Match with No Pressing on the Wings
7v7 match with goalkeepers where defenders may not press inside the two wide channels. Attackers get time out wide; defenders must protect the box and defend the cross.
- Age
- U13–Senior
- Players
- 12–16
- Duration
- 20 min
- Difficulty
- Intermediate
- Intensity
- Medium
- Area
- 55 × 40 m
- Type
- Tactical
- Approach
- Global
- Format
- Match
- Objectives
- Technical: Crossing
- Tactical: Defensive organisation, Switching play, Decision making
- Concepts worked on
- Technical:Crossing
- Tactical:WidthFinding free spaceShiftingCompactnessMarking
Training diagram
Legend
- Attacker
- Defender
- Goalkeeper
- Pass
- Run without ball
- Dribble
- Ball
- Cone
- Goal
Any player may run into the wide channels, but defenders cannot tackle or close down there. The attacking team learns to find the free player on the wing, attack down the channel and deliver crosses. The defending team cannot win the ball out wide, so it has to stay compact, shift across and defend the box: marking runners and winning the first contact.
Objective
Attack through the free wide channels and, without the ball, defend the centre and the box instead of chasing the ball wide.
Organisation
- 55 × 40 m pitch with a goal and goalkeeper at each end.
- An 8 m channel along each touchline, marked with cones.
- Two teams of five to seven plus goalkeepers.
How it works
- Normal match, but defenders may not enter the wide channels to press or tackle; they can only intercept passes into them.
- Attackers may enter the channels freely, maximum three touches inside them.
- When the ball comes back inside the central area, pressing is allowed again.
- Goals from a cross count double.
- 4 × 5 minutes.
Coaching points
- Attack: receive in the channel facing forward and run at the space before crossing.
- Attack: two players attack the box on every cross, a third arrives at the edge.
- Defence: shift towards the ball but stay inside; the full-back guards the channel line.
- Defence: mark the runners in the box and keep an eye on the far post.
- Defence: the goalkeeper organises the line and attacks the high crosses.
Progressions
- Two touches in the channels.
- Only one defender may be in the box before the cross.
Regressions
- Narrower channels (6 m).
- A neutral who plays with the attacking team.
Variations
- Defenders may press in the channels only in their own half.
Key principles
- Find the free player wide.
- Attack the box with runners.
- Defend the centre first.
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