The curriculum

Shrink the space between and inside your lines so the opponent has nowhere to play through.

Decide how far from goal your back line stands, and what that gives away in front of it and behind it.

Pull the opponent apart with wide players so gaps open inside their back line.

Get more players than the opponent into one zone and play out of it.

Press at the right angle to block the pass behind you, and choose what happens when you lose the ball.

Shape your back line so the ball can leave your own third against a press.

Get the ball to your #6 when a striker’s cover shadow hides him.

Beat a blocked pass with a bounce: A finds C through B.

Move the ball faster than their block can slide.

Attack with the counter-attack already covered.

Receive between their midfield and their defence with room for the next action.

Occupy one defender so a different attacker receives in the space beside him.

Send the supporting run where their full-back is not.

Start the run so you are level when the ball is played and past them when it lands.

Fill the three areas of the box, then pick the delivery that can actually reach one.

One player goes to the ball, a second covers the pass behind him, and a third holds the space nobody is looking at.

A trigger is only a trigger if the players behind you are ready for it. Read the cue and the unit.

Follow the runner, or pass him to a team-mate and keep your own space. Which one depends on who is free to take him.

Who takes the winger, who takes the runner, and who refuses to be dragged out of the middle?

Near post, far post and the cut-back: three jobs that cannot all be done by watching the ball.