Need Help with those Speedy Strikers

[Kenntak]

When we had our defenders pushed up near the center line, the opponents hit a couple of through balls which speedy strikers were able to run down and shoot into the net. Our defenders do not have much speed and could not keep up. I need some advice on how to deal with this, I thought about the following:

1. Forget about the offside trap, and leave a sweeper back near the box at all times.

2. Have a midfielder stay back on defense primarily.

3. Have a midfielder mark the striker wherever he goes.

4. Have the keeper set up further up field when we have the ball on their end.

5. Use 5 midfielders to try to clog the middle and prevent the through balls from being launched.

Your help is appreciated!

[NHRef]

I had this problem with a U18B team this year, two things we did:

- abandon the trap if it isn't working
- CLOG THE MIDDLE, stress to the center mids and stopper that they have to win everything and be aggressive to the ball. The idea is to prevent the through ball from happening. If they can win the ball or get onto the ball controller immediately it reduces his chance to deliver the through ball. Cut it off at its source, not its effect.

[GKbenji]

General rule of thumb: unpressured ball, defense drop off; ball under pressure, step up. You don't need to keep a defender all the way back at all times, but the back line needs to recognize when a through ball is imminent (midfielder/back with the ball is not pressured) and drop off.

If you know you are outpaced, you might want to play a bit farther off than usual at all times, but not to the point of keeping a player back near the box at all times.

You can also pressure more in the midfield to prevent the service in the first place; not necessarily with more midfielders but simply making sure somebody steps to the ball at all times to pressure and channel the opponent.

Your keeper should also play higher when the ball is farther out. Roughly speaking, the keeper's position in the penalty area should mirror the position of the ball on the field. So if the ball is in the far half, the keeper should be somewhere around 10-12 yards off the line or even more, and 8-9 yards out as the ball crosses midfield. This will enable the keeper to come out and get to long through balls first many times.

[BigGuy]

When we had our defenders pushed up near the center line, the opponents hit a couple of through balls which speedy strikers were able to run down and shoot into the net. Our defenders do not have much speed and could not keep up. I need some advice on how to deal with this, I thought about the following:

1. Forget about the offside trap, and leave a sweeper back near the box at all times.

2. Have a midfielder stay back on defense primarily.

3. Have a midfielder mark the striker wherever he goes.

4. Have the keeper set up further up field when we have the ball on their end.

5. Use 5 midfielders to try to clog the middle and prevent the through balls from being launched.

Your help is appreciated!

How many defenders do you have in the back?

Compressing the field is not playing the offside trap. When compressing the field you need a mobil keeper. He is like a sweeper people call it a sweeper/keeper. That is the keeper of the future.

Are your backs spaced right and are they staggered. Meaning one further back then the other so the backs have depth. So one of them can get to the ball before their strikers can. They can not be flat as in a straight line. Beat one you beat them all. Also a flat back defense is not really a flat defensive it has depth in the support positions.

Why are you putting your slow players in the back. There probleming playing against the opponents speed players. That is a mismatch against your team. The game is about match ups.

[Kenntak]

Thank you very much for your replies, they are all greatly useful to me. We play with 4 defenders, normally not formed in a line, but during the game a line was used to try to catch the opposing strikers offside. It worked twice and after that we were burned a couple of times.

As you suggested, clogging the middle, being first to the ball and constant pressuring should help greatly, as well as making sure the keeper plays in a good position to deal with some of the through balls. I will also see that the defenders stay in proper allignment. Against some teams we may have a bit of a match up problem because not all of the defenders can keep up with the quick strikers. If pace continues to be a problem, it will be something that will have to be addressed.

[rca2]

We play with 4 defenders, normally not formed in a line, but during the game a line was used to try to catch the opposing strikers offside.

There is no need to change your defensive shape. Keeping the defenders in a static line is not the best way to spring an offside trap. If the fullbacks have depth and a forward is in an advanced position, the deepest fullbacks sprint up field to put the forward in an offside position. It is easier to spring the trap if only one or two backs must move up instead of all four backs needing to move up. Stepping up occassionally will also make the defense less predictable, complicating the attackers' job.