Andre Botelho’s Soccer Coaching Blog

It is important that, you as a coach, before deciding on the methodology for training sessions set out clear-cut objectives for the team.

Since you will easily loose direction and intensity if you do not create achievable and measurable milestones. What are these goals or objectives? Let me enumerate some of them below as an example:

1. To challenge the attacking player in possession
2. To neutralize the opposition’s long shots.
3. To determine quick game shifts
4. To determine markings against crosses
5. To determine the behavior of the backline during back pass manouvers.

These are just some of the pointers but should give you an idea of how deep-rooted your planning needs to be in order to create a match-winning team.

Let’s discuss in detail how this can be achieved:

In addition to the above, you should also consider situations where the midfield area is added to the defense. In addition, it helps to analyze the doubling up of defenders and midfield players. It must be clarified that in order to execute these ideas effectively, the players should have a basic understanding of defensive principles. For example, it helps to know how to conduct a defensive 1v1 or how to mark the players without a ball. If such initial knowledge is missing, it may be difficult to understand or execute the tactics that we are going to discuss below.

It is very basic in soccer moves for a defender to provide cover to another defender who is placed diagonally behind the first defender and is ready to save the goal in case the attacker beats the defender.

Refer to Diagram 1 . In it the coach points to any one player (A, B, C, D) and passes the ball to him/her. You will notice in the diagram that player A has the ball. Observe that position 2 is approaching A to create a pressure on him. He is being assisted by 4 who is covering the 2 and 3 and 6 aligned together to get closer to the ball but not too close. This is what happens when D has the ball.

Such a defense is called one-line cover.

Also, if you would like to try a double cover, place 6 diagonally towards 4, with 3 aligned with 4. This is depicted in Diagram 2 .

Diagram 3 shows you how to exercise triple cover where you can align 3 diagonally with 6. If the ball is controlled by B or C or in other words, it is placed centrally, the defense is positioned as a pyramid with 4 coming out on the player in possession and 2 and 6 distributed in a triangle for covering and 3 closing the field.

These exercises can be continued with the players A,B,C, and D passing the ball to each other upon the coach blowing the whistle. In this particular case, the approach to the opposing player who receives the ball becomes very important.

Always instruct the players that they should move very fast towards the players receiving the long pass and then to stop immediately before he receives it. What this does effectively is allowing the players to close down the receiver limiting him in space and time and also putting a restriction on his passing options, particularly deep penetrating passes (dreaded the most by the defenders).

As the training progresses, add one or two passive players on the defensive line who only move horizontally before each pass and need to be marked. Here is what effective marking means:

• To be between the opponent and the goal
• To see the player in possession and the player off the ball who needs to be marked
• To tightly mark the opponent, if the player in possession does not see the goal
• To mark loosely if the player in possession sees the goal and has the opportunity to shoot

These principles are true for both man-to-man marking as well as zone-marking. The only difference is that with man-to-man marking, the player will be followed anywhere on the field and there will be direct contact with him/her at all times. With zone-marking, defenders mark the player only when they are in their zone, otherwise they are left to be covered by other players.

Leave your feedback below about these tips!

Yours in soccer,

Andre Botelho

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