The following posts have been tagged with "soccer width"...
Soccer Support Distance & Relative Position
On offense, you want to “spread the field” & to add “width”. This means the distance between players (especially F’s & MF’s) will be greater than when they are on defense. The players still “support” each other, but on offense, players will be more “square” than when on defense. For example, if your LF has the ball & is attacking, your CF may be even with him or in front of him & a long pass away. Whereas, on defense, if your LF is the First Defender, your CF will probably sag back & move within 5-7 steps so he can provide defensive “support” (meaning he is helping contain the attacker & is a Second Defender because if the ballhandler moves his way he must become the First Defender) & “cover” (meaning that he is covering space so there isn’t a hole for the attacker’s to easily penetrate; in other words, if he wasn’t covering that space the attackers would go through it to penetrate the defense). (See “Support“, “Cover“, “Depth“, “Zone Defense“, “Sag” & “Creating Space“).
Soccer Spread The Field
(aka “Stretch The Field”). When you are attacking, you want to “spread” or “stretch” the defenders to open up holes in the defense. By spreading the defenders, you force them to cover a larger area so the defenders are farther apart & can’t do as good a job of supporting each other. (On the other hand, if you are defending, you want to be careful to not get too spread out or stretched). One way to spread out a defense is by using “width” on the attack. One example of this is if you spread your FB’s wide on your goal kick in order to force the defenders to cover the entire width of the field. Another example of spreading the field is to be sure your forwards stay a pass apart. You can also stretch the length of the defense. An example of this is if the other team is “pushed up” and you put your fastest forward at the halfway line & then send “through balls” or long cleared kicks into the open space between the other team’s FB’s & their goalkeeper. If you do this a few times the other team won’t be able to push up as far and you will have “stretched” their defense. (See “Width In Attack“, “Width In Defense“, “Stretched Defense“, “Stretch The Field” & “Goal Kick“).
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.
(See “Defense“, “Depth“, “Support“, “Support Distance & Relative Position” “Formations“, “Zone Defense“, “First Defender“, “Recover“, “Funnel” “Mark” & “Pressure“).
Soccer Formations
(See “How To Teach Soccer Formations” at SoccerHelp Premium for how to teach Formations.) Does your team give up goals on breakaways, have trouble playing good offense or defense in the midfield, or not score enough goals’ The problem may be that you are trying to make your team fit a formation and style of play instead of using a soccer formation and style of play that fits your team. The formations that work for Select or Travel teams usually don’t work well for Rec teams. Rec coaches usually don’t have the time to teach complex systems of play, and complex formations and styles of play can cause players to become hesitant and frustrated. The easiest thing you can do to cause a huge improvement in your team’s play is to change to a simplified, easy-to-teach formation and style of play that gives your team the best chance of being successful. SoccerHelp Premium explains how to choose and teach simplified Formations that are easy to teach and really work for Recreational teams. The soccer formations and style of play explained in “Attacking Plan“, “Scoring More Goals”, “Quick Team Improvement Program” and “Formations” on Soccerhelp Premium will not only result in your Rec team winning more games, but your team will play better, have more fun, and players and coaches will gain a better understanding of the game. For example, Coach Scott, a Texas USA U-13 Boys coach, had only won 1 game of the past 20, but switched to a 3-2-2-3 formation and style of play as explained in Premium and went 6-2-2 (6 wins with basically the same team) and finished in second place. And Coach Lisa’s U-11 Girls team (also of Texas USA) switched to a 3-2-2-3, and doubled their goal production (from an average of 2 to 4 per game). The great thing about both these cases is that it only took a few practices to see the results.
If your team is younger than 10, you don’t need to worry much about soccer formations, but for ages 10 and older the formation you use can have a great deal to do with your team’s success. Your “formation” determines how many players you have at FB (Fullback), MF (Midfielder) & F (Forward). The purpose of having a “formation” is to ensure “support”, “depth”, “width” & field coverage on both offense & defense. Players are assigned a position & with it comes responsibilities. For example, a right side player (whether a RF, RMF or RFB) should not be way over on the left side of the field. (Right and left are as you face the other team’s goal). If he is, then he has left a hole that is not covered. Each player must do his job and trust his teammates to do theirs; that is what makes a good “team”. There are many different formations, but in all (unless you are playing 3 vs 3 or 4 vs 4) you will have F’s, MF’s, FB’s & a goalkeeper. You may hear about a 4-4-2, a 4-3-3, or a 1-3-3-3 formation. These numbers never include the goalkeeper but always start with the player closest to the goalkeeper. Thus, a 4-4-2 would be 4 FB’s, 4 MF’s & 2 F’s, a 1-3-3-3 would be a “Sweeper”, 3 FB’s, 3 MF’s & 3 F’s, and a 3-1-3-3 would be 3 FB’s, a “Stopper”, 3 MF’s and 3 F’s. (These assume 11 players on the team. For smaller sized teams adjust accordingly).
The formation you choose should be based on:
- The ability of your players.