5v5 End to End: Goalkeepers as Targets
Two teams of five keep possession and score by playing from one goalkeeper to the other. The goalkeepers on each end line play for whichever team passes to them.
- Age
- U13–Senior
- Players
- 12–14
- Duration
- 18 min
- Difficulty
- Intermediate
- Intensity
- High
- Area
- 35 × 30 m
- Type
- Tactical
- Approach
- Global
- Format
- Positional game
- Objectives
- Tactical: Ball possession, Build-up play, Switching play
- Concepts worked on
Training diagram
Legend
- Attacker
- Defender
- Goalkeeper
- Pass
- Ball
- Cone
The goalkeepers act as targets, so the team must build from one end and progress to the other. Possession has a direction and goalkeepers practise receiving and distributing under pressure with their feet.
Objective
Keep possession and progress from one end to the other, using the goalkeepers as support.
Organisation
- Area of 35 × 30 m. A goalkeeper on each end line (a 5 m zone). Two teams of five.
How it works
- A team scores when it plays from one goalkeeper to the other (the ball must pass through at least three players).
- The goalkeeper plays the ball back to the same team.
- Defenders win the ball and attack in the same direction. 4 × 4 minutes.
Coaching points
- Use width: spread out to make the area big.
- Support the goalkeeper with angles on both sides.
- Switch the play when one side is crowded.
Progressions
- Two touches.
- Goalkeepers can be pressed by one defender.
Regressions
- Add one neutral (6v5).
Variations
- The final pass to the goalkeeper must come from more than 10 m away.
Key principles
- Width, angles, direction.
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