Pressing
Front Three Pressing Traps
Press as a unit with a clear trigger
Pressing
Transition
Team Shape
Front Three Pressing Traps is a 20-minute pressing drill for 8-18 players, suitable for Under 12 to Adults at intermediate, advanced level. You need balls, bibs, cones, mini goals. Below you will find the objective, the set-up, how to run it, coaching points, common mistakes, progressions, regressions and variations.
Back to drill libraryPressing
Transition
Team Shape
Small-Sided Game
Intermediate
Advanced
Full Squad
Youth Friendly
Adult Suitable
Goals Needed
Team Tactics
Pressing Triggers
Duration
20 min
Players
8-18
Pitch size
40 x 35 yards
Ability levels
Intermediate / Advanced
Pitch diagram
Front Three Pressing Traps — Goalkeeping set-up — serve, save, reset · 40 x 35 yards
Step 1 of 4Build up team plays out, pressing team curves runs to force the ball wide.
- 1. Build up team plays out, pressing team curves runs to force the ball wide.
- 2. Win the ball in the trap zone and score in the mini goals.
- 3. Rotate teams every four minutes.
- 4. Rotation: Rotate teams every four minutes.
- Cones mark the area
- Full goal
- GK = goalkeeper
- C = coach serving, S = second server
- Ball
- Cones mark the keeper's starting positions
- Dotted arrow = rotation between repetitions
- Keeper distributes back to the server
- Solid arrow = pass, thick = shot, dashed = run / dribble
Objectives
- -Press as a unit with a clear trigger
- -Set a trap to win the ball in a wide zone
- -Counter attack immediately after the win
Setup
- 1Two mini goals at one end and a big goal at the other.
- 2Build up team of five plus a keeper against a pressing three plus two.
- 3Wide trap zones marked with cones.
Coaching instructions
- 1Build up team plays out, pressing team curves runs to force the ball wide.
- 2Win the ball in the trap zone and score in the mini goals.
- 3Rotate teams every four minutes.
Coaching points
- -First presser curves the run to cut a passing line
- -Trigger is a backward or square pass
- -Squeeze the far side to make the pitch small
- -Win it and go forward within three passes
Common mistakes
- -Pressing individually and getting bypassed
- -No trigger so the press is random
- -Slow to counter after winning it