Open Practice with Bobby Muuss 3-Pack

Bobby Muuss,
Wake Forest University Head Men's Soccer Coach;
2019 NCAA College Cup Final Four;
2016 NCAA College Cup Runner-Up;
3x ACC Regular Season Champions (2016, 2017, 2024);
3x ACC Tournament Champions (2016, 2017, 2024);
4x ACC Coach of the Year (2015, 2016, 2017, 2018);
5x ACC Atlantic Division Titles;
6x NCAA Elite Eight appearances;
University of Denver Head Coach from 2007 to 2014;
2013 Summit League Coach of the Year;
2x MPSF Coach of the Year;
Wake Forest University Assistant Coach from 2001 to 2006;
University of Connecticut Assistant Coach from 1997 to 2000;
2000 NCAA National Champions;
3x Big East Champions;
played college soccer at Southern Connecticut State University

In this video, Bobby Muuss demonstrates how he teaches his players to press and the art of counter pressing the "Wake Forest Way." He provides in-depth illustrations both on a white board and on the field to show different key elements for your players.

You'll learn how to train your team to press and how to quickly counter press to win the ball back as fast as you can. Muuss explains the teaching points he emphasizes during the exercises:

• Reactions needed to win the ball back.
• How to play proactive defense.
• The importance of staying connected as a team to properly defend.

Practice Segments

Coach Muuss begins this session by having his players go through a warm-up. Within this warm-up, he addresses numerous aspects which include dynamic stretching, speed/agility/quickness, injury prevention, first touch technical work, and the foundation of individual defense with the use of mannequins.

The second segment is "2v2v2+1." It's in this exercise that players must be aware of the defending team and how quick reactions are needed to make sure they're not on the wrong side of the ball when the game ends. This is where Muuss trains the habits needed to build his pressing game at Wake Forest. It also forces his players to play and make quick decisions in tight spaces.

In the third activity, Coach Muuss shows a "7v3 Pressing Game." As with most of his games, players indirectly train multiple aspects of the game. Possession and pressing are key aspects that are covered in this game. Players are rewarded by not only keeping the ball, but counter pressing in small groups of three.

The fourth game is a progression from the previous one, but Muuss adds additional numbers and larger goals to also work on finishing from close range. The teams are given specific roles to either keep possession or counter press and score within a given amount of time.

The fifth and final game is 7v7+1. Muuss uses this game to reinforce what was taught during the session, but gives the teams additional points by winning the ball in the attacking half of the field to reinforce pressing and defending on the front foot.

Coach Muuss shows you just how effective pressing can be and how Wake Forest has used it to their advantage, making them one of the best college teams in the nation.

78 minutes + 28 bonus minutes. 2018.

Bobby Muuss,
Wake Forest University Head Men's Soccer Coach;
2019 NCAA College Cup Final Four;
2016 NCAA College Cup Runner-Up;
3x ACC Regular Season Champions (2016, 2017, 2024);
3x ACC Tournament Champions (2016, 2017, 2024);
4x ACC Coach of the Year (2015, 2016, 2017, 2018);
5x ACC Atlantic Division Titles;
6x NCAA Elite Eight appearances;
University of Denver Head Coach from 2007 to 2014;
2013 Summit League Coach of the Year;
2x MPSF Coach of the Year;
Wake Forest University Assistant Coach from 2001 to 2006;
University of Connecticut Assistant Coach from 1997 to 2000;
2000 NCAA National Champions;
3x Big East Champions;
played college soccer at Southern Connecticut State University

Bobby Muuss shows how he teaches his players the importance of playing off target players and the movement needed to attack quickly using the "Wake Forest Way." He provides in-depth illustrations both on a white board and on the field to show different key elements for your players.

In this video, you'll learn how to train your team to play off target players. Coach Muuss explains the teaching points he emphasizes during the exercises:

• Movement and supporting angles going forward that create the most danger.
• Good reactions in transitional moments.
• Positioning of players in advanced areas and how to bring players into the match.
• Importance of finding a rhythm in the opponent's half of the field to find central areas.

Practice Segments

Muuss includes six exercises that he uses at Wake Forest. He begins this session by putting his players through a warm-up. Here, he shows how to incorporate dynamic stretching, technical passing and first touch, speed and quickness, and injury prevention all within the warm up.

The second exercise that Coach Muuss shows is what he calls "6v6+4 Transfer Box." This game addresses attacking, defending, and his transitional style of play. It's during this game that players are put in an environment where they have two target players to find; the central midfielder and center striker. The players also have to play using the correct shape while making the right decisions to be able to play through pressure and tight spaces.

