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Home/Training Drills/Possession Drills/9v9: Using the Width in a 3-2-3
PossessionIntermediate

9v9: Using the Width in a 3-2-3

Use the full width of a 9v9 pitch. Play out of the crowded side, get a midfielder's head up in the middle, and switch it to a winger who has held his width, so he receives facing a block that is still travelling.

Create your own drill
Live animationPOS
Duration
14 min
Total drill time
Players
7
Recommended
Pitch
40 × 30 m
Setup space
Level
Intermediate
Skill required
Intensity
Medium
Physical demand
Age band
U11-U12
9v9

Setup & instructions

Work in a 3-2-3 across the full width of a 9v9 pitch. With the ball on one side, the far winger must hold his width and stay off the pitch's far line, not drift in to watch. Play inside to a central midfielder and switch it across. Coach the far winger to receive open and attack the space before the block slides. Rotate sides so both wingers learn to stay wide.

Setup time: 2 min

Tactical breakdown

Width is created by players, not by cones, and in this exercise the hardest job belongs to whoever is furthest from the ball. The far winger has to hold his line on the opposite touchline while play develops without him, resisting the instinct every eleven-year-old has to drift towards the ball and get involved. He may be irrelevant for twenty seconds. Then he receives with a whole flank in front of him.

That instruction needs explaining rather than repeating, because from the outside it looks like a player doing nothing. A winger who tucks in has not just moved himself, he has moved the defender marking him, and the space the switch was going to arrive into closes before the pass is even considered.

Nine-a-side is where this first has to be understood, which is why it is worth spending a session on. The pitch is finally wide enough that a switch genuinely beats a defensive block, and the 3-2-3 gives you two players whose job is the touchline. It is the bridge to eleven-a-side and the habits formed here are the ones that arrive there.

Playing out of the crowded side rather than forcing through it is the enabling behaviour. Teams try to solve congestion with skill, which occasionally works and usually loses the ball in the worst area.

The midfielder in the middle is the hinge, and he needs his head up before the ball arrives. Receiving square means the switch is a second slower, and against a block that is already sliding, a second is the difference between a free winger and a marked one.

How to run this drill

  1. The far winger holds his line. Even while the ball is nowhere near him. Drifting inside takes his marker with him and closes the space the switch needs.
  2. Explain why staying wide is doing a job. It looks like a player not involved. Without the reasoning, an eleven-year-old will tuck in to help within about two minutes.
  3. Play out of the crowded side. Teams try to solve congestion with skill. It sometimes works and usually loses the ball in the most dangerous area of the pitch.
  4. Midfielder receives on the half-turn. He is the hinge. Taking it square makes the switch a second slower, and the block is already sliding across.
  5. Switch before the block finishes shifting. The pass has to arrive while the far side is still open. Late, and the winger receives facing a defender who is already set.
  6. Use it as preparation for 11v11. Nine-a-side is the first format wide enough for a switch to genuinely beat a block, so the habits built here carry upward.

Coaching focus

FROM SESSION PLAN

Coaching points

  • Width is created by players, not cones: the far winger holds his line
  • Play out of the crowded side rather than forcing it there
  • Midfielder receives on the half-turn so he can see the far side
  • Switch it firmly, a slow ball lets the block slide across in time
  • Far winger receives open and attacks the space immediately

Common mistakes

  • The far winger drifting infield to watch the ball, killing the width
  • Forcing play down the crowded side into two or three defenders
  • A slow, floated switch that gives the block time to slide
  • Receiving the switch square-on and having to take a touch backwards

Progressions & regressions

VARIATIONS

Progressions

  • Two touches maximum for the midfielder in the middle
  • Reward a goal created from a switch with double points
  • Add a third defender so the switch has to be quicker

Regressions

  • Bigger pitch, or a passive block, so the switch is easier to find
  • Mark a wide channel the far winger must stay inside
  • Unlimited touches while the picture is learned
Equipment
Cones×2
Full Goals×1
Tactical principles
9v9 width3-2-3 formationusing the full pitchswitching playholding your widthfar wingeru11 possession drillplaying out of a crowded sidebridge to 11v11receiving on the half turn
Audience
U11-U129v9

Make it yours

Save this drill to your private library, then tweak the animation, swap equipment, or drop it into a session.

Explore more drills

LIBRARY
All Possession drillsAll drill collectionsPossession for U11-U12Possession for 9v9

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