Midfield Shield: 4-3-3

Set up

Field

Mark a 50x45 yrd field with 2 full-size goals.

Players

14 or more players. Play Red against Yellow. Use 5vs5, but require the defending team to keep 2 of its players off the field. The defending team keeps only three players on the field to represent the midfield 3 in a 4-3-3, while its other two players wait beside their own goal line. The attacking team uses all five players.

How it runs

1. 1.Play 4 periods of 5 mins with 1 min rest between them.
2. 2.Apply offside in the attacking half.
3. 3.If the three defenders regain possession, they can either turn and find one of the resting players or the goalkeeper, which releases the two resting players into the attack, or they may counter immediately with only the three players already on the field.

After each rep

The team that has just lost possession must immediately send two players off to its own goal line, leaving three midfielders to defend.