Week 3: attacking moves

When a player is frozen they stand with their legs apart, and the others dribble through their legs to unfreeze them.

• 1 or 2 balls

A safe version of smear the dribbler: one or two balls, and every player tries to keep the ball as long as they can. King or queen of the hill.

• All players
• Ball for each player

1. Review a ball mastery skill together (start with simple toe taps).
2. Players dribble in open space, avoiding each other.
3. Every 15+ seconds, have the players stop the ball and perform the skill again.
4. Rotate the mastery skill: taps, then boxers, then dribbling in a circle with the inside of the foot.

As play progresses

Introduce drag turns (simple pull backs) and jump over turns, where players stop the ball, jump over it, turn around, and start dribbling again.

• 4 or more players
• Ball for each player
• No goals

Set up for 1 and 2 are the same.

Setup 1

1. Dribble to the box in the middle.
2. Turn and dribble back.
3. Use simple mastery touches and moves.

Setup 2

Dribble to the flag, make an attacking move, and dribble to the other side.

1. Dribble at a cone and make a move around it.
2. Then dribble to the back of the other line, or pass to the next player.
3. The pattern repeats.

No pressure here. This is about the move itself, done cleanly and at pace.

1. Stand in the centre of the field with 2 goals behind you.
2. As the attacker dribbles at you, move to one side.
3. That makes them play a move to the other side to score.

Make it a 1v1

A defender waiting between the goals joins the play as soon as the attacker dribbles around the coach. Low pressure for the move, then full pressure to see if they can score.

Similar to beating the coach, just move the goals for a different angle.

1. The attacker dribbles toward one goal to open space at the other.
2. The coach moves across to take away the space the attacker is dribbling to.
3. If the coach doesn't move, the attacker can just dribble with pace to that goal.

Make it a 1v1

A defender waiting between the goals joins the play as soon as the attacker dribbles around the coach.

A simple attacker starting with the ball, dribbling to a goal against a defender.

Mix and match the three attacking games however you want them to play.

1. The defender passes a ball to the attacker.
2. The attacker now plays 1v1 to two goals.
3. The defender comes out to close them down.

More passing

Add a second attacker and play 2v1 to encourage passing.

1. The coach starts the game.
2. Each player has a goal to score on and a goal to defend.

Progress it

Add a second or third player to each side to build toward the final game.

• 6 players minimum
• 2 goals
• Field split into 3 zones

1. Play 3v3 across 3 zones — or 3v1, three times.
2. Defenders must stay in their zone.
3. Attacking players work the ball through each zone to score.
4. If they score, they get a new ball and play the opposite direction.

Restrict each zone to suit your topic

• Two touch in the defensive and midfield zones, unlimited in the attacking zone.
• Goals must be one touch.
• Every player must touch the ball in each zone before scoring.

Roles switch when

The attackers kick the ball out of bounds (side or endline), or a defender wins the ball and completes a pass to a teammate in a different zone.

Another transition option

Depending on numbers: when the ball is out or turned over, play stops, the three defenders move to the middle zone and become the attackers, and three new players join as defenders. The attacking team tries to stay on the field as long as possible.