Soccer drill for defending in threes

Stop a well-drilled attack from the opposition by coaching your defenders to defend as a group, not just as individuals. Use this soccer drill to coach these skills.

When teams are defending with three at the back, your soccer (football) players need to know how to use pressure, support and depth to maximise their effectiveness.

What you are looking for is your defenders to get into the right 'shape' depending on the location of the ball when the opposition attacks.

Soccer drill set up

For this soccer (football) drill, set up an area 20x20 yards with a 10x20 yards end-zone.
You need three cones and three mannequins or poles.

Soccer drill to get defenders covering each other and defending as a unit

How to run the soccer (football) drill

The defending team completes the defending technique task. The soccer coach calls to the players the defensive shape they should take up:

Left – the left defender pressures and shows inside, the central defender supports to stop a forward pass and the furthest defender gives support to the central player and provides depth.
Centre – the central defender pressures the ball while the two wide defenders take up supporting positions behind and to either side to stop the forward pass.
Right – the right defender pressures and shows inside, the central defender supports to stop a forward pass and the furthest defender gives support to the central player and provides depth.
The soccer coach passes a ball to the attacking team at the opposite end.
Immediately, the defenders must run on to the pitch and use the group defending technique to stop the opponents from scoring in their target goal.
After each soccer drill session, the roles are reversed.

To get more fun and easy-to-coach defending drills to use in your soccer coaching sessions, click here to order a copy of Perfect Defending, by Michael Beale, Chelsea FC academy coach.

Click here for soccer coaching tips and drills to coach defending as a unit.

Soccer coaching tips

Improve your soccer training skills. Sign up for a FREE weekly email, full of simple proven tips, advice and drills.

"I look forward to every issue because it is concise and filled with great information. In times like this, with very busy schedules, it is invaluable. I highly recommend it."
Victor Gascon, Coach, USA

Please note that Better Soccer Coaching takes your privacy very seriously. We will never rent or sell your email address to any third party.