Week 5 · U14
Support & getting open
Objectives — what the players will do
- 1Move to a spot where the ball-carrier can ACTUALLY pass to you — at an angle, out from behind defenders
- 2Make a third-man run: the pass goes to one player, the run comes from another
- 3Keep the field big — stretch wide and deep instead of crowding the ball
Play 1 — starts when the second player arrives
Keep-Away Count
Arrival keep-away: 3v1 or 4v2 in 12x12 squares, forming as players arrive. Teams count consecutive passes and try to beat their own record each round. Defender rule: whoever loses the ball goes in. 15 minutes.
Practice — the one taught activity of the night
Third-Man to the End Zone
5v3 in a 30x25 grid with an end zone at one end. Attackers score by receiving the ball IN the end zone — but the player who finishes the move cannot be the player who made the first pass: pass up, lay back, and a THIRD player arrives in the zone. Defenders win by stealing and dribbling out the sides. Rotate defenders every 2 minutes. About 25 minutes.
Make it 5v2, let defenders shadow without tackling, and walk the up-back-run pattern through once so newer players see the shape before it goes live.
Even numbers (4v4 plus one neutral who always attacks), defenders fully live, and the third man must start their run BEFORE the lay-off is played — late runs do not count.
Play 2 — always finish playing the real game
Runner’s Bonus
5v5 to small goals, 25 minutes. Goals from a give-and-go or a third-man run count double. After each goal, quick question to the scorer: ‘whose run made that possible?’ — the assist for the run gets the loudest celebration.
Key coaching points — in your own words
- ·When your teammate gets the ball, YOUR job starts — support is an action, not a position.
- ·If you are hiding directly behind a defender, the pass cannot reach you. Step to an angle.
- ·Move when your defender’s eyes go to the ball — that is the moment they lose you.
- ·The defense watches the ball; the run they never see is the one that hurts them.
- ·Freeze the game once, ask ‘who is free right now — and why?’, and let a player answer before you do.
Man-marking in the practice, smaller grids, runs must start before the lay-off.
Add a neutral attacker, grow the grid, defenders passive.
Game-day focus — watch for this on Saturday
Spacing in the 1-2-3-1: wide midfielders stretch the field to the touchlines, and when the striker receives with back to goal, a midfielder ARRIVES to play off them. Sideline cue: ‘who’s arriving?’ — then let the leaders on the field call the names.
Message to forward to your parents
This week is movement OFF the ball — the runs that never make the highlight reel but create every goal. After the game, try ‘what run created your best moment today?’ instead of ‘did you score?’. Teens open up when the question respects how the game actually works.
This week's two videos
Every session is Play-Practice-Play: kids play from the moment they arrive, you teach ONE thing in the middle, then they play again. Watch the prep video the night before — the activity video is that middle PRACTICE part.
Off Ball Movement
Watch the night before to understand the idea
US youth game film breaking down off-ball movement at exactly the level your players compete at — not pro clips, real youth pictures. Watch in Week 1 to calibrate what good movement looks like for this age. Steal his habit of praising runs that never receive the ball.
Watch on YouTubeMidfield Rotation - Full Training Session
Your PRACTICE part — the one thing you teach mid-session
A full session on midfield rotation — starting positions, timing, and the awareness demands of rotating to support the ball carrier. Lift the session structure for Week 2 and bring it back with full opposition in Week 4. Rotations only count if the ball can still find the next line — hold players to that standard.
Watch on YouTube