Finding the Free Man: U13-U15 (85 Min)
An eighty-five minute session for under-13s to under-15s on building play against a team that presses. It rests on one piece of arithmetic: if the opposition commits players to press, somebody on your team is free, always. The session teaches players to find him, either with a direct pass or through a third player, and to accelerate into the space the press has just vacated. This is the age the concept becomes teachable, and the age the pitch gets big enough to need it.
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Objective: Start on the numerical advantage in its simplest form
Coach note: Say the theme once at the start and then let the rondo make the point for you. Good is a player receiving and immediately playing to the one nobody is near, rather than to the nearest team-mate. Keep the tempo building and rotate the defenders often enough that nobody is stuck in the middle.
rondo · 9 players
Reward the pass to the genuinely free player rather than the safe one next to you.
Open full drillObjective: Scan wide enough to find him, and take the space when it appears
Coach note: Most young players scan, but they scan narrowly, checking the shoulder for the nearest opponent. The free man in a build-up is almost never there, he is on the opposite side of the pitch, and finding him requires a genuinely wide look. Ask what they saw on the far side and the answer will tell you whether they actually looked. On carrying, the point is that a press which commits bodies forward leaves grass in front of the defender, and running into it drags a second presser out and creates the next free man. Coach the release too: carrying is a way of moving the problem, not solving it. Water break between the two activities.
passing · 5 players
Ask what they saw on the FAR side. That answer reveals whether the scan was wide enough.
Open full drilldribbling · 3 players
Carry to drag a presser out, then release. Carrying moves the problem, it does not solve it.
Open full drillObjective: Play out against a real press, and switch when the near side is shut
Coach note: Insist the keeper is involved. At eleven a side he is an extra player in the build-up, and a team that plays out with ten while he stands and watches has voluntarily given the pressing team a spare man. Ban the rushed clearance outright in this block, because one hopeful kick under pressure teaches the whole team that the press works. On the switch, speed is everything: a slow one lets them shuffle across and arrive first, so the ball has travelled forty yards to meet the same problem. The point to name is that a successful press is self-defeating, since shutting one side is what opens the other. Water break between the two activities.
possession · 5 players
Keeper actively involved. Rushed clearances do not count, restart them.
Open full drillpossession · 3 players
Speed of switch is the point. A slow switch arrives at the same problem forty yards later.
Open full drillObjective: Make finding the free man the only way the game works
Coach note: The neutrals guarantee the free man exists, which removes the excuse and leaves only the skill. The third-player route is what to coach hardest here, because it is the thing that separates this band from the younger one: when the free man cannot be reached directly, the ball goes to somebody who can reach him, and that is a two-pass idea a thirteen-year-old can absolutely hold. Watch for the team that circulates beautifully and never penetrates, and name it, because possession that never accelerates into space is a slower way of losing the ball. Coach in short bursts between goals rather than freezing the game.
possession · 11 players
Coach the third-player route hardest. Name it out loud when it happens so they can hear what it looks like.
Open full drillObjective: End calmly and check the idea landed
Coach note: Keep this short and be honest about why it exists. Cool-down research in adults shows no effect on soreness or next-day performance and there is no children's evidence at all, so this block is here for ritual and reflection. Ask why there is always a free player when a team presses. If they can give you the arithmetic back, the session worked, and it is an idea they will use for the rest of their careers.
conditioning · 4 players
Relaxed and brief. The conversation matters more than the movement.
Open full drillSession philosophy
The theme, the principles, and the outcomes you should see in players by the final whistle.
Session theme
Building against the press and finding the free man
Session day type: training
Key principles
- If they press, someone of ours is free, find him
- Scan the whole pitch, not just your corner of it
- Move the ball to create the overload, do not just keep it
- When the space opens, accelerate into it immediately
Learning outcomes
- Players locate the free player created by the opposition's press
- Players use a third player to reach a free man who cannot be found directly
- Players circulate the ball with the intention of creating an overload
- Players accelerate into space the instant it appears rather than continuing to circulate
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