Football: defence

defence DRILLS
View All
defence DRILL CATEGORIES
View All
defence SESSIONS
View All
defence ANSWERS
View All

i currently run a u13 boy footballs team. What would?

i currently run a u13 boy footballs team. What would be a good drill to get the players to shut the ball down.Because my defenders seem to stand back and let them shoot thanks dennis

dennis Coach, England

Midfield cannot / will not win the ball ?

My team has just moved up to youth football 11 aside. Our defence is solid and our forwards skillfull and quick but we seem unable to win the ball in midfield. Our midfielders watch what is happening hoping the opposition midfielder will mess up, rather than attacking the ball. Encouragement from the sidelines does not seem to help. Can you suggest some training drills.

Archived User Coach

How to best combat through balls

How to best combat through balls

Archived User Coach

Teaching young players about offsides?

Any drills for teaching young players about offsides and more importantly keeping a good defensive line and moving as a unit

wayne nimblette Coach, England

Final assessment Compactness in defence

Hi I am doing my final assessment for my level 2 football coaching course, and my topic is compactness in defence, just wondering if anyone has had to do this and if so could they help with ideas, or even better have session plans which I can look at for ideas. Thanks, Rickey

Archived User Coach

How do you play a 4-2-3-1 formation?

wish to change my team shape has been said best formation to understand is a 4231 shape

Archived User Coach

Long Ball Defending for U11s Help

I run a U11 team that is reasonably successful and plays with confidence and spends a lot of the time on the front foot. However we seem to get caught week after week by the simple long ball over the top and would welcome some tips/drills to help the lads improve this part (it's driving me mad!). Thanks in advance.

Ian Coach, England

Best way for son to get more involved in matches

At home he is very good at everything but he doesn't get involved as much when matches are on. Is there any way of coaxing him to shoot and do what he does at home?

Chris Coach, Ireland

How to help my defence move up

Hi I coach a under 9 team we are doing ok we play a 1,3,3 system my question is how can I teach the defence to move up when the front three are attacking Asked using Sportplan Mobile App

Scott Cooper Coach, England

Defending Drills for Under 8s

Hi we have just started out as a team and in the few friendlies we have had the children are not defending at all. I understand at this age to keep it easy and interesting but would welcome any tips I could use in training.Thanks

Bill Campbell Coach, England

Best way to defend against a speedy forward?

Hello,I regularly play a team that has a speed forward with a good shot. I wanted to get some opinions from anyone who has had success limiting these types of players. He is probably a step or 2 faster than my normal defenders. Regularly racks up goals by being one of the fastest players in the league.In the past we have tried a 4-4-1 with a man mark. Sticking a speed guy on him the full game. It has slowed him down but also limited us on offense. We lost each game by a goal.I was also thinking about using a 5-4-1 formation with more defenders to cut down on thru ball lanes for him.Any other thoughts?ThanksChad

Chad Bruns Coach, United States of America

What activities will improve my defence?

what type of activities will inprove my defence

amelia Coach, England

Moving from 7v7 to 9v9

Hi has anyone got any advice on drills to help with the transition of 7v7 to 9v9 ? also what are your preferred formations please ? thanks

Mathew Coach, England

Defending again fast breaks

I've got a team of young women (12-13 year old) several of whom only played last season for the first time.Our first season last year was pretty good given they're young inexperienced and we rarely had subs. One area that always gets us is fast strikers getting in and behind our defense from quite a way up the field–75% of our goals are conceded that way.So any thoughts on training the team to not allow so many of these goals? TIA!

John Allsopp Coach, Australia

moving defence and midfield up as a unit

having issues with defence and midfield moving forward together when attacking any session out there to help . thanks

football first Coach, England

Offsides 9v9

My team have conceded 18 goals in 3 games and they have all been the same kind of goals. We always try and get the back 3 upto the halfway line when attacking which mean naturally my midfielders are further up the pitch. Here lies the problem, when we lose possession we are simply not quick enough at getting back, a long ball over the top or some quick play we seem to be overloaded and concede quickly, iv tried getting my goalkeeper starting position improved to cut out the long ball but he's not confident doing that. Should I abandon the need to get to the halfway line as quick as possible and maybe drop 15 yards leaving less space behind. In possession we are a good team but out of possession we have become easy to score against. I as a coach need to be more vocal during games and possibly do a bit more in-game coaching as iv always believed it's best to give instruction and challenges before games and at half time. Any advice would be appreciated

Rob Little Coach, England

Team thrashed every week - whe...

Team keep getting thrashed every week - where to start? Having been the sole coach/manager of a little league team for the past two years, this year I lost all my senior players. I was therefore presented with 10 brand new lads, some of whom have never played competitive football. We are 8 games in and my lads are getting thrashed every week. The main problems are that they cannot get the ball out of their half, positions are usually a mess, finishing and chance creation are non-existent, and they don't apply any pressure or are unable to tackle. The main problems are keeping the ball as a team, getting it in the opponents half and staying there, and creating/finishing chances. I only have 1 and a half hours a week with them. I don't really know what to do, and I'm a little desperate. Does anybody have any advice? Thanks for literally anything.

Coach, England

Defending Drills for Under 8s ...

Hi we have just started out as a team and in the few friendlies we have had the children are not defending at all. I understand at this age to keep it easy and interesting but would welcome any tips I could use in training.Thanks

Bill Campbell Coach, England

Teaching young players about o...

Any drills for teaching young players about offsides and more importantly keeping a good defensive line and moving as a unit

wayne nimblette Coach, England

What are your tips for opening...

I'm forward and i want to know how to beat a defence to make gaps and score a goal

koushal nair Coach, India

JOIN SPORTPLAN FOR FREE

  • search our library of 500+ football drills
  • create your own professional coaching plans
  • or access our tried and tested plans

What our users have been saying...

Coaches from around the world look to Sportplan for coaching confidence.

Excellent site with easy to navigate pages.

Lawrence Hanrahan England

The 'My Stuff' feature is amazing! It's a coach's best friend!

Thomas McArdle United Kingdom

Love the site, it's a fantastic learning tool!

Ian Mckellar America

Wow what a great website, I have found sportplan an important tool for me when planning my netball sessions with my netball team. There are alot of very helpful tips/ideas/skills that I can learn and teach to my team. Thank you sportplan I hope to continue to use your helpful tips and to learn more about improving my teams netball skills. Thanks again....keep it up....

Monique New Zealand

I have been using Sportplan now for 3 years and can honestly say that I have never repeated the same session twice. My girls are always focused and are improving every year. Thanks Sportplan.

Debbie Cross Australia

What a fantastic tool. The Chalkboard and session tools make an unbelievable difference in making training plans in both time and organization. I will be instructing all of my assistant coaches that this tool must be used for all sessions during the season, so that we may build a club coaching resource library.

Wes Campbell Rugby Coach Canada

I can't get enough of the Sportplan, It has given me back the enthusiasm i was starting to lose. My girls are so keen and are ready at 14 to take the next up in their game. Sportplan will help no end.

Cornel Basketball Coach, South Africa

SIGN UP NOW FOR FREE

  • search our library of 500+ football drills
  • create professional football coaching plans
  • or access our tried and tested football plans

Sportplan App

Give it a try - it's better in the app

YOUR SESSION IS STARTING SOON... Join the growing community of football coaches plus 500+ drills and pro tools to make coaching easy.
LET'S DO IT