I get hits from search engines all the time on some of my discussions about 6v6 soccer formations, so I guess it’s time to talk about 8v8 formations. If you’d like, you can read my previous posts on the subject below:
In my first post I touched on 8v8 and noted that teams with strong defenses were winning, at least in our Rec division. You’d be amazed how many coaches still put their weakest players back on defense, then can’t figure out why they’re allowing five goals a match. Back then we saw a number of formations in Rec, from 3-4 to 1-2-3-1 or 1-2-1-3, with the latter ones much more structured (players stayed in very small areas of the field). Recently teams seem to have migrated to a more free flowing 3-4 almost across the board (some will say it’s a 3-2-2, but it’s pretty hard to tell!) Now that I’ve coached 8v8 at the travel level a bit, it’s interesting to see what works and what doesn’t.
Obviously, the first thing to consider as a coach is formations are only as good as the players using them. You will find your players will drive you towards a successful formation, not the other way around. We’ll touch on why in a moment.
Most U12 Rec teams I’ve seen play will use a simple 3-4. The three defenders can usually stop most attacks given the lack of passing at that level and the four up front can make for a strong attack. The better teams often push all three defenders up front and try to seal things off at midfield. In Challenge last year, we played a 3-2-2 or a 3-1-3. Three defenders helped us stop many attacks, even if less skilled players were in back. But the formations had a few problems. 3-1-3 leaves the midfield too open so our forwards rarely got any service. The three forwards want to stay forward, so the sole midfielder had to try and cover it all – not likely. Plus you find your midfielder strongly tempted to come back and help defend on strong attacks, leaving your midfield wide open except for your center forward (who you expect to be pushed to midfield by a smart defense).
After some debate and watching some stronger U12 teams play, we switched formations this season. What I describe here is based on our experience with girls – though I have seen boys teams use this often as well. We have a strong group of players who can play defense, so we decided to go with two defenders. Initially we decided to go with a 2-3-2 since it setup so many natural triangles. (Bonus points to the first person who can say which collegiate women’s program made the 3-4-3 a success!) We told the strikers/forwards that they were in no ‘position’ in terms of left or right. They were encouraged to go where ever they felt they had the best chance to score without getting near their teammate. But we found that we would often end up with one midfielder again trying to settle things down in the circle, since our wings were told to stay wide. So we shifted to a 2-4-1 formation. This provided more coverage at mid field where so many goal kicks and punts go at this age. On the attack we push five up front with two defenders at midfield and our players forming a W in front of the goal (wings deep, striker in the goal box, center mid’s just outside the penalty area). On defense, we rely on our two main defenders with support from the two center midfielders who will come back on wing attacks, corners, goal kicks, etc. From a front to back point of view, we try to keep our striker between the opponent’s goal and midfield, our wings between the opponent’s goal and a few yards over mid field, our midfielders between the 18yd line on each end (yes I know it’s not actually 18 yds in 8v8 🙂 ), and the defenders between our goal and midfield except on corner kicks or deep attacks when a team leaves one or none of their strikers at midfield. Our keeper plays almost as a sweeper, clearing balls outside the penalty area she can clearly win before an opponent is able to transition to an attack on a throughball.
Now this is a risky formation because you only have two defenders and most teams bring four attackers in 8v8. However, we rely on our defenders ability to intercept passes, back each other up well, and win 1v1 challenges along with the two center midfielders coming in to support. Even against teams who pass very well, we’ve kept scores low and most we let in are breakdowns/mistakes vs the other team moving the ball through our defense. In watching some top level U12 girls teams, many use a similar formation. But your defenders have to have serious confidence to do this and they have to play together well – backing each other up as needed. If we find a team taking the risk to bring five against us, we’ll have one of the midfielders hang back a little more than usual. Eventually we want our midfielders to get the idea that when one is fighting for a free ball going towards our goal, the other center mid should be drifting towards the opponent’s goal. Step by step as they say.
The formation has worked well for us as we’ve only allowed 3 goals in the regular season. Tournaments have been less successful, but we’ve also found that our team struggles in tournaments and also that many of the fields we play tournaments on are at the shorter range of the 8v8 field requirements. In those cases we probably could switch to a 2-3-2 since the forwards and defenders are often closer to midfield to help ‘take up space’ I should have tried that last weekend but didn’t.
So for those of you coaching 8v8 – what formation have you found works for teams at your level? Are you still using three defenders, or have you stepped up to using two? Do you stick with one formation only or have you found that you switch depending on what you face. Do your players know the difference between the two formations?
October 19th, 2008 at 6:20 pm
With my U12s, we play a 3-2-2. In terms of positioning, I play my strongest/fastest player at the center D position.
One of the girls that I play there plays what is looking like a classic stopper role.
