i coach a girls high school soccer team- won first league championship ever last year- finished 2nd in state- question i have is- we play a 4-3-3 and are a very high scoring team-however when we play competition better than us we tend to bunker down defensively- and leave a HUGE gap between our mids and forwards. Hence, our defense ends up trying to play the ball directly to our forwards and it's usually eaten up by opposing defense- who consequently jams it down our throats- and the cycle continues. A lot of times my 3rd forward gets sucked too far back and ends up becoming a 4th mid but we still can't seem to get the ball to our forwards. Are there any drills you know of that can help this problem? If we can solve this, we can be a much much better team. Thanks.
How about just doing drills and telling your defense to play high pressure, man or zonal mark with high pressure and try to win the ball quickly, also as soon as you lose the ball all wide players need to get very wide to open up space and recieve passes to work the ball out of the back rather than senslessly booting it forward all the time, and when a defender has no choice but to boot the ball forward in clearance, clear the ball wide and with 3 forwards you should have forwards wide enough that might even end up recieving a clear, I assume you run a flat 4-3-3 so your wide defenders and forwards should be out by the sidelines as soon as you win possession, and everyone is trying to find open space to maintain possesion.
You are gonna have to break the complex problem down into more simple parts. Meaning the problem is hapenning with 22 players on the field. Start from the back go with 4v2 with a keeper. 4 defenders vs 2 attackers. start with a goal kick and the 4 defenders need to bring the ball up across the midfield line under control. Give the players/defenders roles and what they need to do ie basically each player has 2-3 options and responsibilities everytime. Note: if attackers win the ball the outside defenders now join the attackers and try to get a shot on goal against the keeper. Drill until you can get 8 out of 10 chances across the midfield line. You can alter this by putting 2 cone goals out wide that the 4 defenders are trying to control the ball through the goals through either side. Once the success rate has been achieved begin to add more players to the 4 defenders and more to the 2 attackers. Give the players roles and responsibilities everytime. Drill drill drill using at a 7 or 8 out of 10 success rate as your standard. Also you may need to look at fitness. This is happenning at the end while trying to protect a lead? Players always refer to bad habits when tired and under pressure. Booting the ball upfield with no purpose is the bad habit.
thanks a lot on both comments- will try the drills today at practice we take on the first place team this friday- when we win we'll be tied for first- will comment on how our team plays. thanks again.
Hi, 4-3-3 was perfected by the Dutch and the best way to close the gap you mentioned is to play your midfield 'with the point up', as the Dutch call it. The center mid (aka number 10) will act as a shadow striker and will be the connection between defense and offense and will be included in the build-up very often. Next you would have one of your central defenders move up a line when in possesion, thus becoming the 4th midfielder. Hope this makes sense, feel free to contact me should you need more detailed information, thanks!