What if I told you that the basis of any soccer game is its defense and your Drills for soccer should enable them to overcome the opposing team's defense?

Some of the coaches just teach defense or offence to their players. Right kind of soccer drills teach all players defense when the ball is with the opponent and offence when it is with them.

Players need to run after the ball after they’ve lost its custody. Any player who fails to keep the ball with him should be the one to run after it first. Since he is the closest, it’s imperative that he is able to put a lot of pressure on the opponent who now has the ball. As a result of this, the opponent team’s player having the ball’s possession will end up making a terrible pass or giving away the ball.

Ensure that in soccer practice, when a player is running behind a opponent who has the ball, the remaining players can back him up. These players must make an attempt to stop him from getting into their goal area.

Soccer Drills

Center of the soccer field is the most risky area. Therefore design you drills for soccer in away that the opponent having the ball’s custody is compelled to move in the direction of the touchline. It will result in putting a restriction on the passes he can make along with the number of directions that he can set out to.

The region where highest goals are scored is the arc of concentration which is also very risky. This arc lies in the front of the goal. It initiates from the corner post of the goal through to the corner of the goal box and then moves out to the touchline. Consequently, fill your training sessions with a lot of soccer exercises that teach them to work the ball around in this area as the opposition can easily score a goal here.

When it comes to defending, success is achieved by maintaining a balance. Here, the players who are next to the ball play tight. This means that they stay as close to the ball as possible. Players who are farther from the ball play lose. This puts across the fact that they deal in positions that help them cover everyone and not just a single player.

Your team will have the edge when they possess the ball. To do this, steal the ball away from your opposition as fast as possible. A number of coaches commit an error of letting their players maneuver the ball. This means to move with the ball without letting the opponent know and taking it away from him.

Just in case they miss the ball here, they'll be back on the ground and the opponent would make his way towards the goal.

So include these tricks in your drills for soccer so that your players get to understand the defensive strategies better. Become a member of our youth soccer coaching community and gain knowledge, tips, articles, newsletters, videos from the world of soccer.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Andre Botelho is a recognized expert in youth soccer coaching. He influences well over 35,000 youth coaches each year with his unique coaching philosophy, and makes it really easy to explode your players' skills and make training more fun in record time. To download your free youth soccer coaching guide, visit: Soccer Training Drills