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Two players press a player running with the ball.

Session programme

Session programme: pressing and covering to stop goals

Session

England Football Learning

5 mins - Feb 24, 2025

Programme intentions

This six-week programme aims to help your players:

press an opponent
dictate the direction of an opponent
recognise when to press and when to delay
understand when to cover a teammate.

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: practising the press

Create two 20x15-yard corridors with a safe zone at each end and two defenders in the middle. The rest start at one end and try to dribble to the other. If successful, they exit the area and go back to the start. If a defender steals a ball, they try to get to a safe zone with it to score a point.
Create two 20x15-yard areas with a halfway line. Split players into two teams. Pair them up with an opponent so everyone’s in a 1v1. Each team has a half as their stadium. One player in each pair starts with a ball. Players need to keep it in their own stadium to win a point. Rounds last 45 seconds.
Create parallel pitches appropriate for the age and stage of your players. Put a goal at each end. Players take part in a normal small-sided game on each pitch for ten minutes. Encourage players to look for opportunities to press and steal the ball.

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Tactics board: week one

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

Week two: speed of the press

Create parallel pitches appropriate for the age and stage of your players. Put a goal at each end. Players take part in a normal small-sided game on each pitch for ten or fifteen minutes. Encourage players to think about how and when they could press.
Create a 10x10-yard diamond area for this 1v1 game. Attackers start on one cone with defenders on the opposite cone. If attackers avoid being tagged, they score a point for reaching a side cone and three points for getting to the defender’s cone. Progress this by giving attackers a ball to run with.
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: week two

Looking for more detail? Check out James’s tactics board video.

Week three: 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: week three

Looking for more detail? Check out James’s tactics board video.

Week four: locked in

Create 30x20-yard pitches with a goal at each end and a halfway line. In this game, the side on the ball can move anywhere. The side without it are locked in whichever half they were in when they lost possession. If they win the ball back, they can then move anywhere to attack and score.
Split your pitches into thirds. Have at least two attackers locked in the end thirds and two defenders in the middle. One defender can go press. The head height rule is in place. Attackers work the ball from one side to the other. If the defenders win the ball, they break out to attack either goal.
As this is a whole-part-whole session, return to the first practice.

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Tactics board: week four

Looking for more detail? Check out Megan’s tactics board video.

Week five: swift support

Split your pitch into thirds. Have attackers in the end thirds and defenders in the middle. Most players are locked in but the attacker on the ball can drive into the middle. Attackers work the ball from one side to the other. If the defenders win the ball, they break out to attack either goal.
Set up an area for a 2v2 activity. Have a mini-goal behind a line at each end. The idea for both teams is to combine to score. But the team that doesn’t have the ball works together to always have one player pressing while the other offers covering support on the line in front of their goal.
To progress the previous practice, extend the pitch and add another line in for a defender to screen. Now play the same game but with a 4v4. Players could start being locked into their areas.

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Tactics board: week five

Looking for more detail? Check out Megan’s tactics board video.

Week six: festival week

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.
Set up a pitch for a 2v2 activity. This is a normal game. The focus is on seeing if players can carry out what they’ve learnt about pressing and covering over the last few weeks.
Create a pitch with a goal at each end and a halfway line. In this 3v3 or 4v4 activity, the side on the ball can move anywhere. But the side without it are locked in whichever half they were in when they lost possession. If they win the ball back, they can then move anywhere to attack and score.

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Tactics board: week six

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

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