Defending

When I wrote about attacking one on one, I said that the attacker should go straight at a defender. By the same token, a defender should not allow an attacker to come straight at him. Easier said than done! Defenders should always position themselves at an angle in relation to the attacker in order to sweep the ball away from him. In fact, ideally defenders should run in a curved path when approaching attackers which essentially means they should sneak up on the attacker:




When the defender gets closer to the ball, he/she can either slide tackle or simply kick the ball away.

Some simple exercises:

1. Have some stationary balls and ask the kids to run to the ball from the side and slide tackle. Kids have a tendency to lean on one side of their bodies but both sides should be practiced. If you are kicking the ball away with the right leg, the left leg should be bent 90 degrees.
After a while of slide-tackling, it becomes natural. Then they get up, run to the ball again and slide tackle. You can make it a game to see who reaches the end-line faster.

Take a water break.

2. Line the attackers on the side-line. Have them dribble towards defenders and try to beat them one on one. The defenders should also move towards the attackers and slide-tackle. Make sure you tell the defenders to hit the ball first or they will be penalized.

Note: This exercise is very injury prone. So it might be best to remove the shoes while learning to slide-tackle. That way the attackers won't get injured.