Pressing session: press to dictate

Session

England Football Learning

2 mins - Mar 10, 2025

Session intentions

This is week three of the pressing and covering session programme. Check out the whole six-week programme here.

This session will help players:

work on when and how to press
improve their ability to apply pressure to the player on the ball
dictate the direction of the player in possession.

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.

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.

30x50-yard pitch

16 players

Mini-goals

Flat cones

Bibs

Press to dictate

Create 15x10-yard areas with three goals at each end for a 1v1 activity. Have other pairs waiting outside. The attacker receives the ball and goes for goal. Scoring in the middle goal is worth five points, the two side goals are worth one point. The defender can win the ball back and score too.
When a goal is scored, the two players leave, and a new attacker and defender take to the pitch. The ball gets played to the attacker to start the 1v1 battle. Meanwhile, the original attacker and defender swap roles the next time they play.
Remove the goals from the first activity for this 2v2 practice. Players look to beat their opponents and dribble past the end line to score.
Create an area with a zone and a goal at each end. Each team has a player in their own defensive zone while the rest are in the middle. Players work together to score but can’t make a backwards pass to a teammate in the middle. But they can pass back to the player in their defensive zone.

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Tactics board

Looking for a bit more detail? Check out James'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:

introduce a three-touch counter-attack rule in the first practice – where a player must go to attack the goal within three touches – this stops the 1v1s going on for too long and makes it easier for the opponent to know when to press
remove two goals from each end to limit the attacker’s options in the first drill, making it easier for the defender to press
make the area narrower during the second practice
stop players from making any pass backwards in the final activity, this gives the opposition a better chance to press and win the ball.

Make it harder

To make this session harder, you could:

overload the attacking side in the first drill
allow attackers to pass to a teammate on the other side of the end line rather than having them dribble over it to score in the second practice
allow players to pass backwards to anyone in the final activity, making it harder to press.

Coaching points

Once a goal is scored or the ball goes out of play in the 1v1 and 2v2 practices, ensure the next set of players go into the middle, with the original attackers and defenders going off the pitch and swapping roles for their next turn.

Ask players to think about their positioning and angle of approach when pressing. Doing this well can help players dictate what their opponent does next. For example, forcing a player out wide in the first activity can direct them out of play or towards the side goals which are worth less than the middle goal.