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A player holds onto the ball surrounded by four other players.

Session programme

Session programme: attacking skills

Session

England Football Learning

5 mins - Jan 6, 2025

Programme intentions

This six-week programme aims to help your players:

develop their passing, receiving and finishing skills
combine with teammates
cross from wide areas
know when to pass and when to shoot.

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 whole programme 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.

Week one: 2v2 to score

Create a pitch with a halfway line and a goal at each end. Then use flat markers to make a second pitch within that, one which is wide near the goals and narrow towards the halfway line. This creates the area for the next activity. Then play a normal 5v5 game using the whole pitch.
Put two mini-goals either side of the halfway line. This splits your original pitch into two smaller ones and creates a 2v2 with a goalkeeper in the bigger goal. The two attackers need to combine to score in the big goal, while the defenders try to win the ball back and score in the mini-goals.
Remove the mini-goals and return to the original 5v5 game. Observe how the players now combine with teammates after the ‘part’ section of the session.

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Tactics board: week one

Looking for more detail? Check out Peter's tactics board video. You can also get more information about the first week of the programme here.

Week two: create to score

Create a pitch with a goal at each end for this 5v5 game. Put a square area around one goal. The attackers have five outfielders, with two locked in the square guarding their goal. The defenders have a keeper and four outfielders, with one locked in the square. Both sides look to combine to score.
Progress the activity by allowing one of the attacking team’s players out of the square. This creates an overload in the middle of the pitch and leaves a 1v1 in the box.

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Tactics board: week two

Looking for more detail? Check out Peter's tactics board video.

Week three: pass, turn, score

Create a narrow pitch with a halfway line. Put a large goal and two mini-goals at each end. Have a 3v3 in each half. The attacking team start with the ball in each half. They combine with teammates to try to score. Scoring in the large goal is worth one point. Scoring in a mini-goal is worth two.
Progress this practice by bringing in your two goalkeepers from their own activity. Put one in each large goal. You can amend the scoring system to reflect this change and encourage the attacking team to aim for the larger goal.
Play one big game using the large goals but start with players being locked in their halves. Players need to win the ball and pass it to their teammates in the other half so they can try to score. Progress this further by allowing players to step in to create an overload.

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Tactics board: week three

Looking for more detail? Check out Peter's tactics board video.

Week four: width for deception

For this arrival activity, set up a small area for a 4v4. Put a goal at each end. Each team also has two wide players outside the area – one on each side of the pitch. Teams need to work with all their teammates to make four passes. Then they can try to score in either goal. Play for three rounds.
Create a wide pitch with a goal at each end for a 6v6 practice. Use flat markers to create channels out wide on both sides. Players take part in a normal game but should naturally make use of the width. You can add scoring systems to encourage teams to cross and score from the channels.

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Tactics board: week four

Looking for more detail? Check out Peter's tactics board video.

Week five: playing out to attack

Place a goal at each end, with a 10x20-yard safe zone around one and two mini-goals nearby. Each team has a player on each wing outside the area. The attacking team start with the ball and combine to score. If the defenders win possession, they score in a mini-goal or pass to the opposing keeper.
Progress this activity by allowing wide players to come inside to create an overload when they receive the ball. You can also allow the defending team to attack and score in the large goal.

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Tactics board: week five

Looking for more detail? Check out Peter's tactics board video.

Week six: scoring as a team

Create a 35-yard diamond area. Have a halfway line and two goals. Lock players in to have a 3v3 and a keeper in each half. To start, a team gets a free pass to give it to their teammates in the other half. They try to score. Then the game goes back and forth. Players stay locked in but can tackle.
Create a pitch split into thirds for a small-sided game. Players aren’t locked into thirds. A keeper starts with the ball and distributes it anywhere. But once it’s worked into the final third players can’t play more than three passes before shooting. The opposition get the ball if this is breached.

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Tactics board: week six

Looking for more detail? Check out Peter's tactics board video.

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