In order for your team to establish itself as a powerful defensive soccer presence, you will have to spend a significant amount of time working on your defensive shape. Holding strong defensive soccer shape is the act of a team defending as a whole.
As the ball moves, the team adjusts its position accordingly. When a team is capable of holding good defensive shape, it makes it very difficult for the opposition to penetrate your defence. Maintaining high-quality defensive shape requires discipline, hard work, and soccer intelligence.
Defending starts from the strikers and continues all the way back to the goalkeeper. Everyone on the team is responsible for defending and must put in the work required if you want to be able to reduce the amount of goals your team concedes. I know, I know. Most players are not too excited when it comes to defending and may not always give their full effort. But this mentality needs to be changed immediately. Defending is a major component of Soccer and when you learn to properly close down the opposition and win the ball, defending can be a lot of fun.
Defending Tip #1 – Enjoy defending.
If you work on developing your defensive soccer techniques, defending can become very fun and rewarding. The ability to stop an attacker and regain possession of the ball is a valuable soccer technique and should be part of every player’s skill set regardless of their soccer position.
When defending your teammates should always stay relatively close to each other if possible (no more than 10-20 yards apart). By doing so, you make it difficult for the opposition to exploit gaps in your defence. If you watch very well organized defensive soccer teams, their positioning is incredible. Everyone moves together as a unit, shutting down attackers and forcing them backwards whenever possible.
All players on your team are responsible for defending and must contribute to your defensive efforts. The forwards are responsible for putting pressure on the other team’s defenders, ensuring that they aren’t able to easily pick out one of their attackers with an accurate long ball. Saying this, it isn’t smart for forwards to run after the other team’s defenders wildly with no sense of defensive soccer shape. Doing so will pull themselves out of the defensive shape and create gaps for the other team to move into.
Many teams sit back behind half in a defensive shell and allow the opposition to keep the ball in their own half. They only attempt to shut the opposition down when they move into their half.
Defensive soccer shape is not something that can happen based solely on individual talents. In order for a team to become defensively organized, a lot of practice will have to take place.
Defending Tip #2 – Force them into trouble.
When defending as an attacker or midfielder you want to force the opposition into areas where your teammates are ready to lay a tackle. When approaching their attacker, position your body as to force him/her into the area where your helping defenders are. He/she will either be forced to pass the ball into trouble, where your teammates can attempt to win the ball.
Next time you play, try to focus on your positioning in relation to the ball and your teammates. Work to keep close to your teammates as well as your opponents. The closer you can get to them, the better chance you will have to win the ball off your opponent. However, if an opponent tries to move you out of your defensive shape you may have to pass them off to another defender and remain in your defensive shape.
Most importantly, don’t get lazy when it comes to your defensive soccer shape. A good work ethic will take you a long way in the game of soccer.
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