Team Crossing Exercise

The following drill comes from the Soccer Awareness Training Center. Soccer Awareness Training Center provides unlimited access to Wayne Harrison's Soccer Awareness systems, training sessions, drills and more. Wayne's system helps develop world class youth soccer players and teams in a systematic and imaginative manner that guarantees performance at the highest level of competition. Whether you’re a beginning coach who needs help getting started or someone who wants to add some variety to their training sessions, the Soccer Awareness Training Center offers a wide variety of drills to choose from. Join Today


Use this drill to work with your goalkeeper on dealing with crosses from the flanks and the field players to work on near and far post runs.

Set-up: Position the working goalkeeper in the goal. Server 1 stands just inside the center circle with a group of balls. Servers 2 and 3 start 35 yards from goal, and ten yards in from the side line. Player 4 (far post runner), starts close to server 3, and player 5 (near post runner), starts 35 yards out and even with the corner of the six yard box.

  1. Server 1 drives the ball into server 2.

  2. Server 2 wall passes with server 3, who is checking back to the ball.

  3. Server 3 slots the ball down the line for server 2.

  4. Server 2 makes his run down the outside channel and crosses it in the box. Players 4 and 5 time their runs to the near and far post.

  5. The goalkeeper either cuts off the cross, or makes the save from players 4 and 5.

Progression:

  1. Goalkeeper must distribute to server 1 in order to start the exercise.

  2. Add a third runner in the box for layoffs at the top of the box.

Coaching Points:

  1. Attack the ball.

  2. Cover the near post runner´s shot first.

Download a printable pdf of this session and more target games in the Soccer Awareness Training Center