Another week, and another futsal session at Manor Futsal Club.  We had pretty much a full house, and this week we concentrated on recovery and how this helps your team.

We split the players into 4 teams and played a match until one team scored.  It was normal futsal rules with one exception, if a player on your side did not attempt to recover back, the opposition were awarded a penalty!  The winning team stayed on, so there was an incentive to work hard.  At first all the players worked hard, but after a short while and due to the nature of futsal, players started to stand still and not recover!  That said, in these first matches there was some excellent futsal being played.

Click here to see some images from tonight’s session

We then had a break, quick chat about why recovery was so important for your team, and progressed onto a simple recovery drill.  It was a 2v2 on half a court, with the attackers starting on one side of the halfway line, and the defenders on the other.  On the whistle, each one of the attackers and defenders had to run across the court and round a bench, before they could join the game.  The attackers couldn’t score until they had completed 3 passes.  Again, highlighted the recovery for the defenders and the pace of the attack for the attackers.

Click here to download a copy of this week’s session plan

We finished with more match play, but this time we played 4v4 on the court, with the other player standing next to their goal.  On the command of change, the highest player up the court had to sprint back and tag their team-mate before they could enter the court.  Any cheating, gave away another penalty for the opposition.

The first clip below shows a great recovery run from Reece, and he eventually wins the ball, great defending!  The second clip shows some great passing between Leon and Jacob, finishing with a far post finish, classic futsal!

After last week, all the coaches were very impressed by the attitude and effort of all the players.  For pretty much the whole night they worked tirelessly and never gave up.  Some of the recovery runs were of the highest quality, with some near full court sprints to help out the team, fantastic to watch.

Girls’ player of the week – Ellen – She had to win the player of the week, especially after scoring her first goal, from the penalty spot, and then jumping in the air to celebrate – brilliant to watch and well done, Ellen!

Boys’ player of the week – James H – He is a very good football player, who took his time to adapt to futsal, but last night had his best week.  He has good technique and good understanding of the game, and last night it seemed to all come together, well done James H!