Game Situation Problem: Getting Tight To A Striker Dropping Deep To Receive To Feet

The following game is an excerpt from Soccer Awareness eBook 18: Identifying and Solving Common Game Situation Problems in the Training Environment. This eBook shows a different way to look at the game. Instead of highlighting what we need to do well, it shows what often goes wrong and how to fix it.

We will also be posting more like this in the Soccer Awareness Training Center over the next month. Join Our Team!

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Getting Tight To A Striker Dropping Deep To Receive To Feet

This is what not to do.

Striker comes short, center back lets the striker go, and the striker receives and turns and runs at the back four who now are in a vulnerable position. Being able to immediately run at the back four means the striker and teammates have not been delayed which would help other players on our team recover back.

Resulting situation is that they get a break on us and can attack with numbers and we are then at a big disadvantage because they have several players running AT us with and without the ball and the player on the ball is facing forwards and not backwards; which would be to our advantage if we got tight initially to them and prevented them from turning.

All can be corrected JUST by the center back getting tight (or a fullback depending on the part of the field).

You can stop this simply by getting tight and making the striker receive to feet with their back to goal, this slows down the forward momentum and allows our players to recover back and get into good defensive positions.

It also allows the other center back and the fullbacks time to position correctly behind the pressing center back by condensing the spaces behind them.

A Game Situation for 1 v 1 Defending

The following is an excerpt from Soccer Awareness eBook 19: The Principles of Defending for U8 to U14. 

Defending can be an overlooked Art in the game. Many of us love attacking play and train our teams a lot in it but to attack we need to defend well to win the ball in the first place to then allow us to attack. This book helps explain the importance of great defending and how vital it is to teach players the principles of it. These principles do not just apply to defenders per se; in this book we also teach strikers how to defend as if they win it then they are directly on goal to score. When we defend as a team everyone; all 11; are defenders and must be trained in it as when we attack we are all attackers and likewise we have to teach all 11 players to think offensively. We hope you enjoy this book and appreciate the importance of this great Art of Defending in soccer.

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Divide the teams up into two 3 v 3 games with teams attacking the short side lines to score a goal. Play with one ball then two balls so there is some 1 v 1’s and also some support play. Then they attack the long sides as targets making it a little harder to defend successfully.

Defending In 1 V 1’s, 2 V 1’s And 2 V 2’s

Two goals for each team to attack, players have to attack 1 v 1 to score. Defenders have to stop them and try to score themselves As soon as the attack is over; the attacker becomes the defender and the other team attacks.

If a defender wins the ball they can attack and score but they must defend again. To score the player must be over the shooting line (5 yards out).

Develop – A 2 v 1 situation, the attacker who doesn’t finish the move becomes the new defender. The new defender must position outside the shooting zone. New attackers must begin with a pass and overlap to make it more difficult for the defenders.

Develop – 2 v 2 situation, the team who takes a shot becomes the defenders. The same rules apply as above. If the ball goes out of bounds a new team starts.

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