In terms of strong/weak players, I tend to hide my weakest player as a mid. But, weakness is relative, one of the things I love about my current team is that the gap between my top and bottom players is relatively narrow.
October 21st, 2008 at 12:09 pm
In U12 we play a 1-2-2-2. (1) A Sweeper (Job is to sweep everything to the outside, if they are open then push the ball up the line and have two defenders stay back. (2) Defenders (Job is two challenge every ball, becuase we have are strong defender”Sweeper” back them up. (2) Mid (Job run both ways, but always that their main job is to get back and help on the defense side of the field if need. (2) Forwards. We have 4-5 good players here that have a lot of speed and can make good give-n-go’s with the mid and other forwards.
October 21st, 2008 at 11:38 pm
We recently switched to a 3-3-1. We emphasize running the left and right midfielders up to support the attack. It makes for a pretty strong formation if you have speed on the wings. It also helps bring numbers to dominate the midfield.
October 28th, 2008 at 8:49 am
John – always nice when your roster is deep with talent. We played a very similar formation last Spring with a very fast/skilled player at center D. Worked VERY well and we were very hard to score on. We just struggled to score because we had trouble getting our defense to build the plays from the backfield. I think the switch to two backs was an attempt to better seal off the middle. Our team is having other struggles at the moment, but we still have the lowest goals allowed in the 16 team division – so we seem to be doing OK defensively.
October 28th, 2008 at 8:50 am
Mark – do you find the triangle back field opens you up to easier diagonal attack lanes for opposing forwards? Classic argument between the diamond defense common in the US and flat back preferred in Europe.
October 28th, 2008 at 8:52 am
Joel,
I like that lineup. The trick is having midfielders who can transition back away from the attack when you face a fast tempo keeper. Definitely builds numbers.
November 11th, 2008 at 10:16 pm
Soccer Dad,
That weak player that I’d been hiding– it turns out she was better up top. Just to be clear, I’m not coaching a team of future WNT players– its just that I have an amazingly balanced squad with a large number of very solid players.
June 8th, 2009 at 2:52 pm
Good article; our U12 is a 1-2-1-3, we have our best defender as sweeper, two fullbacks that can range up and pinch off opposing attacks, one midfielder who goes everywhere and helps defend as well as attack, two wingers who come back and support as well as cross balls into the area and a striker. Our midfieder is super fast and can run all day, which is key. Also, the wingers and fullbacks will overlap on attacks.
September 23rd, 2009 at 10:29 pm
We play a 2-1-3-1 for our U12 team and enjoy good success with it. One of the things that I’ve done with this set-up is to play a weaker player, or a one dimensional player, as my forward. This encourages my mids to join up into the attack. Also, we practice a ton of overlaps and crosses within the box. Good numbers in the middle third also make my stopper a lot stronger and real aggressive at attacking loose balls and running at 50-50 balls.
September 25th, 2009 at 11:10 am
My son plays on a U12 travel team. They of course play 8v8. He has two coaches, one played in college in US and I believe one year over seas somewhere. I really do not know about our head coach as far as playing or coaching experence. Our team has sort of gone down hill over the last two seasons even though we have added what most would consider a couple stronger players while losing a couple of our weaker ones. We have gone from winning aprox. 50% of our games to maybe 20%. We are simplly not scoring goals. Kids who use to be scoring on a regular basis are now not scoring at all. In my opinion the team is a mess right now. Many parents are not happy with the lack of progress being made, myself included. Most of these kids have played for at least 8 years and were picked from a field of 35 players who tried out. I believe the kids are also losing comfidence in their coach and each other at this point. At what point do we the parents go to our coaches and voice our concerns? I read on here about coaches trying different sets to find something that works. Ours stick with one, game after game. Our warmups are really a joke compared to other teams prior to a game. Practices tend to be the same thing night after night. Some basic mistakes being made in game one are still being made after 4 or 5 games without being corrected. As you can tell I am at the end of my rope with these coaches. However I do not want to be a jerk either. What would you do?
September 26th, 2009 at 2:32 pm
Kind of depends on what exactly is going on. If the coach has made a determination that the players are not developing individually (technically), then the learning curve may result in more losses initially.
If however, the coach is a typically trained US college trained player turned coach, with a lot of focus placed on executing plays rather than developing the players, then your best option may be to play out your commitment and, after the season, contact the DOC and request another coach in the Spring.
A word of caution, though, I’ve never even heard of a situation where confronting the coaches or contacting the front office has ever turned out anything except a complete disaster. Your team chemistry won’t improve and no good coach will want to coach a team where the parents are willing to create a coalition against the coach.
