Starting with the back line and mids in the defending half is there a traditional vs. modern way of defending in this system? Are there variations? I guess more specifically - If a FB is going to step up should the remaining CB's and FB shape resemble a staggered check or flat? - Does the defense want to push the ball back inside? (Not my preference) - How are the mids defending both vs. central possession and vs. wide possession?
The classic 433 originally (1960s) defended as a 442 by (Brazil) the left winger dropping into the midfield line. 8 players defending behind the ball. Modern variations of the 433 have both wingers defend along the flanks (451). 9 players behind the ball. In the days of the WM man to man defense was popular. As teams became sophisticated about pulling the back line out of position, zonal marking became popular (individual zones defined areas where marking assignments would be switched without requiring coordination on switches like with man to man. Today hybrid systems are common with some man markers and some zonal marking. In the 1980 and 90's it was pretty common to have the backs defend zonally and the midfielders defend man to man. The advantage to the man to man coverage in the midfield was that the markers would automatically stay with the opposing midfielders when they ran forward. Routinely the wingers would pick up the opposing fullbacks when they ran forward. Which way your system wants the ball pushed depends on where you want to try to win the ball and what areas you want to defend. For instance in a 442 the coach may want to try to win the ball around the center circle and therefore press to the center circle. But in the defensive third the coach typically wants to push the attack wide where it is not dangerous. In many years of playing, only on 1 team did the coach have the fullbacks push the ball inside to the CBs, even in the defensive third. On that (adult) team, the CBs were our strongest players and never failed to tackle the ball. Opponent's never figured out that we were letting them cut inside.
The middle three for me slides ball side and the opposite side winger drops to cover the opposite flank.
@elessar78, with advanced players you might be better off having the strong side winger be the 4th midfielder. Typically on your transition to defense the opponent will switch the ball away from the side you attacked to the other side. So the former strong side becomes the weak side. Your former weak-side winger will likely be well placed to defend the switch, and even possibly the best person to become the 1st defender and pressure the ball. He should also be well placed to defend the flank in front of the FB. Just a different way of looking at skinning the cat.
See diagram at page three of the link. http://www.fvhsgirlssoccer.com/JVFiles/Teaching_Flat_Four.pdf Here is a previous discussion of the shape of the back line: https://www.bigsoccer.com/threads/do...ense-still-live-in-youth-soccer.801902/page-2 Coach Dan Blank has some good "how-to-coach" books. He is a college coach, but it works for high school too. "Shutout Pizza" is a book devoted to coaching a flat back four. Very detailed and complete with training suggestions.
my only concern is that the strong side winger is going to be behind the play from the get go. The #6 or #8 can slide over and be in a much better position to cover that area. Also, in the event of a recovery, your #7 or #11 will already be in a better spot for a rapid counterattack. Defensively, I would task the #7/#11 to harry any back passes.
Saw this on Facebook and thought of this thread. https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10156916544716110