Football/Soccer Session (Beginner): 2004 Boys Indoor #2

Everton Box Passing Drill progression (40 mins)

Everton Box Passing Drill

•Set up a 40x20 grid with 2 cones in the middle of the grid 2 yards apart. 2 more cones 5 yards closer from the middle cones.

•Have a line of people at each cone around the grid and 1 person on each of the 4 cones in the middle.

•2 balls at 2 opposite diagonal corners of the grid.

•2 players with a 1 marker check away from the ball opposite them and check to the ball. They receive a pass, check their shoulder, fix their shape, receive on the half turn and make a pass to the player marked 2 who has already checked away etc. and comes to meet the ball along the endline. Player 2 now plays back to 1 and then goes around the cone where he came from to get on the back end of the give and go. The 2 players in the middle now switch sides with their check off just like the original box drill and play through whichever progression you like of that version.

Players rotate as they did in the other version with simply following their pass.

•Progression has the pass to the middle being a man on call, instead of the turn call. Now the ball is passed back with a set call and then sent up to the next line. Same change of line process goes on.

•Next progression has the player in the middle calling for an overlap after he makes the set pass and then receiving the ball back and then sending it up to the next cone.

•Lastly, after the overlap, don’t pass straight but instead pass to the opposite corner player (who checked away, checked to, checked shoulder, fixed shape, received on the half turn) and then he plays a give and go with the player opposite him to then continue the sequence on the other side. (only 2 balls are used in this progressed version of this drill.)

The addition of the player 1 to the box drill gets players thiking more about spacing in the midfield and their movement paterns off each other.