The following posts have been tagged with "soccer attacking"...
Soccer Strategy
See “Formations“, “Creating Space“, “Attacking” & “Defense“.
Soccer Release
Refers to allowing a FB or the Sweeper to come into the attack if they have the soccer ball and can penetrate. This can be very effective and creates scoring opportunities by overloading the opponent’s defense. For example, “They allow the Sweeper to release into the attack”. (See “Attacking“).
Soccer Rebound
When your soccer team shoots, it is important for the F’s & MF’s to “go to goal” & get in position near the goal for a “rebound”. A rebound will occur when a shot hits the goal or when the goalkeeper blocks a shot. However, your soccer players should not go too close or the rebound will bounce behind them. When this happens, they not only don’t have a shot, but they actually are in the way of their teammates who are trying to take a shot. (i.e., They are between the soccer ball & the goal & blocking their teammate’s ability to take a shot. It’s almost like giving the other team a defender). Tell your soccer players to not run into the Goal Box until they see where the rebound is going (remind them that they can run forward a lot faster than they can run backward). Also, teach them to aggressively try to win the soccer ball back if an opponent other than the goalkeeper gets the soccer ball near the other team’s goal (e.g., from a rebound or a turnover). This can be a great scoring opportunity if you can steal the soccer ball back &, if you accidentally foul, the free kick is too far away from your goal to score. (See “Finish“, & “Attacking“).
Soccer Over The Top
“Over The Top” has 2 meanings:
1. It is most commonly used to mean a long lofted soccer ball that is kicked deep by defenders toward the other team’s soccer goal. This is a “direct” attacking style of play (sometimes called a “long ball” style) where the objective is to get the soccer ball away from your goal onto the other soccer team’s half of the field in hopes of gaining “territory” by winning the soccer ball and creating a scoring opportunity. It is the opposite of a controlled, indirect, posssession type of play that relies on many short passes. (See “Long-Ball Game“, “Direct Attack“, “Attacking” & “Counterattack“).
2. (aka Over The Ball). This phrase also refers to a dangerous tackle where a tackler’s foot goes over the top of the soccer ball & often cleats the ballhandler in the shin. A variation is when the defender raises his foot above the soccer ball so that if the attacker kicks the soccer ball he will be cleated. This is called “going over the ball”.
Soccer Offense
(aka “Attacking”). See “Attacking“, “Attacking Plan” & “Creating Space“.
Soccer Indirect Attack
See “Attacking” & “Direct Attack“.
Soccer Finish
Or Finishing, means to complete the soccer attack by scoring (i.e., converting a scoring opportunity into a goal). If your team can’t “finish”, you may need to work on soccer shooting or rebounding. Are your players shooting from too far away or without power? Are players in place to score on rebounds? Are they getting a lot of shots? Are your players taking shots? Are you getting the ball into the Penalty Box with Forwards in soccer position to score? When near the goal are they shooting low & to the corner? (As an example, a few years ago we played a game where we had 11 shots but only scored 1 goal. The problem was that all of our shots were air balls toward the center of the goal & the goalkeeper caught them. If we had shot grounders to the corner we would have scored 5 or 6 more goals). Teach your players to shoot low to the soccer corners when inside the Penalty Box & that accuracy is more important than power. Quick, aggressive players are usually good finishers. (See “Soccer Attacking“, “Soccer Attacking Plan“, and “Soccer Rebound“).
Soccer Direct Attack
To quickly move the ball forward toward the other soccer team’s goal by passing or dribbling; as opposed to a slow “indirect soccer attack” which uses a lot of backward or sideways (”square”) passes while searching for a weakness in the soccer defense. Unless your team has excellent passing ability, a direct attack will be more effective. (See “Soccer Counterattack“, “Soccer Attacking“, “Soccer Possession Style“, “Styles of Soccer Play“, & “Creating Soccer Space“).
Soccer Defending To Win
Refers to aggressively pushing up the Soccer Fullbacks & even the goalkeeper to support the attack & to “press” if the ball is turned over to the other soccer team with the objective of recovering the ball on the other team’s half of the field. This is quite different from a cautious defense that doesn’t aggressively push up or get the FB’s involved in the attack. The opposite of “Defending Deep”. (See “Attacking” & “Push Up“).
Soccer Counterattack
All of your soccer attacks will either start with a kick-off or a “re-start” (such as a goal kick, corner kick or free kick), or they will be “counterattacks” which start when you get the soccer ball on a turnover from the other soccer team. There are 2 types of soccer counterattacks: One is a slow, patient, ball-controlling soccer attack that relies on a lot of short soccer passes in all directions (i.e., backwards & sideways as well as forward); the other is to launch a quick “direct attack” by moving the soccer ball forward as quickly as possible into the other team’s “Danger Zone”. Unless you have a highly skilled soccer team that can complete a lot of consecutive passes, the quick direct counterattack will be the most effective. The concept is very similar to a fastbreak in basketball and if someone says you are vulnerable to a soccer counterattack they are referring to a direct, fastbreak counterattack. You are more vulnerable to a quick soccer counterattack if you push up your FB’s when you attack. There are 2 keys to launching a successful fastbreak soccer counterattack: (1) When your goal is under attack, you must be sure that one or two of your forwards stay out toward the halfway line or even farther if the other soccer team’s FB’s are deep. (Another advantage of this is it will force the other team’s FB’s to stay back, otherwise, they might push up closer toward your goal). (2) Your FB’s or MF’s must quickly kick the ball deep onto your opponent’s half of the field so your forwards can win the ball and fastbreak. (See “Attacking“, “Attacking Plan“, “Breakaway“, “Direct Attack” & “Formations“).