The Switch, kick-ins...

In 3v3 soccer, I like to control possession of the ball rather than send it long and playing 50/50 ball. I also like designing plays that allow for options, depending on what the defense is doing. Being the inventor I am, I decided there had to be a better way of bringing the ball in without having to fight anyone for it. As I scratched out plays on a pad and pencil, I had an epiphany, the switch.

The setup for this kick-in is one forward by the ball, the other forward on the direct opposite side of the field, at the same depth as the ball (if the ball is at midfield then the player would be on the midfield line on the other side of the field), and the back player is a few yards back and a few yards off the sideline of where the ball rests.

Option one: If no one is covering the back player, the ball is simply played back to the back player and you can start your offense.

Option two: If a defender sneaks back to cover the back player, instead of trying to kick the ball into play, the forward at the ball will run past the ball (without touching it) and down the line. [Did you get that? Just because your player stands by the ball, doesn't mean he has to kick it.] At the same time, the back player will run in, behind the ball, and pass it up to the running forward who will be wide open.

Option three: If, as you are switching, your opponent’s back player anticipates your pass to the open forward by running in to intercept the pass, your back player will not pass the ball to the forward, but instead pass the ball to the open space in front of your other forward. Remember your other forward has been a decoy on the other side of the field for the first two options, and they are almost always marked. Your decoy forward should have been watching, and when they see the opponent’s back player move up to stop the play, that’s when the decoy forward runs to the open goal, meeting the ball, and passing it into the open goal.

Don’t be surprised when teams fall for this complete progression.

Funneling Defense...

3v3 soccer teams that don't pass back or just boom the ball on kick-ins for 50/50 battles (where pressure man doesn't work) you can play funneling defense. Basic funneling is leaving your opponents weakest player open. Normally, the weakest player on a team doesn't fight very hard to get open. They are easy to markup, so I tell our players to leave those players open and mark tightly the good players. Once the ball is passed to the seemingly open person, then our players pounce.

This strategy only works when your opponent has players of different skill levels. When you get to Nationals, almost all the players are good so this won't work. But then, those teams are also structured so you can go into pressure man.

Pressure Man Defense...

In 3v3 soccer, this is the best team defense I have found, especially when you are playing a good passing team. It requires your players to be disciplined and it should only be played on your opponents defensive side or your attacking side. [Note: if your team isn't very fast, then this defense can be broken easily.]

The basic premise of this defense is one player attacks or puts pressure on the player with the ball while the other two players play man to man. There are two times when you can jump into pressure man, off a goal kick or a kickoff/kick-in pass to the back player.

Going to pressure man defense on a kickoff pass back to your opponent's back player or a kick-in pass to your opponent's back player is fairly simple. When the ball is passed deep to your opponent's back player, one of your forwards (usually the best 1v1 player) will go and apply pressure to that back player, moving in slowly while teammates move to their marks, your opponent's forwards. If the attacking player rushes in too fast, your opponent's back player will simply pass to the unmarked player. You want the attacking player to move in slowly to give your back player time to move up and cover the player he just left, or their last player who could be at midfield. It isn't unusual to have all your team on the opponents side of the field. Once your opponent's forwards are covered, your attacking forward can challenge, playing 1v1 soccer. If their back player tries to pass, your other players can jump in and intercept the ball. Many times, their back player will realize there is a problem and try to juke your attacking player. It is important that your attacking player move in just like a 1v1 game and not allow themselves to be easily beaten or the play breaks down. Because my team is good at 1v1 soccer, I don't mind setting up that situation. I can't tell you how many easy goals we get by playing pressure man. Also, your marking players need to remember to stand goal side of their marks because you don't want a through ball to beat you. Another hint, when your attacking player moves forward, have them come off their worst player. In other words, allow your back player to come up and mark their worst player.

Going into pressure man off a goal kick is a bit more complicated. Basically, you only want to mark the deepest player because you want a short pass. Your two forwards hang back about quarterfield to allow for the short pass. Once the ball is in play, your back player will cover (goal side) their deepest player. Your two forwards will move in, one marking the player without the ball, and the other coming in to play 1v1 with the opponent.

The first time we used pressure man was at a regional. It was my first year as the coach and we didn’t have all the plays I’ve been telling you about. We tried to play like everyone else. While we could win locally, at regionals we lost to a team 9-2. I'll call them team “A”. I thought we were good but there was no way we could stop team “A” because they passed too well and I had no solution for their offense. I watched team “A” blow out others while trying to figure out how to stop their potent attack. I was astonished when they actually lost, by several goals, to team “B”. I noticed that every time team “A” passed the ball back, team “B” would pressure, but their back player would also sneak up to cover the open man, intercepting passes and completely shutting down team “A”. That night, I held meetings with my players to teach them the new defense because we’d have to play team “A” again in the semi’s. While we had our chances, we lost 4-3, but team “A” didn't score any goals from their offense, instead, they scored off our mistakes, i.e. my back player trying to dribble too much. The coach of team “B” came over and told me he thought we could have won. I almost told him we copied his strategy. But the most astonishing aspect was when team “A” played team “B” in the finals. [We finished third] For some reason, Team “B” kept their back player back. He never pushed forward and they got blown out. I wanted to ask the coach of team “B” why he changed his strategy, but honestly, I don’t think he had a strategy and was allowing the kids to play. Evidently, his kids had forgotten what they used the day before. Of course, I didn’t forget, and we’ve been using pressure man ever since.

Un-defensible Free Kick, serve and volley...

This 3v3 soccer play is super cool. If the players are younger and small and the box and goals are large, this play, if executed correctly, cannot be stopped by the defense. In fact, the defense has to hope you cannot execute it, but then, this play requires lots of skill to perform.

In the last post I told you about two-touch kickoffs. There is actually a variation of this play on kick ins and free kicks where the first offensive player simply runs over the ball, stepping on it, and the second player comes in afterward and kicks the ball. While this strategy works against inexperienced teams, it rarely, if ever, works against experienced teams. The other problem is that some tournaments require the ball to make one revolution before it can be kicked.

The serve and volley free kick works best when you are fairly close to the goal. The other team will make a wall but this doesn't matter. Have two players stand beside each other near the ball, preferably your best jugglers as this is a simple two-touch juggle. The first player will simply lift the ball up into the air, about a foot or two into the air is all you need. The second player will then tap the ball, while it is still in the air, up and over the wall and into the goal. Again, this requires practice to perfect. I have found that some players are better at serving the ball up and others at volleying the ball into the goal. At practice, we have the volleyers tell the servers where they want the ball in the air. At first, your players will try to stand too far apart, but make them stand close together as this is a quick play that should happen before the defense can react.

Another hint is that both players should face the goal. The initial lift should be toward the goal and the second player simply continues to send the ball on the same path and line. It's easier to tap the ball forward than to redirect on an angle.

Incidently, I thought of this play while trying to “invent” a new kick-in play that involved one player kicking the ball off the positioned foot of another player. Of course, the ball never came off correctly. Then I thought about chipping the ball up to our player in the wall, until I realized two players might be able to juggle the ball in. I wasn't sure if my players could do it, so we tried it in practice and the players seemed to have fun trying it. The next tournament, we had a free kick close to the goal so I yelled at my players to try the new serve and volley play. It worked. We scored. The defense hadn't even moved from their wall. From then on, I didn't have to tell the players to use it.

Below is an example of my boys sending the ball over a ladder and into a backstop.