Two players look to challenge a player dribbling with the ball.

Session

Pressing and tackling session: 3v3 tournament challenge

Session

England Football Learning

3 mins - Dec 9, 2024

Session intentions

This is the final week of the pressing and tackling to win the ball session programme. Check out the whole six-week programme here.

This session puts the focus on pressing and tackling in a fun, competitive environment.

It will help players:

get used to tackling for the ball
work with teammates to press
understand when, where and how to press and tackle.

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.

Half a pitch

12 players

Flat cones

Bibs

3v3 tournament challenge

Mark out different sized shapes on your pitch. These are castles. Choose four guards to protect them. Everyone else has a bib and tries to get into a castle without losing their bib to a guard. Players get a point each time they do this. If a guard steals a bib, they change roles with that player.
Create a pitch with a halfway line. In this part of the 3v3 tournament, if teams win the ball in their opponent’s half and score, they get three goals. If they win the ball in their own half and score, they get one goal. Ensure all teams get to play each other.
Split a pitch into thirds. Here, teams get five goals for scoring after winning the ball in the final third. Three goals for scoring after winning the ball back in the middle third. And one goal for scoring after winning the ball in their own defensive third. Ensure all teams get to play each other.
On this pitch, ask players to choose one of their teammates to be the golden player. If a golden player scores, it’s worth three goals. If anyone else scores, it’s worth one goal. Ensure all teams get to play each other. Ask teams to change their golden player each time they play.

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Tactics board

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

Make it easier

Using the STEP framework (Youth Sports Trust, 2002) can help keep things fun, engaging, and appropriate.

To make the first activity easier, adjust the size of the castles. Making them bigger will likely give players more success of beating the guards.

You can change the sizes of the tournament pitches, too. For instance, smaller pitches will make it easier for players to press their opponents and win the ball back.

Make it harder

To increase the challenge of the first activity, you could have more guards and make the castles smaller. You could also introduce a time limit to encourage players to move to a castle more quickly. And you can give players a ball to protect rather than a bib.

Changing the size of the tournament pitches can also increase the difficulty. If they’re long and wide, there’s more space for the opposition to exploit, and it makes it more challenging to press at the right time.

Coaching points

Ensure you provide a variety of pitch sizes to bring out different learning outcomes.

Provide rest breaks and encourage players to chat with their teammates about strategies and tactics for the next game.

Use ‘drive-by’ coaching interactions during the tournament. Take opportunities to give information to individuals with minimal disruption. Waiting for the ball to go out of play is an ideal opportunity.

Create the fixtures on a whiteboard and tally up the points to keep track of the tournament’s progress.