Defenders: run the recovery line, into the space the attacker is heading, not at their heels. Get goal-side, jockey side-on to delay, then close the distance and block the shot with a committed body.
An attacker breaks toward goal with a defender starting beaten, level or ahead of the ball. The defender must recover on the correct line, get goal-side, jockey to delay, and block the shot. Progress by adding a second ball the instant the block is made so the defender has to recover again. Rotate attacker and defender.
Chasing an attacker's heels never catches him, and that single geometric fact decides most recovery runs. A defender running at the player is running along the same line, arriving permanently a stride behind. A defender running at the space the attacker is heading towards is taking a shorter route to the same point, and arrives level or in front.
That means the first decision of a recovery run is where to aim, and it is towards goal rather than towards the ball. Getting goal-side and central protects the thing that matters, and it converts a chase into a duel the defender can actually win. Players who recover directly at the ball frequently arrive alongside the attacker with no ability to affect anything.
Once goal-side, the mode changes completely. Sprinting becomes jockeying: low, side on, small steps, showing the attacker away from the middle. Continuing at full pace past the point of arrival is the most common error and it takes the defender straight out of the picture again.
The block is the final act and it deserves its own coaching. A committed block means getting the body behind the shot with the chest or the front of the leg, and it works because a shot deflected at close range rarely stays on target. Turning away, jumping, or reaching with a trailing leg produces the deflections that end up in the net.
One honest note: recovery running is a fitness cost as much as a technical skill, and a tired defender runs the wrong line first.
Save it to your private drills, then change the animation, adjust positions, swap equipment, or drop it into a session block. Or start from a blank pitch and build your own.