2v2+1 With a Target Attacker
The keeper punts to two attackers who link with a target player for a 3v2 on goal — while the defending pair fights to win it and clear past the top of the grid.
One situational game teaches both sides of the numbers — attackers learn to use a player-up advantage, and the defending pair learns to pressure and cover a player down.
Set up · 3 actions · before the kids arrive
- Grab: Cones, pinnies in two colors, plenty of balls, and your full-size goal.
- Build: Build a grid approximately 30 by 40 yards with the goal on one end.
- Place: A keeper in the goal; the target player in red; four defenders in yellow — two in the middle about 18 yards from goal, two resting outside on the sidelines — and everyone else in two lines at the top of the grid.
Show me the setup picture
One thing to remember: Numbers-up attacking — playing to the target quickly, supporting runs, combining passes, and getting shots off quickly — and numbers-down defending as a pair, with the target marked, the ball pressured, pressure-and-cover positioning, and good defensive posture.
How it runs — the whole game in one sentence
The keeper punts to the next two attackers, who join the target for a 3v2 on goal; defenders who win it clear past the top line — a full clear costs the attackers ten pushups.
1Organize the players▾
Coach does
Assign a goalkeeper, a target player in red, and four defenders in yellow — two starting in the middle of the grid about 18 yards from goal, two resting on the outside of the grid on both sidelines. The remaining players form two lines at the top of the grid, opposite the goal.
Coach says
Target, you're in red — you join whoever's attacking. Yellows, two in the middle, two resting wide. Everyone else — two lines up top.
2Show the jobs▾
Coach does
Walk one round — the keeper punts a ball to the top two attackers, who join with the target player to form a 3v2. The attackers attempt to score; the two defenders work together to stop the attack. If the defenders win the ball, they clear it past the line where the waiting attackers stand — a successful clear and the attackers (minus the target) do ten pushups; a clear that doesn't reach the line, and the attack continues.
Coach says
Punt comes out — two of you attack with the target, three on two. Defenders, win it and clear it past that top line. Make it, and they owe you ten pushups.
3Play▾
Coach does
Coach both sides. Attacking — play to the target player quickly without forcing the ball, make good supporting runs off it, combine passes to build the attack, and get into spots to get a shot off quickly. Defending — mark the target, have the closest player pressure the ball, keep good defensive positioning with pressure and cover, never stuck side-by-side or attacked in a straight line, and work together as a group of two with good posture on the ball.
Coach says
Find the target — don't force it! Defenders, closest one pressures, partner covers — never side by side!
Look for: Pressure and cover — the closest defender pressuring the ball with the partner covering, never stuck side-by-side or beaten in a straight line.
4Switch and repeat▾
Coach does
Every time the ball goes out of play or you call it dead, the keeper punts a new ball to the next pair of attackers and two new defenders step in.
Coach says
Dead ball — next two, here it comes! Fresh defenders in!
If it's not working
If the attack keeps dying before a shot, widen the grid while they play — more room for the three to combine — then bring it back in.
Want to go deeper? Optional — not needed to run the game.