Build-Up Is Changing — Are Sessions Keeping Up?

Build-up training has followed the same picture for years: back four and goalkeeper in possession, opposition pressing, and mini-goals positioned higher up the pitch to represent passing lanes into forwards. It’s a common structure on coaching courses and in session plans around the world. But the modern game no longer consistently provides those central progression spaces. With more man-oriented pressing, hybrid systems that screen the middle, and clearer goalkeeper triggers, elite teams are shutting down the very lanes many sessions are designed to exploit. If the picture in the game has changed, then the picture in our training environment must change with it.

Across elite football, progression is increasingly driven by ball carriers, rotational movements, and wide access points rather than forced central passes into static targets. Teams like PSG are building differently, manipulating defensive lines before accelerating through them, often releasing fullbacks or rotating midfielders to create momentum and imbalance. The value is no longer in simply passing through a gate 30 yards from goal, but in breaking lines with speed and unbalancing structures under pressure. The question for coaches is simple: are we still training build-up for a version of the game that no longer exists, or are we preparing players for the tactical realities they now face?

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We’ve also launched a brand new Modern Soccer Coach YouTube channel dedicated specifically to session design and tactical training ideas. To kick it off, we’ve released a video featuring three modern build-up training ideas that reflect the realities discussed above. If you’re looking for practical ways to evolve your sessions, head over, watch the breakdown, and please subscribe here as we continue to build it with consistent, high-level coaching content.