September 28th, 2009 at 8:22 am
Coachbrad, Thanks so much for the response. They are working hard on developing the players but in doing so the team has really moved so far backward that it is hard to see where we’re going. I do understand it is sort of like the good golfer who in correcting his swing appears to be playing not so good for awhile. But in the long run he will be a better golfer. I think to be honest it comes down to players as you said. Some are getting it and some are not. We honestly have a few players that should not be on this team. They are decent players but they really lack the skills and commitment to advance to where they need to be. Problem is our coach sort of coaches like he is still coaching rec.. I mean why is your best player sitting on the bench for nearly 15 min. of the second half in a tie game with your closest rival. This is a kid who either scored or got an assist on every goal your team has made in the last three games. Why was he sitting? Cause it was his turn to sit out! By the way, this is not my kid. My kid is maybe top 5 on the team, but this kid is clearly #1. Oh, we lost by 2. My son was so pissed that he didn’t say a word on the 50 min. ride home. Later he asked ” dad, why was xxx sitting out in the 2nd half?” What do you say? This is my point. It is like he is not trying to win. I’m all for doing what is better for the team in the long run, but when the kids realize the coach blew it then you are in trouble. You have to keep the kids motivated. Losing games that you should have won will do little to keep your team behind you and your program.
But I for sure agree with you, not much good can come out of confronting the coach. It is really a bad situation. What I see happening is several of our better players will simply leave the team at some point and play another sport. Sad but true.
September 28th, 2009 at 9:11 am
Sounds like a bad situation. Part of the expectation of playing on a travel team is being competitive and playing to win. In NC, coaches of a Classic team (the highest competitive level) have complete control over how much each player plays. Some kids might not play at all. In Challenge (the second highest level) the coach is required to play each child at least 50% of the game if they made it to both practices. Maybe your coach is held up by some of your league rules.
Either way, it sounds like everyone has lost confidence in him. A coach should be coaching for the best players on the team and the weaker players should be hustling to catch up. If he’s coaching for the weaker players your best players will go on and play a different sport, or at least move to a team where their talents can be better developed.
September 28th, 2009 at 4:41 pm
Coachbrad, You said it so much better than I was able to do. “If he is coaching for the weaker players your best players will go on and play a different sport, or at least move to a team where their talents can be better developed”. You nailed it! That is what he is doing. Oh and our league does not have any requirement that everyone play. Myself, I’ve always believed however that if a kid is good enough to be on the team he or she should play at least some in most games. Just my opinion however. We will stick with it, because we do not quit. But my hope is the coach will simply decide to give someone else a shot next season. I’m most likley dreaming.lol Hay, have a super day. Thanks for listening!!
February 25th, 2010 at 6:55 pm
2-3-2..early way to teach forwards about making runs..not just hanging out on the wings..also, if you have the right player as keeper, we used her as essentially the middle defender. Really taught her about judging long balls and using her foot skills as she ended up cutting off a lot of long balls that the dump and chase teams try. It does teach, but demands a lot of, those outside midfielders..cover the weak side AND be the far post option on attack..
Anson Dorrance at UNC? He is a big proponent of the 1-3-4-3.
February 25th, 2010 at 7:01 pm
I really liked playing 2-3-2 with my U11/U12 girls team. Haven’t had confident enough defenders in Rec to try it – but with my travel girls it worked very well. Made the transition to 11v11, where we play 3-4-3, VERY easy. Hardest part is getting the far wing to run back with the extra attacker. Once they ‘get’ that – it works well and also encourages defenses to be comfortable with ‘shifting’ as attacks come in.
March 9th, 2010 at 3:59 am
For the fall season we played 3-1-3 for both our rec league & tourn team. Worked well most of the time but we had 9 “good – above average” players and 3 “fair – good” players. This season I lost half of that team to other teams or other sports so we are rebuilding trying to find something that works. I am kicking around 2-2-3 as the biggest issue I have seen this season with my girls is the 3 defenders don’t want to move and end up blocking the keeper from seeing where the ball is so she has time to set-up to block the shot.
March 17th, 2010 at 3:34 pm
So far a 3-3-1 works best. My single striker is fastest player as she reads the field left to right with ball. I keep her onside with last defender. This way my outside backs can build the attack and allows for my mids and strikers to form great diamond shape on the pitch for options and service. I am halfway through the spring season and I am contemplating working the 3-2-2, mainly for a Myrtle Beach tournament coming up. I feel it would benefit the girls when playing teams that push defense to midfield so there would be two strikers to serve runs instead of one. Great posts on here by the way.
