A player moves with the ball surrounded by opponents.

Session

Moving with the ball and turning session: finding space to attack

Session

England Football Learning

2 mins - Sep 1, 2025

Session intentions

This is week one of the moving with the ball and turning session programme. Check out the whole six-week programme here.

This session will help players:

recognise space to attack into
work with a teammate to beat defenders
improve decision-making skills when moving with the ball and turning.

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 session 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 and alter training plans accordingly.

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.

35x25-yard pitch

Seven players

Mini-goals

Flat cones

Bibs

Finding space to attack

Bib steal: Set up a 20x15-yard area. Each player has a bib tucked into their shorts in line with their hip. Players try to steal other bibs while protecting their own. If they steal a bib, they tuck that into their shorts. If they lose their bib, they try to get another one.
Double trouble: Put a goal at each end of your pitch. Have a keeper and a defender at one end with the attackers opposite. Attackers move and combine to try to score. If the defender wins the ball, they work with the keeper to attack the opposite end. When play resets, the next pair have a go.
End zone game: Use the same area but use end zones instead of goals. Have a neutral target player in each end zone. Teams work together to get the ball to a target player to score a point. If they do, they get the ball back and try to get it to the target player at the other end to score again.
Small-sided game: Use the same area again but use the goals at both ends. Players take part in a match to put their learning into action.

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On the pitch

Looking for a bit more detail? Check out this video to see what it can look like on the pitch.

Make it easier

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

To make this session easier for the players, you could:

increase the size of the bib tag area to give players more time and space
use overloads to give a side a better chance of success during the end zone game – but rotate the teams so both sides experience having an overload
introduce safe zones in the match where players are unopposed to give them time to move with the ball without being tackled.

Make it harder

To make this session harder for the players, you could:

decrease the size of the bib tag area to encourage more scanning and turning
add another defender into the double trouble game
during the end zone game, add in a halfway line and players can only connect with the target player in the opposition half.

Coaching points

Ask players to think about how they can beat a defender using their movement or a teammate.

Encourage players to look around to identify where the space is, where the opposition is, and where their teammates are.

Encourage players to create passing angles by finding areas of space where the player on the ball can see them.

Ask your players to think about how they time their movement. If they move too early, the defender may follow them and mark. If they move too late, the space may disappear, and the defender can intercept.

Help the players understand the end zone game by relating it to positions on the pitch. Passing into a target player can represent a midfielder playing into the feet of a striker.