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Home/Training Drills/Passing Drills/The Takeover (Crossover Play)
PassingIntermediate

The Takeover (Crossover Play)

Beat pressure with a takeover. Run toward your teammate, leave the ball for him as you cross, and continue as a decoy while he drives away in the opposite direction.

Create your own drill
Live animationPAS
Duration
8 min
Total drill time
Players
3
Recommended
Pitch
40 × 30 m
Setup space
Level
Intermediate
Skill required
Intensity
Medium
Physical demand
Age band
U9-U10
Any format

Setup & instructions

Two players run toward each other with a defender between them. The carrier leaves the ball for the runner as they cross and continues on as a decoy, and the runner takes it away in the opposite direction. Emphasise timing the cross, a soft hidden hand-off, and selling the decoy run. Take it or leave it depending on the defender. Rotate the roles.

Setup time: 1 min

Tactical breakdown

Every other move in this family relies on lying to a defender about direction or tempo. The takeover works differently: it makes him uncertain about who has the ball at all. Two players run towards each other, one leaves it, the other takes it, and for a moment neither the marker nor his teammate can be sure which runner to follow.

That uncertainty is the entire product, which means the quality of the decoy matters more than the quality of the touch. A carrier who hands the ball over and then jogs away has resolved the defender's confusion instantly. A carrier who continues at full speed with his body shape unchanged, as though still carrying it, keeps a defender committed to the wrong player for the two or three strides that matter.

The technical part is smaller than players expect. The ball is not passed, it is left. A soft ball placed in the path of the arriving teammate, ideally shielded by the carrier's body as they cross, is all that is required. Anything struck is easy to read and easy to intercept, and it removes the ambiguity by making the moment of transfer obvious.

The communication is usually a call or a look, and it should be agreed in advance rather than improvised, because the failure mode is both players leaving the ball or both taking it. Run the exchange slowly until the cue is reliable, then add speed and a defender.

How to run this drill

  1. Run towards each other on crossing paths. The two players converge rather than meeting head on, so there is a natural crossing point where the exchange can be hidden by their bodies.
  2. Agree the cue before you cross. A call or an early look decides who takes it. The failure mode is both leaving it or both taking it, and that is a communication error, not a technical one.
  3. Leave the ball, do not pass it. A soft ball placed in the arriving player's path, shielded by the bodies as they cross. Anything struck is obvious, easy to read and easy to intercept.
  4. Carrier keeps running as a decoy. This is the part that makes the move work. Same speed, same body shape, as though still carrying it. Jogging away resolves the defender's confusion immediately.
  5. Taker drives away at pace. Accelerate in the opposite direction the instant the ball is collected. The window created by the ambiguity is two or three strides at most.
  6. Add the option of not taking it. Once the exchange is reliable, let the carrier keep the ball sometimes. If the takeover always happens, defenders stop following the decoy and it stops working.

Coaching focus

FROM SESSION PLAN

Coaching points

  • Run toward each other to set the crossover
  • Leave it soft and hidden as you cross
  • Carrier continues as a convincing decoy
  • Runner takes it away, opposite direction
  • Read the defender: take it or leave it

Common mistakes

  • Mistiming the cross, the hand-off is early or late
  • Passing it hard instead of leaving it
  • No decoy, the defender reads the ball
  • Both players wanting the ball, a collision

Progressions & regressions

VARIATIONS

Progressions

  • Take it or leave it as a decision on the defender
  • Takeover into a pass or a shot
  • Live defender who can read it

Regressions

  • Walk the crossover and the hand-off
  • No defender to groove the timing
  • Set who takes and who leaves it
Equipment
Cones×3
Tactical principles
takeovercrossover playfootball takeover movetwo player combinationbeat pressuredribbling drillcombination playdecoy runyouth combination drillu12 skill move
Audience
U9-U10

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