June 18th, 2010 at 1:45 pm
I coach boys recreation Div 3 (lowest Div) U12 team. I find the 3-1-3 works best for boys u12 with mixed players (good, avg, weak). My D line is 2 best players (fast) and the 3rd avg. Never hide a weak layer on D, hide weak players on mid or forward. I tell the 2 fast D players that if they have a lane to rush the ball up the sides deep into the offensive zone to shoot (end to end rush). I will always have the 2 remaining D stay back when the 3rd makes a rush to forward. My mid fielder is typically a weak player who has no sense of position and tends to run around following the action. Or I tell this weak midfielder to ‘mark’ or ‘shadow’ one of the best players on the other teams; this gives him some useful purpose. I rate forwards/strikers into 3 categories (for U12 boys)…1. Good-but-never-pass. 2. Good-and-pass 3. weak/avg. player. I try to form lines where the good-but-never-pass players are paired up with the weak/avg players. Goal here is to do no harm and let weak/avg players have equal playing time – maybe the good player can lead a scoring drive. The other forward line (substitutions) are 2 or 3 good-and-pass players + 1 weak/avg player. This line is the power squad ad has a good chance to score due to team play. This formation is ideal if you have about 5-6 good players and the rest weak/avg. I usually start the game with the weak forward line and strong D, so that my stonger forward line plays later with the opposing teams’ 2nd string players so has a better cance to score (most teams start with stronger lines first).
One more thing; 2 of my regular goalies are also very fast players on forward. If we are ahead, I let them do a ‘goalie-surprize’ play. This is when the goalie carries the ball all the way into the opponents end and tries to score (so we have no active goalie during this rush!). Totally legal as long as he doesn’t touch the ball with his hnads. The opposing team players are usually confused and stop and wonder why the goalie is so far out of the goal. My players have actually scored this way 3 times out of 6-8 attempts – and it is a crowd pleaser hearing all the yelling from parents, players, and opposing teams’ coach! This play is probably impossible in U14!
August 3rd, 2010 at 11:20 am
I’ll be coaching a U9 girls team this year along with my U14s. Should be fun to work in a 6v6 format again and see if what I learned back in my U10 coed days still holds or not. Will be sure to post here or in new posts.
August 31st, 2010 at 2:21 pm
I am on the fence. I coach U10 travel and I had a 1-2-1-2-1 with a sweeper, stopper. This just did not work against the good teams. The scored 5 goals a game right up the middle. Plus even though its travel I have weak players. So I am contemplating the 2-3-2 with my 2 defenders very strong players and my best player the CM. That way I can hide my 2 weak players at LM and sub each other out. Thoughts???
September 1st, 2010 at 11:14 am
I’m curious why you play 8 v 8 at U10? Is it a resource saving move (less teams, coaches, field space, etc.)?
I think the problem with 8 v 8 at the younger levels is exactly what you mention in that we “hide” weaker players. I’ve done that too in not putting a kid at defense and playing her only up front with a strong player who would not pass to her. At U9/10, our club mandates all kids play pretty much equally (assuming they are making practices, no disciplinary issues) and rotate through different positions for both rec and travel teams.
I would recommend playing a 2-3-2 at the younger age levels – I think it’s the simplest formation for kids to learn space, balance, and basic tactical play (anytime you have a ‘1’ you are asking a young player to take on a lot). Once they learn the fundamentals, you can tailor formations at U12 level depending on the composition of your team.
October 16th, 2010 at 1:22 am
i play my most aggressive and physical player
at sweeper against high scoring teams.
she cuts off angles and welcomes
contact. when i have a weak player
i’ll put her as a lone striker up top
with two strongest attackers right
around her. she feels special and can do
very little harm . i have my best ball handlers at
mid, and my best athletes fast and strong
in the back
January 21st, 2011 at 6:04 pm
We play travel U-12 and use a 3-1-2-1 formation I haven’t seen mentioned yet. Allowed few goals if any and scored 4-6 a game. We have some special players and some average players. The key to our improvement as based more in teaching and repeating fundamentals more so than the formation. Top tier center D who is a tank, with a b player at left and alternating c players rt. A Hub with nice ball skills but no speed, 2 fast wingers with strong legs and a striker with desire but probably a c player staying at the last defender and making runs. Center d will push up on corners, etc. While the others 2 pinch in. She also will swap with the Hub if hub gets winded. Wingers fully support on d. Hub highly encouraged to crack shots from a distance. Really fun group who are flipping head over heels with love for the game & talking college.
