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Home/Training Drills/Crossing Drills/Low Cross Channels Game
CrossingIntermediate

Low Cross Channels Game

Use the width when the middle is crowded, get to the byline before delivering, and pull the ball back along the ground for runners who arrive together rather than one at a time.

Create your own drill
Live animationCRO
Duration
18 min
Total drill time
Players
12
Recommended
Pitch
55 × 40 m
Setup space
Level
Intermediate
Skill required
Intensity
High
Physical demand
Age band
U11-U12
7v7

Setup & instructions

Play 5v5 plus keepers on a 55x40m pitch with a channel about 8m wide down each flank. Normal football with three conditions: a goal only counts if the ball travelled through a wide channel first, the delivery out of the channel must be along the ground, and at least two attackers must be inside the box when it arrives. Defenders may enter the channels, so the wide player still has to beat somebody. Play six-minute games and rotate the keeper. Remove the conditions one at a time for the final game and see which behaviours stay.

Setup time: 3 min

Tactical breakdown

The standard wide-play game is a good one: mark a channel down each flank, insist the ball goes through it, and count a goal from a cross double. It drags a team out of the crowded middle and it rewards the delivery. There is only one problem with running it at under-11, which is that the finish it is designed to produce is illegal.

Deliberate heading is an offence at under-11 and below. A game built around timing runs to the near, middle and far post is built around an aerial ball, so at that age it is either producing free kicks or producing nothing.

The fix is not to abandon width. It is to change what comes out of the channel. Keep the ball on the floor and everything else about the practice survives intact, including the part that actually matters, which is the wide player having to beat somebody and get to the byline.

The low delivery is also simply better at this age. A cross that has to be lofted needs striking power most eleven-year-olds do not have, so it either falls short or sails over. A ball rolled back from the byline needs accuracy instead, which they can produce, and it arrives at a height they can finish.

Getting to the byline is the detail worth defending against impatience. Young wingers release as soon as they enter the channel, from a position where every defender is facing the ball and the keeper can collect. Two more seconds of carrying puts the ball behind everybody, with defenders running toward their own goal.

The two-runner condition solves a separate and very visible problem. One striker in the box is a defender's easiest afternoon. Two arriving from different angles is an actual decision, and it forces the rest of the team to get forward rather than watching the winger work.

Take the conditions off one at a time at the end. The behaviour that survives without the rule is the one that was actually learned.

How to run this drill

  1. Mark a channel down each flank. A goal only counts if the ball travelled through one. That single rule moves a team out of the crowded middle without anyone being positioned there.
  2. Insist the delivery stays on the ground. Not a style preference. Under-11s may not head the ball, so an aerial delivery is illegal, and it is also the one they cannot reliably strike.
  3. Carry it to the byline first. Releasing on entry to the channel gives the keeper an easy collect. Two more seconds puts the ball behind defenders running the wrong way.
  4. Pull it back behind the last defender. Across the face of goal is a pass to the goalkeeper. Into the space he has just vacated is a chance somebody only has to make contact with.
  5. Demand two runners in the box. One striker alone is a defender's easiest afternoon. Two arriving from different angles is a decision he has to get right.
  6. Remove the conditions one at a time. Play the last game with fewer rules, then none. Whatever behaviour survives without the rule is the part that was genuinely learned.

Coaching focus

FROM SESSION PLAN

Coaching points

  • Go wide when the middle is crowded, that is what width is for
  • Get to the byline before releasing, an early ball is easy to defend
  • Along the ground, and behind the last defender rather than across the face
  • Two runners minimum, one at the near post and one behind him
  • Arrive as the ball does, getting there first kills the chance

Common mistakes

  • Releasing the ball as soon as the channel is reached, from far too deep
  • Lifting the delivery, which is both illegal at under-11 and unattackable
  • One striker in the box on his own, so any decent defender wins it
  • Runners sprinting to the near post and arriving before the ball

Progressions & regressions

VARIATIONS

Progressions

  • Two touches only inside the channel
  • The second runner must be the one who finishes
  • Defenders may double up in the channel so the winger has to beat two

Regressions

  • Wide player is unopposed inside the channel
  • Widen the channels so there is more room to get to the byline
  • Drop the two-runner condition until the deliveries are arriving
Equipment
Full Goals×2
Markers×6
Tactical principles
wide channels gamelow cross drillcutback gameu11 crossing sessionu12 wide play gameno heading youth footballarriving in the boxconditioned game crossingyouth football widthbyline cutback
Audience
U11-U127v7

Make it yours

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LIBRARY
All Crossing drillsAll drill collectionsCrossing for U11-U12Crossing for 7v7

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For
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© 2026 Teloframe (formerly FC Tactix). All rights reserved.
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