Midfielder soccer coaching tips
When you have a strong player who is good at winning the ball and can make accurate long passes, your reaction might be to play them in defence. I tend to put the player in front of the defence into midfield, however, to protect the defenders and make use of their kicking abililty by turning them from hopeful defensive clearances into penetrating attacking passes.
Midfielder coaching tips
It may seem you are losing a great defender, but what you are doing is adding backbone to the team so that all your natural tackles are not in the back line.
It is a very central position for the team, someone who can win the game for you by defending in the middle of the pitch, breaking up attacks before they get anywhere near to the penalty area.
This is what you want to see from a match-winning midfielder.
Midfielder soccer drill tips
- Tell your player to play just in front of the central defenders.
- Get them to close down any player running at the defence and stop them in their tracks.
- You’ve seen games where the opposition kicks off and runs right through your team to score. This player stops that. They target the man with the ball and make sure they get it.
- And when they do get the ball, they immediately look to open up the opposition defence.
- The rest of the team has to be ready to support this role and be open for the pass.
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Click here for a soccer drill to help midfielders get up and down the pitch quickly.
Soccer coaching tips
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