Playing outside midfield

[thedefender23]

We play with 4 backs but one is a sweeper. 2 of the remaining 3 backs mark the other team's strikers while the last defender marks the other teams central midfielder(who is usually their best player). Then our outside mids on our team have to mark the other team's outside midfielders. Its messed up cuz our outside mids rarely go up very far cuz they have to mark.

[kkmkk]

We play with 4 backs but one is a sweeper. 2 of the remaining 3 backs mark the other team's strikers while the last defender marks the other teams central midfielder(who is usually their best player). Then our outside mids on our team have to mark the other team's outside midfielders. Its messed up cuz our outside mids rarely go up very far cuz they have to mark.

i think that with this system, you will have both your centre midf free. that would overcrowd the centre of the field. good & bad it depends.

we also play with 4 backs (1 sweeper who must be always free). 2 full backs usually mark their wingers. 1 centre midf & centre back will mark their 2 strikers.

the remaining 3 midf will form a horizontal zone across the midfield. these 3 dont man mark, but close down the space in the middle. the left midf will watch their right back closely whenever he ventures an overlapping run.

well its easy to type it out, but on the field, its a very different story. we have problems coping with oppositions who have good movement

[thedefender23]

the problem with our team is that we cant possess the ball long enough for us to push up as a team. Also with our marking system our players end up all over the field so its hard to find an open man if my teammates are all out position. For example as one of those marking defenders i sometimes end up in central midfield depending how far the striker i'm marking drops back.

[Gordon EF]

I want to play outside midfield for my high school team and i was wondering why it seems that pro outside midfielders never seem to play defense(e.g. beckham).

I would say that playing 4-4-2 should give you control of the wide areas and maybe leave you more open down the middle so it's better to prtect the defence with more defensive players in the middle and use the wide areas to damage the opponents. Plus, playing 4-4-2, the full backs should be capable of policing any opposition threat down the flanks.

Playing as a full back myself, I don't feel the need for another defensive player in-front of me so it's better to have a more attacking player there to bomb down the wing and put crosses in.

[Gordon EF]

Does a diamond defense or a diamond midfield for that matter actually look like a diamond shape when a ball is on a flank? It looks more like a flat 4 zone at that time. Ball side back pressures the ball, the inside back closest to the ball is spaced and staggered further back, the next inside back could be the stopper or the sweeper is spaced and further back behind the other center back and the farthest back moves more inside the field and is spaced and further back of the last center back. Staggered is for depth. So it looks a lot more like a flat 4 zone then a diamond shape at that time.

Not sure about diamond defences but with a diamond midfield I would say it does. If you play with a two central mifieders, then they have to be aware of who is going forward and backwards all the time. Especially if both have similar strengths, best example would be Gerrard and Lamprd for England.

However, I would always prefer a midfeld with a more defensive and 1 more attacking midfielder. If the ball is on the wing, the attacking one should be up suporting the strikers and the defensive one should be sitting behind, if defending, the defensive one should be back and the attacking one should be waiting for a release ball from defence. So, whenever the ball is not in the centre of midfield, I would say a midfield should always resemble a diamond.