Pressing Up the Defense
This week’s topic of discussion focuses on the team’s shape when we are on the attack. As we move the ball up the field our forward’s and mid’s are usually quite good at moving up the field to support the play, however it is common for the backs to stand in the own defensive end and watch. This will cause you major problems when you turn the ball over.
The bigger the gap between your defense and your mid’s, the more you invite pressure from the opposition because you give them more space to play in. The smaller the gap between your defense and mid’s the more you compress the field, which gives the opposition less space to play in, making it harder for them to get through. So whenever you move the ball upfield remember to get your defensive line to push up with the rest of the team. A good guideline is to make sure they are between 10-15 yards behind the midfield line.
It is important to note that as you press your defense up all of the space behind them is now left open, but providing you know how to manage this space there should be no problems. If an opposing striker stays in the space behind the defensive line they are in an offside position, so you can just leave them there. The main danger comes when the opposition sees the space behind your defense and dumps a long ball right over the top of them for one of their quick forwards to run onto. To counter this you must do two things. Ensure your defenders are anticipating a long ball and ready to run back as soon as it is kicked. Also have your goalkeeper press up to the top of their box (or even further) and act as a keeper/sweeper. This means they can run out and clear any long balls with their feet. Again anticipation is vital if this is to work effectively.
If you find yourself pressing your defense up and over the half way line that is normally a good thing, because it means you have the opposition pinned into their own end. Be careful though because the opposition cannot be offside if they are in their own half of the field. So tell your defenders that as they push up into the other half that they must keep an eye out for forward opponents who are camping out on the half line. Your backs must still be close enough to them that if we lose the ball, they have time to run back and mark those forwards.
I was very pleased to see a couple of MASF recreation teams adopting this strategy, and encouraging their back line to press up. In particular the coaches of the U7 Orange Crush & U12 Orange, great job guys! However the majority of teams still like to have their backs stand on the edge of their own goalie box and wait for the play to come to them. I hope this article helps you to understand the benefits of moving them up the field, and that you can start to implement it now. Remember if we enforce good habits early in our players we set them up for success in the future when they progress to higher levels of competition.
Look out for the next edition of ‘On the Sidelines’. In the meantime keep up the good work and I’ll see you on the fields.
Kristian Rockall
Director of Coaching - MASF