Challenging session: 1v1 recovery

Session

England Football Learning

3 mins - Jun 3, 2024

Session overview

This session will help players:

win the ball back
create goalscoring opportunities
make effective recovery runs.

If you like this idea, download the session plan and give it a go. And don't forget to share your experience on the England Football Community. We'd love to know how you got on.

Session setup

Set up an area with mini-goals at both ends of the pitch and a marked-out half-way line. Split your players into two teams. They should be lined up at either end of the pitch. Our example uses ten players and a pitch of 10x20 yards.

1v1 recovery

The ball is played into one of the players. They then become the attacking player. As this happens, a player from the other team comes onto the pitch to become the defending player. These two players have a 1v1.
The aim is to score in one of the mini-goals. The attacking player receives one point for a goal. If the defending player can win the ball back and score, it is worth two points. If a goal is scored or the ball goes out, they rejoin the back of the line, and the next players move onto the pitch.
Progress the session by giving the player from both teams at the front of the queue a ball. One of the players runs into the opposition half and then has a shot. This player then continues and has to touch a post of the mini-goal they have just shot into.
Once the post has been touched, the player from the other team waiting with the ball can come out onto the pitch and attack. The player who has touched the post aims to make an effective recovery run, win the ball, and score again.
Expand the playing area to half a pitch with regular goals. Mark out two wide zones about ten yards wide on both sides of the pitch, then split them in half to create four boxes. One player stands in each box and is neutral. A regular game is played in the middle with your remaining players.
The ball starts by going out to one of the players in the wide zones. The wide players then look to play the ball into the middle of the pitch. A regular goal is worth one point, but it is worth five points if the players win the ball back and score from that.

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Tactics board

Looking for a bit more detail? Check out Amanda’s tactics board video for this session.

Coaching tips

Have your defending players think about triggers for when to challenge. Get your players to consider the following:

Does the player have their head down?
Do they have a big first touch?
Which foot do they prefer to shoot with?
Where are the opposition's supporting players?
Where are the other defending players?
Can you show them away from goal?
Do you know your opponent, are you quicker or stronger than them?
Do you need to be patient to delay the attack to wait for the right opportunity?

Remember, learning takes time. So don’t alter things too quickly or too much. Using the STEP framework (Youth Sports Trust, 2002) can help keep things fun, engaging and appropriate.