Play through the full-back

Why it works

Pressing teams crowd the middle, so the side of the pitch is where the space is early on. With the winger ahead and a midfielder inside, the full-back is in a triangle: one player pressing cannot cover both passes.

What players do

• Full-back: start wide and a little higher than the centre-backs, so the pass to you goes forward, not sideways.
• Receive side-on, facing up the line, so you can see the winger and the middle.
• Winger: stay wide and high, or come short down the line if the full-back is pressed.
• Nearest midfielder: show inside on an angle, so there is a pass back into the middle.
• If all three passes are covered, go back to the centre-back and switch it.

Common mistakes

• The full-back stands level with the centre-backs, so one opponent can press both.
• The winger and the midfielder both come short into the same space.
• Forcing the pass down the line when their full-back is already standing there.

With young players

Good from 9v9, where the pitch is wide enough. In 7v7 the same idea works with a wide defender and a winger. Start with the retreat line, so the pass out is calm.

Drawn on a 105 × 68 m pitch, showing the part where it happens. Orange attacks left to right and the other team is in blue; numbers are the usual shirt numbers for each position.

Put it into your own team's plan in the team builder, and see what it asks of each player.

Next: Overload to isolate