Risk or Opportunity: Defend to Attack

During matches with my teams this season – boys and girls – I have noted how when they are playing out from the back and trying to build up into the opposition half they are pressed high which makes it much more difficult.

When teams build up from the goalkeeper the opposition have to make the decision of pressing or retreating into a much lower block to press their opponents in midfield.

So I coach my players to play against a high press where they are faced with the concept of risk and opportunity. Players can panic when they are pressed high and make many mistakes but what I try to do in my coaching sessions is get them to understand that if they keep possession with good passing and movement then there is no need to panic – they can cut out the risk by making the correct decisions in their build up play.

Once they have eliminated the risk in their play then they open the opposition up and their opportunity to attack and score goals can be exploited.

This is also true if they face a retreating team that drops into a mid or low block. With the momentum built up from their own half they should have the confidence to play around, through or over the block and create goal scoring chances from there as well.

The covering defender

It is important for your players to understand that when a defender is pressing an opponent with the ball the second defender must cover the space behind and not join in with the first defender pressing the player so that if the defender is beaten there is cover to stop the attack.

This is about providing cover for a team mate with the ball who has gone to press an attacker so that if the attacker beats the defender they can then force the attacker away from goal.

The covering player should be at an angle from the first defender and be goal-side.

One attacker passes to the second attacker who tries to dribble past the first defender. The first defender tries to stop the attacker and force him/her away with the second defender in position behind.

Play 2v2 and each team tries to get the ball over the line. The defenders switch pressing duties depending on who is nearest the ball.

Finish with a 4v4 game with players able to shoot from anywhere on the pitch to make sure defenders are closing down to prevent them doing so.