Shepherding, smothering, bumping, tagging, tackling and standing on the mark are all skills that need to be practised many times under pressure at training. Regardless of your initial skill level in these areas, if you smother or tackle a hundred times at training you are bound to be more effective the next time you try it in a game.

Remember not to pick the ball up for the opposition player when you are standing on the mark. If you have possession and have to give it to the man on the mark, handball it with a rapid end-over-end spin to the player's wrong side, slowing down his disposal.

Practise tackling from in front, from the left, from the right and, in particular, from behind without giving away a free kick.

Practise running behind another player who is attempting to pick up the football. Practise hanging back sufficiently to not give him a free kick without taking off the pressure. Wait for your chance to get your shoulder and arm in underneath his chest to wrench the ball away from him or to force him away from the ball.

Practise "keeping your feet" as much as possible when pressuring players. If you slip to the ground and the opposition player does not, then we are playing seventeen men against eighteen at that point in time.

Practise tagging. Tagging is a basic skill of football that is not restricted to those who designated as "good taggers". The paired circle work exercise that we do, where individuals alternate as leading and tagging players, is designed to achieve this goal. Thus, if the opposition get a "run" on and you are asked to man up. you'll be able to do that more efficiently.

Talk incessantly. Don't just wait for the obvious occasions when you are calling for the football. but encourage players when they have kicked a goal (run 50 metres to do so if necessary).

Remember that your voice can travel faster and further than you can on a football field.

Once you have disposed of the football into our attacking zone, do not become a spectator of the game. Remember that the only way the football can come out of our forward line is if the opposition gain possession. If you have become a spectator and allowed your man to wander back to the corridor, then you have let the side down as they can rebound easily down the corridor.

Therefore, after delivering the football, think defensively and immediately cover all options for a rebound play.