Adapted 3+1 v 3 positional game: play behind the opponent

The objective of this positional game is to look for a space and a forward “vertex”, through the movement without the ball and the blind runs behind a defender.

In this practice, unlike the classic positional play game, one player is required to move toward the free side of the space, when the center teammate, who is involved in a 1 v 1 duel receives the ball, to a passing option for the player now in possession, after a support pass from the teammate under pressure.

The roles of this “juego de posicion” are those of a 3 players midfield (center, right and left), together with an advanced teammate, who plays among them (generally a forward who moves back) under the pressure of a center defender.

The sequence continues as the players exchange their positions (red arrows), always leaving a free side vertically in relation with the direction of play and covering the position of the player who has run away, to keep the balance of the attacking positioning.

As during the warm-up phas that preceded this exercise, within the training session, (click here to see the article), after a first phase of “patience“, in which the ball must move between the 3 players at the bottom of the set-up, the possession phase must be as fast and effective as possible, to try to pass the ball to the teammate in the middle, who then must pass sideways as quickly as possible.

The opposite wide player, when the other one is receiving, must move without the ball diagonally and towards the top of the set-up to receive.

If the defender wins the ball, he exchanges position and role with:

the center player, in case he was not unmarked to receive

one of the wide players, in case the pass was wrong

Whenever the sequence is completed, the lower vertex of the midfield trio becomes the center player who is involved in the 1 v 1 duel, the player in the middle must cover the position of the wide midfielder who moved away.

The side length of the playing rectangle, can be 13/18 yards, in my opinion.