Hi Kim, 

at this  age it’s normal for players to get drawn towards the ball so I wouldn’t worry to much if they sometimes stray. I would recommend looking up Tovo sessions on YouTube. It has a mixture of rondos and positional games which can be used to gradually introduce players creating and maintaining space 

Hi Elliot thanks for your reply I will take a look at those that’s great really appreciate your help. 

Hi Kim,

I am working on the same issue with my U9. I feel the whiteboard works well at giving them their starting positions (roughly 3-3). Of course, when the whistle goes the formation tends to go with it. I use the breaks to try and reinforce the message, e.g. 'if you are on the right side, try and stay there. If the ball is on the left, drift into the centre to cover or get ready to counter.' Hopefully, they will get it into the early part of the season as those 60 x 40 pitches make a big difference.

Hi Steven, thank you for your reply and advice. 

My players seem to have naturally snapped out of the habits from 5v5. I have found keeping each player to two positions has helped. Moving them all around the pitch to experience different positions in one match confuses them.

Little sayings like 'Paint on your boots' to keep the wingers wide has also worked.

Hi James, thanks for your reply with some great tips. I’m currently trying keeping them all to certain positions so fingers crossed it starts to work

Share a video please