May 14th, 2011 at 1:18 am
I love the 2-3-2 my strongest 2 defenders are back while the 3 mid fielders are my triangle for both defense and offense attacks. One mid fielder (middle) is the extra foward swinging around her midfielders while on the attack. This midfielder has to have the ability to read there offense and defense and she possesses great reading skills. my daughter 10 yrs old the youngest of all girls in her selective team is the center midfielder and collapses defenders and looks for the open foward or passes back to her middle midfielders. I call this the dog chasing the rabbit.Defenders always chase her down instead of marking her. One coach that wanted my daughter said once that speed kills which is why he wanted my daughter and I responded defense wins games as I perfer my daughter as a defender first supporting the attack. I turned the leftover girls not picked and put in a team which I picked up into a winning team. One last comment for specific players with the ability to learn is to try the socceru.com program worked for me. If you have any questions at all email me to [email protected]
May 19th, 2011 at 11:02 am
I moved from coaching U10 7v7 last year to U12 8v8 this year. With 7v7, I was running 2-3-1 or 3-1-2 depending on the game situation and players on the field. This year, moving to 8v8, I tried 3-2-2, 2-3-2, and 2-1-3-1 (with a Stopper–basically a 3-3-1, but the center back pushed up more offensively). I’ve found my team has performed best with the 2-1-3-1 formation. On attacks, I play the defense up close to mid-field with the Stopper filling the gap. My center mid contains between mid and the 18 while left/right mids work into wing positions with the striker on goal. Center-mid or Stopper comes up to take corners with the other filling the gap at mid and keeping the ball in the offensive zone. Defensively, the Stopper and mids drop back to help on defense. Keeper knows she can’t stay planted like a tree in front of the goal and almost plays like a Sweeper. Striker stays onside with last defender. I have a number of very fast, “field smart” players that I use as my left/and right mids, with two of my stronger athletes and skill players at Stopper and center mid. I’m also lucky that one of my fast mid-fielders is a natural lefty. Rather than hiding a weak player at left mid like so many do, I have a strong player there. Too many coaches hide their weak defenders on that side (knowing teams tend to attack from the right-foot dominant side). One thing I’ve found with this formation is we are drawing the opposition into offside positions on a regular basis and keeping the action in the other team’s half. My team was “reconstituted” beginning this Spring, so I have 6 new players (5 returning–and not the strongest 5). We lost our first two games as the girls got to know each other and trust each other, but have been winning since. My defensive players all have strong legs and look for the clearing kicks to the mids and striker. While I do have some “weaker” players, I haven’t had to “hide” them–I just make sure they have some of the better players in with them to support. The girl I would have considered a “weak link” in the past has actually come into her own as a striker now that she knows there are a strong center mid and wings to back her up.
July 18th, 2011 at 2:05 am
Just wanted to bring my experience to the thread. We started our U10 8v8 season playing 3-1-3 and what we saw was exactly what was mentioned, our MF got crazy tired quick.
We switched to 2-3-2, this worked well and we dominated winning the season.
The next season we switched to a 1-2-1-3, basically a flat back.
Our TD saw us and suggested we cange to a diamond 3-4 basically. The situation was this; we had no subs, playing a team we either tied or they won by one. So we were concerned with no subs and played the match defensively. So we turned our 1-3 into a diamond and had our 2 MF’s go on the attack and come back to assist on defense, and we won the game rather easily.
The diamond v. flat back is argumentative. I think you need to evaluate your players and see how they are going to hold up if they get beat once or twice. Having a sweeper in the back is helpful during those times.
Another thing our team worked on was preparing our goalies. We have two of the best GK’s at our level. Teams hate playing us because our GK’s turn away so many shots.
July 19th, 2011 at 4:49 pm
I coach a travel team U-10 8v8. Initially we played 2-1-2-2 in our first season. We had 9 strong players and 3-4 avg or less. This was a great formation against poor or average teams (gave up no goals to these teams) and was inadequate offensively against strong teams– too conservative.
The second season we switched to a 2-3-2– still strong against average or weak teams, goals against are rare. Against strong teams, we now have enough offensive punch to score.
Overall, I think the better your team, the more likely you are to succeed with a more potent attack. If you have a more average team, you will need more numbers on defense.
so I suggest the 2-1-2-2 for a beginning or average team and 2-3-2 for a more advanced team. And I agree that the two formations flow from one to the other well and I expect it to flow easily into the 3-4-3 at the 11v11 size when the time comes.
September 6th, 2011 at 6:25 pm
Last few seasons U9G & U10G we played 1-2-3-1. We switched our weak girls between defense and midfield (never at the sweeper or forward position) If we put in weaker player at left defense we had a strong player at left mid. Weaker player at left mid then stronger player at left defense. (basically we team girls up this way – made substitution easier having 14 girls). By teaming up the girls (weaker and stronger) having them practice together worked well.
Best way to get stronger girls to work with weaker girls. Tell the team you will shave your head if all the girls score that season.
This year, U11G, we are going to play a combination.. defense 3-3-1, offense 1-2-4. Basically a 2-3-2 at the start.
On defense:
We are teaching our center midfield to drop back to center defense. One of the forwards drops back to center midfield. (The two forwards have to communicate to each other to determine who drops back). 3-3-1
We are working with the 3 defenders on playing zone while the 3 midfielders are going man on man (we will put them on the 3 strongest players).
The one forward follows the ball back and forth staying about 10 yards off the center field.
