, what is the... The risk that the goalkeeper has to pertain with any game, any skill that the goalkeeper is developing, there always has to be a risk to something. It can't always just be a reward with nothing else on the end of it.

And like we just said before, stretch and support opportunities. So you can see here, the other ideas might be defend the goal concepts added in. So simply, if the goalkeeper plays through and it's intercepted by the blue, is there an opportunity there just to go and score? If the goalkeeper then retains possession off the back of that, fantastic.

It's a normal game. So really, taking a small-sided game that might look end-to-end on a rectangle, looking at the smaller ends, you're now just twisting the game on its side and the outcomes for the goalkeeper might be slightly different. Definitely get into the habit of thinking a little bit more around it's not just always with your feet, it can also be with your hands. Yeah, brilliant.

There's been loads of good answers. Yeah, touch limits is a common theme. changing the pitch slightly, weaker foot, starting with a pass to the opposite goalkeeper because you might be working on something specific, which is great. So yeah, just to give you some that we jotted down really. So, you know, a lot of the time in these practices, the goalkeepers can't get pressed.

So if your goalkeepers are, you know, at that stage where you feel like they're ready, it could be as simple as the goalkeepers can get pressed. We've all done it with and without, just a simple idea. And obviously the consequence is that they can now lose the ball and the players can score in the goal.

So there's that consequence element for the goalkeeper, which is important. The time limit, restricted touches, as we've said, and tweaking with the area size, which has been good because a lot of that's been coming through, which is great. In terms of support, there's no press on them.

So again, you could have a goalkeeper that just needs success. They just need success. So no press, no time restrictions, just be really comfortable, as many touches as you want within reason, which might help that individual. Extra touches, as I've just said there. So when we talk about depth of support, you know, how often do you see a really small, thin area that the goalkeeper's got to work left and right?

When do we give them an opportunity to work on, you know, knowing when to drop off, for example? So again, how you build that. in your own setting is important because it doesn't want to just be specifically for the goalkeeper to the detriment of the actual practice but you might offer a bit more depth the last slide on this here from from myself would be would be as you can see so when we're talking about in the game you know there's some time in the place just let them play 100 but you may have you know opportunities to still affect them in certain ways in the game so how might you stretch them The question I'd pose is, you know, what are you going after? It could be a real competitive psych-social one that you can't let in as many goals as that goalkeeper up there and then you might get some more competitive and be able to zoom in on some mentality stuff, for example. Hopefully it's just got you thinking about different ways you can cleverly, I suppose, plan different types of practices.

And again, you hear it a lot. The collaborative approach to this is massive, I think. So just the last couple of minutes, really, we're just going to show you some goalkeeping practice examples, small numbers, and then what it might look like in a bigger space. Try and look at it as a developing craft. So rather than calling it technique, they're really looking at their craft and how they build it.

You've got multitude different options there of whether you're looking at, you know. be a coach on the outside it might be an individual and this might be where you're not integrating with the with the team and it's just you you guys you coaches in isolation working with your three four five goalkeepers there might just be simple passes that are looking around through receiving options um etc so it's movement of outside players will vary to support and promote support play really and the variations of passing sequences are entirely up to you it's as simple as that you The next one is looking at developing skills. So again, we try and look at this as a like a rondo really, you've got four players on the outside of a square, two players in the middle. It's a support square so they can go and support wherever they want, either on the outside or on the inside. Again, six goalkeepers working there, you're trying to take what you've worked on on your craft and bring it into a skill with opposed practices.

You might change it then to a rectangle that might look slightly different. On one side, you've got supporting quite narrow. Wide, you've got supporting quite wide.

And these don't have to be just goalkeepers, Ant. Like you say, if you've only got two goalkeepers at your club and you can borrow three or four other players to help you within your practice, everybody's benefiting from it, as well as the goalkeepers as well. So have a look at it from the numbers of the 4v2, but it all depends in your own environment what you've got as numbers.

If you've got six goalkeepers, great. If you've only got one, you know. Borrow five goalkeepers and, oh, five all three players, sorry, and still put the same practice on.

At grassroots level, you might take a family member. So brilliant if you've got four parents there. Brilliant, how can you make the practice better? We've definitely done it at the levels we've worked at, where we've included the doc or the analyst or the PPC, and they've come over and supported the session. Because they better knew that was a hurt.

And again, knowing your players, what's right for your players in your setting and how you can bring these to life. because we can all throw down a couple of goals and set something up like this. So this is just to give you an example of something that I've done. You could zoom in specifically.

Well, let me start by the aim. Ultimately, it's you receiving a pass from one side and you're playing out the other side. So this is you're playing around scenarios.

So how you bring it to life is up to you. Some adaptions you might have. You might change the width of the smaller goals. So if we're talking on the defending the goal actions, I'm not sure if anyone joined.

Was it Yilmaz and yourself, Ant, on the Defending the Goal webinar a few months back, where they specifically spoke about different zones and types of dives? You know, you might keep them close to focus on the zone one type dives, so the sweep or even the foot saves, for example, zone ones and two, or you might widen them to look at zone threes. And again, you might play around with the distances and the width of everything to get out. So... Although we're focusing on playing around, the point I'm trying to make is the out-of-possession stimulus in the session, I'd like to think is making the in-possession task a little bit more tougher.

So therefore, are we developing more skill, more craft, rather than just playing into an empty goal?

Transcript for:Goalkeeper Skills and Actions Overview

Transcript for:
Goalkeeper Skills and Actions Overview