Find the free player

This warm up is ideal for training sessions about retaining possession and finding players in key positions. This concept is really important for teams that manage to have the lion’s share of possession in games yet find the opposition denying them space in the final third.

How to do it

This is a drill involving 12 players. Two players start in the middle with everyone else on the outside facing in. Two balls, on opposite sides of the circle, are passed in. The player who passes follows the ball, then the receiving player does likewise, passing clockwise to the next man outside the circle. To progress, add poles within the circle to create obstacles, encouraging players to take a touch to make space, as shown. Change the direction of play every couple of minutes.

Technique

Good first touch, movement and agility

1. The warm-up starts with a player on each side of the centre circle passing the ball to a central player and following their pass

2. The central receiving player passes to the next outside player clockwise and then follows the pass

3. Progress the warm-up by adding poles to create obstacles that players need to be aware of

4. The principles are the same in this progression but players will sometimes need to take a touch tomake the space needed to play the ball back