On offense:
The left and right mid move up to left and right wing providing 4 forwards. Center mid and either left or right defense (communication between the two) make up the midfield; I make sure one of the two has the strongest foot.
One defender stays back acts as sweeper and main goal is to direct the other team players to the outside; Never take the ball, approach mirror and direct away from center; slow attacker while center midfield and other defender head head to main and far post.
Only two practices and it looks like we will miss the next two due to weather before next game. May have to adjust to meet skill sets of girls.
September 6th, 2011 at 6:26 pm
bah missed typed. Only two practices and it looks like we will miss the next two due to weather before FIRST game. May have to adjust to meet skill sets of girls.
September 7th, 2011 at 11:13 am
Coach Jay — You sound like a passionate coach, but why wouldn’t you teach U11 players how to play 1 v 1 defense and then let them try (and perhaps fail) on the field? I would be concerned that to instruct a player to “never take the ball” is depriving her of learning the fundamental decision-making skills in 1 v 1 defense of when to delay versus when to tackle/take the ball and start a counter-attack.
At the U11 age, most formations are going to break down once play gets going — most players still do not have a grasp of basic tactical concepts like shape and balance.
I get using a formation that perhaps fits the skill set of your players and 2-3-2 or 3-3-1 can both allow players to learn basic tactics, but I would caution against “over directing” players. If you have ever told a player “number X is your mark/defensive responsibility” and then watch as the kid lets another attacker go right by her because she is focused on covering player X, you know what I mean.
Up until U14/11 v 11, the match is really a place for individual players to demonstrate under pressure their technical skills and learn decision-making. It’s one of those challenges that initially the youth game has an individual focus in a team setting where we claim that the team results don’t matter (but they do to the participants and spectators)!
Anyway, just a note of caution that perhaps you may want to instruct your players on the outcome you want (organize the defense, move the ball out), let them figure out how to do with, and use their actions to focus your training and coaching.
September 10th, 2011 at 11:55 am
Let me rephrase “never take the ball” we teach our players their first thought should never be “take the ball” it should be how to approach, direct and then mirror.
Mirroring the opponent 9 times out of 10 results in them getting the ball; girls at this age don’t have complete ball control and end up touching the ball a little to hard with the ball ending up at my girls feet. If the player has good ball control we teach our girls to wait an attack when the player touches the ball with their left foot (odds most girls are right footed).
September 14th, 2011 at 10:24 am
Posting for Coach Jay (sent via email)
COL,
Thanks for the reply.. For some reason I cant see my post so replying by email.
We, I co-coach the team with another, tell the girls dont take the ball because they dont have to…. the ball will come to them. We teach our girls as they approach the opponent with the ball, determine which way to direct the girl and then ‘mirror’ the opponents movement, keeping roughly two arms length away.
At this age complete control of dribbling is not there. Our girls then move for the ball once the opponent has either pushed the ball out to far, basically the ball comes to their feet (90% of the time/no tackling involved) or when within our penalty box and the opponent touches the ball with their left foot. Otherwise stay between her and the goal.
We, also, work on drills where the opponent dribbles to the side and our girls turn and run along side, using shoulder to take position and control of the ball. So I guess my ‘never’ is to strong of a word. Do we coach tackling, yes, but we prefer them to direct and mirror over tackling.
Concerning marking a player and zoning correct their will be times when opponenet will slip between the seams. However, we believe this is the year and the team to try it, but we will, at first, focus our stronger players on the defensive side.
Can you elaborate more on this statement? “Up until U14/11 v 11, the match is really a place for individual players to demonstrate under pressure their technical skills and learn decision-making.”
Jay
October 10th, 2011 at 4:30 pm
I agree. [U12 Girls, 8v8] A 2-3-2 would not work for my team due to only 9 players on our roster (only one practice with everyone there in 3 weeks); 1 player has never played before, 1 has played but got stuck at goalie (now at the older age can’t cope and has no fundamentals), 1 other (2nd year to play) has talent but was also stuck at goalie or defender. Now gets lost at times while playing MF.
Players get hidden and “stuck” in positions. So, I have read and thought about formations and my players and have come up with using the 2-1-3-1, calling it a 3-3-1. I allow my wings to go up and back, the center defender to go up and back, and my lone striker to sag back to the middle on attacks. My strongest players are in the center of the field. I’m banking on the counter-attack, providing a secure defense, with through-balls up top.
November 21st, 2011 at 4:29 pm
Nice reading here. I’m a parent coach of a girls U10 travel team. I played as a kid but have no expertise. I’m coach only because no one else volunteered. Our club has ppaid trainers run the practices and do most of the real coaching.
