Tactics 3

The other day I came across a document I'd printed out a few years ago on the fundamentals of soccer tactics, broken down by positions and offensive/defensive responsibilities. I thought it might be useful for each of us to take a look at them. I'm going to break these into three posts: defenders, midfielders, forwards, but we should read all of them - you never know when you'll end up in a strange position AND we need to function better as a collective unit. So here goes:

Forwards as a group

Defensive
§ Transition to defending (psychological aspects)
§ Integral part of collective team defense
§ Make play predictable, steer opponents according to defensive philosophy
§ Playing low pressure
§ Playing high pressure
Offensive
§ Know when to hold ball and when to lay off
§ Ability to beat opponents; dribble and combination play
§ Ability to create space for self and teammates; mobility
§ Finishing; with all surfaces, from all areas and angles
§ Proper attacking runs in the box, timing
§ Ability to play together, shape

Central forwards
§ Compact the central covering system; push up to the sweeper, stretch the opponents in depth, position of stopper will dictate forwards’ play
§ Pull apart the central covering system
o Diagonal runs into spaces on flank
o Withdraw to meet midfielder
o Show for combination play with wingers
o Bending runs away to create space for winger
o Constant attempts to get behind defender
§ Finishing