In the final episode of The WCC Pod of 2025, we discussed some of the drills that we had developed throughout the year, and I really enjoyed a passing pattern I worked on with my teams to develop passing rhythm to create a 1v1 or 2v1 to the goal. I really enjoyed how the overlaps and movement kept all the players accountable for their movement, and mentally checked in, but ended with a game like element that is fast-paced and competitive. Everyone has a responsibility, and if one part of the process breaks down, we don’t get the scoring opportunity we are looking for.
To set up the drill, pull about 6-10 players into groups with three cones making a triangle spaced about 15-20 feet apart, with a cone in the middle of the bottom of the triangle. Make the grid a diamond, then place a small pug goal or foldable goal 15-20 from the middle cone. Place one attacking player at every cone, and a defender by the goal. The player at the cone opposite the goal starts with the ball. Any additional players should stand in line behind the starting player.
The 1v1 version of the drill starts when the player on the ball starts passing to the player on the middle cone. Simultaneously, one of the players on the cones on the side starts a run to underlap the central player. The central player then plays a layoff pass to the underlapping player,r who then passes to the player on the opposite side that the player came from. Once that pass is completed, the receiving player then goes into an angled 1v1 against the defending player stationed at the goal. Once the 1v1 is resolved, either by a goal, a miss, or the defender winning the ball, play resets the defender going to the end of the line, the 1v1 player becoming the defender, the central player becoming the wide receiving player, the underlapping player becoming the middle player, and the initial passer becoming the underlapping player.
The drill can then progress to a 2v1 with all of the same pattern steps, except now the central player isn’t done after the layoff. As soon a the receiving player initiates the 1v1, that central player can now release towards the goal and create a 2v1 against the defender. The shifts for the next round still remain the same.
Some key coaching concepts I really like to stress for this one are timing. The drill loses its game-like atmosphere when the underlapping player overruns the central player before they are ready to pass, or vice-versa, is too slow, and the central player is stuck holding the ball. You would like all the passes to be one-touch passes until the 1v1 to create the tempo, but its also important to stress to the players that maybe taking a 2nd touch in the middle to slow down the drill to allow the underlapping player to get to the right spot may be the right decision given the situation. For the 1v1 player, in both the 1v1 and 2v1 versions, its important that their first touch drags the defender towards them in what I call the 60/40 touch, where the first touch is away from the body and makes the defender think they can get into a 50/50 situation, but in reality they have been baited into a situation where the attacker has an advantage and can take a touch that allows them to take their second touch into a positive space and leave the defender either flat footed or on the attackers hip.
