Session programme

Session programme: marking and intercepting to stop goals

Session

England Football Learning

5 mins - Jun 2, 2025

Programme intentions

This six-week programme aims to help your players:

defend as an individual, in pairs, and units
regain possession to attack
demonstrate positive, enthusiastic, and intelligent defending.

If you're short on time, this programme can be used as it is. But it’s a template you can build on. So, to make the session or programme more effective, adapt it to suit your players and their needs, as well as the numbers and space you have. If you want to skip, repeat or amend individual practices or the whole session – that's fine. It’s up to you how you use this resource.

Any 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 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: dynamic defending

Diamond duel: Set up an appropriately sized diamond-shaped area. Create gates at each point. Have up to four attackers behind a gate and four defenders behind the gate opposite. An attacker shouts “go” and runs to get through another gate. At the same time, a defender tries to tag them.
Players get a point for getting through a side gate and two points for getting through the defenders’ gate. After all attackers have had a go, the teams swap roles.
Whole – parallel pitches: Create parallel pitches for 3v3 or 4v4 games. Use end zones on the first pitch. Teams get a point for dribbling the ball into an end zone. They get two points if they pass the ball into the zone for a teammate to control. The receiver can only be in there for five seconds.
On the other pitch, have two gates at each end with a goalkeeper behind them. Teams get a point for passing the ball through a gate. They get two points if they pass through a gate for the keeper to receive. Passes need to be below shoulder height.
Part – mark the target: Set up multiple pitches with a goal at one end. Have an attacker, defender and a feeder. Add a goalkeeper if using groups of four. The feeder passes to the attacker and they try to score. The defender needs to mark the attacker and force them away from goal.
The attacker can use the feeder player as a passing option if needed. After three goes, all players rotate positions and the practice restarts.
Whole – parallel pitches: Return to the parallel games. This time, replace the gates with goals on the second pitch. Add the rule for both pitches: after a goal, the scorer runs off the pitch to record the goal on a whiteboard or using cones as counters. This provides an overload for a short time.

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Coaching points

Adapt movement to track runs and the movement of the opponent.
Scan effectively to make good decisions about marking an opponent or space.
Use a side-on body position when marking tight and covering spaces.
Use quick movement to get into a covering position.
Mirror first defender’s body position to enable effective scanning.
Give early and clear communication to the first defender.

On the pitch: week one

Looking for more detail? Check out the video to see how a coach took this session idea and adapted it for a group of players. You can also get more information about the first week of the programme here.

Week two: revisiting dynamic defending

Diamond duel: Set up an appropriately sized diamond-shaped area. Create gates at each point. Have up to four attackers behind a gate and four defenders behind the gate opposite. This time, a defender starts the game by passing to the attacker. The attacker then tries to dribble through a gate.
Attackers get a point for getting through a side gate and two points for getting through the defenders’ gate. Defenders need to stop them from reaching any gate. After all attackers have had a go, the teams swap roles. This can be progressed to a 2v1 or 2v2 activity.
Whole – parallel pitches: Create parallel pitches for 3v3 or 4v4 games. Use end zones on the first pitch. Teams get a point for dribbling the ball into an end zone. They get two points if they pass the ball into the zone for a teammate to control. The receiver can only be in there for five seconds.
On the other pitch, play a four-goal game. Put two mini-goals at each end with a goalkeeper. Teams get a point for each goal they score. If mini-goals aren’t available, use cones to create gates for the keepers to protect.
Part – mark the target: Set up multiple pitches with a goal at one end. Have an attacker, defender and a feeder. Add a goalkeeper if using groups of four. The feeder passes to the attacker and they try to score. The defender needs to mark the attacker and force them away from goal.
The attacker can use the feeder player as a passing option if needed. After three goes, all players rotate positions and the practice restarts.
Whole – parallel pitches: Return to the parallel games. Add the rule for both pitches: after a goal, the scorer runs off the pitch to record the goal on a whiteboard or uses cones as counters. This provides an overload for a short time.

