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José Mourinho's Counter-pressing Upon Losing Possession in 4v4 (+4)

Exercise used by José Mourinho at Real Madrid, it will allow you to work on counter-pressing in an 8v4 situation with 4 support players. Be sure to close down spaces immediately after losing possession!

Mark out a 30x30m area and then place 2 large goals on each width. Then form a team of 4 players and a team of 8 players. The team of 4 positions itself in the area, and the team of 8 places 4 players in the area and 2 players on each length of the field.

The exercise starts with a 4vs4 within the area with 4 players as support. The objective for the team with a numerical advantage is to complete a series of 8 consecutive passes before being able to score. The objective of the defending team is to recover the ball and score without a pass limit.

Upon losing the ball, the players on the sides must quickly close the spaces and press the ball carrier. The idea is to perform a counter-pressing and recover the ball within 6 to 8 seconds after losing it.

The rules of the exercise are as follows:

The players with a numerical advantage are limited to 2 touches of the ball. The opposing players (the team of 4) have no touch limit.
The team of 8 scores a point for each series of 8 consecutive passes.
The team of 4 scores 1 point if they recover the ball and score on the large goal. If the opposing team recovers the ball within 6 seconds after losing it, they score 1 point.

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What constitutes the Senior category in soccer?

The Senior category includes all players over the age of 20. It encompasses players with a wide range of personal and athletic differences. As a senior coach, you must take this into account when preparing your senior training sessions. The Senior category marks a turning point in each player's soccer career. At this level, soccer is played with the utmost seriousness, commitment, and ambition, whether at the District level, regional competitions, or even at professional levels.

For Senior players, soccer is often a passion that requires great discipline, optimal physical condition, and an advanced tactical understanding of the game. Each training session and match thus becomes crucial and far more important than in previous categories.

Here are the objectives and some tips on the best ways to train a senior team.

The objectives of the Senior category

For the Senior category, the objectives go well beyond the simple enjoyment of the game and the passion for soccer. Physical, tactical, and technical conditions are a major focus in the development of each player, as well as other crucial elements of the sport such as positioning, strategies for set pieces, formation, the type of play executed, management of individualities, locker room relationships, etc.

Coaching a Senior team involves much more responsibility as a coach and requires constant focus and structure to optimize the development of each player as well as sporting results and to reach high-level competitions.

Some tips for coaching a Senior team

Here are some essential tips for successfully coaching a Senior team:

Personalization of training: Take into account the strengths, weaknesses, and individual goals of the players to customize each training session. This can include specific physical conditioning programs, technical workshops, or targeted tactical sessions.
Balancing intensity and variety: Sessions should be both intense and varied to maintain player engagement and simulate upcoming or past match conditions, especially after defeats!
Focus on tactics: Senior players must understand and execute complex game plans set by the coach. Use video analysis, classroom sessions, and on-field exercises to teach and refine the game strategies you desire.
Management of physical condition and recovery: Prevent injuries and ensure the athletic longevity of players by emphasizing good physical preparation, learning recovery practices after matches and training, muscle care, nutrition…
Strengthening team cohesion and mental health: Organize team-building activities and provide psychological support to each player to strengthen team spirit and help players manage pressure, especially if you reach high-level competitions.

What training exercises for a Senior team?

To succeed in your senior training session, we advise you to focus on 2 aspects: the phases of play and the pace of your sessions. There are many senior exercises available that highlight these 2 aspects, so it will be up to you to carefully select your specific senior exercises to add more dynamism to your training session.

Here is a series of exercises for a Senior team, inspired by modern soccer training practices:

Advanced technical workshops: Organize sessions focused on perfecting individual technical skills, such as ball control under pressure, long-distance passing accuracy, shooting on goal, or other set pieces...
Interactive tactical training: Set up games and simulations that encourage players to apply specific strategies and tactics, promoting quick thinking and decision-making under pressure.
Targeted physical sessions: Include specific training to improve endurance, speed, agility, and strength of each player, according to the time of year and upcoming sporting events.
Training matches and analysis: Regularly organize training matches to evaluate your Senior team's performance in real game conditions. Use post-match video analysis to discuss improvements and adjust strategies.
Dynamic warm-ups: One-touch play combinations with support, inspired by a Liverpool training session. The objective? Improve communication and quick play.
Possession and transition play: Possession exercise with attacking and defensive transitions, known and used notably by Pep Guardiola. This exercise emphasizes developing the ability to quickly switch phases of play (attack to defense…)
Physical conditioning: Aerobic endurance circuit, adapted for physical preparation at the start of the season.