The following posts have been tagged with "soccer second defenders"...
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:
- “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
(aka Spatial Defense or “Zone Defense”). To play the soccer ball & defend space (i.e., Zone Defense) as opposed to marking a man. This is done by creating “multiple layers of defenders” between the soccer ball & the goal (”depth”) and the closest defender to the soccer ball becomes the “First Defender”, the next closest are “Second Defenders” & other defenders “shift & sag” as the soccer ball moves. This is a more accurate term for “defending space” than the term “Zone Defense” because what you are really doing is defending the space between the soccer ball & your goal. (See “Pressure“, “Zone Defense“, “Flat Defense” & “First Defender“).
Tags: soccer defending space, soccer depth, soccer first defender, soccer flat defense, soccer mark the ball, soccer multiple layers of defenders, soccer pressure, soccer second defenders, soccer shift & sag, soccer zone defense