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Build-upGameCompetition

4v4 build-up game with the goalkeeper as an outfield option

Use the goalkeeper as an extra option in build-up against real pressure from four attackers, demanding constant reading of when to join the circulation and when to stay out.

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Load

minutes
14
Intensity
Medium
Sets and reps
3 × 1

Microcycle days it fits

MD-3

Each bar’s height is that day’s dive ceiling.

Setup

Goalkeepers
1
server
0
outfield player
8

Space: 34 × 24 m

Equipment: Balls, Bibs, Cones, Full goal

The coach serves and manages the breaks.

1 steps

Four defenders plus the goalkeeper against four attackers, creating a positional overload when the goalkeeper participates. The building team looks to escape pressure and progress to midfield.

Exercise sequence

Coaching points

  • Join the circulation only when it genuinely creates a new passing lane — joining out of habit, with no purpose, is the most common mistake.
  • Orient the body to see the next option before receiving, every time, even when the ball comes from a nearby centre-back.
  • If pressure closes both short lanes, switching the point of play is preferable to forcing it through the middle.
  • Leave possession with a decision — once the pass is chosen, execute it with confidence, don’t hesitate mid-action.

Progressions

  1. Restrict the goalkeeper to participating only in their own half of the space.
  2. Collective pressure from all four attackers, with no fixed individual marking.

Regressions

  1. Allow three touches for every player in build-up.
  2. Reduce pressure to two attackers.

Sources · 2

  1. Book«Coaching the Complete Goalkeeper» — metodologia holandesa
  2. StudyAdvice from “pracademics” of how to apply ecological dynamics theory to practice design (2023)