by Greg Bach
Defending
The better your team becomes at defending, the happier your goalie is going to be. Besides giving him less work, the more proficient the team becomes in this area of the game, the more likely the team is to spend more time in its opponent’s end of the field.
Taking on 2-on-1s
This drill gives defenders work in a number of areas, including battling for balls 1-on-1 and disrupting 2-on-1s from close range.
What you need: Area of field with goal. 4 players. 1 ball.
How it works: Position 2 attacking players near the penalty arc, 1 defensive player at the top of the goalie box, and the goalie in the net (see Figure 14-8). From off to the side of the net, send a high ball between the 2 attackers and the defender. Force the defensive player to make a quick decision: Is the ball in range for him to go for it, or is the play too risky? If the play is too risky, he ends up being out of position and leaves his goalie in a precarious situation. The drill continues until an attacker scores a goal, the goalie makes a save, or the defensive player clears the ball out of the area.
Coaching pointers: Deliver balls at a variety of angles and distances so that youngsters get a real taste of what game action is like. On balls that you deliberately kick long, make sure the defensive player isn’t going after them. Reinforce to him to go after only balls that he has a realistic shot of making a play on so he doesn’t put his team at an unnecessary disadvantage.
Figure 14-8: The defender has to make a quick decision when facing two attackers.
Tackling 3-on-2s
This drill rewards strong defensive play in a gamelike setting and forces the attacking team to make quick decisions under the pressure of the clock.
What you need: Area of field with goal. 6 players. 1 ball.
How it works: Play a series of 1- or 2-minute games in which the attacking team tries to score a goal in this 3-on-2 setup. Award the attackers 2 points if their players score a goal and 1 point if they get a shot on goal. Award the defenders 2 points if their side is able to prevent any shot from reaching the goal. With this setup, both sides have multiple opportunities to register points, which keeps the drill action packed.
Coaching pointers: Make sure the defensive players aren’t overcommitting on a play, which creates an even bigger advantage for the attacking team. Also, make sure the attacking players are aggressively working for a shot, because they have little time to work with.
Goaltending
Manning the goalie position is no easy task for youngsters, who are challenged to make stops on kicks coming at them from all sorts of angles and distances. The ability to make saves, both on the ground and in the air, takes plenty of practice.
Diving One-Handers
This drill gets goalies comfortable — and confident — with making one-handed saves in those situations where they just aren’t able to get both hands on the ball.
What you need: A goalie. 2 offensive players. 2 balls.
How it works: Position 2 players about 15 yards away from the net and at an angle. Give both players a ball. The first player takes a shot, and the goalie must dive and attempt to block the shot with one hand. Then, getting up quickly and beginning at the other post, she dives in the opposite direction to make a save from the other kick.
Coaching pointers: Make sure that the goalie is stretching out fully in order to make it as difficult as possible on the shooter. When she makes a save and is lying on the ground, see whether she cradles the ball like a puppy and protects it with her body.
Mystery Saves
Mystery Saves improves the reaction skills of your goalie.
What you need: Goal and space 10 yards out in front of net. 3 players. 2 balls.
How it works: Position 2 players in front of the net, about 10 yards away from each other. Give each player a ball. You stand out of the goalie’s view and, without her knowledge, signal which player actually takes the shot on net. On your whistle, both players approach their balls at the same time, but only one player delivers a shot on net. This approach forces the goalie to really concentrate on each ball and react quickly to the incoming shot.
Coaching pointers: Make sure the goalie follows the shot all the way into her hands and doesn’t allow the ball to bounce away for a dangerous rebound.
Punting Partners
To help your goalies get a good feel for properly connecting on their kicks, here’s a great drill to help them on their way.
What you need: A quarter of the field. 2 goalies. 1 ball.
How it works: Position 2 goalkeepers approximately 10 yards apart. The purpose of the drill is for the players to punt the ball to their partners. By starting the players close together, you make them focus on making contact with the ball in the center. After they become proficient in punting the ball back and forth to each other, you can start moving them farther apart. After they have their accuracy down, they can start punting for distance. Another benefit of this drill is that by catching their partner’s punts, they’re building their hand–eye coordination and getting some great practice fielding high shots.
After your goalies have the proper punting technique down cold, you can have them practice punting into their own net, which gives them a high number of repetitions in a short period of time. Plus they don’t have to chase the ball all over the field.
Coaching pointers: Make sure the goalie is watching his foot make contact with the ball. Kids sometimes have a tendency to look up before their foot connects with the ball because they’re eager to see how far they’ve booted it.
