[Fender playa]

Im a centre defender and yesterday our team played a exhibtion game......... my teams sweeper was of the field cause of a cut and my left and right defenders went to far up.......so it ended up being a 2 on 1 for the other team i kept on running back waiting for then to make a mistake or pass.....when they got to the 18 yard box i decided to charge the player with the ball .thats when he passed it..........i got a piece of the ball but not enough it still made it to the other player and he scored.....

Im asking if i did the right thing.........or what could i have done differently. I would apprciate some comments...........

[Fender playa]

oh if your wonderin what age group.........its U-16 Metro

[rymannryan]

I'm just curious what Metro is?

[gerr18]

If it had been me in that situation, I would have tried to "shade" the man with the ball away from the other player and towards the sideline. This way the sideline works like another defender and you can probably hold him up until your midfielders can track back and help. Being a midfielder, I know when a defender is jockeying the ball and shading a defender, it means, "Help Now!" and also means that someone else has screwed up so I had better get myself back as quickly as possible.

But where were the 2 players positioned? In the centre? Opposite sides of the pitch? More info would help.

[Th4119]

Sounds like you did the right thing. You've got to try to force him to the outside but you have to make sure you go for the man with the ball or he will walk in alone.

2 v. 1's should be converted most of the time, save for an amazing goalkeeping play. Ask Landon Donovan about that from last night's game...

[Turk from Pigs Eye]

It depends on who the 2 are. If one is not as good a finisher make sure he gets the ball and guard the other guy.

[Elroy]

If a team is going to goal, there is no such thing as 2v1. It's always 2v2 b/c of the GK. Delay is the best beginning as other defenders might be in position to recover. Jockeying to a bad shooting angle is also good. The keeper should make the call as to when you close. I usually liked the field player to take ball while I did double duty by covering the angle and the cross. If the def can't shade the attacker into the bad angle, then I double on the ball when it is in range.

I would suggest that you work this out with the GK at practice.

[saabrian]

In this situation, I usually cheat toward the man with the ball. As a defender, I want to force the guy with the ball to make a play, make him beat me.

If the guy with the ball is a good dribbler, I don't want him 1 v 1 with the keeper (if I shade toward the other guy). If he's not a good dribbler, then he might be more likely to make a bad pass under pressure.

I mean, you have to use your judgement. If the guy with the ball is a bad dribbler and the other guy's a sniper, I might let the keeper charge the guy with the ball. But either way, you want the guy with the ball to be forced into making a good play.

[blech]

sounds like you did a decent job.

your first objective is to delay and hopefully give your teammates a chance to backtrack. sounds like you tried but there wasn't enough time or field.

next, during your delay, you should have been looking for an opportunity to challenge if the offensive player put the ball too far ahead. if the offender errs, you can pounce and be the hero, but because of the consequences of playing it wrong, you have to be extremely careful. it isn't enough to simply run back. you've got to be backtracking, but close enough to attempt the tackle if the opportunity presents itself. doesn't sound like you had that kind of opportunity here. (that said, why did you "charge" at the 18? was there a tackling opportunity? was he getting ready to shoot? were there still no supporting defenders in sight? i didn't see the play, so i'm just throwing things out for you to think about. a poorly timed charge can make it easier to get the pass off - typically you want to pounce immediately after there is a touch on the ball)

the suggestion to try to split the offense is a good one. if you can push the player with the ball to the outside, you are in a better position to cut off the second offensive player, leaving the dribbler to try to race past you to the outside and hopefully leaving a so-so angle for any shot he may get off. it's not clear you could have done more here, but something to think about.

a last ditch effort at breaking up the 2v1 is a variation of the offside trap. the offensive player with the ball will frequently move ahead of the ball but still in an onside position. if you can get the offensive player 5+ yards ahead of the ball, your charge at the dribbler often causes him to pass second player, who you have placed in an offside position when you charged forward. sounds like you tried this, but that the offensive guys played it well.

without seeing the play, i don't know what more i'd tell you. sounds like they executed it pretty well. keeping their passing lanes open. pushing the ball quickly. etc. at 2v1, they should score, and this time they did. if you're really looking to be technical, you probably should ask yourself not how do you stop the 2v1, but rather how do you stop the 2v1 from ever developing. what happened before the 2v1 developed? as the last guy back (whether the sweeper is on the field or not), you're in charge, and if you see everyone else heading forward (when you're already down a man) leaving you all alone with a couple of guys, you've got to start hollering for someone to come back and give you support.

[Fender playa]

Originally posted by rymannryan
I'm just curious what Metro is?

its the highest level yoy can get before going provincel(or in your case State)