Skip to content
← Back to library

CommunicationGameCompetition

Game management and communication in the closing minutes

Train communication and game management in the final minutes, when research shows explosive actions increase and fatigue is already established.

Add to a session

Which session should use this exercise?

You do not have any sessions yet. Create the first one to add this exercise.

New session
Choose a session and the exercise is added to today’s plan.

Load

minutes
14
dives/set
5
Sets and reps
3 × 1
Intensity
High

dives per set, per goalkeeper

Microcycle days it fits

MD-3, MD-2

Each bar’s height is that day’s dive ceiling.

Setup

Goalkeepers
2
server
0
outfield player
10

Space: 44 × 50 m

Equipment: Balls, Bibs, Full goal

One goalkeeper works while the other serves or observes. Swap after each set.

Full half-pitch game with an announced scoreline and a running clock. The goalkeeper manages the line, the tempo and restarts according to the score. The coach adds verbal pressure.

Coaching points

  • Game management is communication: tell the team what to do with the ball, not just where to stand.
  • When leading, the line drops and restarts go long and safe; when trailing, the line pushes up and restarts are quick.
  • Research shows more explosive actions between minutes 75 and 90 — concentration must rise, not fall.
  • The voice changes with the scenario: calm when leading, urgent when trailing. Tone carries as much information as words.
  • Keep the between-actions routine even under external pressure — that is when it serves most.

Progressions

  1. Move to the drawn scenario with 2 minutes left, the most demanding.
  2. Add verbal pressure from the coach throughout.

Regressions

  1. Play with no scoreline scenario, just normal communication.
  2. Remove the external noise.

Sources · 3

  1. StudyThe physical demands of professional soccer goalkeepers throughout a week-long competitive microcycle and transiently throughout match-play (2020)
  2. CurriculumRegulamento do Curso UEFA de Treinadores de Guarda-Redes «B», Federação Portuguesa de Futebol
  3. Book«Scientific Approaches to Goalkeeping in Football», Bennion Kearny