3 versus 3 plus 3
Focus of the drill
This soccer drill is aimed at keeping possession, with good passing and movement in order to play out of pressure. The key to the drill is good movement and receiving the ball while anticipating the opponent as well as knowing what to do next before you even receive the ball. Creating angles and running patterns that open up play. The players need to focus on keeping their head up, in order to have good awareness and knowing where the surrounding players are.
Drill Setup
To begin with set up a playing area of 20x20. Set up 3 different teams of 3 players each, using 3 different colors. For example team Yellow, Red & White.
How to play?
To begin with you can have the Yellow team starting as defenders. The other two teams (Red & White), should try to keep possession amongst the two teams, working together as one single unit against the Yellow team.
The Yellow team should chase the ball, trying to force a mistake or loss of possession from the other two teams. The team that is responsible for the loss of possession or the ball going out of bounds then becomes the defending team automatically, and play is restarted immediately. So for example if one of the Red players plays the ball into the feet of a member of the Yellow team, or plays it out of bounds, then the Red team become the defending team, playing against the Yellow and White team. White and Yellow are then playing together to keep the ball away from the Red team.
Different Versions
For younger players, and players of lower skill levels, you can chose to rotate play after 2-3 minutes rather than waiting for the loss of possession to occur. The coach can also step in and help the defending team if they are finding it really difficult to defend and win back possession.
Another alternative is to adjust the size of the playing area, either making it smaller or larger, depending on the players’ skill level and focus of the drill.
Forcing players to use a restricted amount of touches is a good way of improving speed of passing and teaches players to think quickly.
Coaching Tips
Tell the players to focus on having a good first touch. Already knowing where they are going to pass before they receive the ball creates an advantage and they can adapt their first touch to the direction they want to play the ball.
Focus on the importance of good passes to the feet, as quickly as possible, not playing bouncing balls or high balls that require time to gain control over.
Being mobile, constantly on the move to create support for their teammates, by providing good angles for them to pass to a teammate.
Let them know about having an open posture, facing the field, in order to get the best overview of play and spot the gaps.