FineSoccer Kids 43

Welcome to the FineSoccer Kids Newsletter.  Today’s subject deals with defensive responsibilities.

Coaches talk all the time about first defender, second defender, third defenders, pressure, cover, balance etc and the truth of the matter is that they have found a wonderful way to overcomplicate things.

To simplify things greatly, as a defender, your first priorities are to do one of two things.  Either mark a man or go to the ball.  It’s that simple.  Once you have done one of these two things, you can then worry about the other things such as supporting your teammates and other things.

When your team first loses the ball, someone (hopefully the closest player to the ball who is goal side) needs to step to the ball and her teammates need to mark the other players.

Too many players don’t either go to the ball or mark a player instead they tend to mark space.  The obvious question is how many times have you seen space score a goal?  The answer, of course, is none yet we continue to mark spaces and leave players unmarked.  Once you figure out whom you are marking, then you can figure out how to support your teammates etc.

When you don’t know what to do defensively, either go to the ball or mark a man!

Any questions, comments or suggestions should be sent to kidscomments@finesoccer.com or they can be posted on the FineSoccer Forum at http://finesoccer.net

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Have a great day!

Lawrence