Attacking from the Back
Both keepers throw out at once — each runner receives on the move, feeds the player in the center, and that player turns, dribbles at goal, and shoots from outside the 18.
The attack starts with the keeper's distribution — get out of the back quick and under control, and counter fast enough to feel like a numbers-up break.
Starting at Core — your team is set to mixed.
20 min tonight · Two lines of about 6, plus 2 center players and 2 keepers
- Ages 12+
- Two lines of about 6, plus 2 center players and 2 keepers
- 20 min as the drill is written
- Cones, balls, 2 full-size goals
Grab Cones, a large supply of balls for each end, and your two goals.
Build Set up on a half field with a goal at each end, as shown — nothing else to build.
Place A keeper in each goal with a large ball supply, a line of about six players on each of two diagonally opposite corners, and two players in the center of the field.
- 1
Organize the players
Split the team into two groups of about six and line them up on diagonally opposite corners. Put two players in the center of the field and a keeper in each goal with a big pile of balls.
“Two lines, opposite corners. Two of you in the middle — you're the feeders. Keepers, you start everything.”
- 2
Show the jobs
Walk one rep — the keeper distributes to the first player in the line, who makes an advancing run while receiving the ball. They control it and pass to the feet of the feeder in the center. The feeder controls the pass, turns, dribbles toward the goal, and shoots from outside the 18-yard line. Then the shooter goes to the end of the line and the passer becomes the new center player.
“Run onto the keeper's ball — control it, feed the middle. Middle — turn, drive, hit it before the 18. Then everybody moves up one job.”
- 3
Play
Run both sides simultaneously and continuously at top speed — that pace is the drill, and on a bigger field it becomes real fitness. Watch the passing, trapping, and shooting on every rep.
“Top speed, all the way through! Out of the back quick — and under control!”
Look for Quick and under control — the ball out of the back at counter speed without a sloppy touch anywhere in the chain.
- 4
Switch and repeat
The rotation is built in — shooter to the end of the line, passer to the center. For later rounds, add a defender for a 1v1 with the shooter, have the passer overlap the wing for a 2v1, or extend the field to full size for the extra fitness.
“Next round there's a defender waiting — same speed, beat them.”
If the pattern keeps breaking, freeze it and walk one rep — let each player say their own next job out loud — then run it again at speed.
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Why it works
Starting from the keeper's distribution makes this the real thing — building the attack from the back — and running both lines simultaneously, continuously, and at top speed turns the pattern into a counter with a numbers-up feel and a finish from outside the 18.
What they learn
Building the attack from the back off the keeper's distribution — proper passing, trapping, and shooting, receiving on the run, and countering quickly — with a great deal of fitness when the field grows.
Where does this come from?
SoccerXpert — their published drill library.
A published drill library. Useful and widely used, but not a governing body — so it fills gaps rather than leading.