Safe Diamond

1. Mark a pitch about 25 metres long and 16 wide with a small goal at each end. In the middle, put four cones in a diamond about 6 metres across.
2. Three against three, no keepers. With more players, set up more pitches side by side and change opponents every 5 minutes.
3. Nobody may run or dribble through the diamond, with one exception: one player from the team with the ball may step in to take a pass. Inside, nobody can tackle them, and the ball has to leave by a pass.
4. Defenders never enter the diamond, but they can cut out the pass on its way in or out.
5. Score in the other team's goal. When the ball goes off the side, restart with a pass or a dribble in from where it went out.

The diamond is a free pass, and everyone can see it. The team on the ball decides when to use it: when the routes round the outside are blocked, a pass into the diamond and straight out again is the way through. The player who steps in decides when to go. Too early, and the defenders shut the line into it, so the move has to come just as the pass can be played. Inside, nobody can tackle them, but the defenders are already moving to block the way out, so the look comes before the ball does: to a teammate's feet, or into the space in front of one. Defending, the team has a hole in the middle of its pitch, and has to choose between pressing the ball and standing in the lines to the diamond.