I was recently asked, “Coach Hardy, why do you coach youth soccer teams
play a flat four-zone defence?” The perception is that a libero/
stopper system is a ‘safer’ defense for younger teams. First, any defense
It will have its strengths and weaknesses. An expert trainer will know those
weaknesses and will encourage your team to take them down. All disclaimers
Aside from that, the flat back four is the system of choice for most modern teams. HAS
The youth soccer coach should emphasize player development within the
modern football background.

When executed correctly, a flat rear four will provide excellent
defensive pressure, coverage and balance. Young soccer players must be
developed to play at its highest potential level and almost all higher levels
teams play a flat system of four or three. Training a flat back defense four da
players a foundation for future success in football. Even a team as young as U11
team can successfully play a flat back four zone defense. A team can give up
short-term ‘breakout’ goals, while they learn the system, but in the
In the long term, they will have the ability to confidently enter a modern defense.
system.

A team can successfully play a flat back four after just a few practices.
sessions and a handful of games. I use preseason practices, tournaments
and scrimmages as a time for a team to learn player roles and team form
of a flat rear four-zone bumper.

To help players visually understand the shape of the defensive team,
call it the ‘Swoosh’ defense. As the four back defenders move left and right
all over the field, the shape of the defense unit resembles the Nike “Swoosh”
logo. If the players lose form, I can only say “Swoosh” and immediately
players know where to stand. How players feel comfortable
with the system they will remind each other “Swoosh”. Here are four basic
ideas to keep in mind when training the Swoosh defense.

1. Defense Swoosh

The defensive form of the back four will prevent the other team from having
‘break chances’ by making sure the far side outside defender and the
the far-side central defender moves in and covers diagonally behind the pressure
near side defenders. It sounds complicated, but it is actually quite simple. Tea
defenders move diagonally to the position of the ball.

With this correct placement the ‘Swoosh’ defense is denying the ball
penetration, dangerous attackers are marked and covered
defenders will ‘sweep’ any passing ball. If the ball is changed
across the field, the four defending players will change the ‘Swoosh’
Respectively. I found that young players can easily remember ‘Swoosh!’
more than ‘Pressure, Coverage, Balance’.

It is important for players to remember that the shape of the diagonal deck
That’s why the team doesn’t need a sweeper. The most common defensive mistake
is that the equipment remains totally ‘flat’. This is especially common in midfield.
line when the team with the ball has been keeping possession in the
the opponent’s half of the field. Which explains why teams learning the
The Swoosh defense will generally give up their targets from midfield breakaways.

If the defenders stand flat in the middle of the field, any ball played behind the
defense will result in a breakaway run with no one stopping a goal but the
goalie.

2. Mark a man in your area

In addition to the Swoosh shape, all four defenders must become
aware of the attacking player in his area of ​​responsibility. young players
they often focus all their attention on the ball. This bad habit is called ‘ball
looking at’. Young players often watch the ball until the ball comes towards them.
and only then will they try to achieve it. But getting the ball is only part of the job.
to defend The Swoosh defense requires players to be on a good defense
position while guarding the opponent ‘on the goal and ball side’.

When defenders ‘watch the ball’, opponents will move into unmarked areas
positions. The basic rule for defenders is to mark the most dangerous player in
your zone and stay on the side of the ball and the side of the goal.

Breaks against the Swoosh defense usually occur when a
the defender is “stuck” and does not react to the open opponent in his zone
until it’s too late. If a defender waits until after the pass is played forward to
moving towards the mark in your zone, there is often a foot race to the finish.
90% of good defense is positioning yourself away from the ball.

(Note: Another reason I use the term “Swoosh” is because young players
often remain “flat” if the defense is called “flat back four”).

watching the ball
is quite normal behavior for young soccer players, however, a defender is a
very important position and that player must be alert and mature enough to
not ball clock. Learning to mark correctly is a skill that will come with
commitment to learning.

3. Containment line and compactness during the transition

The basic principle of a good defense is to create ‘compactness’. me
encourage defense to create compactness when we transition to offense or
when the opponent passes the ball backwards. We do this because (a)
compacting the space the other team has to work with creates pressure
and (b) we can catch them offside. I do not encourage a sophisticated off-
sides catch under U14, but moving upfield to create compactness will catch
offside of unconscious forwards.

If we are slow in our own transition to offense (for example, after
just cleared the ball from the defensive third) and our defenders stay deep
in our own half we are giving the other team a lot of space to move the ball
back to our goal. The general rule that I train is if the ball goes up to the field 5
yards, then we move the defense up 5 yards – 20 yards down the field means
move 20 yards down the field. This is true until we cross midfield. in midfield,
the back four advance a few yards into the opponent’s half of the field.

If our defense falls behind in our own half of the field then there is less
pressure and with less pressure the other team will spend the game in our half.
I think it’s a better idea to try to defend the midline than your goal.

The key to successfully compacting space is for all
the defenders must go up together. If only one defender is left behind, then the
another team will take advantage of that. The line of defenders advancing down the field is called
our ‘Line of Restriction’. Our aim is to have our ‘Line of Restriction’ no more than
35 yards from our forwards until our defenders reach the midline.

Again, a secondary advantage of compacting the space during the transition is
that the other team is often offside because their forwards are trapped
standing after the ball has been cleared.

4. Offside and referees

A common concern when playing the Swoosh defense is that referees
you can make mistakes with the offside call and the other team will have it easy
escapades. As for referees missing offside calls, well that’s the
Nature of the game. The key is to control the controllable. As coaches, we
We can’t control the referee’s decisions, but we can control the team’s ability to
have a good positioning and marking. Also, if a team plays well defensively
and scores goals, then they will not be in a position that allows the referee
determine the outcome of the game.

In short, if we train defenders to be compact in transition, getting
in our proper ‘Swoosh’ fashion, and mark the opponent’s side of the goal and the ball
side, then I am confident that the flat back four zone defense can succeed
even with young teams.

Now that my current U11 team is comfortable with the
Swoosh defense, we’ve moved into the role of the outside hitter
defender and his ability to move forward to join the attack.