1v1 to goal
Soccer drill · Under-8 and up
One attacker, one defender, one goal with a keeper. The defender plays the ball in and closes down; the attacker has to commit them, get past and finish. It trains both halves of the most important duel in the game at once.
Adding it to a session puts it on your run sheet with its time and cue. It does not use up one of your saved plays.
- Time
- 15 minutes
- Players
- 2 at a time plus a keeper, with queues of attackers and defenders
- Equipment
- 1 goal and a keeper
- 4 cones for the channel
- 6 to 10 balls
Setup
- Use the penalty area width and mark a channel about 30 yards long, ending at the goal.
- Defenders queue at the edge of the box with the balls; attackers queue at the far end of the channel.
- The first defender passes to the first attacker and sprints out to close them down.
- The attacker tries to beat the defender and score. The rep ends on a goal, a save, a tackle or the ball leaving the channel.
- Players join the other queue after each rep, so everyone attacks and defends.
Coaching points
- Attacker: take your first touch forward and run at the defender before they are set.
- Attacker: sell the feint with your shoulders, then change pace as well as direction.
- Defender: close down quickly, then slow down in the last few yards and get side-on.
- Defender: show the attacker onto their weaker foot or towards the touchline, and stay on your feet.
On the run sheet: Attack at speed, make the defender commit, then change pace and direction; defenders stay on your feet
Progressions
- Give the attacker five seconds to shoot, so they cannot wait for the defender to make a mistake.
- If the defender wins it, they can score in a small goal at the far end of the channel.
- Make it 2v1, then 2v2, once the 1v1 decisions are good.
How it runs
The defender starts with the ball on the edge of the box, plays it out to the attacker, and goes straight after it. That pass is what makes the drill fair: the defender arrives at speed, exactly as they would in a match, and the attacker has the time it takes them to get there to take a positive first touch and pick a side. In the animation the attacker shapes to go left, the defender commits to it, and the attacker changes direction to get past on the right and finish while the defender chases.
Keep the queues short. Two or three in each line is plenty, so nobody waits long and the efforts stay at full speed. Reset the balls between groups rather than letting the drill drift.
Why it is worth fifteen minutes
Every match is decided by a handful of one-against-one moments, and most training only rehearses them by accident in a game. Here every player gets a dozen of them, from both sides, in a quarter of an hour. Attackers learn that a feint only works at speed; defenders learn that the sprint is not the hard part, the last three yards are.
The mistakes to watch for
Attackers who take a touch backwards and let the defender settle. Defenders who dive in at the first feint. And keepers who stay rooted on their line, when a 1v1 from close range is exactly when they should be coming out to narrow the angle.
More soccer drills
Put 1v1 to goal in Tuesday's session
It lands on your practice plan already timed, with the coaching cue printed under it, next to your own plays.
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