Counter-Pressing for Youth Soccer

01 · See it

Watch the loss, then choose

Blue and Red play 7v7 on a small pitch, both in a 1-3-2-1 shape.⁹ The 7v7 formations page has more on it. Blue has the ball in Red’s half. Three of Blue’s six outfield players are close to it and three stay behind it, which is what lets a team hunt the ball the moment it is lost. Pochert’s FIFA session asks the pressing side to “keep good distances between players to allow them to react quickly and efficiently to transitions”.¹⁰ Blue passes down the touchline, Red’s No.10 steps in and wins it, and then you watch the first two seconds. The exact positions are my own setup, so tune them on your board. Freeze when Red’s No.10 has his head up. What would Blue’s three nearest players do?

Blue has the ball in Red’s half. Three of Blue’s six outfield players are close to it, and three stay behind it. Watch what happens when the ball is lost.

Freeze. What do Blue’s three nearest players do?

Ask your players before you show them. Tap an option to play it out.

Pass
Run
Blue closes
Cue word
Us (Blue) · Them (Red)

Open it on your board (Pro): Hunt and shut Drop at once All dive at the ball

Read the sequence as text

Setup

Blue has the ball in Red’s half. Three of Blue’s six outfield players are close to it, and three stay behind it. Watch what happens when the ball is lost.

The loss and the hunt

Blue has the ball. No.8 passes down to No.10 on the lower side, and the back three stay behind the ball.
Red’s No.10 steps in front and wins the ball with a tackle. Blue’s No.10 is two strides away. No.9 has the best view and shouts HUNT.
The hunt starts. Blue’s No.10 closes and gets side-on, No.8 and No.9 step toward the two lanes Red could pass down, and the back three squeeze up.

The freeze

Freeze. Red’s No.10 has the ball with his head up, two strides from Blue’s No.10. No.8 and No.9 are a few strides away. What do Blue’s three nearest players do?

A. Hunt and shut

Best answer: hunt and shut. Red’s No.10 has no good pass, so he hurries one back along the touchline. Blue’s No.9 closes it, wins the ball, and Blue attacks with Red’s players facing their own goal.^3,10,4

Red’s No.10 can’t turn, so he hurries a pass back along the touchline to No.2. Blue’s No.8 holds the inside lane, and Blue’s No.9 steps onto the touchline lane and takes the ball.
No.9 plays it first time to No.8, who is already running into the space Red’s No.8 left. Red’s players are facing their own goal.
No.8 drives at the box while No.9 and No.10 come up behind him. Red’s back line is turning.
No.8 shoots. Blue won the ball back close to Red’s goal, and a few seconds later it has a shot.

B. Drop at once

Safe, but the chance is thrown away. Dropping is right when few Blues are close or the first press has failed. Here three Blues are close and Red’s carrier is on the touchline with no forward pass, so Blue gives up a cheap chance.²

All three Blues run back toward their shape, and the back three drop with them. Red’s No.10 turns.
Red’s No.10 plays a pass inside to No.9. Red moves up the pitch without a fight.
Red’s No.9 carries the ball forward and Blue sets its shape behind the ball. Nothing is lost, and nothing is won.

C. All dive at the ball

Avoid: all three dive at the ball. Nobody holds a lane, so Red’s first-time pass beats all three pressers at once. Red’s No.9 turns and runs at the back three, with the pressers behind the ball and out of the game.¹

No.10, No.8 and No.9 all run straight at Red’s No.10. He plays a first-time pass through the gap to his No.9.
Red’s No.9 turns and runs at Blue’s back three, with Red’s No.8 and No.10 coming too. Blue’s three pressers are behind the ball.
Three Reds now run at Blue’s three defenders. The pressers chase from behind and cannot get back in time.

02 · Say it

Three shouts for the first five seconds

Shouts work when they are short and few. Pick three words, teach them in training, and use only those from the touchline. These three are my own wording, not a formal youth standard, and each one packages an idea from a named source. They are not the words on the counter-attack page (Forward, Break, Settle), so a team can learn both sets. Hover or tap a card to see when to say it.

