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The following posts have been tagged with "soccer defense"...

Soccer Tactics

See “Formations“, “Creating Space“, “Attacking” & “Defense“.

Tags: soccer attacking, soccer creating space, soccer defense, soccer formations, soccer tactics

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Soccer Support

You want to have “support” on both offense & defense. “Support”
refers to having teammates who are properly positioned near the ball (i.e., within passing range on offense and within 5 – 10 steps of the First Defender on defense):

A.  On Offense, there should always be 2 or more teammates within passing range (7-15 steps, depending on age) who are open for a pass. One of these can be following the ballhandler (a “trailer”). The key concepts are “First Atacker”, “Second Attacker”, and “Third Attacker”. (See “First Attacker”, “Push Up”, “Support Distance & Relative Position”, “Attacking”, “Attacking Tips” in Chapter 1, & Chapter 2, “How To Teach Offense & Defense”).

B.  On Defense there are 3 key concepts:

1. “First Defender” – The player closest to the ball must challenge the ball & try to slow down the attack or block a shot, and

“Second Defenders” – The second closest player must be the Second Defender and back up the First Defender and stay between the ball and the goal. The Second Defender should stay about 5-7 steps behind the First Defender and should become the First Defender if the ballhandler gets by the initial First Defender. (In this case, the initial defender should drop back to help the defender who was backing him up).

“Shift & Sag” – As soon as the ball is lost, your team should quickly “transition” from offense to defense; the closest player should become the “First Defender” the next two closest should become the “Second Defenders” & all the rest should “shift & sag”. What this means is to shift so they are generally between the ball & the goal & sag back to create multiple layers of defenders (which is called “Depth”). There are 2 rules that you can use to teach your players how to “shift & sag” on defense:

• The left & right players (e.g., the LMF & RMF or LFB & RFB) should not go past the center of the field.

Don’t go past a teammate unless it is an emergency & never go past two teammates. These rules apply to defense but not offense because more creativity is allowed on offense. (See “Shift & Sag“, “Shape“, “Depth“, “Cover“, “Width In Defense“, “Support Distance & Relative Position“, “Zone Defense“, “Defense” & “Flat Defense“).

C.  All players should shift toward the ball whether on offense or defense. Ideally, there should be multiple layers of support on both offense & defense.

Tags: soccer attacking, soccer attacking tips, soccer cover, soccer defense, soccer depth, soccer first atacker, soccer first attacker, soccer first defender, soccer flat defense, soccer how to teach offense & defense, soccer key concept, soccer push up, soccer second attacker, soccer second defenders, soccer shape, soccer shift & sag, soccer support, soccer support distance & relative position, soccer third attacker, soccer trailer, soccer transition, soccer width in defense, soccer zone defense

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Soccer Strategy

See “Formations“, “Creating Space“, “Attacking” & “Defense“.

Tags: soccer attacking, soccer creating space, soccer defense, soccer formations, soccer strategy

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Soccer Shift & Sag

A convenient term for describing what you want your soccer players to do on defense. It has 2 meanings:

First, as attackers move the soccer ball around the field, defenders should be constantly shifting to maintain good defensive coverage and the soccer players farthest from the ball should “sag” back so they are in position to stop an attack on goal (this provides additional “depth” & concentration of defenders between the soccer ball & the goal). This creates “multiple layers” of defenders in a position to stop an attack on goal. For example, if the soccer ball is on the left side & the LF is the First Defender, then the LMF should be a Second Defender, the CF should also be a Second Defender, & the LFB should be the Third Defender. The CF should shift so he is within 5 – 7 steps of the soccer ball & “sag” back a little so if the onball attacker tries to go to the left of the LF the CF is there to stop the penetration. The CMF should also “shift & sag” so he is between the CF & the goal (i.e., 10 – 15 steps behind the CF), & the CFB should do the same behind the CMF. On the right side, the RF should sag behind the CF, but not go past the center of the field (i.e., the imaginary line between the goals), etc. These relationships are shown in the diagram below. If the soccer ball were on the right side, it would be reversed. Note that all defenders don’t try to stay precisely between the soccer ball & the goal (if they did you would have no “width” & your field “coverage” would be poor); however, they are in position to “recover” in time to stop an attack on goal.

