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Home/Training Drills/Crossing Drills/Overlap and Cross
CrossingIntermediate

Overlap and Cross

Create and exploit a 2v1 in wide areas. Winger: draw the defender in before releasing the overlap. Fullback: time the run to arrive in behind. Striker: attack the back post late and finish the delivery.

Create your own drill
Live animationCRO
Duration
12 min
Total drill time
Players
5
Recommended
Pitch
48 × 40 m
Setup space
Level
Intermediate
Skill required
Intensity
High
Physical demand
Age band
U11-U12
Any format

Setup & instructions

In the final third, a winger holds the ball wide with a fullback inside and a striker central, against a defender. The winger carries inside to commit the defender, then releases the overlapping fullback down the line. The fullback drives to the byline and crosses; the striker attacks the back post to finish. Serve from both flanks and rotate.

Setup time: 3 min

Tactical breakdown

The overlap is not the move. Fixing the defender is the move, and everything else is a consequence of it. A full-back sprinting past a winger who has not engaged anybody is simply running into a defender who can see him coming and step across, and the overlap is spent for nothing.

So the winger's carry is the part to coach hardest. Driving infield at the defender, close enough that he has to react, is what makes the outside space real. Once his weight and eyes are on the ball, he cannot also cover a runner going past his shoulder, and the pass down the line becomes almost free.

Timing decides whether that space is used. The full-back arriving too early runs into the defender before he has committed, which forces the winger to release when the picture is not ready. Arriving late means the winger has carried into trouble and the moment has gone. The run should start as the winger begins his carry inside, so the two things happen together.

A call matters more here than in most combinations, because the winger is looking inside at the defender and cannot see behind his own shoulder. Without a shout the pass is a guess.

One caution: the overlap leaves the full-back's own flank empty. Against a team that counters quickly down that side, the run has a real cost, and somebody has to be covering it.

How to run this drill

  1. Winger carries infield at the defender. Close enough that he has to react. A run past a defender who has not engaged is simply running into someone who can see you coming.
  2. Start the overlap with the carry. The two happen together. Too early and the defender has not committed; too late and the winger has already carried himself into trouble.
  3. Call for it. The winger is looking inside at the defender and cannot see behind his own shoulder. Without a shout the release is a guess rather than a decision.
  4. Slip it down the line, weighted to run onto. Into the space rather than to feet, so the full-back reaches it at full speed and is at the byline before the defender can recover.
  5. Deliver from the byline. The overlap has bought the deep position, so use it. Crossing from where the winger already was wastes the advantage the combination just created.
  6. Cover the flank behind the run. The overlap empties the full-back's own side. Against a team that counters quickly there, somebody has to be sliding across, and it should be named.

Coaching focus

FROM SESSION PLAN

Coaching points

  • Winger carries inside to fix the defender before releasing the overlap
  • Fullback times the run to accelerate into the space, not too early
  • Communicate the overlap with a call so the pass is weighted down the line
  • Cross with pace, away from the keeper, to the back post or cut it back
  • Striker arrives late at the back post, on the move, not standing still
  • A second runner attacks the near post to occupy the defenders

Common mistakes

  • Fullback overlapping too early, before the defender is committed
  • Winger holding the ball too long and killing the momentum of the run
  • Cross behind the runners or straight to the keeper
  • Striker arriving too early and being marked out of the back post

Progressions & regressions

VARIATIONS

Progressions

  • Add a second defender to make the wide 2v1 harder to break
  • Give the fullback a choice: cross first time or cut it back
  • Add a near-post and back-post runner for the striker to combine with

Regressions

  • Remove the defender so the combination is unopposed
  • Let the fullback take a touch to set before crossing
  • Walk the timing of the overlap before adding pace
Equipment
Cones×2
Full Goals×1
Markers×2
Tactical principles
overlap and crossoverlapping full backwide 2v1fixing the defendercrossing drillwing play drillcombination in wide areastiming the overlapcrossing and finishingu12 crossing drill
Audience
U11-U12

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All Crossing drillsAll drill collectionsCrossing for U11-U12

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