Written by Jeff Pill of CompleteSoccerCoach.com

Small group objectives are the same as stated for individual attackers or defenders.  Even though small group action essentially boils down to individual actions, there is a better chance that the action will succeed when a well-coordinated group undertakes the task.

ATTACKING

Although an individual scores the goal or plays the ball into a space behind the defenders, they do this primarily as the result of an individual’s defending mistakes.  The group, with well-coordinated actions, can force positional mistakes, thus creating an opening for an individual.

The way the group does this is to force a defender to make a split-second decision between two or more positions, both of which can be made wrong.  Examples of this will be looked at later.

DEFENDING

Since an individual defender is at times vulnerable, a group of defenders can do two things to improve the defender’s situation:

• reduce the risk of being beaten by providing support and cover;
• isolating the individual defender into a position where their actions are limited and predictable and which favor the defense.
  • Defend the dribble, thus conceding the pass; or
  • Defend the pass, thus conceding the dribble

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Here at TeamPages, we’re always looking for more ways to give back to our members which is why we’re so excited about our newest guest blogger, Coach Robert Wright from Complete Soccer Coach (who we featured in our Resources for Soccer Coaches post).  With the fall season approaching, Coach Wright will be posting a series of articles chalked full of tips and drills for youth soccer teams.

An experienced soccer administrator/coach, with a seventeen-year background in coaching soccer at the professional youth, college and recreational levels; Coach Wright’s credentials are only matched by his passion for the game.  For more information about Coach Wright’s background, I encourage you to check out his qualifications: http://completesoccercoach.com/coach.

Team Preparation and Goal Setting

by Robert Wright

For many of us, August signals the imminent arrival of the fall soccer season with lots of soccer practices and games in a short space of time.  Withe everything else that happens at this time of year, it is easy for coaches to feel overwhelmed and under prepared for working with their children.  Some easy tips to help alleviate this are:

Decide on your goals for the season

This may not be as simple as it sounds.  Your Long term goals for the team are important but there are other people who will also have opinions that are crucial, and that must be factored in.  These include your soccer organization, your players , and the parents of your players.  Only by taking all these stakeholders into consideration, will you develop a plan that everyone will support and buy into. (more…)