Session

Dribbling session: attacking principles

Session

England Football Learning

2 mins - Sep 30, 2024

Session intentions

This is week five of the turning and dribbling session programme for 12-16s. Check out the whole six-week programme here.

The session aims to teach players to pass and move effectively. It emphasizes creating space and opportunities for themselves and their teammates.

It will help players:

keep composed on the ball
use a variety of dribbling techniques
make intelligent decisions when moving with the ball.

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

In our example, this is what we’ve used to set up this session. But adapt it to suit your team and the space available to you.

One pitch

21 players

Flat cones

Bibs

Attacking principles

Create two rectangular pitches with the halfway line marked out. One half of the pitch has a gate on each outward-facing side. Have one player start as a defender in the other half. Two attackers start outside the area. The aim is for the attackers to get past the defenders and out one of the gates.
Move to a pitch with a goal at one end. Mark out a third of the pitch at the other end. Split your players into two teams. Two defenders, the goalkeeper and two attackers start outside the marked zone. The aim is for the attackers to move the ball to players outside the zone before trying to score.
Expand your pitch by adding an end zone to the end of the already marked-out third. The attacking team aims to drive into space to create space to pass the ball before scoring.

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Tactics board

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

How to make it easier

Using the STEP framework (Youth Sports Trust, 2002) can help keep things fun, engaging, and appropriate. For this session, an example would be to make the area bigger to give your players more room to run with the ball. Adding overloads for the attacking team will also help make the practice easier.

How to make it harder

In the arrival activity, you could make it more difficult by adding an extra defender in the area with the gates.

You could progress the second activity by creating overloads and underloads in the two different sections of the pitch.

Try making the areas smaller and underload the attacking team to help the defenders more.

Coaching points

Stress the importance of being comfortable dribbling with both feet to maximize versatility. This will help minimize opponents' predictability.

Teach players to use subtle body movements and feints to deceive defenders. This will help them to create space and advance with the ball.

Show players how to use their bodies to protect the ball from defenders. Show them how to use their arms and body positioning to maintain possession under pressure.