CUE 01

“Hunt!”

when to say it

SHOUT IT WHEN

Shout it the instant we lose the ball, so everyone repeats it: the nearest player goes right now and does not wait to be told. FIFA’s session says “The closest player applies intense, aggressive pressure”,³ and in the Mexico U15 session “The player who loses the ball should be the first to press”.⁴ Pochert’s session says to “Press the ball-carrying player immediately after possession is lost, as this is the ideal time to regain possession”.¹⁰ I say Hunt rather than Press, because Press already means one player closing down. In the pattern No.10 goes at once, and No.9, who has the best view, calls it.

CUE 02

“Shut!”

when to say it

SHOUT IT WHEN

Shout it to the second and third players: do not run at the ball, shut the passing lanes, like closing doors. In the Mexico U15 session “The supporting teammates should follow coherently and block off any potential passing lanes”,⁴ and in FIFA’s session the two other players “work in a triangle” with the first.³ Pochert’s coaching point is that if the first pressing action fails, the passing lanes must be closed off.¹⁰ In the pattern that is No.8 and No.9.

CUE 03

“Five!”

when to say it

SHOUT IT WHEN

Shout it, or count it, when about five seconds are up: stop chasing and drop into shape. It is a count, not a rule. FIFA’s Morocco U-13 session has the pressing team try to win the ball back “within 5 seconds of losing the ball”,⁵ and one coach suggests “If you lose it, get it back before I count to 5!” for U10 players.⁶ Gündogan’s answer: “It depends on the situation and also on the opponent”.⁸ In the pattern the coach or No.5 calls it, and at five the group drops.

03 · Play it

Games that reward the hunt

Build a game where hunting at once is the easiest way to win the ball back and chasing for ever earns nothing, rather than explaining it. Each rung adds one rule. Move up when the group handles a rung without your help, and stay put if they need a reminder every time. The scoring rules and “ready when” signs are my own design, built on the FIFA, FA and Coaches’ Voice material.^3,5,10,11,1 Rondos appear here only as a first step. Check your league’s rules first.

Rules to check first

Formats. US Soccer’s maximum formats are 4v4 for U7–U8, 7v7 for U9–U10, 9v9 for U11–U12 and 11v11 from U13, and “smaller-sized formats can also be played at each of these age groups”.¹² Its age guide gives 1-2-1 with no keeper for 4v4.¹³ I didn’t look up US pitch sizes, so the ladders say “mark out what suits your players” or use the metres the FIFA and FA sources give. England runs about a year older: 7v7 at U10–U11, 9v9 at U12–U13 and 11v11 from U14 (from 2026–27).¹⁴
Offside. US Soccer’s small-sided standards say “there will be no offside infraction before the U-9 age group”.¹⁵ I did not find the 9v9 and 11v11 offside rules in the pages I read, so check your league.
Heading. US Soccer’s U9–U10 guide says “No heading in practice or games”.⁹ I didn’t list the older guides here, so check US Soccer’s age guides and your league. For 10 and under, a counter-press that forces a long ball means a ball to feet or into space, not a header. The FA’s 2020 guidance says “No heading in training in the foundation phase”, with “No changes to heading in matches”.¹⁶
What US Soccer’s game models say. For U10 and under, US Soccer recommends two game moments only: attacking and defending. The U9–U10 model’s defending line is “Stop the other team from playing forward and try to regain the ball”.¹⁷ The U11–U12 model adds the moment “when we lose the ball” with the lines quoted at the top of this page.² The U7–U8 age guide says “Introduce defending skills and winning the ball back”.¹³
Your league. 9v9 and local rules vary and leagues add their own. Check your rulebook before you change the game.

7v7 · keepers · offside from U9 · no heading. Mark out whatever pitch suits your players.