At the start of the season, I told him we used a 2-3-2 formation last year and he looked at me like I was nuts, but I explained that getting them to stay in position at all is very much a challenge and anything more complicated than that is akin to having no formation at all. The fields are small enough that midfielders can roam and get back to help out on defense, and push up and play offense when the opportunity arises. we leave our 2 attackers forward to receive a pass, one staying deeper than the other. We have enough subs on the sidelines to frequently give midfielders a rest. I tell them that if they’re not tired playing midfield they’re doing something wrong.
We have our 2 defenders push up to at least midfield when we are attacking. They back each other up effectively and midfielders almost always get back in time to help on D. Occassionally we do give up a break away where a single player gets past us & dribbles to our goal but it doesn’t happen too often. Usually we push them to the outside and by the time they’re downfield we’ve got a number of players back. Our refs do strictly enforce offsides, so the other teams’ attackers aren’t able to wait on our side of the field for the ball. In contrast, some of our opponents leave at least one defender way back, inviting us to have a striker hang out on their side, and this works to our advantage.
Our loses this year came against teams that were, frankly, clearly superior to us. We have no real star players (we’re the “b” team). When we play teams that look to be at about our level as far as athlecism/ ball handling, we keep the ball on their side of the field most of the game. I’m convinced 2-3-2 is best for our team and I’m going to keep it that way until we go to 9 on the field.
For the commenter who was frustrated with their coach (I know its an old comment), I’ll say that I’ve noticed with both my daughters rec and travel teams, and their friends’ teams, that parents pretty much universally complain about their kids’ coaches in just about every team that is anything other than undefeated.
March 17th, 2012 at 1:06 am
Hello all! I am a U19 Rec boys coach who was just informed at the coaches meeting last night that due to declining numbers that we will be playing 8v8 this spring season on a 50X80 yd field. I have been dusting off all the formations that I always wanted to try in my U12 coaching days but never could due to time limitations and player abilities. I have 16 on my roster, and from what I can see I know 12:
LA – Good striker, great midfielder with speed. Likes contact. Junior
LB – Very good defender and can support attack. Can run all day. Junior
JG – Striker on spring loan from the HS varsity team. Junior
HH – Defender/mid. Seems to have to see/think/process/do rather than see/react. Has been this way since U10. Sophomore
ZH – Striker. Has good moments, but still adjusting to a 7-inch growth spurt from last summer. 6’3″ Freshman
TH – Keeper/defender. Fair to good keeper. Finds himself out of position often on defense. Freshman
PH – Striker/mid. Probably my most improved player over the last 2 years. Fair speed. Sophomore
AK – Defender with no interest in playing anywhere else. Only plays springs due to being in marching band. Junior
MR – Former club keeper who has played in a regional qualifying tournament,but has not played for 2 years due to parental finances. Junior
MR2 – Defender. Can’t dribble or pass to save his life, but can mark and dispossess like no one’s business. Junior.
AT – Center mid and coach on the field. Left HS varsity team to, as he put it, have fun playing soccer again. Junior
TW – Defender. Solid stopper with a heavy left foot. Sophomore
Of the 4 kids I haven’t met and have never coached, 3 are seniors and 1 is a freshman.
I am looking for any inputs any of you might have about formations given the smaller field and older kids. I’m thinking either a 2-3-2 with the outside mids going end to end or a 3-1-2-1. Thanks in advance.
April 5th, 2012 at 10:10 pm
how do you thing about a 3 1 3 for 8v8
April 19th, 2012 at 1:33 am
Re: new coach
I use to run the 3-1-3 with my team but i found my team constantly struggling to recuperate balls in the mid-field. Which led to a poor supply of balls to the forward. So I switched to a 3-3-1. Now we are very strong defensively. Our game plan is to recuperate the ball at mid field and distribute the ball to the forward so that he may hold it until the left and right mid fielders push up to support the attack, this now becomes a 3-1-3. Requires a lot of sacrifice from the left/right mid fielders and discipline from the forward. We are currently 13-1, and scores are usually around a 5-2, 3-1. So great defensively but you must make your shots count at the end.
May 4th, 2012 at 2:54 am
Coach Jay – sorry for my extended hiatus from following OTP.
What do I mean in saying “Up until U14/11 v 11, the match is really a place for individual players to demonstrate under pressure their technical skills and learn decision-making.”
At U12 and below, we emphasize every player plays each position (fwd/mid/def) every match. The one exception at U12 is if a player really wants to play GK, then that player will play GK for one half each match and the others rotate through the season playing GK for a half. The point is that individual technique (dribbling/receiving/passing) can be practiced from any position, but added pressure in a match situation can differ if it’s dribbling at the top of the opponent’s penalty box to create a scoring opportunity versus dribbling out of your own back because we don’t want you to just “kick it.” So it’s important that players practice dribbling/receiving/passing from the different situations that different positions present.
The only exception perhaps is shooting so that is why again we rotate everyone through various positions each match.
