Carafonte Drisdom
| Name: | Carafonte Drisdom |
|---|---|
| City: | St Louis |
| Country: | United States of America |
| Membership: | Adult Member |
| Sport: | Football/Soccer |

See the guidance at the top of this page to understand why you are not seeing interactive Football/Soccer images.
When defending we want to stay as compact as possible. Unless they're the player pressing the opponent, they should be transitioning into the space their positions should take up and ideally covering an open player to help prevent pass options.
Defenders - Compact / close together in the middle spaces in the box. Helps with dealing with crosses into the box
Wide midfielders - Transitions back towards our goal in the wide spaces. Primarily going 1v1 with the other teams wide midfielders
Center midfielders - Transitions back towards our goal in the center spaces (center circles are the reminder!)
Striker - Transitions back towards goal at least to the halfway line (preferably in the center spaces) to help out with defense and to be ready for the counter attack if our team wins the ball back in our half

See the guidance at the top of this page to understand why you are not seeing interactive Football/Soccer images.
When on attack we want to make sure we're making the best use of the whole field by spreading out! At their age, they wont want to as much but passing to our wide midfielders is a great way to progress up the field. That's usually where the space is for those that like to take on their opponent 1v1
Strikers - Preferably high up the field in the middle spaces. Available for crosses coming in from out with or through ball coming from in the middle.
Wingers / Wide Midfielders - High and wide, very close to the touchline. Most of the space is out wide and thats where dribbling and taking on an opponent is the most useful.
Center midfielders - In the middle of the field in the center spaces. Controller of what's going on, lots of passing to help the attack happen.
Defenders - Up high at least towards the halfway line. Defender doesn't mean " just hang back and wait", we always want our defenders to stay involved in the game. Even better if they're actively trying to wint the ball back before the ball just comes towards them or their area!

See the guidance at the top of this page to understand why you are not seeing interactive Football/Soccer images.
This is what our shape should look like as we're trying to start out attack and progress up the field.
Goalkeeper - While it is okay in certain situations to play long, we do want to focus on all the different ways to start an attack to help the team progress up the field. Short to the defenders positioned wide on the edge of the box. Long ball to the wide players close to the touchline. We always want to avoid putting the ball into the middle of the field while in our half as more often than not that will lead to a goal being scored on us.
Defenders - Close to our goal but wide on the side of the GK box. If the ball is played short to you, you could either pass to the wide player( follow your pass into the open space) or dribble out into the wide areas yourself. If the ball is played long first to the wide player, move up the field with the team to help stay apart of the attack we are trying to create.
Wide midfielders / wingers - At the build out line ready to help start the attack or defend if a mistake happens. If the ball is played short to a defender, be ready out wide close to the touch line to receive a pass or continue to take space.
If the GK decides to play longer to you, be prepared to dribble in the wide spaces potentially going 1v1 with an opponent (time to show off those skills!)
Center midfielders - On the build out line in front of the opposing players in the center spaces. Being in the middle helps deal with accidental balls played into the middle. If you win the ball in the middle the best idea is to try to find one of our players out wide or to play the striker in behind the opposing defense.
Striker - High up the field close to the halfway line ready to break free from the defenders!

See the guidance at the top of this page to understand why you are not seeing interactive Football/Soccer images.
There are many ways the opponents can set up, but assuming they're developing their players in a similar way, we can expect most things we do to come back to us as well.
Strikers - In the middle on the build out line. Usually, the second to press the ball given that the opponent is working to play out from the back to the wide areas as well.
Wide midfielders / wingers - Wide on the build out line ready to press the opposing wingers or defenders.
Central midfielders - Can be two places when trying to win the ball in this defensive situation. They could help the press by being in the center spaces next to the striker or the build out line. Preferably, we want them to be just behind the striker in those central spaces to capitalize on mistakes with balls played into the middle.
Defenders - At the halfway line, compact for now in the center. If the ball makes it past the first four players, the pressure and cover begins as usual. The closest person presses the ball and the other covers the space while the rest of the team transitions to defense.
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Formation Overview
This is a general overview of the formation we are using with the positions represented by their corresponding numbers.9 = Striker
-Main actions: Dribbling and taking players on 1v1 to progress towards the goal
10 = Attacking midfielder
-Main actions: Passing to teammates that are wide or forward to help create chances to get out team up the field
7/11 = Wide midfielders/wingers
Main Actions: Dribbling and taking on players 1v1 in the WIDE areas of the field. Passing (crossing) to teammates in the central areas to create chances towards the goal
4/5 = Defenders
Main Actions: Preventing the opponents from having chances on our goal. Tackling/stealing the ball from opponents. Passing to the wide players on the team
1 = Goalkeeper
Main Actions: Keeping the ball out of the net! Making saves by catching or diving for the ball. Starts our attack by distributing to the wide players on the field. Uses and commands the whole GK box.
If they boys ever need a reminder of where they should be in certain positions, it will look exactly like this when I have it set out on a tactic board.