Two-on-One

Book Summary

An attacker’s options of either dribbling or including a teammate via passing confront the defender with a virtually unsolvable either-or decision. But the attacker has to make a strong decision as well. How do we train these decisions? What does the game demand? If you want to improve the in-game behavior, you have to create situations in training that mimic gameplay! Thus, the authors don’t think in terms of exercises, but in terms of in-game situations.

To do this, they first compare and contrast the interests of attackers and defenders and answer a crucial question: How can the superiority that exists in the defensive lines in 11-a-side thanks to the goalkeeper be transferred to the next level towards the opponent’s goal, how can new 2-vs-1 situations be created again and again and also successfully completed within narrow corridors until a shot at goal? Depending on the position of the attacker without the ball in relation to the defender – frontal, lateral, behind, in front – basic 2-vs-1 situations can be constantly filtered out here, with Peters and Schumacher presenting the first preparatory training drills for each situation. In addition to the methodological tools so important for the control of the exercises, such as field size, starting positions, opponent behavior, etc., you will receive many helpful coaching and correction tips.
This is followed by the presentation of offensive principles and an offensive game strategy. From opening the game up to having an effort at goal with a total of nine game elements, including playing against pressing, through the center, via the wings, and even in set-piece situations. The authors show concrete examples of how suitable training drills can be derived from a game scenario through a planning filter, and how their ‘training ladder’ facilitates the methodical structure from an exercise on technique to a complex game form.
In the last chapter, Bernhard Peters and Andreas Schumacher use the lessons from 2-vs-1 and adapt them for the intuitive play of children’s soccer in 3-vs-3, 5-vs-5, and 7-vs-7.

The book is suitable for coaches of all levels and ages thanks to its detailed, easy-to-understand descriptions and numerous mnemonic boxes with key messages. A special bonus is that it is accompanied by QR-coded animations of selected training and game scenarios.

The Authors

Bernhard Peters worked for the German Hockey Federation for 21 years until 2006, leading the national team to several world championship titles as head coach between 2000 and 2006. From 2006 to 2014, he worked for TSG 1899 Hoffenheim as Director of Youth Development. From August 2014 to October 2018 he worked for Hamburger SV as Director of Sports and supervised the medium- and long-term sporting development with a focus on youth development.

Even in the early days of his coaching career, Bernhard was fascinated by an attacking style of play. The playing style of the Pakistan national hockey team had a great influence on this and the foundations for Bernhard's philosophy took shape: "We always start with the game! What does the game really demand?" His thinking was transformed, moving away from exercises to coaching game situations and 'real' decisions. The significance of two-on-one situations was an essential ingredient for his success. It is always about confronting the opponent with unsolvable either-or decisions.

In implementing these ideas, Bernhard met Andreas Schumacher at HSV, a coach at the academy who was able to apply this training philosophy very skilfully on the pitch. Shortly before Andreas moved to VfB Stuttgart, they sat down together and repeatedly discussed topics such as leadership, the beauty of the game, development in football, and 2-vs-1. When Bernhard then said that "we really should write a book about this", Andreas's simple answer was "Let's do it!" The collaboration was a logical consequence and the project to write the book was set in motion.