RUNG 1
One Presses, One Covers
Setup. 2v2 with a mini-goal behind a line at each end. In the FA’s 7–11 programme “the team that doesn’t have the ball works together to always have one player pressing” while the other offers covering support on the line in front of their goal.¹¹
Rule · When you lose the ball, the nearest player closes the ball and the other covers the lane to the next attacker.
Ready when the partner moves as his teammate goes.
RUNG 2
Locked In
Setup. A 30x20-yard pitch with a goal at each end and a halfway line. In the FA’s game “The side without it are locked in whichever half they were in when they lost possession”.¹¹
Rule · Play it so that when you lose the ball in the other half, you are locked there until you win it back, so the nearest players have to hunt at once.
Ready when the nearest two close the ball and the lanes, and the rest do not watch.
RUNG 3
Two Stay
Setup. Normal 7v7. This is a first taste of rest defence, which one study defines as the “behavior of the deepest defenders during ball possession with the goal to prevent an opposing counterattack”.¹⁸ Coaches’ Voice has a plain-English version.¹⁹
Rule · You may send no more than four of your six outfielders at the ball. Two stay behind it.
Ready when the team picks hunters and stay-behinds without being told. If not, stay on Locked In.

U10 session in Tactico Pro: Print touchline cards Download session PDF Open in the planner

04 · Spot it

What to watch for

Four things to look at from the touchline, and the three mistakes you’ll see first.

Watch for

Distances while we have the ball. Counter-pressing is decided before the loss. Are three Blues within about ten yards of the ball, and is anyone left behind it? Pochert: keep “good distances between players to allow them to react quickly and efficiently to transitions”.¹⁰
The first second. Who moves? “Players must react immediately after losing possession”.³ The one who lost it should be first.⁴
Second and third players: on the ball or on the lanes? Two players at the ball means a lane is open. “The supporting teammates should follow coherently and block off any potential passing lanes”.⁴
What happens at five? Does the group stop and drop together, or chase on? “Counter-pressing consistently over a prolonged period can lead to fatigued players”,¹ and US Soccer’s line is “If we can’t get the ball back immediately, recover quickly into a defending shape”.² One coach says “The key is the first six seconds after losing the ball”.⁷

Mistakes and the fix

WatchingThe player who lost it stands still, appeals or sulks. That is my coaching observation, not a sourced finding. Fix: the Hunt shout, Loser Chases (U8) and Loser Joins (U12). Praise the reaction as loudly as the tackle.

Everyone to the ball, nobody on a laneThe ball is passed round the hunters. Fix: the Shut shout, One Presses, One Covers (U10) and the triangle (U12). “The main issue for teams that counter-press is the space they leave for the opposition to exploit”.¹

Never stoppingThe press runs for twenty seconds, the back line is alone and the legs go. Fix: the Five count, Count to Five (U8), Three Passes (U12) and Go or Drop (U14+). Gündogan said City sometimes just try “to get back into our positions and try to defend”.⁸

Touchline rule. Clap the correct drop at five as loudly as the steal. A team that can’t stop will tire.

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Questions

Coaches ask

What is counter-pressing in soccer?

Winning the ball back immediately after losing it. Coaches’ Voice: “The aim is to win possession back as quickly as possible, before the opposition can settle on the ball”.¹ FIFA calls it “an immediate counter-press with the aim of winning the ball back swiftly”.³

Is counter-pressing the same as gegenpressing?

The sources treat them as the same idea. Coaches’ Voice titles its piece “Counter-pressing and the gegenpress”, and says counter-pressing is a translation from the German word “gegenpress”, a strategy developed by many German coaches including Jürgen Klopp and Thomas Tuchel.¹

How long should you counter-press?

About five seconds is a common coaching rule of thumb, and there is no law. FIFA’s Morocco U-13 session has the pressing team try to regain possession “within 5 seconds of losing the ball”.⁵ Other coaches use six: “You must win it back within 6 seconds”,⁶ and “The key is the first six seconds after losing the ball”.⁷ The Mexico U15 session counts opposition passes instead: win it “within 3-4 opposition passes”.⁴ When a five-second rule was put to Manchester City’s Ilkay Gündogan in 2017, he said “It depends on the situation and also on the opponent”.⁸ Treat the number as a coaching target.

Who should press first?