Putting It All Together: Sample Practice Session
Now that you’re armed with a new set of drills that you can incorporate into your practices, it’s time to put them together. A well-structured session that features new drills for the players to perform keeps their attention levels high and continues their progression in the sport. Take a look at Table 14-1 for a 1-hour sample practice plan that you can use with your players, utilizing the drills covered in this chapter.
Table 14-1 Intermediate Practice Plan Duration Activity Comments
10 min. Warm-up Stretching, calisthenics, and several minutes of
moving with the ball. This activity can involve drib
bling around the field in a light jog or breaking the
team into twosomes and having them dribble against
their partners, who apply light defensive pressure
before the players switch roles.
5 min. Chase and Split the squad in half, performing the drill at both
Catch ends of the field.
15 min. Diagonal Break the team up into three groups. In the center of
Passing the field, run the Diagonal Passing drill, and run the
other drills at opposite ends of the field. Rotate play-
Zig Zag ers every 5 minutes so they go through each of the
drills during this 15-minute segment. Players rotate
Diving One- to work on the various offensive and defensive skills
Handers during each drill, while the goalies work on the differ-
ent aspects of making saves that are part of each
activity.
5 min. Musical Keep the team broken into the same three groups,
Soccer and run three games of the Musical Soccer Ball drill.
Balls It’s a fun, yet highly competitive, game that puts a
smile on the kids’ faces right in the middle of the
practice.
10 min. Tackling The first half of the practice has been devoted to
3-on-2s working on individual skills, so now is a good time to
get the kids working together on game-type situa-
Mystery Saves tions. Incorporate each drill at one end of the field.
As players go through the 3-on-2 drill, interchange
them with the players involved at the other end of
the field to give everyone a chance.
10 min. Taking on At one end of the field, use the
Taking on 2-on-1s
2-on-1s drill, and at the other end, have players work on their
corner kicks in both corners of the field. After 5 min-
Corner-Kick utes, rotate.
Challenge
5 min. Scrimmage Conclude the practice with a scrimmage game that
has proved to be popular over the season. A quick
game of the kids against the coaches and parents,
which we cover in Chapter 6, is always a winner and
a great way to send everyone home happy and look
ing forward to returning for the next practice.
Part IV
Advanced Soccer Strategies
In this part …
S occer is more than kids running up and down the field, chasing the ball, and waving at grandma in the stands. In this part, we offer up some additional insights to help take your team’s offensive and defensive play to the next level.
Chapter 15
Coaching Offense 201
In This Chapter
Figuring formations
Upgrading offensive skills
Choosing a formation for your team to run is sort of like trying to decide on dessert after a meal at a fancy restaurant. You have so many options, and they all look good. You can introduce a variety of formations to your team when the players have the basics of the game down. Some formations cater to an attacking style of play, while others lean toward a more defensive approach.
In this chapter, we delve into those formations that are designed to produce high-quality scoring chances. Try these offenses when your players are able to maintain possession of the ball while dribbling and make accurate passes to their teammates. (In Chapter 16, we take a look at more defensive-oriented systems.) We also take a closer look at upgrading your players’ skills in delivering crossing passes and heading those crosses, as well as using a wide range of feints to negotiate through defenders and create shots on goal.
Upgrading the Offense
A system of play is the basic style of play a team uses. It assigns explicit responsibilities for every position. Systems can either be offensive or defensive, depending on the formation and what you’re trying to accomplish. A formation is how the players are aligned on the field. Offensive formations feature more players at the attacking end of the field, while defensive formations have more players set up near their own goal. Whatever system you choose to use with your players, every player has to do his best to fulfill his responsibilities in order for the system to operate as smoothly as possible.
Because you have a number of formations at your disposal, introducing your team to several of them is a good idea. You may come across one that really seems to fit the team’s personality and players; you’ll never know if you don’t experiment a little. Some formations will work, and some won’t be nearly as successful. Go ahead and experiment with them to see what your players enjoy and what works best for them, and then go from there.
In the name of a formation, the first number represents the number of defenders, the second number is the number of players who are positioned in the midfield area, and the last number is the number of players at the front of the attack. These numbers always add up to 10 (because the goalie isn’t mentioned in any formation alignment). Of course, these types of formations are appropriate only for games of 11-on-11.
2-3-5 formation
This heavily offensive system generates lots of scoring chances and keeps the ball in the opponent’s half of the field, because the bulk of the players are on the front line. You have five attackers playing the forward position with a striker (the center forward) flanked by two forwards (a winger and insider) on each side (see Figure 15-1). Take a look at the players’ tasks in this setup:
Defenders: The players manning these positions play behind the midfielders and are also referred to as the sweeper and stopper. The stopper is always positioned in front of the sweeper, whose main job, as the position’s title suggests, is to sweep all balls out of the goal area. These players are the last line of defense before the goalie, and the majority of the team is positioned away from the net, so your team is likely to enjoy more success from this system of play if the defensive players are good at handling offensive pressure from the opposing team.
