Marking session: marking rivals

Session

England Football Learning

2 mins - Jun 2, 2025

Session intentions

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

This session will help players:

understand what marking is
become positive and enthusiastic defenders
use scanning, movement, and positioning skills to mark an opponent or zone.

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

12 players

Goals

Flat cones

Bibs

Marking rivals

For cat and mouse, create a 5x5-yard square. Have a 1v1 with players starting opposite each other on the outside of the area. 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.
For the stadium game, create a 30x20-yard area with a halfway line. Pair players up. Allocate each player to a team and give them a half to act as their stadium. One player in each pair starts with a ball. The aim is to have the ball under control in your own stadium after 30 seconds.
Put flat markers down in a ‘T’ shape to split the stadium game pitch into three areas for 3v3 rivals. Have a 1v1 in each area. Players are locked in. One team starts with the ball. The aim is to keep possession as a team. The team off the ball must work together to mark effectively to win it back.
You could progress this game to make it directional by adding end zones, gates or goals. Overall, play for five to seven minutes, then have a break before playing another round.

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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:

if players manage to tap the ball with their foot, they gain possession during the stadium game
unlock the players in the 3v3 rivals game
make the pitch smaller in the 3v3 rivals game so it’s easier for players to mark their opponent.

Make it harder

To make this session harder, you could:

make the square bigger for the cat and mouse arrival activity
make the halfway line a zone for players needing a rest, and start the stadium game off with them passing into a player
overload the team on the ball during the final game, making it harder for the out of possession side.

Coaching points

Focus on really good movement to close the ball down. Encourage players to try to stay close to their opponent to prevent them from receiving the ball easily.

Encourage players to be goal-side of their opponents to stop them from having an easy route to goal.

Ask players to think about their body positioning. Being able to see their opponent and the ball at the same time can help with anticipating an opponent’s next move. And adopting a side-on stance at the right time can help them steal the ball.