Match moments / They have the ball
Their keeper has it
Their keeper catches a cross. What our striker does in the next few seconds decides whether they can play out short, or have to kick it long to where our defenders are waiting.
In the match
- Decision 1Striker
- Decision 2Centre-back
- Decision 3Holding mid
You are 9, our striker, standing near their keeper.
Their keeper has the ball in their hands. What do you do?
Play the build-up, then choose.
Best choice
You must not stop a keeper releasing the ball, but you can stand where their easiest pass would go. Blocking one short throw, while 10 watches their 6, leaves the keeper with a harder choice.
It can work
Safe, and the team is in shape, but the keeper gets an easy throw to a free centre-back and they build up without any pressure.
Costly
Stopping the keeper releasing the ball from their hands is an offence under Law 12. The referee gives them an indirect free kick, and you have helped them.
In the match, play carries on from the best choice.
You are 5, our left centre-back.
Their long kick is coming down between you and their striker. What do you do?
Play what happened next, then choose.
Best choice
You are facing the ball and their striker has their back to our goal. Getting there first and heading or clearing it forward wins the first ball.
It can work
You stop them turning, but they win the first contact and can flick it on or lay it off.
Costly
A bouncing ball is a coin toss, and their striker is already moving onto it.
In the match, play carries on from the best choice.
You are 6, our holding midfielder.
The loose ball drops near you. What now?
Play what happened next, then choose.
Best choice
Their team pushed up for the long kick, so the space is out wide. Winning the second ball and moving it quickly starts our attack before they reset.
It can work
You might still get it, but their midfielder arrives too and it becomes a fifty-fifty.
Costly
You win it, then give it straight back to their defenders. All that work for nothing.
How you know it is happening
- Their keeper has caught the ball or picked it up.
- Their centre-backs run wide to ask for it.
- Our players are still up the pitch after our attack.
Why it works
A keeper with the ball in their hands has a few seconds to choose. If the short throws are covered, most keepers kick long, and a long ball is easier for us to win than a calm build-up. The striker's first few steps decide it.
The tactics behind it
Your job, by position
- STStriker
- Never stop the keeper releasing the ball.
- Step away and stand in the line of one short throw.
- AMAttacking midfielder
- Pick up their holding midfielder, goal side.
- CBCentre-back
- Expect the long kick. Get in front of their striker and face the ball.
- DMHolding midfielder
- Stand where the long ball will drop, ready for the second ball.
- Play it forward or wide quickly when you win it.
- WWinger and wide midfielder
- Stay wide, so the second ball has somewhere to go.
How to explain it
- Tell players the rule first: never stand in front of a keeper with the ball in their hands.
- Ask: if the keeper cannot throw it short, where will it go? Then set up to win that ball.
On the training pitch
- On your ownClose down and jockeyThe technique underneath it, with a ball and some space.
- The practiceWin it highThe same decision, over and over, with a little pressure.
- The game4v4 with three floatersA small-sided game set up so the moment keeps happening.
Set the game up so it keeps happening
- The keeper starts every attack from their hands.
- A goal from a ball won within ten seconds of the keeper's kick counts double.
Three things to say
- Cover the short throw.
- Face the long ball.
- Win the second ball and move it.
On Saturday
Tick them off on the day. Nothing is saved: print the page if you want to keep it.
After the whistle
Ask yourself
- Did you give away a free kick by blocking the keeper?
- Who won the second balls?
What to look back on
- Where did their long kicks land, and who was there?