The following posts have been tagged with "soccer marking"...
Soccer Zone Defense
There are 2 basic types of soccer defense: a zone soccer defense where defenders stay between the ball & the goal they are defending & are assigned a position relative to their soccer teammates (e.g., right, center, or left); and man-to-man defense where players are assigned to guard specific opponents (this is called a marking soccer defense). Many college & pro soccer teams today use some type of zone defense, but mark attackers who come into their “zone”. I think a soccer zone defense works best for recreational soccer teams because it doesn’t require fast players or great stamina like man-to-man defense does (i.e., it is better suited to slower players who don’t have great stamina). I use a shifting zone defense with “FB’s”, “MF’s” & “F’s” assigned a “relative position”; for example, Right Fullback (RFB), Center FB (CFB), and Left FB (LFB). Two key concepts to teach regardless of which type of defense you use are Soccer First Defender and Soccer Second Defender. Also, you must teach your players to mark attackers who are in scoring range (i.e., “Dangerous Attackers”) regardless of whether you play a zone or man-to-man.
Soccer Channel
There are two meanings:
- 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“).