How to play out from the back in soccer

To play out from the back in soccer, spread your defenders so the other team's forwards can't cover everyone. The center backs split to the edges of the penalty area, the full backs push up and wide, and a central midfielder drops in between the center backs. Two forwards can press two of those players at most, so someone is always free. The goalkeeper starts it, and each pass goes away from the side the nearest presser is coming from.

How to play out from the back in soccer

The shape does most of the work. With the center backs at the edges of the box, a pass from the goalkeeper to either of them is long enough that a forward can't close it down before the ball arrives. The full backs give the center backs a pass down the line, and the midfielder who drops in gives them a pass inside. A forward who presses a center back can block one of those passes with their run, but not both.

That is the decision every player in the build up makes: see where the presser is coming from and pass the other way. If the forward comes from the inside, the ball goes wide. If they come from the outside, it goes inside. A pass back to the goalkeeper, who has to play it with their feet, is always an option and often the right one, because it moves the ball away from the press and lets you start again on the other side.

Each pass is meant to get the ball one line further up the field. The first line is the other team's forwards. Once the ball is past them, the next target is a midfielder who can receive between their midfield and back four, facing forward. A ball that goes sideways along your own back line without getting past anyone just gives the press time to shift.

Under the Laws of the Game, at a goal kick the opposing players have to stay outside the penalty area until the ball is kicked and clearly moves, and your own players can receive it inside the box. That gives the center backs time to set up at the edges of the box before anyone can press them.

Step by step

O is building out from its goalkeeper and attacks to the right. D defends in a 4-4-2 with its two forwards, D9 and D10, ready to press.

The center backs, O2 and O3, split to the edges of the box. The full backs, O1 and O4, push up and wide, and O6 drops in between the center backs.

The goalkeeper passes to O3. D10 presses O3 from the inside, cutting off the pass to O6, and D9 steps across to mark O6.

The inside pass is blocked, so O3 plays wide to O4. D8 leaves the midfield line to press O4.

O4 passes inside to O7, who comes toward the ball into the space behind D8. The pass goes behind D8's run, so D8 can't get back to it.

O7 plays forward to O10, who has checked into the space between D's midfield and back four.

The ball is past both of D's forwards and its midfield line. O10 can turn and run at the back four, with O7 and O8 in support.

In practice, walk through it first with the back four, the goalkeeper and one midfielder against two forwards at half pace, and let the forwards choose which way to press. The players on the ball should be naming where the free player is before the ball arrives. Once that works, add midfielders on both teams and play it at full speed. A rondo trains the same habit in a small space: pass to the side the defender isn't covering. The high press article shows this situation from the defending side, which is useful for seeing what your players will face.

The full play

You can take this playbook into your own account and change it for your team, for example drawing your own formation or having the goalkeeper start the play on the other side.

Playbooks can also be saved as a PDF if you would rather hand your players the plays on paper before a game.