Help! Entering tournament this weekend with 1 sub

[strangepup]

New to the board but I have followed for awhile.

Anyway, this coming weekend my 16U girls team will be playing in a tournament with 2 games on Saturday and 2 games on Sunday and because of injuries and flu we are only going to have 1 sub (too late to add loan players...roster is frozen). We normally play a 3-4-3 but I am up for whatever. Any advice on how to manage this? Luckily we are only playing 35 minute halves instead of the full 40 that we usually play, but still, this is going to be a challenge.

Thanks for any help.

[SoundSoccer]

Since a 3-4-3 tends to be a high pressure system I can see the dilemma.

When the Greece National team won Euro 2004 they played a 3-4-3 on attack but "bent back" the wing forwards and the outside midfielders one line on defense ... playing a 5-4-1 on defense and a 3-4-3 on the attack. This would allow you to rest but not change too much.

If a change is okay, you might try a 4-1-4-1 to defend and transition into the attack to a 4-3-3.

The general idea is to rest as a "block" at or near the middle of the field on defense and attack as usual.

I couple ideas to ponder :)

[ranova]

Emphasis on making sure all good practices are followed--warm ups, cool downs, and hydration especially. Consumption of simple carbs immediately following cool downs. Rather than change the system at this late date, I would change tactics. Use a low pressure compact defense (aka delayed high pressure). On attack put emphasis on maintaining possession and changing fields, rather than direct attack.

Think of old-school soccer before substitutions. You could not run and press the whole game. The team has to control the pace of the game. It has to be able to slow the game down and rest without giving advantage to the other side. Sometimes the team rhythm can be changed merely by changing your normal approach to assignments., i.e., putting your best skilled players further back. If you are running a box midfield, put your two best players in the holding midfield spots. Put good passers behind and in front of them. If playing four accross, put your best skilled players there. Playing your slower players as forwards may force the team to use a slow build up. Sometimes one or two changes in assignments can change the way the whole team plays. If your 343 system requires some positions to work harder than others, you can spread the workload without changing the system or substituting by having players switch positions on the field. Keeper changes is an obvious example. Full back to midfielder is another example.

Finally I would not be afraid to play short rather than risk injury or aggravating an injury. Or simply to give someone a 10 minute rest. Playing a conservative (i.e., not chasing the ball) 342 for 10 minutes is not going to give up much advantage to the other team. I also would not hesitate to forfeit the last match if the kids are not up to it physically.

[BTFOOM]

I played a tournament this summer (4 games, 2 each day) with 11, 12, 12, and 13 players, respectively.

I agree with the last poster - concentrate more on changing your tactics rather than formation. I think the kids will get it and won't be as confused.

I'd allow the opponents to have posession in their half all they want. Tell your kids to just get back and go hard when the ball comes to them. As for going forward, make sure the midfielders know they can rest from time to time if needed and let the attack be a player or two short. Take full advantage, both from a time perspective and attack/scoring from all free kicks given in the attacking 1/3 and corner kicks. Also, play more of a quick counter attack style.

I also think that you should not be afraid to play w/10 if needed. Make sure to rotate players often, both in and out as well as positions on the field. Noone is just a 'striker' or 'defender' this weekend, you are all soccer players.

Lastly, make sure to get every player on the field as much as possible. It doesn't matter if the 12th is a weaker player, she is very important and should be rewarded for coming to the tournament.

Good luck and make sure to let us know how you do.

[Bass0r]

It should also depend on where the strengths lie in your remaining players.


Because of the limited resources - and this has essentially been said in the other posts - you will need to focus on frustrating the other team, rather than pressure them. Maintaining posession, constant and smart passing, and just enough movement on and off the ball, to keep the flow. You want them chasing you more than the other way around, to avoid tiring the players out.

You don't really want to sub a player for another that can't work the same role, or that will force you to change the formation around, so try to focus the play in a way that will allow you to use the sub effectively, when needed (i.e. if the sub is a defender, don't overwork the midfield, or you might find it hard to take a midfielder off for a defender, and could start losing posession a lot easier).

It may mean that you'll have to grind out 1-0 games, unless you have a very smart squad that can make precise movements and passes to break down a defence.

[strangepup]

Thank you for the great help. My team has a very direct style of play and we usually substitute quiet liberally, so this will be a great challenge for them to play a different style. This should be a great learning experience for them.

I will update you all when we get back. Thanks :)

[strangepup]

My team had a nice tournament. We ended up playing a 4-3-3 (1-3-3-3) and the mids and forwards rotated with each other for rest. We played with 10 at times because of injury or extreme fatigue, but the girls really stepped up and played well. it was great seeing them respond to such a difficult challenge.

Also, I really liked playing with a sweeper. We haven't done that in a couple of years, but it really worked out well and the sweeper really did a nice job when she collected the ball to get it out wide. We have been burned too many times in the past couple years on through balls due to poor positioning and lack of weakside rotation, but the sweeper prevented those things from happening. I hate giving up goals on breakaways...I would rather make a team have to earn their goal with a quality buildup.

[ranova]

Good job!

[BTFOOM]

Congrats on the weekend.

Playing hard and coming together as a team will be something the girls will remember long after the results.

Good luck in the future!!!