0/0

Coaching points

Adapt movement to track runs and the movement of the opponent.
Scan effectively to make good decisions about marking an opponent or space.
Use a side-on body position when marking tight and covering spaces.
Use quick movement to get into a covering position.
Mirror first defender’s body position to enable effective scanning.
Give early and clear communication to the first defender.

On the pitch: week two

Looking for more detail? Check out the video to see how a coach took this session idea and adapted it for a group of players. You can also get more information about the second week of the programme here.

Week three: be on guard to intercept

Interceptors: Create an area with end zones and a middle zone. Have two interceptors in the middle zone with a passer in each area between the zones. An interceptor passes to a passer to start the game. The passer needs to pass to their teammate, who then dribbles into the end zone for a point.
The interceptors try to block the pass. If they win the ball, they can break out to try to dribble to an end zone to score a point. Play for up to five rounds then the teams change roles.
Progress this activity by putting two mini-goals at the end of the end zones. Also allow one of the interceptors to leave the middle zone to press.
Small-sided games carousel: Create three parallel pitches for small-sided games. Make sure players rotate around to get the chance to play on each pitch.
Pitch one: Have end zones and a middle zone. Put mini-goals at each end. Two passers are locked in one half with one in the other. Three interceptors start in the middle with one allowed out to press. Passers try to get into an end zone. Interceptors can break out to score if they win the ball.
Pitch two: Create a pitch with end zones. Here, teams score a point for dribbling the ball into an end zone. They get two points if they pass the ball into the zone for a teammate to control. The receiver can only be in there for five seconds.
Pitch three: Put two mini-goals at each end with a goalkeeper for this four-goal game. Teams get a point for each goal they score. If mini-goals aren’t available, use cones to create gates for the keepers to protect.
To incentivise intercepting, and differentiate the practice from previous weeks, amend the scoring system. Now, if teams out of possession intercept the ball and score during that phase of play, they gain a bonus point.

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Coaching points

Consolidate coaching points from the first two weeks.
When intercepting, judge whether it’s possible by trying to see path of the ball and nearby attackers.
Decide to use ‘best’ surface for making first contact on the ball.
Execute an interception with a positive first touch.

On the pitch: week three

Looking for more detail? Check out the video to see how a coach took this session idea and adapted it for a group of players.

Week four: revisiting be on guard to intercept

Interceptors: Create an area with end zones and a middle zone. Have two interceptors in the middle zone with a passer in each area between the zones. An interceptor passes to a passer to start the game. The passer needs to pass to their teammate, who then dribbles into the end zone for a point.
The interceptors try to block the pass. If they win the ball, they can break out to try to dribble to an end zone to score a point. Play for up to five rounds then the teams change roles.
Progress this activity by putting two mini-goals at the end of the end zones. Also allow one of the interceptors to leave the middle zone to press.
Small-sided games carousel: Create three parallel pitches for small-sided games. Make sure players rotate around to get the chance to play on each pitch.
Pitch one: Have end zones and a middle zone. Put mini-goals at each end. Two passers are locked in one half with one in the other. Three interceptors start in the middle with one allowed out to press. Passers try to get into an end zone. Interceptors can break out to score if they win the ball.
Pitch two: Create a pitch with end zones. Here, teams score a point for dribbling the ball into an end zone. They get two points if they pass the ball into the zone for a teammate to control. The receiver can only be in there for five seconds.
Pitch three: Put two mini-goals at each end with a goalkeeper for this four-goal game. Teams get a point for each goal they score. If mini-goals aren’t available, use cones to create gates for the keepers to protect.
To incentivise intercepting, and differentiate the practice from previous weeks, amend the scoring system. Now, if teams out of possession intercept the ball and score during that phase of play, they gain a bonus point.

0/0

Coaching points

Consolidate coaching points from the first two weeks.
When intercepting, judge whether it’s possible by trying to see path of the ball and nearby attackers.
Decide to use ‘best’ surface for making first contact on the ball.
Execute an interception with a positive first touch.