What if I told you that the basis of any soccer game is its defense and your drills for soccer should enable them to overcome the opposing team’s defense?
There are some coaches who only teach their players either defense or offence. Right kind of soccer drills teach all players defense when the ball is with the opponent and offence when it is with them.
Players should immediately go after the ball once they’ve lost it. Any player who fails to keep the ball with him should be the one to run after it first. Since this player is next to his rival who has the possession of the ball, he must have the potential to put a lot of pressure on him. When the opponent with the ball gets under pressure, he is most likely to make a bad pass or lose the ball.
Your soccer practice must take care of the fact that all other team members should fall back in case of any one out of them is running after the rival having the ball. His entry into your goal area should be postponed as much as possible.
The most risky region is the center of the soccer field. Your drills for soccer must therefore force the opponent with the ball to move towards the touchline. This will restrict his ability to pass the ball and will also limit the directions that he can go to.
The region where highest goals are scored is the arc of concentration which is also very risky. This arc is located at the front of the goal. It starts from the corner post of the goal all the way through the corner of the goal box and goes out to the touchline. So, incorporate soccer exercises to coach your players on moving the ball out of this area as the probability of the opposition scoring a goal are maximum here.
When it comes to defense, balance is the key to success. Here, the players staying close to the ball play tight. This conveys that they should stay as close as possible to the ball. Players that are far away from the ball play lose. This puts across the fact that they deal in positions that help them cover everyone and not just a single player.
Your team will have the edge when they possess the ball. In order to achieve this, snatch the ball away from your opponent as fast as you can. A whole lot of coaches mistakenly allow the players to control the ball. This refers to sliding into the ball without touching the opponent and knocking the ball away from him.
If it so happens that they miss the ball here, they will be back on the ground and opposition would get the opportunity to pounce on your goal.
So include these tips in your drills for soccer so that your players get more adapted to playing a defensive game. Join our youth soccer coaching community and get access to a treasure of knowledge, tips, articles, newsletters, videos that will keep you informed on everything about soccer.
Andre Botelho is a recognized expert in youth soccer coaching. He influences well over 35,000 youth coaches each year with his unique coaching philosophy, and makes it really easy to explode your players’ skills and make training more fun in record time. To download your free youth soccer coaching guide visit: Drills for soccer.