Hassle a harassed defence By Michael Beale

Hassle a harassed defence

By Michael Beale

It's all well and good getting the ball into the danger area. Now you've got to make it count.

One thing about having a positive passer is it puts teams on the back foot and maybe the pass doesn't reach your forward but the opposition defence has got to deal with it and that's when mistakes occur and your attackers pounce.

This is a great game to practise pouncing on the through ball from your positive passer - and how to hassle a harassed defence.

• Pitch size: 30x20 yards (minimum) up to 40x25 yards (maximum).
• Mark out a 10-yard square on one touchline as shown above.
  
• Two teams of four players.
  
• One goal, one keeper.
  
• One team works as the passing team.
• One team works as the defenders.
• The passing team works in the 10-yard square, passing the ball around and attempting to retain possession.
• Each player in the defending team has two turns at entering the area and attempting to win possession from the passers.
• If the defending player manages to force a mistake or win possession, they break out of the 10-yard area and receive a pass from the coach in order to shoot at goal.
• If the passing team manages to make 10 consecutive passes, then the defender is replaced.
• The passing team scores a point for each set of 10 consecutive passes.
• The defending team scores a point for each goal scored from a pass from the coach.
• When each defender has had two attempts at defending, teams switch roles.