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Home/Training Drills/Possession Drills/Four-Goal Possession Game
PossessionIntermediate

Four-Goal Possession Game

Keep possession and score through the free gate. Scan for the open gate, switch the play away from pressure, and drive through the gate the defenders have left open.

Create your own drill
Live animationPOS
Duration
14 min
Total drill time
Players
4
Recommended
Pitch
40 × 40 m
Setup space
Level
Intermediate
Skill required
Intensity
High
Physical demand
Age band
U11-U12
Any format

Setup & instructions

Two teams in a grid with four gates, one on each side. A team scores by dribbling through any gate under control. The team in possession keeps the ball, switches away from pressure, and attacks whichever gate is free. Defenders shift as a unit to protect the gates. Play to a target number of gates or a time limit. Rotate teams.

Setup time: 2 min

Tactical breakdown

Four gates turn a possession game into a scanning exercise, because the target keeps changing and no route can be rehearsed. With one goal, a team learns a way to attack it. With four, the only reliable method is looking up, seeing which gate the defenders have abandoned, and going there before they recover.

The design works because two teams cannot cover four gates. Someone is always unguarded, so the game rewards the head coming up rather than the feet moving faster. A team that dribbles hard at the nearest gate will find it defended every time and conclude the game is difficult; a team that switches to the far one will find it open and conclude it is easy. Both are playing the same game.

That makes it one of the better exercises for training the specific habit of scanning away from the ball. The information needed is never near the ball, it is forty yards away on the opposite side, which is exactly where players are least inclined to look.

Scoring by dribbling through rather than passing through is a deliberate choice. It forces a player to commit to a decision and carry it out under pressure, and it stops the game becoming a series of long hopeful passes into gaps.

One trade-off worth naming: with four gates the game has no defensive shape to speak of, so it trains attacking decisions well and defensive organisation barely at all. Use it for the former and do not expect the latter.

How to run this drill

  1. Mark four gates, one on each side. A square grid with a gate in the middle of each edge. Two teams cannot cover four gates, which is the mechanism the whole game depends on.
  2. Score by dribbling through under control. Not by passing through. Carrying it forces a player to commit to a decision under pressure and stops the game becoming hopeful passes into gaps.
  3. Scan for the gate nobody is near. The information needed is never beside the ball, it is on the opposite side of the grid, which is exactly where players are least inclined to look.
  4. Switch away from pressure. Attacking the nearest gate finds it defended every time. Moving the ball to the far side first is what makes a gate genuinely open.
  5. Restart immediately from the far side. After a score, play continues at once from the opposite end so the game never settles and the scanning demand stays constant.
  6. Use it for attacking decisions only. Four gates leave no defensive shape worth the name. This trains recognition and switching well, and organisation barely at all.

Coaching focus

FROM SESSION PLAN

Coaching points

  • Scan constantly: the free gate keeps changing
  • Switch away from pressure to the open side
  • Attack the gate the defenders have just left
  • Under control through the gate, do not force it
  • Defenders shift together, do not get stretched

Common mistakes

  • Head down, missing the free gate
  • Forcing the nearest gate into pressure
  • Not switching when the far side is open
  • Defenders diving in and getting stretched

Progressions & regressions

VARIATIONS

Progressions

  • Must pass through the gate to a teammate, not dribble
  • Add a neutral to help the team in possession
  • Two-touch to speed up the switches

Regressions

  • Bigger grid and unlimited touches
  • Fewer defenders to give more time
  • Only two gates to simplify the picture
Equipment
Cones×8
Tactical principles
four goal gamepossession gamefour gatesscanning drillswitching playsmall sided gamekeep ball gamedecision making drillpossession to penetrationu12 possession drill
Audience
U11-U12

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All Possession drillsAll drill collectionsPossession for U11-U12

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