Screen the pocket to deny the 10. Position in the passing lane in the cover shadow, force play backward, and step in to intercept the forced pass between the lines.
The opponents try to play into a number 10 in the pocket between the lines. The holding midfielder positions in the passing lane, in the cover shadow, to deny it, forcing play backward or wide. When the pass is forced through, the screen steps in to intercept. Emphasise positioning and reading the pass over chasing. Rotate the roles.
Marking the ten means following him wherever he chooses to go, which hands a good one the ability to drag a holding midfielder out of position simply by walking. Screening the pocket inverts that: the defender occupies the passing lane rather than the player, and the ten can stand anywhere he likes without ever receiving the ball.
That difference is worth labouring because it changes what the defender watches. A man-marker watches his opponent. A screener watches the ball and the lane between it and the space behind him, adjusting his position as the ball moves rather than as the attacker moves. His body sits in the cover shadow, which means the passer simply cannot see the option.
The positional cue is between the ball and the pocket, closer to the pocket than the ball. Standing too near the ball turns the screen into a press and opens the lane behind. Standing too deep lets the pass be played in front of the defender, and the ten receives facing forward with the screen behind him, which is worse than not screening at all.
The intervention comes when the pass is finally forced. A ball played into a screened pocket is usually rushed, slightly behind, or clipped, and that is the interception rather than a tackle on the receiver.
The honest cost: a screener is not marking anybody, so a second runner arriving into the same area is unmarked. This works within a defensive structure where somebody else picks that up, and badly as an isolated individual instruction.
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.