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Home/Training Drills/Possession Drills/Phase of Play: Attacking Unit vs Defence
PossessionAdvanced

Phase of Play: Attacking Unit vs Defence

Attack as a unit against an organised defence. Play through midfield rather than around the outside of the practice, move the ball to the flank to unbalance the block, deliver early, and time the arrival in the box.

Create your own drill
Live animationPOS
Duration
20 min
Total drill time
Players
7
Recommended
Pitch
Half Pitch
Setup space
Level
Advanced
Skill required
Intensity
High
Physical demand
Age band
U13-U14
Any format

Setup & instructions

On half a pitch with a goal at each end, an attacking unit plays against a defending unit and keeper. Start with a fullback, limited to two touches and required to play into midfield. The defending team scores by attacking the far goal as soon as they regain it, with a short time limit to make them counter rather than just clear. Overload the coached team if you want a cleaner picture (9v8, 8v7), and vary the start position to rehearse different scenarios.

Setup time: 2 min

Tactical breakdown

Somewhere between a drill and a match there is a format most sessions skip. A drill rehearses a movement with no opponent making decisions. A match contains everything at once and repeats nothing. A phase of play sits in between: one direction, one part of the pitch, a real organised defence, and the same situation arriving again and again until players stop solving it by accident.

That is the only setting in which attacking a set defence can actually be practised, because in a full game the situation arrives perhaps a dozen times and never twice the same way.

The instruction that decides whether it works is to play through midfield rather than around the practice. Given a bounded area, players will exploit its edges, running down the outside of the exercise where no defender has been placed, which produces attacks that would not exist against eleven opponents. Coaching that out early is what keeps the phase honest.

Moving the ball wide to unbalance the block before attacking it is the pattern being rehearsed, in that order. Going wide first and attacking a block that has not shifted is the most common wasted repetition.

Delivering early rather than taking the extra touch near the byline is where the phase usually breaks down, because the extra touch feels safer and gives every defender another second to organise.

Be honest about the cost. This needs numbers, it involves standing between repetitions, and twenty minutes will produce maybe fifteen attacks. It is expensive, and for rehearsing the final third against a real defence there is no substitute.

How to run this drill

  1. Play through midfield, not around the practice. Players exploit the edges of a bounded area where no defender stands, producing attacks that could never happen in a real game.
  2. Shift the block before attacking it. Wide first, then attack. Going wide and delivering into a block that has not moved is the most common wasted repetition here.
  3. Deliver early from the flank. The extra touch near the byline feels safer and hands every defender another second to organise the space you were aiming at.
  4. Time the arrival rather than waiting. Players in the box should be arriving as the ball does. Standing in position is what makes a well-worked phase produce nothing.
  5. Keep the defence genuinely organised. A passive back line turns this into a pattern rehearsal. The value comes entirely from the defenders actually trying to defend.
  6. Accept the cost in numbers and time. Twenty minutes yields perhaps fifteen attacks with players standing between them. It is expensive and there is no substitute for it.

Coaching focus

FROM SESSION PLAN

Coaching points

  • Play through midfield, not around the practice
  • Move the ball wide to make the block shift before you attack it
  • Deliver early rather than taking the extra touch near the byline
  • Stagger the runs into the box: near post, penalty spot, back post
  • Think about your rest defence, they score the moment they win it

Common mistakes

  • Going around the practice sideways instead of playing forward
  • Everyone arriving in the box at the same time and the same spot
  • Delivering late, after the defence has recovered its shape
  • No rest defence, so a regain becomes a goal at the other end

Progressions & regressions

VARIATIONS

Progressions

  • Shorten the defenders' counter window to eight seconds
  • Take away the overload so it is even numbers
  • Add a condition that the goal must come from a cutback

Regressions

  • Overload the attacking unit further so the picture is clearer
  • Passive defenders while the pattern is rehearsed
  • Remove the defenders' counter goal at first
Equipment
Full Goals×2
Tactical principles
phase of playattacking unit vs defencefunctional practicedirectional practiceplaying through midfieldunbalancing the blocku14 possession drilltiming the arrival in the boxsession designadvanced team drill
Audience
U13-U14

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For
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