TeloframeTeloframe
Features
For CoachesFor ClubsPricingLibraryDrills
Sign inStart free
Teloframe

The Coach OS for football. Plan, run, observe, reflect, develop, one loop, one tool.

Product
Tactics boardDrill editorSession plannerMatch dayPlayer developmentClub workspaceAI assistantExport and sharingAll features
Explore
Tactics librarySession plansDrill libraryFormationsGuidesVideo tutorials
Use cases
Coaches and academiesContent creatorsSession planner softwareTactics board software
Company
PricingFAQContactOpen Teloframe
© 2026 Teloframe. Built for serious staff.PrivacyTermsSafeguardingSecurityDPASubprocessorsCookies All systems normal
TeloframeTeloframe
Features
For CoachesFor ClubsPricingLibraryDrills
Sign inStart free
/
/
/
Teloframe

The Coach OS for football. Plan, run, observe, reflect, develop, one loop, one tool.

Product
Tactics boardDrill editorSession plannerMatch dayPlayer developmentClub workspaceAI assistantExport and sharingAll features
Explore
Tactics librarySession plansDrill libraryFormationsGuidesVideo tutorials
Use cases
Coaches and academiesContent creatorsSession planner softwareTactics board software
Company
PricingFAQContactOpen Teloframe
© 2026 Teloframe. Built for serious staff.PrivacyTermsSafeguardingSecurityDPASubprocessorsCookies All systems normal
TeloframeTeloframe
Features
For CoachesFor ClubsPricingLibraryDrills
Sign inStart free
Home/Training Drills/Passing Drills/Set to the Middle Man
PassingIntermediate

Set to the Middle Man

Train the central receiver who takes the ball at very close range and moves it on. The corner players learn when the middle is available, and the middle player learns to turn the ball to a different side than it came from.

Create your own drill
Live animationPAS
Duration
14 min
Total drill time
Players
5
Recommended
Pitch
Full Pitch
Setup space
Level
Intermediate
Skill required
Intensity
Medium
Physical demand
Age band
U13-U14
Any format

Setup & instructions

Mark a square about eleven metres across with a player on each corner and one in the middle. Transfer the ball around and across the square, and whenever the middle man shows, set it into him from close range. He plays it out first time to a different corner than it came from. Rotate the middle player every two minutes, and keep the sets genuinely short, around a metre or two.

Setup time: 1 min

Tactical breakdown

The central receiver is the position that decides whether a team can play forward or only sideways. He receives with people around him, often facing his own goal, and the whole attack depends on whether he can turn the ball to a side it did not come from.

What makes this version demanding is the distance. The sets into the middle are barely a metre, which means the middle man has no time at all between the ball leaving a corner and arriving at his feet. There is nothing to be gained from scanning after receipt, because the ball is already there. Everything has to be decided while it travels, which at a metre is almost no time.

The rule that he must play out to a different corner is what stops the exercise being decorative. A ball set in and returned to the same corner has moved nobody and achieved nothing; in a match that is a midfielder receiving, panicking, and giving it straight back. Turning it to another side means the shape has genuinely been played through, which is the only reason to use a central player at all.

The corner players have a real job too, which usually goes uncoached. They have to recognise when the middle is available and when it is not, and to move along their side to open the angle in. Feeding a covered central player is worse than not looking for him, because it loses the ball in the middle of the pitch, which is the most expensive place to lose it.

How to run this drill

  1. Show across a corner. A middle player standing exactly between two corners is passable from neither. Half a step across a shoulder makes the angle exist.
  2. Decide before it arrives. The set is a metre. There is no scanning time after you receive, so your next pass has to be chosen while the ball is still travelling.
  3. Play out to a different corner. Returning it where it came from means nobody has been played through and nothing has been achieved. This is the rule the drill lives on.
  4. First time out of the middle. At this range a controlling touch is always too slow. In a match it is the touch that lets a midfielder get dispossessed centrally.
  5. Corner players open the angle. Standing still on your marker offers one line in all session. Sliding a couple of metres along your side creates the pass that was not there.
  6. Do not force it into a covered middle. Feeding a marked central player loses the ball in the worst area on the pitch. If he is not free, transfer round the square instead.

Coaching focus

FROM SESSION PLAN

Coaching points

  • The middle man shows across a corner, not directly between two of them
  • Set it into him at close range, firm enough to be redirected
  • He plays out to a different corner than the ball came from
  • First time out of the middle, always
  • Corner players move along their side to open the angle in
  • If the middle is not available, transfer around the square instead

Common mistakes

  • Playing the ball out of the middle to the same corner it came from
  • The middle man standing still and never showing an angle
  • Setting into the middle when he is not actually free
  • Taking a touch in the middle, which in this space is always too slow

Progressions & regressions

VARIATIONS

Progressions

  • One touch everywhere including the transfers
  • Add a defender who tries to intercept the pass into the middle
  • Two central players sharing the middle

Regressions

  • Allow the middle man two touches
  • Widen the square so the sets are three or four metres
  • Remove the middle player and simply transfer the square
Equipment
Markers×4
Tactical principles
central midfielder passing drillplaying through the middle drillsquare passing drillu13 passing drillone touch passing drillreceiving on the half turnfive player passing drilltechnical passing sessionpivot player drillshort passing drill
Audience
U13-U14

Make it yours

Save this drill to your private library, then tweak the animation, swap equipment, or drop it into a session.

Explore more drills

LIBRARY
All Passing drillsAll drill collectionsPassing for U13-U14

Ready to run this drill?

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.

Library Create your own drill
Teloframe

The Coach OS for football. Plan, run, observe, reflect, develop, one loop, one tool.

Product
Tactics boardDrill editorSession plannerMatch dayPlayer developmentClub workspaceAI assistantExport and sharingAll features
Explore
Tactics librarySession plansDrill libraryFormationsGuidesVideo tutorials
Use cases
Coaches and academiesContent creatorsSession planner softwareTactics board software
Company
PricingFAQContactOpen Teloframe
© 2026 Teloframe. Built for serious staff.PrivacyTermsSafeguardingSecurityDPASubprocessorsCookies All systems normal