The closest player. FIFA’s Morocco session says the “player closest to the ball” applies immediate pressure on the ball carrier,⁵ and its “Regaining possession high up the pitch” session says “The closest player applies intense, aggressive pressure”.³ In the Mexico U15 session it is the player who lost it: “The player who loses the ball should be the first to press”.⁴ These are usually the same person. The next one or two shut the lanes.

What age should you start?

No source gives an age. The FA says that at the youngest ages “most players are drawn towards the ball”, so the ball changes hands often, and it calls that the starting point for development.²⁰ US Soccer recommends two game moments for U10 and under, and the U11–U12 model is the one that adds the moment “when we lose the ball”.^17,2 The FA’s 7–11 programme has one player pressing with a teammate covering.¹¹ A Mexico U15 session says “Knowing how to counter-press coherently as a team is a critical strategy and should be implemented at a young age”, but it is an under-15 team, so I don’t stretch it lower.⁴ My reading: one player who reacts at U8, a hunter plus a shutter at U10, the triangle at U12, and the whole unit from U13 or U14.

Is it always right to counter-press?

No. Coaches’ Voice: “If the opposition manages to beat the press, the defence is left vulnerable to opposition counter-attacks”, and it “requires very fit and agile players”.¹ Gündogan’s point is that when City are defensive and lose the ball, they sometimes just try “to get back into our positions and try to defend”.⁸ The U11–U12 model lists both options in the same list.²

What are good counter-pressing drills?

The sources go from small to big. Pochert’s session runs a 3v1 rondo, then 4v4+2, then 7+1 goalkeeper against 7+2.¹⁰ The Morocco session goes from rondos to 4v4+4, then 7+1v6, then 11v10.⁵ The Mexico session starts with a 5v2 rondo and finishes with an 8v8.⁴ The ladders above follow that order.

Does counter-pressing lead to goals?

It can, because the ball is won close to goal. In UEFA’s look at Champions League knockout play-offs, Bodø/Glimt’s coach said “We win the ball in good positions so we can make the counterattacks”.²¹ The counter-attack page covers what to do once you have the ball.

Is it different in England?

England’s formats from 2026–27 are 7v7 at U10–U11, 9v9 at U12–U13 and 11v11 from U14,¹⁴ about a year older than the US bands. The FA’s heading guidance says “No heading in training in the foundation phase”.¹⁶ England Football’s “How to defend like England: transition” says of the England players in its example, “They’re also in a great position to counter-press in moments of transition when they lose possession”, and tells coaches “Encourage your players to make immediate recovery runs when they lose possession”.²² The FA’s 7–11 pressing programme is a free session plan.¹¹

Keep going

What next

About

How this page was made

Written by Sherif Madkor for Tactico from published federation and coaching sources, which are listed below. The rules come from US Soccer’s public pages and the FA’s. The diagrams are drawn on the Tactico board. The pattern, the three options, the cue words and the practice ladders are my own teaching design, built on the principles in those sources. Who shuts which lane is my teaching model, and no source gives those exact positions. iCoachFootball and Soccer Awareness are coaching blogs, so I used them for ideas and games, not for rules. I found no youth counter-pressing statistics, so the page claims none, and no source gives an age at which a team can counter-press together. The five-second figure is a coaching rule of thumb, not a measured limit, and I found no primary source that I could confirm for it. I re-read the pages I quote on 4 November 2026. Where I couldn’t confirm something, the page says so. Last reviewed 4 November 2026.

