Arsenal Under-12 head coach Kieron Lewis leads this ‘create to finish the attack’ session, which is designed to develop young players’ ability to play passes that lead to goalscoring opportunities.

The session – filmed exclusively for Coaches’ Voice – begins with a warm-up led by academy performance coach James Bevan. This is followed by Lewis – alongside Under-12 to Under-14 assistant coach Jack Kennedy, and academy coaches Aaron Cato and Darren Hawks – taking the players through a possession-based practice that works on their ability to play line-breaking passes.

Players are then split into three units for the second practice. We focus on Lewis and Kennedy taking the centre-forwards and centre-backs through a crossing and finishing practice. At the same time, Hawks takes the central midfielders through a practice focused on forward runs, while Cato takes the wide midfielders and full-backs through a defence-versus-attack crossing practice. The groups then come together for the final practice; a three-team small-sided game in which players are challenged to think about play using the pictures created in the preceding practices.

The session expertly works on developing young players’ understanding of their role within units, in relation to the Arsenal academy’s ‘create to finish the attack’ topic. All delivered by highly experienced coaches at one of the world’s leading football academies. We hope you enjoy it!