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Sweepers can think for your defenders
July 20, 2009, 9:25 am
Filed under: Dave Clarke, Soccer Coaching, Soccer Skills, Soccer Team Management | Tags: , , ,

dc1I was shown this clip of a young player who plays the role of sweeper for his team. It is an excellent example of the art of the sweeper.

I think the sweeper position is one of the best ways young players can learn the art of defending. You can go man for man marking because the sweeper covers the spaces that zonal defending takes care of.

They also provide great cover for your defence.

I think coaches of young squads should bring back the classic libero into their teams – learning to be a sweeper makes 10, 11, 12-year olds more intelligent players.

Watch the clip, it helps you realise how much cover a sweeper can provide for your team.

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Pingback by Sweepers can think for your defenders | Football Coaching July 20, 2009 @ 9:29 am
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Hi there, I have just recently signed up fo ryour excellent coaching tips and was wondering if you can still play a sweeper in a 4 man defence. Are there examples where this can work. I have a big marker of a centre back and a smaller but exceptionally quick centre back and it would be great to have them working together with the quicker one picking up any pieces that are missed by the big fella. Do you have any thoughts on how successful that could be?

Comment by Alan August 4, 2009 @ 10:42 am
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Dave,

I am interested in your take here because you say a “learning to be a sweeper makes 10, 11, 12-year olds more intelligent players.”, but what about the other defenders/players. Does it make them weaker because they have “insurance” or “big brother” to make up for their mistakes?

Thanks.

Comment by Tyler August 4, 2009 @ 7:43 pm
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