I was just wondering if some people had any tips on when to tackle and when to jockey a player when in the middle and they are running full speed at you. Thanks in advance.
there's no single response to your question and i don't know that it is significantly different from questions that defenders should be asking themselves. and, it's definitely going to depend on the situation. keep in mind that time is generally on your side, but you might want to think about some of the following: -do you have numbers on defense? if so, you can be freer to tackle and, if not, you may want to delay and hope (yell) for support to get back -are you generally marked up and set on defense? this one isn't necessarily so obvious; on the one hand, it is probably better to get as marked up as possible before tackling; on the other hand, if, for example, their right wing is open, applying more pressure and even tackling may prevent your opponent from finding that attacking opportunity -do you have support close to you to assist with the tackle? you want to win the tackle, but it's nice to know you have support to help you out if necessary -what is likelihood you'll win the tackle? obvious -how skilled is your opponent? if you wait, is he more likely to give you an even better chance to tackle -is your opponent more likely to hurt you if you're jockeying or if you tackle and miss? -if you go for tackle but are beaten, are you fast enough to recover (comparing yourself to your opponent) or are you going to be out of the play? -how much field do you have left? at some point you're going to have to pull the trigger -can you contain the player by jockeying, or is he going to go by you anyway? if you can't contain him any longer, you have no choice -what kind of pressure are you trying to maintain with your defense? sometimes you want the defensive mid taking more chances to try to create more opportunities and press them to make mistakes i'm sure there are other things to think about, but these were some that immediately came to mind. i'm curious to see what others have to say.
The most important thing is you have to be sure your teammates are covering all the passing options, then it's safe to try and tackle (of course only if you feel you have a good chance). There's no point in tackling when your opponent can easily pass the ball.
Greenday had a good point to make sure the passing lalanes are cut before you attempt a tackle. Also if the offender is running at you contain him first (make him stop or slowdown) and stay a few yards back off of him and when he go to make a move capitalize and tckle or steal the ball. It really does depend on the situation but for what you described this is what I'd do And I guess it works pretty well since my coach says noone in our league can hang with me in the midfield. I hope tis helps.
In my opinion, slide tackles should be a last resort in most situations. You should try to slow up the offender first and let your team get back on defense. Of course, at some point you have to take a stand and not give any more ground. If you miss a slide tackle though, you will put your team in an even worse situation. Hence, I recommend a body (standing) tackle. Recovery is a lot easier with this one. Another thing, some teams are rather dirty and you have to be careful when slide tackling. Case in point: I slide tackeled this same kid about 4 times in a game because everytime he went by my left fullback (yes, my fullback was pretty lousy), he would kick the ball an extra yard or two too far. The ref would even say nice tackle every time and the kid would go flying over me (it was cold and raining so I could slide pretty far). The kid got sick of being embarassed and decided to get revenge. The next time I slide tackled him (clean again), he decided to stomp on my hand. My hand swelled up to about twice its size and went numb (with the exception of my finger tips which killed). I continued the game (but was in a great deal of pain). Lesson from the story: keep your arms tucked close to your body when slide tackling or you might pay the price.
In the center of the pitch...where possession is extremely important...tackling is one of the easier things to do. First, if you're jockeying the player with the ball, try and push them towards another defender, then pressure them out of the ball. Also make sure you know where you are positionally on the pitch, ie. where the goal is, the touchlines are, the other offensive players...etc. Second, if you're gonna tackle...get stuck in...by that I mean go in hard, don't stab at the ball. Nothing's worse than a central midfielder getting beaten because they stabbed at the ball. Crunching tackles are what you wanna execute from the center of the pitch. Also, the closer to your 18 they get, the quicker you wanna tackle and not jockey. Because when you jockey, you're giving them time, it's pressured time, but still, it's time. And if they are near your 18, the last thing you wanna give them is time. Also, if the closer to their own 18 they get, the quicker you wanna tackle...because well, you're in prime scoring position if the ball is won. My opinion...jockey when you're one v. one, go for the tackle when you know 100% you have cover.
Thanks for the tips. I'll keep them in mind. I think that's a weakness in my game on defense; that I hesitate to "get stuck in". One thing I do well though is to get my body in the way of a fast player if they push the ball to the side of me and try to run by. I'm very good at just putting enough of my arm in to slow them down and either shield the ball or allow a teammate to gain possession.