Execute a worked kick-off. Tap it off, set it back to a deep player, then switch a long diagonal to the far side to win territory and keep or gain control from the restart.
From the kick-off, tap it off and set it back to a deep player with time, who hits a long diagonal to the far side to win territory. Rehearse the pattern and the timing of the far player's run. Vary it: play short to keep it, or long to pin them in. Rotate the roles.
Kick-off is the only moment in a match when a team has total control. The ball is stationary, every player is exactly where the coach put them, the opposition cannot press, and there is no pressure on the first touch. Teams get roughly two of these per half plus one after every goal, and most give the advantage away by hitting it long and contesting the second ball at random.
A worked kick-off is not about scoring. It is about deciding where the game restarts. Tapping it off, setting it back to a player with time, then switching a long diagonal to the opposite flank moves the ball fifty yards into a wide area the opposition has not yet slid across to cover. The receiver is often genuinely unmarked, because defensive shape at kick-off is narrow by design.
The set-back is the part that gets rushed. It has to reach somebody deep with space in front of them, which means that player should already be positioned to receive facing forward rather than sideways on with a marker arriving. If the switch is played off a poor first touch it will be underhit, and an underhit diagonal is an interception in a dangerous area.
It is worth telling players what the risk actually is. A long diagonal from your own half straight after kick-off, if it is cut out, gives the ball away in the centre of the pitch with your team pushed up. That is the price of the territory. Practising the weight of that pass is most of what this routine is for, and it takes about eight minutes.
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.