In the third activity, Muuss shows how he builds from an unopposed to opposed game with a 3v0 to 3v3 transition game. Throughout the session, he teaches his players the different types of runs they can make to not only create space for themselves, but also gain the ability to combine and find third man runners. As he adds three additional players, Muuss continues to stress how important off the ball movement can be to rip apart even the most compact defenses.

Next, Coach Muuss increases the amount of players to make a 5v5 transition game. Once the ball enters the field of play, he forces two players to have to recover from transition, giving the attacking team a numbers-up situation going to goal.

After the 5v5 game, Coach Muuss makes the situation more complex by making it 9v8. An element added is the use of "Area 14," which is a key area for successful attacking teams. Through the design of the session, players now have to recognize which area is best to attack based on the defending team and how they recover.

The sixth and final game is a 7v7+1 game with touch restrictions. Muuss uses this game to reinforce what was taught during the session and adds the touch restriction to continue to force his players to play at a high tempo.

No matter what system you play, you will need to learn how to play off certain key players to penetrate and go forward with pace. Coach Muuss does an excellent job of creating the right environment to teach his players, and this video allows you to take his techniques and implement them yourself!

73 minutes + 28 bonus minutes. 2018.

Bobby Muuss,
Wake Forest University Head Men's Soccer Coach;
2019 NCAA College Cup Final Four;
2016 NCAA College Cup Runner-Up;
3x ACC Regular Season Champions (2016, 2017, 2024);
3x ACC Tournament Champions (2016, 2017, 2024);
4x ACC Coach of the Year (2015, 2016, 2017, 2018);
5x ACC Atlantic Division Titles;
6x NCAA Elite Eight appearances;
University of Denver Head Coach from 2007 to 2014;
2013 Summit League Coach of the Year;
2x MPSF Coach of the Year;
Wake Forest University Assistant Coach from 2001 to 2006;
University of Connecticut Assistant Coach from 1997 to 2000;
2000 NCAA National Champions;
3x Big East Champions;
played college soccer at Southern Connecticut State University

Wake Forest University is one of the top men's soccer programs in the country. In this video, head coach Bobby Muuss gives a rare behind the scenes look into what has helped the Wake Forest soccer program achieve tremendous success.

Coach Muuss demonstrates how he teaches his players the importance of possession to penetrate and the art of counter pressing the "Wake Forest Way." You'll see numerous progressions that will help your team be dangerous keeping the ball and allow them to quickly win it back. Muuss provides in-depth illustrations both on a white board and on the field to show different key elements for your players, including:

• The movement and supporting angles needed from supporting players.
• Reactions needed to win the ball back.
• How to read the play and make the right decisions based on positioning.
• The small details needed to be a technical attacking team.
• The importance of scanning and checking your shoulder for better vision.

Small Sided Games

Coach Muuss begins by addressing the key technical elements needed for quick ball circulation, body position, and the ability to turn in a dynamic setting. You'll see three unopposed passing patterns that lay the foundation for his team's ability to play forward. The emphasis in these particular passing patterns is that the players develop a good sense of rhythm when passing while making sure the angles of support are correct. He progresses this by showing additional patterns to be able to attack and go forward.

The second small sided game that Muuss shows is a 5v2 reaction game. It's here that he is able to cover the two main topics of the session, which are possession to penetrate using a third man and counter pressing. He trains his players to play using the correct shape and decision making to be able to play through pressure and tight spaces to find a central player. He also lays the foundation of getting into good habits of reaction when losing the ball.

In the third game, which is 4v4+3, Muuss builds from his previous game into a more complex one with the same emphasis. He creates and shows a dynamic way of teaching the use of quick ball circulation and the ability to counter press when the right moment occurs. Throughout the small sided game, he continues to stress how important off the ball movement can be and how important it is to have good reactions in a competitive environment.

The fourth small sided game is 7v0 to 7v5 Game. It's here that Coach Muuss builds his players in an unopposed environment while teaching them the playing style/philosophy he wants. These include three main objectives: ball circulation, wingers in, and positioning of the outside backs. Once the players are able to grasp the idea, he adds seven more players to the game.

The fifth and final small sided game is a 7v7+1 game with touch restrictions. Muuss uses this game to reinforce what was taught during the session and adds the touch restriction to continue to force his players to play at a high tempo.

Coach Muuss uses this video to show how he trains his teams to possess to penetrate and how to apply the counter press. Every coach must teach their team how to possess and play through the field, and this is one of the most in-depth resources to learn possession that you'll find!

87 minutes + 28 bonus minutes. 2018.