A-Jugend (U17–U18) — Optimise

At a glance

Age

U17–U18

Session length

90–110 min

Game formats

Variable formats and 11v11

Indicative split of focus

• Technique15%
• Individual tactics25%
• Team tactics30%
• Physical and motor15%
• Cognitive and psychosocial15%

These are methodological focuses, not rigid minutes: a single task can work on several areas at once.

The season in macrocycles

Blocks set priorities, not exclusive content: each one keeps secondary content from the others.

1. Pre-season4–6 weeks

   Physical capacities, base model and exposure to speed.

2. Building the model6–8 weeks

   Attacking and defensive phases, transitions and set pieces.

3. Optimisation8–12 weeks

   Match plans, variants, role and individual load.

4. Final competitive phasevariable length

   Maintenance, recovery, scenarios and individual detail.

A typical week with 3 sessions

Match day −4/−5: load. Match day −2/−3: specific. Match day −1: activation.

In competitive categories the week is organised by distance to the match: “match day −1” is the day before the match and “+1” the day after.

Structure of a session

A session has one main objective and always ends with transfer to match play. Indicative percentages of its total length.

• Activation and warm-up15–25%
• Main part A: introduce or reinforce the objective20–30%
• Main part B: more opposition, decision-making or specificity20–30%
• Transfer to match play25–40%
• Cool-down and feedback0–10%

Sample exercises for this stage

• 1x1Go through the gate with a shadow defender
• Finishing / ShootingGround shot at the central strip
• Ball Out3v2: getting past the first press
• Defensive Transition5v5 + goalkeeper: reaction to losing the ball
• GoalkeepersGoalkeeper integrated in a 5v5/6v6 game