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Home/Training Drills/Pressing Drills/Touchline Press Trap
PressingAdvanced

Touchline Press Trap

Trap the ball on the touchline and win it high. Show the opponent wide, cut the inside return with the angle of the press, and time the interception of the forced pass.

Create your own drill
Live animationPRS
Duration
12 min
Total drill time
Players
4
Recommended
Pitch
30 × 20 m
Setup space
Level
Advanced
Skill required
Intensity
High
Physical demand
Age band
U13-U14
Any format

Setup & instructions

Opponent plays out from the back with a wide outlet near the touchline. The pressing forward shows them wide, then presses on a curved run to cut the inside return, pinning the full-back against the line. The midfielder reads the trap and jumps the forced pass to win it, then springs the counter. Set the trigger as the pass to the wide player. Rotate roles.

Setup time: 2 min

Tactical breakdown

The touchline is a defender who never gets beaten, never gets tired and never makes a mistake. Any trap that uses it starts with an advantage no arrangement of players can replicate, because a carrier near the line has already lost half of his available directions before anybody presses him.

That is why showing the ball wide is so often the correct instruction. It looks passive, and coaches sometimes resist it because letting an opponent go outside feels like conceding something. What is actually being conceded is the least dangerous area of the pitch, in exchange for reducing a 360-degree problem to a 180-degree one.

The trap springs on the inside return. Once the carrier is wide, his only comfortable escape is back into midfield, and a presser whose angle sits on that line makes it unavailable. Now the options are a pass down the line into a defender who is expecting it, a ball into touch, or a dribble along a shrinking corridor. All three suit the defending team.

Timing the interception matters more here than elsewhere, because the forced pass is usually rushed and slightly loose. Leaving as it is struck rather than anticipating early is what turns a forced error into a turnover rather than a throw-in.

The common failure is pressing the carrier straight on. That leaves the inside return open, the ball comes back into midfield, and the touchline advantage that took thirty seconds to create is given away in one pass.

How to run this drill

  1. Invite the pass into the wide area. Leave the outside option apparently available. It looks passive and is the mechanism: the touchline halves the carrier's options before anyone arrives.
  2. Press on a curved run, not straight on. The angle must sit on the inside return. Approaching square leaves that lane open, the ball comes back into midfield, and the whole advantage is gone.
  3. Shut the escape back inside. With the return cut, the carrier is left with a pass down the line, a ball into touch, or a dribble along a shrinking corridor. All three suit you.
  4. Set the next defender on the line pass. The full-back or midfielder anticipates the ball down the touchline, because that is the option the trap has deliberately left as the least bad one.
  5. Time the interception to the release. Leave as the forced pass is struck rather than anticipating early. Going too soon turns a turnover into a throw-in and gives the ball straight back.
  6. Break inside immediately on the win. The ball is won wide with the opponent's shape stretched towards that touchline. The first pass should go central, into the space they have vacated.

Coaching focus

FROM SESSION PLAN

Coaching points

  • Show the opponent wide, then use the touchline as a defender
  • Curve the press to cut the inside return, do not run straight
  • Trigger the trap on the pass to the wide player
  • Midfielder reads the trap early and jumps the forced pass
  • Win it and go: the opponent is committed, so the counter is on

Common mistakes

  • Pressing straight, leaving the inside return open
  • Triggering the trap too early or too late
  • The midfielder jumping the pass a fraction late
  • Winning it and slowing down instead of countering

Progressions & regressions

VARIATIONS

Progressions

  • Add the opponent's spare man so the trap must be exact
  • Counter to a target or small goal to reward the transition
  • Live opposition trying to play out of the trap

Regressions

  • Opponent plays at walking pace to groove the angles
  • Pre-set the forced pass so the interception timing is clear
  • Remove the counter and stop on winning the ball
Equipment
Cones×3
Tactical principles
touchline presspressing trapshowing the ball widetrapping on the sidelinepressing drillcutting the inside passwinning the ball widedefensive trapadvanced pressing drillu14 pressing drill
Audience
U13-U14

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