Creating opportunities

If you could walk away from Fede Tanuscio’s masterclass on creating opportunities from within the 25-yard zone with one core lesson, let it be this: Intelligent manipulation of defenders through timing, structure, and purposeful player movement is the foundation for unlocking meaningful scoring chances.

It’s a concept we all touch on in training, but Tanuscio takes it further by breaking down actionable patterns that can—and should—be systematically implemented in your daily coaching, regardless of the level you’re working at.

Why This Matters

Many coaches obsess (rightly so) over what happens inside the circle. Yet, as Fede Tanuscio highlights, the battle is often won—or lost—just before entry. The key is not simply to get the ball into the D, but to create situations where your players are arriving with a genuine advantage: time, space, or at the very least, unbalanced or manipulated defenders.

This doesn’t happen by chance. It requires purposeful structures and player initiatives leading up to the circle, particularly in that critical “red zone” from the 25 in.

How to Implement It Day-to-Day

The central pillar here is teaching your team movement patterns and decision-making habits that stretch, unbalance, and—crucially—manipulate the defensive shape of the opposition. Let’s break down a tangible training approach, based on this session, that you can begin using immediately:

1. Deliberate Lead Work:
   Make leads and double-leads in and around the 25 a visible and structured part of every attacking session. Don’t just harp on “make a lead”—teach your players about when and why they lead. Use planned triggers: passing cues, head contact moments between the ball carrier and potential receiver, and rehearsed combinations (especially lateral give-and-go’s and ‘combo’ movements through the central and right channel, as Fede Tanuscio presents).

2. Manipulate the Libero/Defensive Block:
   Train attackers to draw the central defender(s) with purposeful movement—either by dragging them away from the dangerous space or by pinning them to release a pass behind or around them. Build drills where your attackers practice timing those runs so that the ball arrives as the defender is caught “in two minds.” In Fede Tanuscio’s words:

“The principle of the combo is really just to put one player close to the libero... just to have another pressure... and try to play those kind of balls into the circle.”

1. Stretch and Use Width Intelligently:
   Insist on forwards and advanced midfielders stretching the pitch horizontally, especially on the right and left edges of the 25. Build repetitive scenarios in your sessions where a wide ball forces the defense to shift, opening up inside spaces for a cross, a lateral give-and-go, or a sharp entry pass.

2. Emphasize Decision Making Under Pressure:
   Incorporate “game feel” within drills: rewarding players for spotting and exploiting moments of numerical advantage or poor opposition shape, rather than just making a penetration for its own sake.

Why Do This?
In short, coaches who program these ideas into muscle memory find their teams less reliant on individual brilliance and more consistent in breaking down defensive blocks—something that becomes mission-critical as you climb the competitive ladder.

“More tools they have, more easy will be. But at the end who will decide is the player and we have to trust the player as well.”
— Fede Tanuscio

Why You’ll Want to Watch the Complete Session

If you want practical, video-driven insights and not just theory, this session delivers. The absolute value here is in the range of real-world video examples Fede Tanuscio breaks down—demonstrating the structure, timing, and lead behaviors that turn semi-dangerous attacks into actual chances. For coaches tired of watching their team send hopeful balls into static, packed Ds, seeing the step-by-step methodology will spark new ideas and give you fresh, applied training content. The session also tackles the nuances: what changes against man-to-man versus zonal teams, specific adjustments for men’s and women’s hockey, options if your left-foot combinations aren’t working, and how to develop player ‘intention’ in leading and passing.

Ready to dig deep and overhaul how your team creates from within the 25? The deeper takeaways, detailed drills, and nuanced adjustments await below the paywall.