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Two players press an opponent with the ball.

Session programme

Session programme: press and cover to defend

Session

England Football Learning

5 mins - Feb 24, 2025

Programme intentions

This six-week programme aims to help your players:

understand the individual and team actions needed to press and cover
consider how and when to press and cover
use pressing and covering to defend and win the ball back.

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: read and react

Small-sided games: Create appropriately sized parallel pitches for the numbers you have. Put a halfway line on one and channels on the other. Get players into small-sided games on these pitches as they arrive and encourage them to work together to win the ball back quickly.
Progress this by adding challenges. Challenge teams on the pitch with a halfway line to win the ball in their opponent’s half as quickly as possible. Challenge teams on the other pitch to think about how they can use the three channels effectively when they don’t have the ball.
1v1 battles: Create one narrow area, one short and wide area, and one long and wide area. In this 1v1 drill, a defender passes the ball to an attacker. The attacker tries to beat the defender and get to the end line. They then pass the ball to the next defender who faces the next attacker.
If the defender wins the ball, they give the ball to the next attacker and join the back of their queue. The attacker plays the ball to the next defender and the game starts again. Make sure everyone plays as an attacker and defender. Rotate players around so they also play on all areas.
Quick transitions: Put a goal at each end of your pitch. Have a 5v5 with four neutrals around the pitch who help the team in possession. Scoring is worth one point. If the ball is regained and a goal is scored within five seconds, it’s worth two points. Rotate players so everyone gets on the pitch.

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Coaching points

Encourage your players to hurry the player on the ball and close the space as quickly as possible.
Challenge players to get within arm’s length of their opponent to help them press and put their opponent under pressure.
Get players to think about how they approach an opponent when they press. If they approach straight on, they give the opponent a chance to go to either side of them. But if the defender presses at an angle, they limit the attacker's options. They can dictate where they go.
Ask players how best to support their teammates throughout the session.

On the pitch: week one

Looking for more detail? Check out this video to see what it can look like on the pitch. You can also get more information about the first week of the programme here.

Week two: pressing for glory

Small-sided games: Create appropriately sized parallel pitches for the numbers you have and split them into thirds. Players take part as they arrive. Progress this arrival activity by adding the following challenge: if teams win the ball in their attacking third and score, they get three goals.
1v1 duels: Both players put down a starting cone and a cone either side of it. One player starts as an attacker and the other as a defender. The aim is to get past the opponent and dribble to one of their cones. Reaching their starting cone is worth three points. The side cones are worth one point.
The defender passes the ball to the attacker to start. The defender aims to win the ball or stop their opponent from reaching the three-point cone. If the defender wins the ball, they try to get to a cone. And if they succeed in doing that, they defend again. If the attacker wins, they swap roles.
Press for success: Split your whole pitch into thirds with a goal at each end. If a team wins the ball in their own defensive third and scores, they get one point. If they do that in the middle third, they get two points. If they do that in the attacking third, they get three points.

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Coaching points

Ensure that your players always look to stop the opponent from playing forward. They should try to force the opposition into playing the ball backwards or sideways.
Encourage your players to look for triggers to press. If the opponent is facing their own goal, takes a heavy touch, or is going to receive a longer, slower pass, players should try to press. It can help force their opponent backwards or help them win the ball back.
Ask players to consider when they should press and when it’s wise to offer cover. If two defenders jump in to press at the same time, the attacker could play it round them. But if one presses and one picks up a good covering position, they can defend more effectively.

On the pitch: week two

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

Week three: cover and recover

Small-sided games: Create appropriately sized parallel pitches for your numbers and split them into three channels. Players take part in a normal small-sided game. To embed the idea of covering, challenge players to think about how they can use the three channels effectively when they’re defending.
Cover the line: Set up three 20x15-yard pitches with an end line at each end. Create a covering line ten yards out from each end line. Have a 2v2 or 3v3 on each pitch. Teams try to get over their opponent’s end line. When a team’s out of possession they need to have a player on their covering line.
Locked in: Use your whole area. Put a goal at each end and add a halfway line. In this practice, the team on the ball can move anywhere. But the team without it are locked in the half they were in when they lost possession. If they win the ball back, they can then move anywhere to attack and score.
Press for success: Use the same pitch used in the last drill but split it into thirds. If a team wins the ball in their own defensive third and scores, they get one point. If they do that in the middle third, they get two points. If they do that in the attacking third, they get three points.

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Coaching points

Encourage your players to protect the middle of the pitch in the first instance. When the ball is on one side of the pitch, they should move across to that side together as a unit. If your players try to cover the whole pitch, they will leave big gaps for the opposition to play through.
Get players to think about their positioning. Have they got the distance right between themselves, their teammates, and the opposition? They need to have the right distance to offer good covering support but also be in a position where they could engage the opponent.
Get your players to think about how and when to move into the line of the ball or goal.
Encourage your players to look for triggers to press. If the opponent is facing their own goal, takes a heavy touch, or is going to receive a longer, slower pass, players should try to press. It can help force their opponent backwards or help them win the ball back.
Encourage your players to try to recover as quickly as possible once they have lost possession, or when the opposition player beats you.

