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Forum Newbie
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: 24/04/2010 08:20:47
Posts: 6,
Visits: 31
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| My team played against a fast, strong and experienced striker. I knew he would give us problems so I told my one centre back to drop back a few meters from the rest of the defense. I thought it would give him a better chance at getting to the long ball first as well as having only one defender working the off-side trap. I think it worked at times but the striker still made life really hard for us. I just wonder if what I did was right and what else one can do to counteract such a player.
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Forum Newbie
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: 12/04/2010 13:32:35
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| Without knowing the details or skills of the players involved, it is difficult to comment accurately. Did the pacey striker have good skills? You are relying on a 1v1 to stop him or at least slow him up, so was your central defender up to the task? You could have also used a midfield player to play in a DM role and especially focus on picking off the pass to that striker. Sometimes if a player is dominant or central to the other team, it is effective to have one of your players dog him the entire game. If you restrict a key player from performing, then often the team will be disorganized since they rely on that player so much. So you could have had someone just play him really tight and take him away as an option. At a simple level, either you have to keep him from getting the ball or have enough space to adequately defend based on speed. If you had a fast defender then instead of having a CD drop back, you could have employed a sweeper.
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Forum Newbie
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: 12/04/2010 13:32:35
Posts: 4,
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| One thing I forgot to mention is that if the other team is playing the ball over the top or a ball way into spae that the pacey striker runs onto, then you either have to stop the initial thru ball or have to play off the striker a good bit to compensate for his pace and/or play a good off-sides trap. If they are playing long balls for the pacey to striker to run onto, then it can get frustrating. However, consider working on anticipation with your players, since anticipation can make up for a lack of pace. Another different strategy is to "starve" the pacey striker by playing a high pressure defense. This can be risky but if you already are exposed at the back, you may be willing to take this risk. If you can play a good high pressure defense then you won't have to worry about that pacey striker getting the ball. See: http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/blog/2010/apr/06/question-pressing-crucial-modern-game
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Junior Member
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: 31/05/2010 20:02:17
Posts: 14,
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You could implement the offside trap to your advantage. However, this is a hard system to implement at a young age (it takes alot of communciation and discipline) and it can be a dangerous system to rely on.
What you may want to try is - still have one player drop off into the sweeper position, but also have one player specifically man mark the forward. This way the sweeper can help to clean up anything the man marker can't handle on his own. Smothering the striker everytime he gets the ball will force him to play it off quickly and rely on his other teammates to create plays. If he doesn't he will be closed down quickly by your defenders. You may also want to think about having one of your defenders or midfielders lay a hard tackle on him in the middle of the park during the opening minutes of the game - this changes some players mindset tremendously. They'll be thinking about a hard tackle coming in, rather than what they should be doing with the ball. Remember, hard not dirty. Theres a big difference. Take the ball, then the man. Theres nothing wrong with a hard tackle in the middle of the park away from your goal. You may also want to check out these helpful articles on Soccer Defending. Hope this helps, and good luck with the season.
Do you want to become a better Soccer player? Soccer Coach? Soccer Parent? http://www.the-soccer-essentials.com
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