Midfielders: The center midfielder orchestrates the attack after the team has possession of the ball. Her duties include gathering the ball from her defensive teammates and moving it up the field with an accurate pass to the forwards. The left and right midfielders move the ball up to the forwards, and when the ball is in the opponent’s half of the field, they move forward, well past the center line. They’re also responsible for making sure that the opposing team’s wingers don’t push the ball past them down into the corner-kick areas when the opposing team has the ball.
Forwards: The focus of the forwards is to work the ball along the sidelines, toward the corner-kick areas, and to deliver centering passes to teammates in the goal area. The inside forwards (or insiders), the players positioned between the center forward and the left and right forwards, distribute the ball to the other forwards. The primary responsibility of the center forward — or striker, as he’s often called — is to get the ball in the net. In the more competitive levels of youth soccer, the player handling this position must be an excellent dribbler and have an accurate shot for this system to truly be successful.
Figure 15-1: These players are in the 2-3-5 formation.
If your team has some very good defensive players, it may be in your best interest to increase the number of players that you’re using on the attack in the front line by having the center midfielder taking a more aggressive role downfield.
4-2-4 formation
This formation is the most balanced you can use, because the numbers of players on offense and defense are equal (see Figure 15-2), with four attackers and four defenders, as well as two midfielders. Here’s how it works:
Defenders: The defense is comprised of the right and left fullbacks, the sweeper, and the stopper. The left fullback’s job is to monitor the right winger on the opposing team and help prevent her from maneuvering into the penalty area and getting a dangerous shot on net or creating a scoring opportunity for a teammate. The right fullback does the same against the left winger. When the defense is under an enormous amount of pressure, the midfielders also retreat to provide support.
Midfielders: Each of the two players handling these positions has a defined role as either the offensive or defensive midfielder. As the name suggests, the offensive midfielder plays more with the offense than the defense, and vice versa. Regardless of which role they play, they both have to return to their positions on the field as soon as they’re done either assisting with the offensive attack or providing defensive support.
Forwards: In this style of attack, the left and right wingers look to move the ball down the sideline toward the corner-kick areas or to work a pass into the middle of the field if any openings present themselves. One of the two strikers pulls double duty in this system, because he attacks when his team has possession of the ball and falls back to assist in the midfield area when the team is on defense.
Figure 15-2: The 4-2-4 formation is the most balanced offense you can use.
3-3-4 formation
This system places greater emphasis on offense than the 4-2-4 because it has four attackers, along with three midfielders and three defenders (see Figure 15-3).
Defenders: The three players handling these responsibilities — the right, left, and center fullbacks — are positioned in the penalty area and rarely stray from their positions within the box as they provide support for the goalie.
Midfielders: The system is similar to the 4-2-4 system we cover earlier in the chapter. If you’re using a 4-2-4 alignment, you can simply move one player from defense up to midfield to make the 3-3-4. In this system, the right midfielder takes a more offensive-minded approach, while the left midfielder’s role is more defensive.
Forwards: The
front four consists of the right and left wingers, along with the two strikers.
Figure 15-3: This diagram shows the 3-3-4 formation.
If you’re coaching an experienced team that has a good handle on formations and systems of play, you can make adjustments during the course of the game to fit your needs. If you’re struggling to generate scoring chances, you can infuse the offense with a bit more firepower by switching to a more offense-oriented system. Of course, use only formations that you’ve practiced so the kids understand their new roles and responsibilities and can make a quick transition.
3-5-2 formation
This system (see Figure 15-4) evolved from the 4-4-2 system that we cover in Chapter 16, which emphasizes controlling the play in the middle of the field.
Figure 15-4: The 3-5-2 puts five players in the middle of the field.
Because of the tight, five-player formation in the midfield area, the 3-5-2 is an excellent formation to use if you want to use a counterattack or fore-check (see Chapters 11 and 12, respectively).
Defenders: The left and right fullbacks patrol the area in front of the penalty box, the center of the field, and the sideline nearest them. The sweeper is positioned in the penalty-box area and is responsible for moving laterally and getting the ball out of the penalty-box area.
Midfielders: When you clog the center of the field with your offensive players, the opposing team faces greater difficulty generating passes through the midfield area. Consequently, they’re susceptible to a counterattack, because this formation generates turnovers. The key to the success of using this formation is to ensure that the five midfielders (the left, right, and center midfielders, along with the left and right wingers) are working together and constantly communicating.