On the pitch: week three

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

Week four: pressing duels

Small-sided games: Create parallel 20x15-yard pitches. On the first, winning the ball in the opponent’s half and scoring is worth three goals. On the second, winning the ball and scoring from the counter-attack is worth three goals. On the third, teams get three goals for keeping a clean sheet.
Diamond duel: Set up two areas with mini-goals at each end. Put flat markers down in a diamond shape in both areas. Attackers get a point for reaching a side cone and three points for getting to the far cone. If they score, play restarts from the beginning and they go again.
If the defenders win the ball back, they try to score in their opponent's mini-goals. If the attackers regain possession, they try to score in the opposite mini-goals.
Press for success: Split your whole pitch into thirds with a goal, or mini-goals, at each end. Split your players into one attacking team and one defending team. Attackers play a normal game, but the defenders have a particular scoring system.
If defenders win the ball in their own third and go on to score, they get one point. If they do that in the middle third, they get two points. If they do that in the attacking third, they get three points. Ensure you swap roles to give players experience on both teams.

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Coaching points

Get your players to think about when to cover ground quickly and then when they should slow down.
Ask your players to think about how best they can use their whole body to help them win possession in a duel. For example, can they get their arm across the attacker to stop them reaching the ball?
Encourage your players to try to win the ball cleanly and then think about the best way to start an attack.
Encourage your players to look for triggers to press. If the opponent is facing their own goal, takes a heavy touch, or is going to receive a longer, slower pass, players should try to press. It can help force their opponent backwards or help them win the ball back.

On the pitch: week four

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

Week five: defending in small numbers

Small-sided games: Create parallel 20x15-yard pitches. Pitch one: if teams win the ball in their opponent’s half and score they get three goals. Pitch two: if a team wins the ball and scores from the counter-attack, they get three goals. Pitch three: teams get three goals for keeping a clean sheet.
React and press: Split your pitches in half and have two mini-goals at one end of each pitch for this 1v1 activity. The defender stands in between the goals with the attacker opposite. Player's exchange passes before the attacker decides when to go for goal. The defender tries to stop them.
Press to breakout: Extend your original pitches by five yards. Put two mini-goals at one end. Section off a third of the pitch for a 2v2 area. At the goal side, create a small area for the keeper – or last defender. This creates a larger area for the breakout zone where there’s another defender.
Two attackers try to win the ball from two defenders. If they do, the attackers breakout to face the defender in the next area. They combine to get into the next zone to try to score. Defenders must use their emergency defending skills to stop them. Rotate players so they get a go at all roles.
Defend for glory: Put a goal or mini-goals at each end of your area. Split the pitch into thirds. Teams get three points if they score after winning the ball in their defensive third, two points if they do that from the middle third, and one point if they do that from their attacking third.

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Coaching points

Ask your players to make good contact on the ball and to think about the best way to go about doing this when challenging.
Encourage your players to stay in the duel, even if the attacker gets past them. It’s important that they recover to help their teammates.
When your players win the ball cleanly, encourage them to start a counter-attack. If they have space, encourage them to drive forwards with the ball. If they are under pressure, encourage them to look for a teammate who might be in space.
Encourage your players to look for triggers to press. If the opponent is facing their own goal, takes a heavy touch, or is going to receive a longer, slower pass, players should try to press. It can help force their opponent backwards or help them win the ball back.

On the pitch: week five

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

Week six: games week

Small-sided games: Set up a small, medium, and large pitches. Add safe zones on two pitches. Players can be pressed here but not tackled. Challenge one team to start by passing to the other team. As soon as they pass, they must rush to press high, while their teammate offers good cover.
Ensure players rotate around the pitches so they play on each one. And, if you and the players want to, progress the games by removing all of the safe zones.

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Coaching points

Ask your players to think about their position so that they are ready to press the ball.
Encourage players to stay on their feet where possible. Challenge them to win the ball cleanly and start a counter-attack.
Get players to think about their positioning. Have they got the distance right between themselves, their teammates, and the opposition? They need to have the right distance to offer good covering support but also be in a position where they could engage the opponent.
Encourage your players to look for triggers to press. If the opponent is facing their own goal, takes a heavy touch, or is going to receive a longer, slower pass, players should try to press. It can help force their opponent backwards or help them win the ball back.
Encourage players to think about how they press. They need to decelerate when approaching someone, rather than just running at them. So, they need to slow down, be side-on, and bend their knees to stay down when close to an opponent.

On the pitch: week six

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

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