Filed under: Dave Clarke, Soccer Coaching, Soccer Fitness, Soccer News, Soccer Refereeing, Soccer Skills, Soccer Team Management, Soccer Training | Tags: back four, back three, defending, depth, positions, pressure, sessions, support
By David Clarke 
Teaching defenders technique and the ability to move into the right places at the right time can be done on the training ground.
Here though, we combine the teaching with an immediate attack versus defence scenario, so players are straight away putting into practice what they have learnt.
So they must ensure they react to the call well, adopt the right shape, then be ready to defend immediately.
How to set it up:
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Create a 25-yard square with 10 x 5 yards end zones.
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In front of one end zone, place three cones across the width of the area, plus a mini goal just in front of the central cone.
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Three defenders start behind the cones and three attackers start at the opposite end.
- Stand halfway up the area on the touchline.
The technique:
The three defenders will need to move as per your instructions, so teamwork and unity is essential in maintaining a solid backline. So you will call either:
“Left” – the left defender pressures and shows inside, the central defender supports and stops the forward pass, the defender farthest away supports the central player and provides depth.
“Centre” – the central defender pressures the ball while the two wide defenders take up supporting positions behind, and to either side to stop the forward pass.
“Right” – the right defender pressures and shows inside, the central defender supports and stops the forward pass, the defender farthest away supports the central player and provides depth.
Getting started:
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On your call, the defending team completes the defending technique task.
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You then pass a ball to the attacking team at the opposite end.
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Immediately, the defenders must run onto the pitch and use the group defending technique to stop their opponents from scoring in their target goal.
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Each team has six run-throughs before the roles are reversed. The winning team is the one to have scored most times in the goal.
Filed under: Dave Clarke, Soccer Coaching, Soccer Fitness, Soccer News, Soccer Refereeing, Soccer Skills, Soccer Team Management, Soccer Training | Tags: attacking, late goals, losing, tactics, winning, winning 1-0
By David Clarke
Early last season I was frustrated with my players because they were throwing away matches by defending too deep in the last few minutes. We were playing 25 minutes each way and, for every minute except the last 10, we were the better team. Looking at my notes at the time, I was having trouble keeping my players focused on their formation for the whole match. Instead, as they neared the end, the team began to just clear their lines.
Lone attacker too deep
My lone attacker in the 2-3-1 formation we played was so deep, he was playing in our penalty area. So, when we won the ball, there was no outlet and it kept coming back until we eventually buckled under the pressure.
This is a common problem you see all the time, even at the top level of the game. If you are winning 1-0, why not just stop the other team scoring? It’s something the Italian clubs and national team have always been famous for.
However, to do this, you need to play a different formation. I found it difficult during the game to persuade my attacker to leave his deep position and take opposition players away from our goal by staying near the halfway line. In his young mind, he was helping the team win the game.
Makes sense to play the same way
There was no point in shouting at him during the game. I had to wait until training and explain it to him. Eventually, over the course of a few weeks he, and the team, realised that if we were winning 1-0 by playing a certain way, then it made sense to play that way until the final whistle.
However, we had a few tears along the way. My centre back took my instructions literally that we should be attacking in the last 10 minutes.
With a couple of minutes to go in one game, he charged up the wing with the ball and went past one, past two, past three… then he lost ball and the counter attack caught us out!
