Football/Soccer Session (Moderate): Left or right defender in possesion zones

Left or right sided defender in possesion zones 9v9 (3 at the back)

LEFT & RIGHT SIDED DEFENDERS POSITION ZONES WHEN IN POSSESSION 9v9 (3 at the back)

This picture gives you a rough guide of the area of the pitch the left and right sided defenders should be positioned and occupy when their team is in transition to in possession or in possession. When your team is in possesion you want to make the pitch as big as possible. If left and right sided players spread out wide (as shown) this creates more space which makes passing easier and moves the opposition which will create more space to advance up the pitch and create goal scoring oppotunities. As stated this is a rough guide but the risk of a left or right sided player being out of their zone and being too central means you are not creating space.Also this will mean a player is missing from their zone/channel. If your team loses possesion then the player is out of position and your opponent could take advantage of your team not having it's shape. If a player has to come across to press a player then they have left space which the opponent could score.

You are encouraged to combine with the player around you (especially the same sided wide midfielder) and make forward runs and overlaps but you also have to undestand the responsibilty that your 1st priority of being a defender is to defend. this means you need to get back to your position/zone and goalside as quickly as possible. If you are not physically able to get up and down the pitch then you need to attack and defend then you would need to hold your position and not make runs ahead of the wide midfielder.

11v11 (3 at the back)

In possession zones 11v11 (3 at the back)

The channels for 3 at the back in 11v11 are similar to 9v9 in zones but not as far advanced.The zones end just past the centre circle in the opponents half. The responsibilities of the left and right defenders are very similar to the 2 defenders in 9v9 playing 2 at the back. You need to be comfortable on the ball to start attacks by playing out from the the back, stay goalside of the play and not be ahead of your midfielders and strikers Unless there is some player rotation and understanding. For example if you go up for a corner or you take a free kick on the edge of the area then you need to communicate that a team mate takes your place then swap positions when you get back into position.

Undertasnding when to join in

Sometimes you might have a large overload of defenders marking attackers. Than can be because of a the opponents formation, defensive tactics or becuase you are so dominant that their attacking players have had to come back to help defend and compete. This is the same regardless of how many players we are playing at the back. The golden rule is you need an overload of 1 extra defender to per striker. If it was 2 strikers on the halfway line then you would need 3 defenders. See the example of a 9v9 game,3 at the back. If your team has possesion high in the opponents half around their box and they has 1 striker on the halfway line then we do not need 3 defenders marking one striker. This means one of the left or right midfielders can be released to go up the pitch. normally the defender on the same side of the pitch would be released. In our picture the left midfielder has possesion near the left corner flag. this means the left sided defender can move up the pitch to be an option for a pass or pick up any clearances. The player would probably hover around the edge of the attacking third line (yellow line). You wouldn't want the player going any higher unless a player rotation had taken place. This is because if the opponent counter attacks then if you are too high up the pitch and caught out of possesion. Normally you would still be deeper than the rest of the players except the 2 defenders and striker so you would get back into your zone/position before the opponent could mount a attack on our goal.