The following posts have been tagged with "soccer shape"...
Soccer Width In Attack
Soccer Attackers want to “spread the soccer field” & get width in an effort to find open spaces to move the ball (e.g., down the side lines) & to “stretch” the soccer defense so holes are created that the soccer offense can attack & penetrate. Defenders, obviously, want to prevent this by maintaining cover, depth, support & shape. (See “Soccer Support“, “Soccer Shape”, “Soccer Depth“, “Soccer Support Distance“, “Spread The Soccer Field” & “Stretch The Soccer Field“).
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:
- “First Defender” – The player closest to the ball must challenge the ball & try to slow down the attack or block a shot, and
- The left & right players (e.g., the LMF & RMF or LFB & RFB) should not go past the center of the field.
- 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.
Soccer Shape
Refers to whether the soccer players on your team are generally maintaining correct distances between each other so there is “support” & coverage when you are on offense or defense. If they are bunched up or players are too far apart (”stretched”) or your FB’s are overlapping MF’s, etc., then you don’t have good “shape”. (See “Stretched Defense” and “Sag” & “Support“).
Soccer Push Up
Read “Should You Push Up When You Attack’ Or Should You Defend Deep’” The term “push up” refers to fullbacks or midfielders moving forward toward the halfway line. In certain formations and if your soccer team has speed and stamina, you should “push up” when you attack or any time the soccer ball is near the other team’s Penalty Box, even if the other team has the soccer ball, so you can support your attack or put pressure on the soccer ball. To build an attack (especially on a large field) it is an advantage to have everyone, including the defenders, shift with the soccer ball. This allows your soccer team to keep “shape” so there is “support”. Moving the fullbacks up also has the advantage of keeping the other soccer team away from your goal because they will be “offside” if they go past the last defender before the soccer ball passes him. This keeps the attackers out of scoring range, but defenders must be quick to fall back if the soccer ball gets past them. This is why some soccer teams use a “Sweeper”. A Sweeper is a very fast soccer player with good endurance who is not afraid to make contact to stop the soccer ball & clear it. The Sweeper will play slightly behind the fullbacks or as a Center Fullback with a “Stopper’ in front of him. (The Stopper doesn’t have to be as fast, but must be tough and able to stop the ball). The Sweeper will run down any through balls or breakaways and kick the soccer ball out of bounds over the side line to slow down the other soccer team’s attack so your soccer team will have time to recover. If your fullbacks are slow and you want to push them up when you attack, consider using a Sweeper. Another alternative is a 3-2-2-3 formation, as described in “Formations” and “Attacking Plan”.
Once a soccer team is “pushed up”, the FB’s won’t automatically fall back when they lose the soccer ball but may stay pushed up to apply pressure & try to steal the soccer ball back. This is kind of like a defensive “press” in basketball & it is hard to dribble thru these FB’s when they are pushed up. The way to break thru & beat the “press” is by playing “through balls“, “give & go’s” & “passing to yourself“. If your opponent’s FB’s are pushed up, it creates the opportunity for a fastbreak counterattack. In recreational soccer it is best to not push up if you play on a long field and the other soccer teams Forwards are faster than your Fullbacks. An alternative is to use a formation that creates more depth, such as a 3-2-3-2 and to “defend deep”. This is described in detail in “Formations” and “Attacking Plan”. (See “Attacking Plan“, “High Line“, “Last Defender“, “Through Ball” “Pass To Yourself“, “Give & Go“, “Formations“, “Defending Deep“, “Styles of Play“, “Sweeper“, “Stopper” & “Defending to Win“).
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.