1v1 Defensive Tips

I’ve noticed that most of my posts have been offense oriented. Of course, 3v3 Soccer is a skills game that is fast paced and high scoring. When great teams play, it's rare to see scores like 5-0. They are usually 7-5, so teams shouldn't get down if they allow a score. Teams need to learn how to score, and score often; however, here are some defensive tips to help your players in 1v1 encounters.

1) Contain. (i.e. don’t stab)

Most defenders rush in. Against a good dribbler, defenders get beat quickly. While it is okay to rush over to get into position, the defender should slow just before he or she reaches the dribbler.

2) Wait for Separation

Once in position to challenge, the defender should wait until the dribbler has pushed the ball away from his or her body, e.g. the dribbler is no longer touching the ball. That is when the defender should attack.

So, if the defender is touching the ball, CONTAIN and WAIT FOR SEPARATION. Once the ball has separated from the defender, ATTACK!

In 3v3 soccer, if your opponents have a fast break against your back player, he or she should time their attack to coincide with separation and never run backwards. In one Nationals, we took a guest player (which I don’t recommend as mistakes will be made by the new player), but this player was really skilled, although on his other team, he played the back position by always standing in front of his goal. We made it to the finals, and ended up losing 6-4. [Incidentally, the team we lost to, took some of our plays from the previous year, which didn’t bother me except for the fact that they were running our plays better than us!] Two of their goals were directly attributed to the new player’s mistakes. 1) He forgot to do the switch and kicked it to a marked player who wasn’t expecting the ball. The other team intercepted and made a long shot. 2) The other team got a lucky bounce and was able to have a 2v1 fast break on this new player who ran backwards and of course, the good team scored. The problem was that this 2v1 scenario would never have happened had he gone for the ball instead of running backwards and giving up ground. When the ball first bounced, it was going away from the other team and toward my defender who could have easily swooped in and taken the ball, i.e. cut to either side, and then passed the ball up and we would have been the team with the 2v1 scenario. But this player wasn’t accustomed to attacking since his usual team didn’t play pressure man. He was used to running backwards any time opponents attacked. When I tried to explain that, he got mad saying he couldn’t guard two players. He missed the point. If he had taken the ball when it was available to do so, he wouldn’t have needed to guard two players.

3) When balls are coming toward you, and there is separation, when you get to the ball, cut to either side. Refrain from kicking into the opponent’s legs as this can cause the ball to deflect behind you. (This is a common mistake for young players.)

4) Refrain from flinching or spinning away when the attacking player kicks the ball. (Another problem for young players.)

5) Come out from the goal. Players that back up into the goal actually make the goal larger, giving the attacking player more area to score. Pushing out reduces the size of this area.



6) For corner kick defending near the goal, your players should stand goal-side and shoulder to shoulder with their marks, pushing their shoulder against the opponent's shoulder thereby impeding them as the ball is kicked in.

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I’ve attached a video clip of Carles Puyol, known for his defensive prowess. My favorite clip is after his goalie is beaten and it’s just him protecting his goal. The forward hammers the ball, and instead of flinching, Puyol actually moves toward the ball...



Note: Don't forget you can turn your defense into a counterstriking offense if you have fast players and your opponents have pressed too far upfield. Once your team steals the ball, your player can send a backspinning ball toward the opponent's goal.