Man-marking

This exercise will help players to get used to idea of man-marking, and changing swiftly between defensive and attacking play.

Mark out a square pitch, the size of which will depend on the number of players you have. Mark out four goals in the four corners of the pitch, shown below by the red dots.

Pair the players up so they have an identified person to mark, who they will continue to mark throughout the exercise whenever they are defending.

Play according to normal match rules, obviously without the usual areas of the pitch available.

To make it more challenging, you can adapt the game by introducing a ‘4 touch’ rule whereby each player can only touch the balls four times before they are obliged to pass it.