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Home/Training Drills/Defensive Drills/Futsal: Defending the Power Play
DefensiveAdvanced

Futsal: Defending the Power Play

Defend outnumbered without being pulled apart, then punish. Stay compact, deny the pass inside, press the ball with cover behind, and the instant you win it, look up and hit the empty net.

Create your own drill
Live animationDEF
Duration
14 min
Total drill time
Players
8
Recommended
Pitch
40 × 20 m
Setup space
Level
Advanced
Skill required
Intensity
High
Physical demand
Age band
U13-U14
Futsal

Setup & instructions

The attacking team has an extra player and an empty net behind them; the defending team is a man down. Defend compact in a mid-block, keep the ball away from your goal, press the ball with close cover and deny the pass inside. The moment you intercept, look up and shoot at the empty net or carry it away and finish. Rotate which team is outnumbered.

Setup time: 2 min

Tactical breakdown

With the goalkeeper pushed up as an outfield player, the net behind the attacking team is empty. That single fact should shape everything about how the power play is defended, because it means the reward for one clean turnover is not a counter-attack. It is a goal, from almost anywhere on the court, into an unguarded net.

So the block has to be built to win the ball cleanly rather than merely to survive. Blocking a shot out for a corner keeps the score level and hands possession straight back. Intercepting a pass ends the possession and very often ends the game.

Compactness comes first. Five attackers with a spare man will move the ball around a block patiently, hunting one pass inside, and the instant that pass is completed the shape is broken and somebody has a free shot. Deny the ball inside and accept that they will keep it. Letting the opposition pass sideways for thirty seconds is a defensive success in this situation, not a failure.

Keep the block high enough that shots come from distance. Sitting on the goal line concedes the entire court and eventually somebody arrives unmarked at the back post. One player presses the ball, the nearest covers behind him, and nobody else leaves the block to join in.

The hardest part is patience and it is worth naming before you start. Being outnumbered is uncomfortable and the instinct is to go and win it back. Every player who breaks the block to chase creates exactly the gap the fifth attacker was added to occupy.

How to run this drill

  1. Know the net behind them is empty. This changes the objective from surviving to winning the ball cleanly, because one interception is very likely to end the game.
  2. Stay compact and deny the pass inside. The spare man exists to find one ball into the middle. Everything the block does is about making that single pass unavailable.
  3. Accept that they will keep the ball. Thirty seconds of sideways passing against a block that has not broken is a good defensive outcome. Treat it as one out loud.
  4. Keep the block high enough to force distance. Dropping onto the goal line concedes the whole court, and eventually somebody arrives unmarked at the back post.
  5. One presses, the nearest covers. Never two on the ball. The second player's job is the space behind the first, not the same opponent the first is already engaging.
  6. Nobody else leaves the block. Every player who breaks out to chase creates the gap the fifth attacker was added to occupy. Name this before the drill starts.
  7. Look up the instant you win it. The finish can come from your own half. Players who take a settling touch and look for a pass waste the whole reason for defending well.

Coaching focus

FROM SESSION PLAN

Coaching points

  • Compact block: leave no gaps between defenders for the pass inside
  • Keep the block high enough that shots come from distance
  • One presses the ball, the nearest covers behind him
  • Deny the pass into the pivot, that is the ball that hurts you
  • Win it and look up at once, the empty net is the reward

Common mistakes

  • Chasing the ball and pulling the block apart
  • Dropping too deep, inviting shots from close range
  • Winning it then playing a safe sideways pass instead of looking up
  • Ball watching and losing the man inside the block

Progressions & regressions

VARIATIONS

Progressions

  • Defenders must score in the empty net within five seconds of winning it
  • Attackers may only shoot from outside a marked zone
  • Two defenders down instead of one

Regressions

  • Even numbers first, to set the block shape
  • Attackers restricted to two touches so the block can adjust
  • No empty-net reward while the defensive shape is learned
Equipment
Cones×2
Goals×2
Tactical principles
futsal power playflying goalkeeperdefending outnumbered5v4 futsalfutsal defending drillcompact blockempty netfutsal tacticsu14 futsal drilladvanced futsal
Audience
U13-U14Futsal

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All Defensive drillsAll drill collectionsDefensive for U13-U14Defensive for futsal

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