Mastering the Third-Man Play: Improving Offside Awareness and Timing

Exercises that promote the third-man play help develop offside awareness.

Through quick and precise passing, players must coordinate their runs and timing perfectly to avoid being caught offside. Here are some ways offside awareness is trained:

Running Paths and Timing: Players learn to choose the right moment for their run in overload situations, ensuring they don’t get into an offside position when the pass is made.

Correct Use of the Third Man: When playing the third man, players understand the importance of positioning themselves at the right moment and at the right distance from the defender to avoid the offside trap.

Quick Reaction Ability: Players must stay aware of the offside rule while combining quickly, sharpening their offside awareness in real-game situations.

Training these exercises leads to better teamwork and greater tactical intuition to avoid the offside.

In this drill, we train the third-man play to improve offside awareness and timing during quick attacks.

Setup:
Create a rectangle (approx. 6x2m) in the middle of the drill, with one red and one blue player. Place two starting cones about 8-10m in front of the rectangle with one red and one blue player, and two additional cones placed diagonally about 6-8m with two blue and two red players (8 players total).

Execution:

• Red player A passes into the path of red player B.
• Red player B lays the ball off to the side to red player A and takes their position.
• Red player C sprints into space and receives a through pass from red player A. It’s important to watch for offside and not start the run too early.
• Red player C controls the ball and passes it directly to blue player A, then runs back to their starting cone.
• The same process is repeated for the blue players.

Coaching Points:

• Proper timing for the through pass and sprint at the right moment.
• Counter movements and offering at the right angle.
• Avoiding offside by timing the run perfectly.