Second, when a team loses the soccer ball, the players nearest the soccer ball should stay & try to be “First or Second Defenders” & slow down the attack. But all others should quickly “sag” back toward their goal (i.e., “Recover”) to create multiple layers of defenders. This doesn’t mean that everyone runs back in front of the goal; if they do it just makes it easy for the attackers to reach your Danger Zone. A rule of thumb is that the Fullbacks should drop back far enough that a long chip pass won’t go over their heads. Also, keep in mind that even when the FB’s have sagged back near their goal, you must leave some MF’s & F’s outside the Penalty Box in a position to win cleared balls & to receive passes so you can counterattack. If all your players are in the Penalty Box you won’t be able to get the ball off your end of the field.
(See “Defense“, “Depth“, “Support“, “Support Distance & Relative Position” “Formations“, “Zone Defense“, “First Defender“, “Recover“, “Funnel” “Mark” & “Pressure“).

Tags: soccer coverage, soccer defense, soccer depth, soccer first defender, soccer first or second defenders, soccer formations, soccer funnel, soccer key concept, soccer mark, soccer multiple layers, soccer pressure, soccer recover, soccer sag, soccer shift & sag, soccer support, soccer support distance & relative position, soccer width, soccer zone defense

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Soccer Defense

See “Soccer Shift & Sag”, “Soccer Support”, “Soccer Zone Defense”, “Soccer Formations“, “Soccer Depth“, “Soccer Cover“, “Soccer Mark“, “Soccer Pressure”, “Soccer Defending Deep“, “Width In Defense”, “Shape”, “Support Distance & Relative Position”, “Defending Third“, “Win The Ball”, “Ball Watching“, “Breakaway“, “Clear“, “Danger Zone“, “Soccer Dangerous Attackers“, “Soccer Goalkeeper“, “Verbal Soccer Signals“, “Where…From” and Soccer Defensive Tips at SoccerHelp Premium.

Tags: soccer ball watching, soccer breakaway, soccer clear, soccer cover, soccer danger zone, soccer dangerous attackers, soccer defending deep, soccer defending third, soccer defense, soccer depth, soccer formations, soccer goalkeeper, soccer mark, soccer pressure, soccer shape, soccer shift & sag, soccer support, soccer support distance & relative position, soccer verbal signals, soccer where...from?, soccer width in defense, soccer win the ball, soccer zone defense

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Soccer Cover

“Cover”, “Support”, & “Depth” are related but different soccer concepts. Whereas “support” means there should be several soccer teammates within the immediate area of the ball (i.e., within the distance of a long pass on offense and a short pass on defense) and applies to soccer offense (i.e., receivers supporting the passer) and soccer defense (e.g., the Second Defender should back up the First Defender), “cover” is a defensive soccer concept that has 3 meanings. One meaning refers to areas of the soccer field that your “defense” should cover. For example, when the soccer ball is on your end of the field, your soccer defense must “cover” your Danger Zone & if the ball is in your Danger Zone your defenders must especially cover the area in front of your soccer goal. The area your soccer defense must cover depends on how far away from your goal the ball is, which side of the soccer field it is on & who is faster, your soccer fullbacks or the other team’s forwards (e.g., if your fullbacks are faster then you can “push up” more because you have the speed to “recover”). A second meaning refers to a soccer defender guarding an opponent (e.g., “His job is to cover the Right Forward”). The term cover is also used as a synonym for defensive soccer support (e.g., “The Sweeper is responsible for providing cover for his fullbacks”. This is similar to the concept of a free safety providing cover for his cornerbacks and linebackers in American football). (See “Support“, “Shift & Sag“, “Depth“, “Width In Defense” & “Recover“).

Tags: soccer cover, soccer defense, soccer depth, soccer his job is to cover the right forward, soccer push up, soccer recover, soccer shift & sag, soccer support, soccer the sweeper is responsible for providing cover for his fullbacks, soccer width in defense

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Soccer Channel

There are two meanings:

1. The soccer defender should angle his body & position himself to “channel” the “onball attacker” toward the soccer side line. This is the same concept as “turning” the soccer ballhandler, but if you “channel” the ballhandler you stay with him & keep trying force him wide. This is a desirable soccer tactic because it poses much less risk to the defending team than if the ballhandler is able to turn into the center of the soccer field. The Defender should favor the center and turn his body so the ballhandler cannot easily get past him to the center of the soccer field. This encourages the ballhandler to go to the outside. Forcing the ballhandler to the outside reduces the risk of the ballhandler getting a clean shot on the front of the soccer goal (i.e., if he gets off a shot from the sideline area he has a bad angle). (See “Defense” and “Marking“).

The term also refers to a passing lane. (See “Slot”).

Tags: soccer channel, soccer defense, soccer marking, soccer onball attacker, soccer slot, soccer turning

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