Soccer coaching tips for recovery runs goalside

The opposition has the ball and your team is outnumbered at the back. That’s when the players doing the defending need their team-mates to make recovery runs goalside of the ball as quickly as possible. Use these soccer coaching tips and drill to help.

1. When to recover

Don’t hesitate – recovery runs should start the moment your team loses possession of the ball. It’s all too easy for players to switch off mentally when opponents win the ball, particularly if they are on the opposite side of the pitch.
The distance can remove any responsibility, so they tend not to begin their recovery runs immediately. But any delay at the start can make the difference between making and missing a goal-saving tackle. Tell your players that concentration is key.
When defenders on the goalside of the ball are outnumbered by attackers. Recovery runs should be made until your team has established a numerical advantage in defence.

2. How to recover

As fast as possible. Be positive.
By taking a direct line towards their own goal. Recovery lines are like a funnel – that means players by the touchline should run towards their nearest post while players in the middle take a line towards the penalty spot.
Get goalside of the opposition player with the ball – stopping a recovery run before that point means your players won’t be in a position to defend.
But don’t recover too far – a player near to the ball should concentrate on reaching a position where they can make an immediate challenge and stop the ball from being played forward, or at least provide cover for a challenging team-mate. Run too far back and they won’t be able to do either.

What now?

Once a player is goalside of the ball it’s easy for them to think they’ve done their job. They haven’t. Players should ask themselves: Can they challenge the attacker with the ball? If the answer is no, can they cover a team-mate challenging for the ball?

If not, they should mark an attacker in a dangerous position, and if there’s no-one to mark, then they should mark space – by doing so they can deny the opposition areas through which they can pass the ball forward.

Soccer coaching tips to get defenders recovering for support play

Key soccer coaching tip

Praise your players highly if they manage to use this tactic during a match.

Recovery runs soccer drill

In an area approx 40 x 10 metres and using a full-size goal, play one attacker versus two defenders and a goalkeeper.
A server begins the soccer drill by passing to the attacker who has to try and beat the first defender and head for goal.
The second defender starts from approx 10 metres behind the attacker and can only start their recovery run once the server has passed the ball.
Advance the soccer drill by introducing a second attacker.

Click here for a soccer drill to coach your players to get goalside.

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