3 v 2 to a Full Goal
Three attackers against two and a keeper, with a counter goal to keep the defenders honest.
A team that has spent five sessions learning to keep the ball needs permission to stop keeping it. This session gives it — the instruction on the page is to shoot first.
Starting at Core — your team is set to mixed.
About 20 min in the core activity · Two fields, three attackers against two and a keeper
- Ages 11–13
- Two fields, three attackers against two and a keeper
- About 20 min in the core activity
- Cones, two full goals, two small counter goals, pinnies, balls
Grab Cones, two full goals, small counter goals, pinnies, balls.
Build Mark two 44-by-40-yard fields, a full goal with a keeper on one endline and a small counter goal at the other.
Place Three attackers with the ball, two defenders and the keeper protecting the full goal.
Two short fields, a real goal with a keeper at one end and a small counter goal at the other, three against two.
- 1
Organize the players
Mark both fields, keeper in each full goal, three attackers and two defenders per field.
“Three of you, two of them and a keeper. Counter goal is theirs.”
- 2
Show the jobs
Tell them plainly that today the first look is the shot, not the pass — and that this is different from the last few sessions on purpose.
“Look to shoot first. Pass only to someone with a better chance than you.”
- 3
Play
Run continuous rounds, rotating attackers and defenders. Restart quickly.
“Find space quickly to shoot. Keep it only until there's a chance to shoot it.”
Look for The attacker taking a shot they would have passed up last week — and the whole group noticing it went in.
- 4
Switch and repeat
Remind the attackers the counter goal is live, so the third player has to think about what happens if it breaks down.
“If we lose it, they score in seconds. Somebody stay awake.”
Too hard? Take a defender out, 3 v 1 plus keeper. Too easy? Even it up at 3 v 3, or require the shot inside four seconds of entering the final third.
Go deeper · 3 notes
Why it works
Three against two plus a keeper is the smallest situation where "shoot or pass" is a genuine question rather than an obvious answer.
What they learn
A shot that misses tells you more than a pass that keeps possession and goes nowhere.
What's next
Getting bodies into the box so the shot has company.
Where does this come from?
US Soccer and Massachusetts Youth Soccer — their published nine-a-side session plans for U13 and up.
A governing body published this — the same organization that writes the rules your league plays by.