When you played soccer at an early age, there was a natural tendency to chase the ball no matter what position you played. Hey, you wanted to be part of the action and your teammates couldn't pass the ball more than 5 yards. "Gang Ball" was understandable then but now it causes a total breakdown on offense and defense.
In an article entitled "Let The Goal Posts Be Your Guide" (right margin - Tactics/Field Logistics), your lateral movement should be confined to:
- Central Players (center back, center midfielder, and striker) - play between the goal posts.
- Wing Players (wing backs, midfielders, and attackers) - play between the near goal post and the sidelines.
Exception - sweeper.
However, this does not answer the question about how far up or down the field should I go? Answer - it's all about connection. In another article entitled "Micro Tactics - The Small Game Inside The Big Game" - Tactics/Micro, I talk about player roles if you're close to, in the neighborhood of, or far away from the ball. Generally, you should stay within passing distance (offense) or support distance (defense) of your adjacent teammates - no closer or no further away.
Now let's set some general guidelines by position.
Defense - Click on the pic to the left (Connection - Defense).
When our opponents are in their "scoring zone", our defense should "funnel" back toward our goal as follows:
Sweeper and Defensive Backs - It's pretty obvious that they should cover the penalty box area to our goal line.
Midfielders - They should come back to the edge of our penalty box (18 yard line) and mark up against our opponents midfielders. However, if there is an unmarked opponent in the box, cover her "goal side".
Attackers - They should position themselves about half way between the edge of our penalty box and the center line marking up against our opponents defensive backs; come in to double team one of their midfielders; and get in position to receive a pass from one of our teammates to launch a counter attack. Note - we've had a problem in the past with our attackers coming too far back on defense which makes it difficult for our team to "clear the zone".
Striker - As always, she stays barely onside looking for a break away. She should rarely come back closer than the center circle. Remember, you are never offsides in our half of the field.
Offense - Click on the pic to the right (Connection - Offense).
When we are on the attack, our team should move up the field. In this example, the ball is being played by the right attacker in the corner of the field - similar to a corner kick.
Striker and Attackers - They are expected to go to goal and score. As shown below, the striker takes the near post and the left attacker takes the far post. Notice that the left attacker takes a "trailing run" vs. the striker - Why?
Midfielders - They should go no farther than the edge of the penalty box looking for a pass back (us) or clearing kick (them). Exception - if there is a clear opportunity to score, go for it. In this example, the right mid is supporting the right attacker yelling "I'm here".
Defensive Backs - They should position themselves no closer than half way between the center line and the penalty box. They should mark up against our opponents attackers/strikers and receive back passes from our midfields.
Sweeper - She remains about 10 yards behind our d-backs for a back pass, to "switch the point of attack", or prevent a counter attack from our opponents.
Goalie - She should stand at the top of the box or even further out looking for a long counter attack pass by our opponents. It's better for us to have our goalie who is mobile than to give the other team preventable break away opportunities.
Note - These are only guidelines while soccer is a free flowing game. A soccer ball does not move in straight lines up and down the field. If a teammate comes into your space, try temporarily switching to her position to maintain tactical balance.
Summary
Good teamwork requires that all 11 players stay connected like puppets on a 10 - 20 yard string. Disconnection creates gaps and headaches for us both on offense and defense.
Video
Below is a great video showing connection and teammates moving without the ball.
Click here.