Finishing
Forty Metres in Five Passes
Train the rhythm of a full attacking sequence rather than its last two passes. Players alternate between combining short to escape pressure and playing long to advance, and finish at the end of a genuinely long move.
Duration
16 min
Total drill time
Players
7
Recommended
Pitch
Full Pitch
Setup space
Level
Advanced
Skill required
Intensity
High
Physical demand
Age band
U13-U14
Any format
Setup & instructions
Set a start marker about 40 metres from goal with a pile of balls either side of it. Nine metres in front of it, place one mannequin as the first defender. Nearer goal, about 22 metres out, set a wall of three mannequins five metres apart. Full goal and keeper. A wall player waits behind the first mannequin, a target stands just off one end of the wall, and a runner waits wide of the other end. The wall player comes out to the side of his mannequin for the first pass and gives it back first time; the starter takes it on the other side, takes a touch and plays a long ball of about 13 metres past the first mannequin to the target. The wall player spins back behind the mannequin into the space between the lines, and the target lays it off to him first time. He takes a touch and plays a long ball of about ten metres past one side of the middle mannequin in the wall. The runner sets off on the lay-off, goes past the other side of the middle mannequin, level with the wall when the pass is played, and cuts across behind it to meet the ball. He takes a touch and finishes from about fifteen metres. Rotate: starter to wall, wall to target on the other side, target to runner from the same spot, runner round the outside to the pile and the back of the line. Reps alternate sides, and the next starter goes as the runner shoots.
Setup time: 3 min
Tactical breakdown
Almost every finishing practice starts about twenty metres from goal, which means it rehearses the end of an attack and never the attack itself. Players become fluent at the last two passes of a move and have no experience of arriving at those two passes tired, out of rhythm, and having already made three decisions.
Forty metres and five passes changes that. The chain alternates deliberately: a short first-time one-two at the first mannequin, then a twelve metre ball past it to advance, then a short lay-off, then another long ball through the wall, then the finish. Nobody in the sequence plays two passes of the same length in a row, which is what stops it settling into a rhythm the way shorter patterns do.
The alternation is also the tactical lesson. Short passes get you out of trouble and long passes get you up the pitch, and a side that only does one of them either circulates forever or gives the ball away. Feeling the difference within a single six second sequence teaches it far better than any amount of explanation.
What tends to fail is the fourth pass. The first three are close together and players are fresh and concentrating; by the fourth, somebody is out of position, the runner has gone early, and the sequence limps to a shot that was never really on. That is worth pointing out rather than restarting quietly, because holding quality through a long move is precisely the thing being trained.
How to run this drill
- Know which pass you are playing. The short ones are cushioned and first time, the long ones are struck. Alternating them is the exercise, and playing them all alike removes it.
- Use the one-two to get past the first mannequin. The combination moves the ball off the defender's line so the long ball can go past him. Dribbling round it is easier and teaches nothing.
- Run on the lay-off. The trigger is the backwards pass, not the long ball that follows. Setting off when you see the long pass means arriving beyond the wall too early.
- Play through the wall, not round it. The three mannequins near goal are there to be split. A pass round the end of them is the comfortable option and it is not what the drill is asking.
- Hold the quality to the fourth pass. The chain almost always degrades at pass four. Sustaining a long sequence is the actual difficulty, not any individual action within it.
- Finish from fifteen metres. After five passes there is a strong urge to walk it in and guarantee the goal. Strike from where the sequence delivers you.
Coaching focus
FROM SESSION PLANCoaching points
- Short passes are first time, long passes are struck: know which you are playing
- Use the one-two to move the ball off the mannequin's line, then play past it
- Wall player: wait behind the mannequin, come out late for the first pass, then spin straight back behind it
- The lay-off is the trigger for the run beyond the wall
- Second long ball past one side of the middle mannequin, the runner round the other side to meet it
- Runner: level with the wall when it is played, then across behind the mannequin
- Finish from fifteen metres rather than carrying it in
Common mistakes
- Taking a touch on the one-two, which stalls the whole chain
- Playing the long balls round the mannequins rather than past them
- The runner setting off on the long pass instead of the lay-off, and arriving beyond the wall too early
- The wall player watching his return instead of spinning, so the lay-off has nobody to find
- Losing the rhythm by the fourth pass, because the sequence is long
Progressions & regressions
VARIATIONSProgressions
- Every pass in the chain first time, including both long balls
- Add a recovering defender who starts at the wall
- The final passer chooses between the through ball and a square pass
Regressions
- Shorten the channel so the sequence covers twenty five metres
- Allow a controlling touch on the lay-off
- Walk the five passes so the alternation is understood
Explore more drills
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