by Greg Bach
Forwards: The left and right strikers carry a heavy load of responsibility in this formation. Besides being counted on a great deal for getting shots on goal, they are required to do a lot of running back and forth between the opponent’s goal and midfield line to provide defensive pressure and support when the opposing team has possession of the ball.
3-4-3 formation
This formation is rather popular at the younger age levels because it provides balance at the offensive and defensive ends of the field (see Figure 15-5).
Defenders: The left and right fullbacks are responsible for controlling the area in front of the penalty box, as well as 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: If you happen to have several youngsters on the squad who are quick on their feet, this formation can be used to your advantage, because in the midfield, they can be aggressive on the fore-check and quickly join the attack at the opponent’s end of the field.
Forwards: The left and right wingers are responsible for moving the ball down the sideline and sending crossing passes to the striker. Only three players are in the front row of this alignment, so the bulk of the scoring responsibility falls on the striker’s shoulders.
Figure 15-5: The 3-4-3 formation is balanced at both ends of the field.
As your team gains experience moving the ball down the field and attacking during games, it will encounter a variety of defensive styles and techniques. Having the ability to call on different moves and use different offensive approaches to help generate scoring opportunities for the team is a real asset. The positions of the defenders during that particular moment in the game dictate, to a large extent, what type of offensive approach works best. In this section, we take a peek at three areas that can bolster your team’s offensive prowess and clear the way for more goal-scoring opportunities: crossing passes, heading crosses, and feinting.
Delivering crossing passes
A soccer team that’s able to continually execute sound crossing passes in enemy territory will ensure that more of its trips are rewarded with decent scoring opportunities. You have a number of crossing options available to choose from. A player with the ball on the sideline (see Figure 15-6) has the option of delivering the ball to:
The area around the near post (the goal post nearest the passer)
The central area, which is the region between the posts
The area in front of the far post (the post that’s farthest from the passer)
The cut-back area, which is that area of the field that comprises the penalty spot and reaches to the edge of the penalty box
No set rules exist when determining which type of crossing pass is the most appropriate to deliver. Each game situation poses a number of challenges for the players. Whenever a crossing-pass opportunity presents itself, the player has to take into account the situation as it unfolds and examine how the defense is positioned, all while dribbling the ball. From there, he has to determine which is the best option for getting the ball to his teammate in the desired zone. He may have to chip the ball over a defender to his attacking teammate positioned on the far post, or out of the corner of his eye, he may spot a teammate trailing the play and cut the ball backward to him for a quality shot on net.
Figure 15-6: A player who can deliver a successful crossing pass has a lot of options.
One of the most common mistakes young players make when delivering a crossing pass is failing to recognize the defensive player positioned at the near post. If balls aren’t delivered with enough pace on them, the defender can easily step out and intercept them. Also, if the offensive player doesn’t loft the ball high enough in the air when attempting to send it to the far post, the defender can head it out of danger rather easily. (In Chapter 17, we take a look at some crossing drills that you can incorporate into your practice sessions to help ensure that your team is making the most of its opportunities at this end of the field.)
When a ball is crossed, the attacking team is rarely able to make a play on the ball without a defender to contend with because the ball is typically in the air for several seconds, which allows defenders some time to react. So constantly encourage your players to go after the ball when receiving a crossing pass. They can’t afford to wait for the ball, because that allows defenders the opportunity to converge on the ball and quash the team’s goal-scoring opportunity.
Heading crosses
A youngster’s head can be equally as potent a scoring weapon as her foot when your team is on the attack. Players who have the header in their bag of offensive moves are going to pose quite a threat to opposing teams. When a youngster is jumping up to deliver a header on a crossing pass from a teammate, keep the following tips in mind:
Open the eyes: Many youngsters have a tendency to close their eyes as their head is about to make contact with the ball, which wreaks havoc with the accuracy of their headers.
Protect the body: Attempting a header in the penalty area is difficult for a number of reasons, most notably because the player is dealing with all the traffic in the vicinity. While players are jumping into the air to deliver the header, they need to use their hands to help protect their head from colliding with any body parts of players on the opposing team. Remind players that they can’t be pushing or grabbing opponents, because they will be called for a penalty, but they can use their hands as a barrier for additional protection.
Attack the ball: When a crossing pass is headed toward a youngster, she needs to respond aggressively in order to take full advantage of the pass. This aggressiveness means attacking the ball with the forehead. Sometimes, youngsters fall into the trap of allowing the ball to hit them on the top of the head instead of taking the initiative to go after it and deliver a solid blow with the top of their forehead.
