Triangle Soccer Drill by Louis van Gaal

Louis van Gaal is the coach of Manchester United and former coach of clubs like Ajax and Barcelona. During the World Cup 2014 he finished 3rd with the Dutch national team. One of the most well known soccer drills of Louis van Gaal is known as the triangle, as shown in the diagram below. Even if Louis van Gaal is not the coach anymore of the Dutch National team, they still do this exercise regularly. In this article we will discuss this soccer drill and four variations.

In this drill we have 2 players at cone B and C and players with ball at cone A. Player 1 passes to player 2, player 2 controls the ball and passes to player 3, who controls the ball and dribble back to the starting position. Please make sure to do this soccer drill clockwise too (so players have to pass with theur left foot)

Variation 1
From this drill we can have several variations. The first variation is to play a 1-2 combination between players 2 and 3 at cone C. Instead of moving outside (like in the original drill), player 3 will move towards the ball now.

Variation 2The second variation is to play a 1-2 combination at cone B as well. Again notice that player 2 is now moving towards the ball too, instead of outside. After the pass back to player 1, player 2 has to run around the cone (to make space for the pass that completes the 1-2).

Variation 3Instead of a 1-2 combination at cone B, player 1 now plays the ball directly to player 3. At cone C we still have the same 1-2 combination as in variation 1 and 2.

Variation 4In the 4th variation we play a 1-2 combination at cone B and then we play a through pass to player 3 who dribbles the ball to the starting position.

See this drill done by the Netherlands team below:

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Louis van Gaal Triangle Soccer Drill by Pro Soccer SA