Progress the ball cleanly from the back to the final third. Build with a pass into feet, receive on the half turn to progress, and penetrate the last line with a well-timed forward pass.
Split the area into three thirds with markers and a mannequin on each line. Play the ball forward through the thirds: up into the dropping midfielder, progress through the middle on the half turn, then penetrate into the striker in the final third. Each receiver opens the body to play forward. Add live defenders on the lines as a progression.
Possession dies in the middle third. Teams generally get out of their own defensive third acceptably, because they practise it, and they know roughly what to do in the final third because that is where the goals are. The ball is lost in between, and it is lost there because the middle third is the only part of the pitch where a player is pressed from every direction at once with no touchline to help him.
The pass into feet is what unlocks it, and it needs to be firm. A soft pass into a congested area lets the defender reach it, and a receiver who has to stretch cannot open up. Firm and to the correct foot buys the receiver the half second he needs, which is the whole margin available in that zone.
Then the receiver opens up. Everything in this exercise depends on somebody in the middle turning to face forward, because a team that receives, plays backwards, and recirculates is not progressing, it is just holding the ball in front of an organised opponent.
Timing the final pass is where the exercise ends and it is a judgement rather than a technique. Played early it goes into a defence that is still set and gets intercepted. Played late the runner is offside or the gap has closed. The cue is the defensive line beginning to step or a defender's head turning.
Name the trade-off. Progressing quickly through the middle means fewer touches and more risk. A team that recirculates safely will keep the ball longer and create less, and both those things are true at once.
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.