Here’s a counter-attacking small-sided game template you can use to coach passing, dribbling, defending, goalkeeping and more. It’s also great because it gets your players to develop their own tactics and discuss their strategy as the game unfolds – key skills when it comes to match-day.
The attacks in this game closely match those in a game, so soon your players will be breaking into the box like world-class midfielders such as Fabregas or Lampard.
Initial Set-Up
Mark out the area between the penalty box and just inside the halfway-line. Add a 6-yard deep ‘target-zone’ inside the penalty box. Now divide the whole area in half to create two narrow pitches.
Split your players into two even teams.
The Rules
Each team has to defend the target zone on one pitch and attack the target zone on the other pitch. Both the teams start the attack on their side at the same time and a goal is awarded to the first attacking team who control the ball in the target zone.
Play through ten attacks, both teams starting their attacks near the halfway line.
Each team can use four players on every turn. However the teams must decide how many players to put in defence and how many to attack with, as players can only go on one pitch during a turn. This means the choices are 1 attacker and 3 defenders, 2 attackers and 2 defenders, 3 attackers and 1 defender – or for the brave or stupid – four attackers and no defenders. Give the teams about 10 seconds to decide on their strategy before starting each turn.
The turn ends when either one team gets into the target zone (thus scores) or both balls have been cleared (or gone out of play). If the ball goes out of play on one pitch those players must wait for a decisive outcome on the other pitch before the next turn can begin.
If you have more than four players on each team, make sure that every team member is involved in the same number of turns and encourage players to try both attacking and defending roles.
In the diagram above, the white team are defending the left-hand pitch with 2 players and attacking the right-hand pitch with 2 players (the black team have 3 attackers and 1 defender). The white team will score if the attacker runs onto the through-pass and controls the ball within the target zone (inside the penalty box).
Like in a real-game the defence doesn’t score if they clear the ball but they do reduce the opponent’s potential score. Therefore the same balance must be struck between attack and defence as in a match.
Modifications & Progressions
You can play with just three players from each team to reduce the number of choices and provide more space for younger players, or you can crowd the pitches and challenge your players’ passing ability by adding more players.
You can also expand the target area to give more room to control the ball, or reduce the size to test your players’ touch.
You may choose to play without offside to encourage deep passing or play with offside to accurately recreate the match situation.
You can allow the defence to score by winning possession and passing to a teammate on the halfway line. This offers an incentive for the defence not just to kick the ball aimlessly out of play and introduces more decisions about risk and reward.
You can add a goal to the game and change the rules so that the first team to get into the penalty box can shoot on goal. If the shot goes in the attacking team get an additional point (i.e. one for getting into the box plus one for scoring).
You can also develop your players’ shooting skills by requiring a first-time shot or by removing the points for getting into the box (so that only successful shots earn a team a goal).
Finishing Off
The template of this game can be adapted in dozens of ways to emphasise your coaching points on dribbling, ball control, passing and movement, individual and team defending, finishing and even goalkeeping. Try it in training and see what you can come up with!
Following the game you will already have two even teams, so you can transition quickly into 4v4 games or other small-sided games.
