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Home/Training Drills/Dribbling Drills/Turning with the Ball (Cruyff Turn)
DribblingIntermediate

Turning with the Ball (Cruyff Turn)

Turn out of pressure cleanly with a Cruyff turn. Sell the fake, drag the ball behind the standing leg to change direction, and accelerate away into space in one movement.

Create your own drill
Live animationDRI
Duration
9 min
Total drill time
Players
2
Recommended
Pitch
16 × 24 m
Setup space
Level
Intermediate
Skill required
Intensity
Medium
Physical demand
Age band
U9-U10
Any format

Setup & instructions

A server plays into a player with a mannequin marking from behind. The player fakes to go one way, then drags the ball behind the standing leg with the inside of the foot to turn 180 and drive away, the Cruyff turn. Sell the fake with the body, and accelerate out of the turn. Rotate and practise turning off both feet.

Setup time: 1 min

Tactical breakdown

The Cruyff turn is usually taught as a skill move and it is more useful than that. It is the standard solution to one of the most common problems in football: receiving with your back to pressure and nowhere obvious to go. A player who can execute it reliably stops being a dead end whenever the ball comes into him facing his own goal.

The move is a lie followed by a disappearance. The lie is the body shape: the player looks like he is about to pass or drive in one direction, weight shifting that way, and it has to be convincing enough that the marker shifts with him. The disappearance is the drag, taking the ball with the inside of the foot behind the standing leg, which is what makes it unavailable to a defender who has just committed.

The detail that separates a working Cruyff turn from a slow pirouette is how tight it is. The ball should travel behind the standing leg and no further. Players who drag it wide end up turning around the ball rather than with it, which gives a recovering defender time to get across.

The last part is the one coaches skip. A turn that ends facing the right way but standing still has solved nothing, because the pressure arrives a second later. The acceleration out of the turn is what buys the time, and it should be coached as part of the move rather than as an afterthought.

How to run this drill

  1. Check to the ball and receive on the half turn. Move towards the ball rather than waiting for it, and open the body if the marker allows. Half of the problem disappears if the player never fully turns his back.
  2. Sell the fake with the whole body. Look and lean as if playing or driving one way. The marker has to move with it. A fake made with the foot alone changes nothing about where his weight is.
  3. Drag the ball behind the standing leg. Take it with the inside of the foot, behind the planted leg, and no further. The standing leg is what hides the ball from a defender who has just committed.
  4. Turn tight and stay low. Spin with the ball rather than around it. A wide drag turns the move into a slow pirouette and gives a recovering defender time to get across.
  5. Accelerate out of the turn. Two hard touches away from where the marker was. A turn that finishes facing the right way but standing still has only delayed the pressure by a second.

Coaching focus

FROM SESSION PLAN

Coaching points

  • Check to the ball and receive on the half turn if you can
  • Sell the fake with the body, look like you will play it
  • Drag the ball behind the standing leg with the inside of the foot
  • Turn tight and low, then accelerate out of the turn
  • Protect the ball with your body through the turn

Common mistakes

  • No disguise, so the marker reads the turn
  • A heavy touch on the drag, losing the ball behind
  • Standing tall through the turn, easy to dispossess
  • No acceleration out of the turn, letting the marker recover

Progressions & regressions

VARIATIONS

Progressions

  • Add a live defender instead of a mannequin
  • Turn first time as the ball arrives
  • Vary the turn: Cruyff, drag-back, or a chop to escape

Regressions

  • Walk the turn to groove the footwork
  • Remove the marker and turn unopposed
  • Receive facing the way you want to go at first
Equipment
Cones×2
Mannequins×1
Tactical principles
cruyff turnhow to do a cruyff turnturning drillturn out of pressurereceiving with back to goaldribbling drillfootball skillsescape turnyouth turning drillu10 skill move
Audience
U9-U10

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