Centre-back: recover and delay
Transcript
Get back goal-side, then slow the attacker down. Here's the game. You need a partner to attack, a ball, and a channel ten metres by fifteen, with a small goal at your end. Start beside them. They get six seconds to score. Watch. Sprint back, turn, and slow them down. First, run for your goal, not the ball. Then, back off with small steps, and stay on your feet. Not this. Chasing the ball lets them run at goal. Our target is eight goes, then swap roles. After any knock to the head, if in doubt, sit them out. Then take the free test at footballreach.com.
What it trains
Recovery defending for centre-backs: when an attacker gets away from you, sprint back towards your own goal to get goal-side, then slow them down on your feet until help arrives or their touch gets too big. FA and FIFA sessions coach these ideas.
Set up
- A partner to attack
- A ball
- 10 x 15 m channel
- Small goal at your end
How it works
- Warm up first. Mark a channel 10 m wide and 15 m long, with a small goal (or 2 cones 3 m apart) in the middle of your end line.
- Your partner starts at the far end with the ball. You start beside them, level with the ball and about 3 m to one side.
- On their first touch, sprint back towards your goal until you are goal-side, then turn and slow them down. They score 1 point by dribbling into your goal.
- You win the go if you win the ball on your feet, or if they have not scored after 6 seconds (our rule: count the seconds out loud). Start on the other side next go.
Coaching points
- Run for your goal. Sprint on a line towards the middle of your goal, not at the ball, until you are between the ball and your goal. Turn to face the attacker before they reach you.
- Back off with small steps. Once you are goal-side, slow down and back off with short steps, about two big steps from the ball and a little inside it, so they go wide. Stay on your feet and be patient: in a match, holding them up gives teammates time to get back.
Not this
Chasing the ball instead of running for your goal. You end up behind or beside the attacker, they run at goal, and a tackle from behind is a foul that can hurt someone.
Dose
- 8 goes, alternate sides
- Then swap roles
Our target: 8 goes as the defender, starting on alternate sides, then swap roles (the Football Reach target, not an FA rule).
Harder / Easier
Harder
Start further back: touch a cone on their end line first, then recover (the FA's 1v1 recovery session uses a goalpost). Or give them 8 seconds instead of 6.
Easier
Start level with the ball and only 2 m to the side, and your partner dribbles at walking pace, until the recovery line and backing off feel natural.
Safety
- If in doubt, sit them out: anyone with a suspected concussion stops straight away, does no training for at least 24 hours and plays no matches for at least 21 days (UK concussion guidelines).
- Stay on your feet: no slide tackles, no tackles from behind, no pushing or pulling, and keep the ball on the ground.
- Flat grass with space all round, never a road or driveway. Use a light small goal that is pegged or weighted down, or 2 cones.
Sources
- England Football Learning - 1v1 recovery session (opens in a new tab)
- England Football Learning - what is covering and recovering (opens in a new tab)
- England Football Learning - Harry Maguire: developing a defender (opens in a new tab)
- FIFA Training Centre - defending in 1v1: orientating attackers away from goal (opens in a new tab)
- FIFA Training Centre - recovery: delay, deny, deflect (futsal) (opens in a new tab)
- England Football Learning - how to coach tackling (opens in a new tab)
- England Football - UK concussion guidelines for grassroots sport (opens in a new tab)
Not sure which skill to work on first? The free Football Reach test gives you a Player Development Score and shows which of the four corners of your game to work on next, in about two minutes.
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