Strategy
To organise the defence so that they are always in a position to be able to anticipate the ball over the top.

Organisation
Play a Phase of play with a 4-4 formation defending a 2-4-2 formation

Players are encouraged to play the aerial ball over the top on a regular basis
Progress to a full 11v11 match

Tactics
1) As soon as the ball is played forwards, the back line should be push up quickly to a realistically high position to help create a realistic amount of space to practice defending the through ball. This allows our team to cramp the oppposition's space and make the through ball more predictable.

2) The goalkeeper should start with a high starting position and be ready to anticipate the through ball. He should be looking for signs such as the ball in the air in front of an opponent or there not being pressure on the ball carrier. The goalkeeper should either anticipate the through ball by running forwards just as the ball is being played or react soon after the ball is played (depending on how safe it is to anticipate). He should then recover his position swiftly ahould the ball not arrive or that he is resultedly not able to make a challenge for the ball.

3) The defence should be as compact as possible so that space is cramped in the centre of the field and so it is possible to support each other in defence (i.e. full backs should be tucked in).

4) If the ball is wide, the closest full back's duty is to prevent the ball to the outside of the striker's feet. He should mark on the outside and just behind the player. If the ball does go into the striker's feet, he should make every effort to win the ball on the outside and make sure the only possibility for the striker is to go inside.

5) The nearest full back should not be concerned with over committing as the nearest centre half should be supporting with a little but not too much depth on the inside. The nearest full back should attempt to win the ball on the outside. If the nearest full back gets beaten on the inside, the nearest centre half will be close enough to make a challenge for the ball.

6) The furthest centre half should be covering the 2nd striker on the inside. His role is to be aware of the ball to the strikers feet and press tight if the ball does go to the striker's feet. However, he is mainly responsible for anticipating the ball over the top. When he see's signs such as the ball in the air in front of an opponent or there not being pressure on the ball carrier, he should look to sprint back 10-15 yards to anticipate the ball over the top. If the ball doesn't come, he should step quickly back up with the line.

Top Left - Players bodies are half open so they can quickly sprint forwards or backwards
Top Right - 1st Centre half anticipates that the ball might be played and sprints back 10 yards
Bottom Left - His open body position allows him to asses the flight of the ball and get behind the ball
Bottom right - He then meets the ball forward to clear (as in this instance he has pressure)

7) If the ball does come over the top, the dropped center half should make the appropriate decision of clearing, passing or controlling the ball depending on the pressure around him and the supporting options available.

8) The supporting defenders should either look to give defensive cover to the Centre Half or give a supporting angle, depending on how safe the ball carrier is. If so they should look to give depth and ideally width, as long as the centre half has secured posession.

9) All defender's should have an open half turned body position so they can easily turn to sprint to the ball over the top as well as pressing tight if the ball is to feet.

 

1) Balls to striker's feet - bounce off
As the ball is played to the striker's feet, the defense are likely to be at their flattest. Therefore, if a midfielder can support instantly and from close range, the midfielder can use the striker to bounce off to play the through ball. The second striker should be anticipating the through ball by timing his run to split the line on a diagonal. To do this he should aim to initially move wide to clear space for his run. His run should then either be diagonally splitting the line or accross the line and then breaking the line as the ball is passed to aviod being caught offside.

2) Ball to striker's head - flick on
As the ball is played to the striker's head, the striker should initially be looking to hold his ground to give him as much space as possible for the header (i.e. not meet the ball too early). The 2nd striker should be no more than 15-20 yards away so his diagonal run can meet the path of the flick on.

3) Ball straight over the top
The strikers should look to open out the space to make diagonal runs into the path of the ball. Diagonal runs are easiest to control. By bending runs initially deep, the striker can then split the line diagonally. however, if he has less time, he can run accross the line to pick up speed before splitting the line.
(don't run into the same space as below - this is just showing the ways of splitting the line)

Top Left - 2nd striker's starting position
Top Right - The striker pulls away to the far post to create space
Bottom Left - before bending his run away from the defence
Bottom Right - and back towards the defence to split the defence with a 45 degree angle run

4) Wingers anticipating to overload
As the initial ball is played into the striker, this can be a trigger for the wide midfielder to look to make a bent run in behind the back four. The bounce off into midfield creates the perfect angle for the diagonal ball in front of either wide midfielder to run into goal.

5) Where and how to play balls
Balls over the top should be played early. Delaying the pass only gives the defender time to read the situation and recover. Balls played with bottom spin are likely to hold up to prevent the keeper clearing the ball and making it easier for the striker to control. Balls played diagonallty are less likely to run through to the keeper and much harder to defend. Balls played with bottom spin just over the height of the jump of the defender may suck in the defender into a missed header or at the very least lead him to hesitate. 1st time volleys from weak clearances are also an excellent way of catching the defence as they have had little time to reorganise.