In this Coaching Clinic filmed exclusively for CV Academy, former Belgium men’s national team assistant coach Luke Benstead delivers a session on defending in the final third.

Benstead began his career working as an analyst for Everton, progressing to the first team under Roberto Martínez, before moving to Manchester United to work with José Mourinho. His time with Belgium began when Martínez brought him in for the 2018 World Cup where the Red Devils finished third. After the 2022 World Cup, Benstead became assistant to Martínez’s successor, Domenico Tedesco, as well as taking on the role of head of national youth teams.

Here, he explains a session on what he calls ’defending the deep’, using both the Coaches’ Voice tactics board and footage from a session he led as part of a Football Association of Wales coaching conference. His session is split into two practices, the first of which is an 8v8 controlled phase of play that allows for the introduction of key coaching points. This leads into a second practice – an 8v8 multi-directional game in the same playing area, which is conditioned in order to create further scenarios that will test learning.

Benstead explains the session and coaching points with clarity, as well as reflecting on his own coaching craft when reviewing the video footage. It is an excellent session that he delivered as part of his UEFA Pro Licence course. We hope you enjoy it!

Please also click below to access the accompanying session plan in PDF form.