2v2 Press and Cover: A Defending Game for U9 to U14

How to set it up

• Mark a 20 by 30 metre area split lengthways into three lanes, with a goal and a goalkeeper at each end.
• Three teams of three or four. Two teams play 2v2 at a time; the third waits for one round only.

How to play

• The defending pair passes the ball to the attacking pair; the defenders can press as soon as the attackers touch it.
• The attackers score in the goal behind the defenders. If the defenders win the ball, they attack the other goal.
• When the ball is served from one side, the game uses only that side lane and the middle lane.
• After a goal or the ball going out, the teams rotate roles and the serving side changes.
• Play twenty attacks; the team with the most goals wins.

Why it works

With two defenders, the first lesson comes on its own: if both run at the ball, the other attacker is free. The pair has to split the jobs: one goes to the ball, the other stays behind and to the side.

Then the ball moves and the jobs swap. The defender who was covering is now nearest the ball and becomes the presser.

What to coach

• The defender nearest the ball presses straight away.
• The second defender moves closer to the other attacker, behind and to the side of the presser.
• The presser shows the ball carrier wide, towards the side line, away from goal.
• When the ball is passed, swap roles quickly: the new presser goes, the other drops into cover.

Questions to ask

• "Who went to the ball, and where was your partner?"
• "What happened when you both went for the ball?"
• "How did you tell each other who presses?"

Make it easier, make it harder

• Easier: a narrower area; the attackers must make two passes before they shoot.
• Harder: a wider area; 3v2 for the attackers; the defenders must win the ball within ten seconds.

How to adapt it by age

• U9 to U10: a narrow area and the two-lane rule.
• U11 to U12: the full area and swapping roles on every pass.
• U13 to U14: 3v2 attacks and the ten-second rule.