Fox in the box

LEARNING
 OBJECTIVES
This session will help players:
• use scanning to increase awareness in the final third
• improve their movement to find, create and exploit space when finishing
• apply different techniques when shooting.

ORGANISATION
• This session uses a whole-part-whole format, meaning you start with a game (whole),
followed by a practice (part) and end with another game (whole)
• Set up an area appropriate in size for your players and split it horizontally into thirds
• Place 10 footballs around the pitch
• We have 14 players split into two teams of seven, but you can adapt to your numbers
 HOW TO PLAY
The aim of the session is to score as many goals as possible.

Whole activity one

• Start with a 7v7 game
• Introduce a scoring system to encourage combinations and reward creative finishing,
for example:
○ for a goal to count, all the scoring teams’ outfield players must be in the top two
thirds of the pitch
○ a one-touch finish counts as two goals
○ a one-two combination around a defender that leads to a goal counts as three.

Part activity
• Each team plays a 4v3 in their attacking third (four attackers, two defenders and a
goalkeeper)
• The attacking team starts the game with any ball that’s around the third – they’re trying
to score
• If the defending team win the ball, they can score by dribbling into the middle third
• When the ball goes out of play, the attacking team can restart from another ball with a
throw-in or kick-in
• Introduce a scoring system to encourage creativity
• Play for three or four minutes, or until five footballs have been used – then count the
scores of both teams
• Repeat and swap the teams around so every player can be an attacker and a defender

Whole activity two

• Return to a 7v7 game and encourage your players to apply what they’ve learnt
• You can do this by:
○ re-emphasising different scoring values
○ playing offsides in the final third
○ providing players with individual challenges around scanning, movement and fin-
ishing techniques.