Building up from the goalkeeper: how to train it step by step

Playing out from the goalkeeper is one of the ideas that has spread most in grassroots football, and also one of the ones that causes most goals against. Losing the ball near your own box is expensive, so it is worth training it well before asking for it in a match.

This post proposes a progression from the simplest to the most complete, with tasks on the website for each step.

A goalkeeper who is comfortable with their feet: controlling a back-pass towards the free side and passing accurately to a centre-back or full-back.

Width and depth: the centre-backs open up to the edges of the box, the full-backs go high and wide, a midfielder offers a line between the opponents.

Scanning before receiving and a first touch that moves the ball away from pressure. Without these two, any structure breaks.

1. 3 + goalkeeper v 2: three players and the goalkeeper have to cross a line against two attackers. It works from U9–U10 and teaches the first idea: if they press, there is a free player.

2. Passing circuit with positions: centre-back, midfielder, full-back and striker. No opponents, but with the real distances and movements of the match.

3. 4v3 to a target player: now the opponents are closer to the real number, and the objective is to find the forward.

4. 7v7 with a target zone or a three-zone match where the build-up is protected for a few seconds: everything together, in a game.

Playing out is a tool, not a religion. If the opponent presses with more players than you can free, a long ball to a well-positioned forward is also a good decision. Train it as an option: in the tasks, allow the long pass and reward the second ball.

The players should learn to read the situation, not to follow a fixed pattern.

Every build-up task also trains the team that presses. When you work on it, take the chance to teach the pressing triggers: a back-pass, a pass to the full-back near the touchline, a poor first touch.