Possession, forward passes, layoff, and shooting on a small goal. All the elements are in place to offer a quality drill to your players.
Set up a rectangle of about 15x10m in which you place 3 attackers and 1 defender. Then place 4 cones about 10m outside the rectangle so your players can perform a series of passes before finishing on a small goal in front.
The exercise starts with a 3vs1 in the small rectangle. After a few exchanges, the player furthest up the field will lay it off with one touch to one of his 2 other teammates in the rectangle. The latter will then play it to player A.
Player A will lay it off to one of the two players positioned behind: B or C. It's his decision. In our animation, the layoff is made to player B. Once received, player B will deliver a through ball to D, who will finish on the small goal.
The 2 passing options for player A
The first phase of possession must be done in 4 to 5 passes in order to quickly find an available player forward. Once this first phase is completed, it is important that the rest of the exercise is very fast. The one-touch pass from player B must be precise and placed just in front of B or C.
Rhythm is crucial in this exercise: the sequences must follow one another to create enthusiasm among your players and avoid boredom (knowing that some players may not touch the ball in certain sequences).
For your information, this is one of the exercises practiced by Pep Guardiola at Manchester City in August 2018.