Sources

Coaches’ Voice, Ali Tweedale, “Counter-pressing and the gegenpress: football tactics explained” (1 March 2022). https://learning.coachesvoice.com/?p=55111
U.S. Soccer, game model U11–U12. https://www.ussoccer.com/us-way/player-development/game/game-models/u11-u12
FIFA Training Centre, “Regaining possession high up the pitch” (elite session). https://www.fifatrainingcentre.com/en/practice/elite-sessions/transition-to-defending/regaining-possession-high-up-the-pitch.php
FIFA Training Centre, Mexico U15 Boys (Cristian Flores), “Defensive phase and counter-pressing” (elite session). https://www.fifatrainingcentre.com/en/practice/elite-sessions/youth-national-teams/mexico-u15-boys-/defensive-phase-and-pressing-flores.php
FIFA Training Centre, Noureddine Boubou (Morocco U-13), “Counter-pressing” (elite session). https://www.fifatrainingcentre.com/en/practice/elite-sessions/transition-to-defending/counter-pressing.php
iCoachFootball, “Transition Chaos: The ‘6-Second’ Recovery Game (Gegenpressing)” (undated; the author’s credentials are self-described). https://www.icoachfootball.net/?p=49064
Soccer Awareness, Wayne Harrison, “The 6 Second Transition Game” (29 November 2019). https://soccerawareness.squarespace.com/blog/the-6-second-transition-game
Goal.com, “Gundogan plays down importance of Guardiola five-second rule at Man City” (21 March 2017). https://www.goal.com/en-gb/news/gundogan-plays-down-importance-of-guardiola-five-second-rule-at-man-city/xsk4q1jr7u3i1h9i88o9r20d2
U.S. Soccer, age-group guide U9–U10. https://www.ussoccer.com/us-way/player-development/environment/age-group-guide/u9-u10
FIFA Training Centre, Anne Pochert, “Preparing and executing counter-pressing” (elite session). https://www.fifatrainingcentre.com/en/practice/elite-sessions/transition-to-defending/preparing-and-executing-counter-pressing.php
England Football Learning, “Session programme: pressing and covering to stop goals” (7–11s). https://learn.englandfootball.com/sessions/resources/2025/Session-programme-pressing-and-covering-to-stop-goals
U.S. Soccer, “Game formats”. https://www.ussoccer.com/us-way/player-development/game/game-formats
U.S. Soccer, age-group guide U7–U8. https://www.ussoccer.com/us-way/player-development/environment/age-group-guide/u7-u8
England Football Learning, “What is a format in football”. https://learn.englandfootball.com/articles-and-resources/coaching/resources/2022/What-is-a-format-in-football
U.S. Soccer, “Five things to know: how small-sided standards will change youth soccer” (2017). https://www.ussoccer.com/stories/2017/08/five-things-to-know-how-smallsided-standards-will-change-youth-soccer
The FA, updated heading guidance (2020). https://www.thefa.com/bootroom/about/news/the-fa-announce-updated-heading-guidance
U.S. Soccer, game model U9–U10. https://www.ussoccer.com/us-way/player-development/game/game-models/u9-u10
Forcher L, Forcher L, Altmann S, Jekauc D, Kempe M, “The Success Factors of Rest Defense in Soccer,” Journal of Sports Science and Medicine 22(4):707–725 (2023). https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10690503/
Coaches’ Voice, “What is rest defence? Football tactics explained” (8 March 2024). https://learning.coachesvoice.com/?p=71763
The FA Boot Room, Pete Sturgess, “What does transition look like for young players?” (29 January 2020). https://www.thefa.com/bootroom/resources/coaching/what-does-transition-look-like-for-young-players
UEFA.com, Champions League performance insights, knockout play-offs (9 March 2026; title cut off in the URL). https://www.uefa.com/uefachampionsleague/news/02a3-201ad22ed67b-ce4ac24ab0e9-1000--champions-league-performance-insights-the-importance-of-cou/
England Football Learning, “How to defend like England: transition” (dated 5 March 2021 on the page; 2022 in the URL). https://learn.englandfootball.com/articles/resources/2022/How-to-defend-like-England-transition

Counter-Pressing for Youth Soccer

Watch the loss, then choose

Freeze. What do Blue’s three nearest players do?

Setup

The loss and the hunt

The freeze

A. Hunt and shut

B. Drop at once

C. All dive at the ball

Three shouts for the first five seconds

Games that reward the hunt

Rules to check first

Loser Chases

Hunt for Two

Count to Five

One Presses, One Covers

Locked In

Two Stay

Loser Joins

Extra Goal High

Three Passes

Six-Second Challenge

Five in Five

Go or Drop

What to watch for

Watch for

Mistakes and the fix

Take it to training

Coaches ask

What next

How this page was made

Sources