When working with youngsters on heading drills that involve delivering shots on goal, be sure to help them learn to direct those shots both up into the air and on the ground. Often, a more difficult shot for a goaltender to stop is one that’s directed at the ground near the goal line.
Sometimes, the crossing pass isn’t up in the air but closer to ground level, which requires the player to leave her feet and execute a dive header. This header is extremely difficult to pull off and should be taught only to older and experienced players, because it involves diving and landing on the ground with the full force of the body. To execute a proper dive header, the player launches herself toward the incoming ball (see Figure 15-7). As the player makes contact with the top of her forehead, she should be almost parallel to the ground. She lays her arms out with her palms facing down to help cushion her body as it hits the ground.
Figure 15-7: You should teach diving headers only to experienced players.
The actual dive is the tricky part of learning this skill, but you can take a clever approach that the team will have plenty of fun with. To get kids used to diving and getting airborne, lie on the ground, and have the kids practice diving over you without a soccer ball involved. We said you were going to have a lot of fun with the kids during the season, and this drill is guaranteed to put smiles on your players’ faces! After the kids are comfortable diving, introduce the ball into the mix. You can continue lying on the ground or, better yet, recruit a parent or assistant coach to hit the ground so you can monitor the heading.
Feinting
When your players have gotten pretty good at dribbling, spotting open teammates, and delivering the ball to them fairly accurately, help them work feinting into their arsenal of offensive skills. Feinting is when the ball handler fakes doing something in an effort to get the opponent to believe that he’s doing one thing when he’s actually doing something completely different. For example, a player may fake like he’s going to be dribbling to the left when he’s actually going to attack to the right.
During games, your players may encounter situations on the attack when they’re unable
to fend off a defensive player who’s stuck to them tighter than their own shadow. And to make matters worse, no teammates are available to rescue them. In these situations, your players benefit by being able to resort to any number of faking techniques to help get the defender off balance, create a little space to work with, and gain a one- or two-step advantage on the attack. Feinting is often all it takes to initiate a goal-scoring opportunity.
The ability to fake out an opponent is a valuable skill to have, particularly because it can be utilized in all areas of the field. Near the opponent’s goal, when your player is squeezed in tight along the sidelines by a defender, the feint can get that defender leaning off balance for just a split second, which may be enough time to get off a quality shot or find an open teammate with an excellent scoring opportunity. Or perhaps on a turnover, your team needs a little extra time to get properly positioned for its attack, and a feint can be used to buy a couple of extra seconds of dribbling time.
Having players who can use feints to their team’s advantage is a real luxury, particularly because the risk is low and the payoff is high. Using them doesn’t jeopardize your team’s possession of the ball by risking a pass or dribbling into defensive traffic. It’s simply a 1-on-1 move that allows an offensive player to escape trouble. The basic feints are shooting, heel, turning, passing, and body feints, all of which we cover in the following sections.
Shooting
A player who’s being closely guarded in the vicinity of the opponent’s goal can rely on a shooting feint to get a shot off if no good passing options exist at the moment. During the shooting feint, the player plants her left foot and bends her right foot back just like she would while delivering a shot (see Figure 15-8a). As she does this, the defender is likely to stick out his left foot (see Figure 15-8b). The attacking player stops the swinging motion of her right foot and uses the inside of the foot to move the ball to the defender’s right (see Figure 15-8c). This split-second when the defender is leaning off balance to his left gives the offensive player a chance to get a shot off.
Ideally, the player should now deliver the kick with her left foot, which is farther away from the defender. We discuss in Chapter 9 the importance of working with your players to become comfortable using both feet for dribbling, passing, and shooting, and this example is certainly one of those situations when being comfortable shooting with either foot comes in handy. Because the feint usually creates only a small window of opportunity — usually just a second or so — the defender is still nearby, and you don’t want your player to waste a good feint by using her right leg to kick the ball. That may allow the defender to lunge at the ball, poke it away, and make a nice defensive recovery for his team.
Figure 15-8: The steps of a shooting feint.
Heel
Players who are being tightly challenged running down the field find the heel feint a valuable resource to help shake off that defensive pressure. When a player dribbling the ball has a defender running side by side with her, or even a half-step behind her (see Figure 15-9a), she actually steps over the ball with her right foot and uses her heel to cushion the ball and bring it to a stop (see Figure 15-9b). The heel feint should be used with the foot farther away from the defender. So when the defender is on the attacking player’s left side, she relies on her right foot for the heel feint. As the player steps over the ball, the defender, who has been running at top speed to stay even with the player, typically isn’t prepared to stop as quickly as the attacking player did.
Figure 15-9: The heel feint works when the defender is behind or next to the dribbler.
