Created using Tactics Manager ⚽️ Activity Outline Set up on a full pitch, or a large area, with a goal and a goalkeeper at one end. The defending team is a back four who start high up the pitch and hold their line. The attacking team is one feeder who starts just over the halfway line, and three attackers who start level with the back four, ready to run in behind. The feeder plays a ball over the top of the back four for the three attackers to chase. As the ball is played, the three attackers spin and run into the space behind, and the back four drop together to defend the ball. The goalkeeper sweeps out from his goal to support the defenders and deal with any ball that gets in behind them. A repetition ends when the ball goes out of play or the defenders win the ball back. After each outcome, restart with the feeder once the back four are reset on their line. Keep the restarts quick to get many repetitions of defending the ball over the top. Play for fifteen to twenty minutes and then swap the roles. Progression: start the back four higher to enlarge the space behind, or add a second feeder to vary the angle of the ball over the top. ✅ Coaching Points The back four hold the line, then drop together as one the moment the ball is played over the top, not one at a time. Read the feeder early: react as the ball is struck, turning and recovering before the attacker gets a yard on you. The goalkeeper sweeps out aggressively to claim or clear any ball that beats the back four. The keeper and the defenders communicate, so a clear call decides who takes the ball and who covers. Recover goal-side of your attacker, getting between him and the goal as you drop. Defend the ball, not the man: get to the ball first or shepherd the attacker away from goal. Once the danger is cleared, reset onto the line quickly for the next ball. 🟢 Game Relevance Trains the cover side of a high line: dropping together to defend the ball played in behind. The sweeper-keeper coming out turns the dangerous space behind a high line into space the team controls. Defending the ball over the top is the exact situation a high line invites, so rehearsing it makes the line safe. The communication between keeper and back four is what a high-line system needs in a match. Reacting early and recovering together is what stops a single ball over the top becoming a clear chance. Complements the stepping-up drill: a high line must know both when to step up and when to drop and defend the space behind. Download Drill
