Marking and intercepting session: defend as friends

Session

England Football Learning

2 mins - Jun 9, 2025

Session intentions

This is week two of the marking and intercepting session programme. Check out the whole six-week programme here.

This session will help players:

become positive and enthusiastic defenders
use scanning, movement, and positioning skills to mark an opponent or zone
communicate with teammates to defend effectively.

If you're short on time, this structured training programme can be used as it is. Pitch sizes in this programme are shown as how long the pitch is x how wide it is, but these are just suggestions.

To make the programme more effective, adapt it to suit your players, your numbers and the space you have. If you want to skip, repeat or amend these sessions – that's fine. It’s up to you how you use this resource.

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.

If you’re coaching U7s, please note that from the 2026-27 season, changes will be made to the formats to improve the experience young players get across the country. Check out the Future Fit digital content hub to find out more.

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.

Quarter of a pitch

Ten players

Goals

Flat cones

Bibs

Defend as friends

For cat and mouse, create a 5x5-yard square. Have a 1v1 with players starting opposite each other. The mouse carries a football. Players run around the area. They can’t go through it. The cat has 15 seconds to tag the mouse. Players swap roles after the time limit or if the mouse is caught.
Create a 30x20-yard area and split it into five sections. Have a 1v1 in each. Players are locked in. One team starts with the ball. The other side work together to win it back. The aim is to keep possession as a team. Teams score a point when all their players have had the ball without losing it.
Use the end channels from the last game for this 3v2 practice. Have an attacker at both ends of the channel, with one in the middle against two defenders. Attackers try to get it from one side to the other. Defenders work together mark, cover, and intercept to win the ball.
Return to the rivals game but remove the middle channels. Put a line of cones down each side of the pitch. Teams combine to try to work the ball over the end line to score. The scorer then runs off to turn one of their cones over. This then creates an overload for the opposition.

0/0

Tactics board

Looking for a bit more detail? Check out Vinny'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 this session easier, you could:

unlock the players in the rivals game
make the pitch smaller in the rivals game so it’s easier for players to mark their opponent
use the end zones in the final activity as an offside line.

Make it harder

To make this session harder, you could:

make the square bigger for the cat and mouse arrival activity
make the scoring system easier to achieve in the rivals game, which increases the difficulty for the out-of-possession side
allow an attacker to enter the channel to create a 2v2 in there for the third practice.