Defending is an essential part of football, so as a coach, it’s our duty to make sure players know how to properly defend.

Good defending takes strong discipline and a committed attitude. It takes time and patience to develop these positive qualities. Too often, defenders choose to take the easy way out, over-committing to 1 v 1 challenges.

In this video you’ll learn the three main parts to defending in a 1v1 situation.

1- ℂ𝕝𝕠𝕤𝕖 𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝔾𝕒𝕡

Close down the space between you and your opponent as fast as possible.  Make your opponent “feel” your pressure quickly without over-committing to the ball.

2- 𝔻𝕖𝕝𝕒𝕪 | 𝔹𝕖 ℙ𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕖𝕟𝕥

Once you get close enough to the attacking player, you’ll force him/her to look down – to look only at the ball. This distance will vary depending upon the quality of the attacking player. Once the attacking player’s head goes down, his/her ability to look around, evaluate game pictures and make tactical decisions becomes limited. Be patient and delay, this will give them the impression that they have time to do whatever they want to do.

3- 𝔸𝕔𝕥

Once you realize that the attacker’s main focus is the ball, pick and choose when to act without over committing.

Catch them by surprise by poking the ball away and/or taking it from him/her.

Share this podcast to help your teammates and friends defend better, and don’t forget to visit my website for more. l2cb.com

This episode is also available as a blog post: http://l2cb.com/2021/08/20/the-art-of-defending-in-soccer/