Recovery runs in soccer

Recovery runs in soccer are the sprints players make back toward their own goal after the team loses the ball. The nearest player slows the attack down, and everyone else runs to get goal side of the ball, which means between the ball and the goal. The aim is to turn a moment when the team is spread out and facing the wrong way into an organized defense, and a few seconds is often enough. It is a different thing from the easy jog some teams call a recovery run the day after a game.

How recovery runs work in soccer

A team with the ball spreads out and pushes forward, so losing it often leaves a lot of space behind. Getting back takes two jobs happening together.

The first job belongs to the player nearest the ball, often the player who just lost it. They get in front of the player on the ball and make the forward pass or dribble harder, without diving in. A tackle that misses takes them out of the play and gives away the time they were trying to buy. The next player back can also help slow things down if the first one is beaten, using the approach from how to defend 1v1.

Everyone else has the second job, and it is a simple one: run toward your own goal rather than toward the ball. Players who chase the ball tend to arrive behind it, where they can't affect much. A full back who has pushed up should run back and inside, toward the middle of the goal, then move out to pick up an attacker once they are goal side. That inside line protects the most dangerous space first. Check over your shoulder as you run so you know which attackers are arriving.

Once players are back they can settle into their usual roles, with someone pressing, someone covering and the far side tucking in, as described in pressure, cover, balance. Forwards are part of this too. A forward who jogs back leaves the midfield short of numbers, even if they can't get all the way behind the ball.

Step by step

O attacks to the right and D defends the goal on the right. D has pushed up into O's half, with both full backs high and the keeper off the line.

D7 has the ball in O's half and O7 steps in and wins it.

D7 is the nearest player, so D7 steps goal side to slow O7 down. Everyone else in D sprints back toward their own goal, and the full backs, D1 and D4, run inside as they go. O9 and O10 run forward.

O7 can't go forward past D7, so O7 passes wide to O8. The pass takes D7 out of the play, so D7 turns and runs back too. D8 closes O8 down, and the rest of D keep running until they are goal side.

O8 is blocked going forward and tries to find O10 inside. D7 has recovered far enough to cut out the pass.

D has the ball back, with most of the team behind it and the back four set.

To practice it, walk through the play with your full team and stop it after each pass, so players can see whether they are goal side. Then play a small sided game where a coach plays a new ball to the other team whenever you choose, and every player has to run behind the ball before their team can win it back. Watch the first few steps after the ball is lost, because that reaction is what you are training.

The full play

You can take this playbook into your own account and change it for your team, for example starting from your own attacking shape or from a turnover on the wing.

If you coach a youth or rec team, you can also put your roster on Playspedia so everyone knows who is playing each week.