How a central mid should train

Tempo runs

Extends your aerobic base so you repeat sprints late in games.

Stride-outs

Primes fast running mechanics without the strain of all-out sprints.

Wall passing reps

Grooves a clean first touch and passing rhythm — endlessly repeatable solo.

A-skips

Grooves clean sprint mechanics and rhythm.

Setup: A wall and a ball. 5–8m back.

1. 1. Pass firmly against the wall with the inside of the foot.
2. 2. Take the return with your far foot, away from where a defender would be.
3. 3. Play it back first time, alternating feet every rep.

Volume: 5 × 60 seconds, alternating feet

Coaching point: Your first touch decides the pass — set the ball outside your body, not under it.

Make it harder: Move closer to speed it up, or restrict yourself to two touches, then one.

Setup: 4+ players, one ball, a 8×8m square.

1. 1. Players on the outside keep the ball; one or two defend inside.
2. 2. Two touches maximum — receive across your body and move it on.
3. 3. Whoever loses it goes in the middle.

Volume: 4 × 4 minutes

Coaching point: Scan before it arrives. The pass you make is decided before you touch the ball.

Make it harder: Shrink the square, or go one-touch.

Setup: 6–8 cones, 1m apart.

1. 1. Weave through using both feet, small touches.
2. 2. Head up between touches — find a fixed point to look at each time.
3. 3. Explode out of the last cone for 5m.

Volume: 8 runs, 45s rest

Coaching point: Touch count beats speed. Small touches keep the ball inside your stride.

Make it harder: Narrow the gaps, or use only your weaker foot.

Setup: A goal, a ball supply (server or rebounder), the penalty area.

1. 1. Receive a rolled ball across the box and finish first time.
2. 2. Alternate sides so you strike with both feet.
3. 3. Place low and across the keeper rather than blasting it.

Volume: 5 × 10 finishes

Coaching point: Ankle locked, head over the ball. Placement beats power inside the box.

Make it harder: Server varies the pace and angle without telling you.

Setup: A goal and 6+ balls, 18–22m out.

1. 1. Take a controlled touch out of your feet, then strike across the ball.
2. 2. Aim for the corners — pick one and commit before you touch it.
3. 3. Reset fully between strikes; this is a quality drill, not conditioning.

Volume: 4 × 8 strikes

Coaching point: Plant foot pointing at the target. Most bad strikes are bad plant feet.

Make it harder: Strike moving away from goal, or off the weaker foot only.

Setup: 30–40m of space, a partner or a target zone.

1. 1. Take a positive first touch across your body, then drive it 30m.
2. 2. Strike through the bottom third with the laces for a driven ball.
3. 3. Alternate driven and lofted — different jobs, different techniques.

Volume: 5 × 10 switches

Coaching point: Open your body before the touch, not after. You can't switch play facing your own goal.

Make it harder: Hit a moving target, or switch off one touch.

Setup: Two cones 10m apart, a wall or server.

1. 1. Receive with your back to the far cone, on the half-turn.
2. 2. Turn out of your feet in one movement and drive forward.
3. 3. Alternate turning left and right, and inside and outside foot.

Volume: 6 × 45 seconds

Coaching point: Check your shoulder BEFORE it arrives. The turn is decided by what you saw, not what you feel.

Make it harder: Add a passive defender touching your back so you have to feel where they are.

Setup: A partner with a ball, 15m of space.

1. 1. Partner plays a heavy touch or turns their back — that's your trigger.
2. 2. Sprint to press on the trigger only; jog otherwise.
3. 3. Arrive curved, cutting off the pass back.

Volume: 10 × 15-second bursts

Coaching point: Press the moment their head goes down. Pressing a player who's looking up just tires you out.

Make it harder: Two attackers, so you also have to choose which one to press.

Setup: A ball and 40m of space, with a target — a goal, a tree, a cone.

1. 1. Take a settling touch across your body, then strike through the bottom of the ball with your laces.
2. 2. Aim to land it in a 5m target zone, not just to hit it far.
3. 3. Alternate feet every five, and half of them off one touch.

Volume: 5 × 10 passes

Coaching point: The settling touch decides the pass. If it is under your feet you will scoop it; set it half a metre across yourself.

Make it harder: Reduce to one touch entirely, or aim for a partner's chest rather than a zone.

Setup: A wall, a ball, and four numbered cones around you.

1. 1. Before every pass into the wall, look over both shoulders — a real turn of the head, not a glance.
2. 2. Take the return with the foot furthest from the cone you last looked at.
3. 3. Move the ball to that cone in two touches.

Volume: 6 × 45 seconds

Coaching point: Scan BEFORE the ball arrives, not while it does. Midfielders who look late take a touch that solves nothing.

Make it harder: Have someone call a cone number as the ball leaves the wall.