Build the Cross
Four players pass their way through a rehearsed combination — layoff, corner ball, wide run — until the cross comes in and two of them are arriving at the posts to finish.
A good cross is built, not hoped for — short combination play, timed runs, and a clean prep touch are what put the ball and the runners in the same place.
Starting at Core — your team is set to mixed.
20 min tonight · Four starting cones, rotating
- Ages 9+
- Four starting cones, rotating
- 20 min as the drill is written
- Cones, 2 practice sticks, balls, full-size goal
Grab Cones, two practice sticks, and a large supply of balls.
Build In the attacking third — a practice stick on each sideline about 5 yards in, level with the top of the penalty area; a cone about 10 yards from each stick toward midfield for the wide crossers; and a grid of cones about 15 yards wide by 10 deep, 12 to 15 yards above the penalty area, for the combination.
Place Players split across the starting cones as the diagram shows, the ball supply just outside the grid on the midfield side, and a keeper in the goal.
- 1
Organize the players
Spread the players across the four starting cones as the diagram shows and stack the balls just outside the grid on the midfield side.
“Find your cone. Ball starts at cone one — watch the walk-through before we go live.”
- 2
Show the jobs
Walk the sequence — 1 passes into 2; 2 lays it off toward 3, then runs around behind 3 and makes a back-post run; 3 plays a firm ball into the corner space for 4, then runs around 2's cone and times a run onto the front post; 4 rounds the outside of the practice stick, takes a prep touch, and serves into the two runners, who work together to finish.
“One into two. Two — lay it, then go far post. Three — corner ball, then front post. Four — round the stick, one prep touch, serve it in.”
- 3
Play
Run it on repeat — clean, crisp passes and real movement to build each cross. Between reps the first two players step up and the next ball starts from the top.
“Crisp passes! Build it — and go score.”
Look for The two runs arriving with the cross — back post and front post hit as the ball comes down, not before.
- 4
Switch and repeat
Flip the whole pattern to the other side of the field and repeat it for a right-footed cross.
“Same play, other side — right-footed crosses now!”
If the combination keeps breaking down before the cross, spread the grid cones a few steps wider — more time on every pass — then bring them back in.
Go deeper · 2 notes
Why it works
Every pass in the pattern buys the next run time to happen — the layoff frees 2 to go far post, the corner ball sends 4 wide, and the practice stick forces the crosser to get genuinely wide before serving — so the cross arrives to two timed runs instead of a standing crowd.
What they learn
Short build-up and combination play, the timing of runs, the crosser's prep touch, and crossing and finishing.
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.