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Home/Training Drills/Crossing Drills/Attacking the Box: Near Post, Spot, Back Post
CrossingIntermediate

Attacking the Box: Near Post, Spot, Back Post

Occupy the box properly. Attack the near post, the penalty spot and the back post with staggered timing so the defence cannot cover all three, and arrive as the ball does rather than waiting in position.

Create your own drill
Live animationCRO
Duration
14 min
Total drill time
Players
7
Recommended
Pitch
Third Pitch
Setup space
Level
Intermediate
Skill required
Intensity
High
Physical demand
Age band
U11-U12
Any format

Setup & instructions

In the final third, a wide player drives to the byline and delivers while three attackers attack the near post, the penalty spot and the back post. Stagger the runs so they do not arrive together, and vary the delivery: near-post driven, cutback to the spot, floated to the back post. Rotate which runner takes which zone, and coach the near-post runner that his job is often to move a defender rather than score.

Setup time: 1 min

Tactical breakdown

Whoever makes the near-post run usually does not score, and understanding that is the whole exercise. His job is to attack the front of the six-yard box hard enough that the nearest centre-back has to follow him, dragging that defender deeper and wider and opening the space at the penalty spot and back post where the goal is actually going to be scored.

Which creates a coaching problem nobody mentions. If you praise only the player who finishes, then within two weeks all three of your attackers will be making the back-post run, because that is where the credit lives. The near-post run has to be assigned as a job and named as a good action when it works, even though the highlight belongs to somebody else.

The three zones matter because a defence can cover two. Near post, penalty spot and back post is not a formation, it is an arithmetic problem set for the defenders, and it collapses the moment two attackers occupy the same space. That happens constantly and it is the thing to watch for.

Stagger the timing. Three players arriving simultaneously are easier to defend than three arriving a beat apart, because a defender tracking one has time to see the next coming. Arriving as the ball does, rather than standing in the space waiting for it, is the difference between a run and a position.

The trade-off is that committing three players to the box leaves you thin when the cross is cleared. Somebody has to be on the edge, and that is a decision made before the delivery rather than after it.

How to run this drill

  1. Assign the three zones explicitly. Near post, penalty spot, back post. Left to themselves players gravitate to the same area and hand the defence an easy job.
  2. Attack the near post to drag the centre-back. The run has to be committed enough that a defender must follow it, otherwise no space opens anywhere behind him.
  3. Praise the near-post run, not only the goal. Credit only the finisher and everybody makes the back-post run within two weeks. The unselfish run needs naming out loud.
  4. Never let two runners share a zone. Three zones is an arithmetic problem for two coverable defenders. Two players in one space solves that problem for them.
  5. Stagger the timing by a beat. Simultaneous arrivals are easier to defend, because a defender tracking one runner cannot then be surprised by the next.
  6. Arrive as the ball does. Standing in the space waiting turns a run into a position, and a marked position is worth nothing against a decent defence.
  7. Leave cover on the edge of the box. Three players committed means a cleared cross finds you thin. Decide who holds before the delivery, not after it.

Coaching focus

FROM SESSION PLAN

Coaching points

  • Three different zones: near post, penalty spot, back post, never all the same place
  • Stagger the timing, arrive as the ball does rather than standing in the space
  • Near-post run is a job: take the centre-back deeper and wider
  • Back post arrives late and from wide, that is the free man
  • Match the delivery to the run, do not cross and hope

Common mistakes

  • All three runners arriving in the same zone
  • Standing in the space early and letting a defender set behind you
  • The near-post runner ball-watching instead of committing his marker
  • A cross with no target, hit before anyone has started their run

Progressions & regressions

VARIATIONS

Progressions

  • Winger calls or disguises which zone he is aiming for
  • Add a third defender so one zone is genuinely contested
  • First-time finishes only

Regressions

  • Walk the three runs and their timing before adding delivery
  • Serve to a named zone so the runner knows where it is going
  • Remove the defenders while the pattern is learned
Equipment
Full Goals×1
Tactical principles
attacking the boxnear post runback post runbox occupationtiming runs into the boxthree runnerscrossing and finishingpenalty spot runu12 attacking drilldragging the centre back
Audience
U11-U12

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All Crossing drillsAll drill collectionsCrossing for U11-U12

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