The attacking player, with this momentary advantage, has a couple of options at her disposal. She can use the extra seconds to survey the field and deliver a pass to a teammate, or she can resume pushing the ball forward by using the time the defender has taken to stop to resume running at full speed herself.
All feints take lots of practice, but this one requires even more, because it can be quite challenging keeping a rolling ball under control by using just the heel.
Turning
Turning feints are typically used at the defensive end of the field to protect the ball before getting an attack under way. When an opponent is on a player’s back, the turning feint can be used to shed the player. As the player is dribbling with his back to the defender, he leans slightly to the left (see Figure 15-10a) and brings his right foot toward the ball, giving the indication that he’s headed to the left. As the defensive player also begins moving to his left, the offensive player swings his foot over the ball and, with the outside of his right foot (see Figure 15-10b), moves the ball to his right (see Figure 15-10c). This type of maneuver usually creates at least a step or two of extra space.
Passing
The passing feint — similar to the shooting feint — is especially useful when a defender is headed at an attacking player straight on. In this situation, the attacking player spins to the right as though she’s going to deliver a pass in that direction (see Figure 15-11a). As she brings her foot down toward the ball (see Figure 15-11b), she sweeps it around to the side and moves the ball to her left (see Figure 15-11c), while the opposing player has probably lunged to block the pass. From this position, she creates several options for herself, including continuing moving the ball forward with her left foot.
Figure 15-10: This player fakes to his left and moves the ball to his right.
Figure 15-11: The attacker spins as though she’s going to deliver a pass to her right.
Body
The body feint involves using any part of the body in an exaggerated motion in the opposite direction from which a player intends to move. As your players gain more experience, encourage them to be creative when working on these moves until they find those feints that they’re comfortable using and that tend to work well for them during games.
Although the previous feints are the basic ones that your team will benefit from learning, when they have those down and are comfortable using them in game situations, encourage them to work on their own. You may be surprised at some of the moves the kids come up with that actually prove to be quite effective during games. As youngsters learn to incorporate their own special touches into their skills, their enjoyment of the sport — and playing for you — will skyrocket.
Chapter 16
Coaching Defense 201
In This Chapter
Determining defenses
Upgrading skills
As the seasons roll along, you begin noticing that many of the youngsters in your league are adding all sorts of offensive skills to their arsenal. You observe them becoming more dominant with their dribbling, more efficient with their passing, and more accurate with their shooting. Although we hope this improvement is occurring on your own team as well, it can present some new and exciting challenges for you and your squad at the defensive end of the field. The ability to kick your team’s defensive skills up a notch or two translates into greater enjoyment of the sport. Your players derive additional satisfaction by consistently being able to spoil an opponent’s attack.
As you begin upgrading your defensive efforts, you can introduce systems of play that best match your team’s playing skills and abilities; you can start teaching techniques such as moving out and the offside trap, which are key components of strong defensive play; and you can share with your team the basics of clearing, which are essential if you’re not going to surrender an avalanche of goals during the season.
Defensive Approaches
Choosing a defensive system of play to use with your team really isn’t a whole lot different from shopping for a new car. You have a lot of styles and options to choose among, and usually after looking around and taking some test drives, you settle on the one that best fits your needs and turns out to be the most comfortable. The same goes for determining the best defensive system for your squad. With so many different systems of play out there, including several offensive-oriented approaches that we discuss in Chapter 15, the only w
ay you can discover the most comfortable fit for your team is to try them out during practice sessions or in scrimmages with other teams.
Although you won’t want to spend the entire season forcing the kids to play a single defensive style, understanding the merits of these approaches can prove valuable at different points in the season. Whether your team finds itself going against a high-scoring team that needs to be slowed down or simply trying to protect a one-goal lead in the closing minutes of a game, properly executing a defensive system of play can be enormously valuable for all involved.
In a formation’s name, the first number represents the number of defenders, the second number is the number of midfielders, and the last number is the number of forwards. The goalie is always in the play but unaccounted for in the formation’s name.
4-3-3 formation
This formation (see Figure 16-1) is one of the most popular in youth soccer, because it happens to be one of the easiest for teams to learn and operate in. This system of play works well for teams that don’t have a lot of tactical experience playing the game, which is why it’s often used with younger and more inexperienced players.
Defenders: This style of play features a very balanced setup, particularly along the back line, with four defenders: a left and right fullback, a sweeper, and a stopper. The primary responsibilities of the left and right fullback are to defend their area of the field and clear the ball whenever an opposing player brings the ball into their territory. Although the players manning these positions can sometimes join the attack, they must exercise extreme caution so that they aren’t caught by a team’s counterattack. Their top priority, though, remains clearing the ball out of danger.
