[saabrian]

I was talking with one of the kids in our varsity program. Apparently, the varsity play the offside trap with a flat back four. The kid, who plays on the outside defense, said he was having all kinds of problems. He said the other teams were simply playing through balls and the other teams, who are generally faster than us, are running on to them and he simply can't catch up. He has the added challenges of this being his first year as a defender (he was a d-mid before) and of this being the first year this group of kids has been exposed to the trap; they've been playing with a sweeper for as long as I've been paying attention.

Now, I didn't really know what advice to offer him, especially since I haven't been to a varsity game yet this year to see for myself. Personally, I can't stand the trap. Once in a while if specific situations warrant it is fine, but as a system, I passionnately despise it. However, this is the system they are using and I want to offer him some advice within that context. I made some general comments about the trap like that it requires positional awareness relative to the other defenders and especially good communication, but I was looking for something more specific to his particular situation.

So if anyone has any ideas for him other than "ditch the trap" (which is my preferred :-), I would be grateful.

[NYfutbolfan]

If this child is playing left back and getting beat on thru balls, I'll make the assumption that the opponent is making his run closer to the touch line than the left back. If the opponent's thru ball splits the left back and central defender, the goalie is going to have a hard time.

So, it kind of comes down to a situation where the back line has to shift together against the opponent.

The key for the left back is to make sure that the he's pushing the opponent towards the touchline. If the opponent is forced to go wide, then the central defender can track back and provide support for the left back. As the central defender is closer to the goal (due to his position) he can make his own diagonal run to close down the opponent. At the same time, the left back has to gauge the situation very quickly. The left back has to decide whether to support the central defender out wide or mark a man in the area that the central defender vacated in order to support the left back. That decision will be based upon the runs of the other team and how far over the right central defender shifts in order to support the left central defender and how much the midfielders track back to help defend.

I hope you could understand a little of what I was trying to say. Obviously, it is alot easier for a coach on the field to show the player movements than it is for me to describe.

Is it confusing? Yeah, until you get the idea. But the system does work. It just demands the ultimate in teamwork, communication and quick thinking skills.

My 10 year-old son's coach is trying it for his team and it has had mixed results. But, I would think that a high school group would have more success with it.

[saabrian]

Thanks a lot for your observations. I'll pass them along to him.

[m-chill]

i'm not a fan of the trap either but if your looking for advice to help him not get beat by fast forwards i would give him this one piece of advice. stay close to the player he's marking, goal side till the trap is on, and if a ball is played through and they have not pulled up to abstruct the forwards run to the ball by staying infront of him while they race to the ball. that can be the great equalizer against a fast forward. now if the attacking team runs a man through from deep (say the midfield) he will need to predict the run and pass coming and either 1) pull up if the defense is pulling up and will catch the runner off. or 2) move to get infront of that run and slow him down by making the attacker run around him. a lil bit of contact never hurts either . then hope that some1 else can catch the attacker.
good luck .... he'll need it

[Attacking Minded]

Originally posted by saabrian
I was talking with one of the kids in our varsity program. Apparently, the varsity play the offside trap with a flat back four. The kid, who plays on the outside defense, said he was having all kinds of problems. He said the other teams were simply playing through balls and the other teams, who are generally faster than us, are running on to them and he simply can't catch up. He has the added challenges of this being his first year as a defender (he was a d-mid before) and of this being the first year this group of kids has been exposed to the trap; they've been playing with a sweeper for as long as I've been paying attention.

Now, I didn't really know what advice to offer him, especially since I haven't been to a varsity game yet this year to see for myself. Personally, I can't stand the trap. Once in a while if specific situations warrant it is fine, but as a system, I passionnately despise it.

I don't despise it but I don't like how it is used in the US. In the US, with our sub rules, it is often used to compress the feild such that the backs and forwards are only playing about 30 yards apart. That's not what the FB4 was designed to do. It was designed such that any player could act as the sweeper, i.e. provide depth and cover, for the defense.

However, this is the system they are using and I want to offer him some advice within that context. I made some general comments about the trap like that it requires positional awareness relative to the other defenders and especially good communication, but I was looking for something more specific to his particular situation.

So if anyone has any ideas for him other than "ditch the trap" (which is my preferred :-), I would be grateful.

Here is an idea. First if he is a slow wingback then he will have a bunch of trouble with fast wingers period, no matter what system he plays in. Now if he is slow and he is beat, he needs to recover goal side. The center back needs to recover goal side and set up as the first defender against that fast winger. The wing back is now supposed to be in the center of the feild, he recovered remember, and provides cover and depth for the center back. They trade positions and it should be obvious to the players what they should do IF they play a lot of 5v2/6v3. 5v2/6v3 should teach them to trade assignments.

Now as far as playing the trap the wingback is not supposed to be part of the trap when the ball is in the center of the feild. He is already supose to be a step or two forward of the last defender, a center back. Sometimes, rarely, a wingback will step up to spring the trap when the ball is in the center of the feild. Now I have to ask why? If he is on the wing then springing the trap is not worth the risk like it is for a center back.

[kopiteinkc]

Another tip for this player is to have him play sideways on not square.

I'll try and explain that, if he is playing left back then he can turn his body so his left shoulder faces up the field and his right shoulder towards his own goal. (or at least 45 degrees)

The winger should be behind him, as someone pointed out earlier he should force him out wide to allow the central defender to help him later on.

The advantage of playing sideways like this (or at least a 45 degree angle) is that he is already half turned to sprint after the through ball.

Part of the problem slower full backs have is that they have to do a 180 turn to start with while the winger is already running in that direction. By playing sideways like this, turning is unnecessary and they can start running off the right foot immediately.

Key here though is good communication between the central defenders and this left back as the left back will not always be able to see his man as he is behind him.

Sideways on is also a good tackling technique too as a square defender is more easily beaten.