Training Library › Defending

4v2 Rondo — Learning Challenge & Cover

Challenge & cover (the basics of group defending)

Players: 4+2Area: about 12×15 mAge: Any ageTime: 15 minPhase: Defending

Setup & rules

  • Position players as in the diagram. 4v2 in a rectangular grid.
  • The attackers aim to progress along the length of the grid; the defenders' aim is to stop them progressing.
  • When a defender wins the ball, they swap roles with the player who lost it.
  • Set the swap rules however you like:
  • Swap when a pass is intercepted
  • Swap when the ball is taken out of the grid
  • Anything that suits your team's situation is fine.

Key factors

  1. Press and go to win the ball while cutting off the direction of the opponent you left unmarked (if the pass is played, recover your position)
  2. The player behind closes the gap and watches for the forward pass, while intercepting passes to the side or approaching to provoke a poor first touch (don't move too early)
  3. When the player who approached sees the pass played, they quickly move into the cover position (the challenge and cover roles swap)
COMMON MISTAKES
  1. The gap widens and a forward pass is played through
  2. When pressing to the side, the gap widens and play is switched
  3. When jumping out and leaving your mark, you don't take care of them (you don't cut the passing lane to the player you should be marking and lose awareness of them)

Progressions

  • If players find it easy, increase the difficulty of the practice.

Kazu's notes FROM THE COACH

  • Set the time at around 15–20 minutes. It is a basic practice, so it's better not to make it too long
  • If the ball doesn't move well, it may still be too early at this stage. If it doesn't work because of problems on the attacking side, I recommend training with the focus on attack rather than defence
  • If the defenders win the ball about 50–70% of the time, players get experiences of success more easily. Adjust the size and so on while watching how players succeed and fail

Note: the pitch size is estimated from the diagram and the number of players

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In the app: menu → “Import external data” → choose the downloaded file. No sign-up needed. The original Japanese article: junior-soccer.college.

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I'm Kazu — a youth football coach in Japan since 1995. These are sessions I actually use, shared from the Japanese coaching site I have run for years (Junior Soccer College). I also write a free weekly newsletter on how children learn the game.