We tend to start putting kids into boxes early (fast kid so put them up top; tough kid so put them at center defender, strongest player at center mid) and building our formations around our analysis of the players’ strengths and weaknesses. I think at U12 and below, it’s about telling the kids we want to put the ball in the opponent’s net and the way we do that is keep possession of the ball and minimize the time the opponent has the ball.
So, we want players to keep the ball at their feet or minimize the time it leaves their feet to the feet of their teammate. We try to tell our players if they have the ball, how can you take it to a better place to help us score..and if you don’t have the ball, where can you go to be in a position to get the ball to a better position than it is now.
We emphasize how can you get into a 1 v 1 attacking position and conversely how do you immediately apply pressure if we lose possession. It’s something you really have to buy into collectively (parents, etc.) because the result is not the wins, but whether the player when they show up at their school team or U14 club team is one of the kids who stand out because they demonstrate creativity and skill.
May 7th, 2012 at 10:16 am
I volunteered as an emergency coach last fall when my son’s U12 travel team was in danger of not having a season for lack of a coach. I had coached basketball for a few years and knew the rules of soccer, but nothing about formations or strategies. Lucky for me, there were other parents who were knowledgeable about soccer, just not willing or able to commit to coaching. I had them help out with clinics when they were able, learned drills for the boys to do from other coaches and the internet, and combined practices with other BU12 teams and scrimmaged as much as possible.
When the season started I took the recommendation of another BU12 coach and went with a 2-3-2 formation. Initially I put my best players at forward and the weaker players at defense, but quickly learned that this was a mistake. You have to leave at least one strong player on defense at all times. Your best player can help you the most at center mid. Your left and right mids need to have endurance and be able to transition from defense to offense, or offense to defense quickly. Rotating players into different positions keeps them fresh and develops different skills. The first half of the fall season we didn’t do well, but we finished strong and ended up in 2nd place in our section. I am proud that 12 of the 15 boys on the team regisitered goals during the fall season. Anybody and everybody who wanted to play goalie got an opportunity at that too (7 of the 15). And all the guys had a fun time and finished the season liking soccer more than they had previously.
In Spring season we are doing very well. The guys are trusting each other more and passing better. We’re setting up triangles and crossing passes. The guys are moving into open spaces and playing with confidence. We start out in a 2-3-2 formation, but then usually change to a 3-2-2 when we get a lead. This defensive posture often results in more goals for us as the opposing team over-commits to offense.
It’s been a great learning experience coaching soccer. And I enjoy spending the time with my son and his friends. Next season hopefully they’ll have a more knowledgable coach, but we’re doing ok I think.
Chris Kelley – Framingham
July 10th, 2012 at 3:03 pm
My girls just finished two successful seasons at U11. Fall season, 2011, 6-1-1 and spring season, 2012, 6-0-2.
This fall season, U12, we will be focusing our practices on communication, overlapping, give and go, passing back, and switching sides. For defense we will be working with the girls when to contain versus when to tackle, how to shield the ball, and put pressure on the opponent immediately (don’t let them turn with ball). For dribbling we will work on inside and outside hooks, side steps, step over, single cuts and scissors; probably in the order listed.
I am doing research on some cornerback drills so I can teach the girls the proper techniques to back pedal; straight back pedaling, weave (back pedaling at angles), Open (back pedaling to sprinting), and back pedaling to a forward run.
Formation: I now go with a 1-3-1-2.
In the 1-3-1-2 we will teach our defenders that we want them to move up on offense (with overlaps and give and go). Our left and right defenders handle all the throw-ins on their respective sides. When the left or right side defender moves up the center defender slides over and supports that position. In this situation we will end up with a 1-2-1-3 with the same side defender and forward working together. The opposite side defender is anticipating a cross pass and reading when to support her side forward. At other times it may be our central defender who moves up and works with the forwards as our center midfield drops back to the central defense. At times our sweeper may push up with our central defender dropping back.
August 23rd, 2012 at 4:53 pm
Your system should be for the development of the players to the 11 v 11 format. In europe the 2 4 1 is used mainly because of its ease of transition to the large field. Cenrte backs and centre midfields are the same, wide midfielders are learning that position and full back. Whilst forwards are still making runs to both sides. The introduction of two full backs and a forward will give the easiest passage to the 11 v 11 field.
September 1st, 2012 at 2:47 am
WOW what is wrong with you coaches? Everyone rambling on about hanging your keeper out to dry with only 2 in the back. NO WONDER THE US IS STILL GOING BACKWARDS AT THIS GAME!!! Wake up people. The ONLY sensible post in here was by Carl and not a single one of you even reacted to him. U12, 8V8 there is only one formation to run, regardless of your players. 3-1-2-1 How the heck can anyone expect to develop any player when you have a weak defense or a big fat cluster in the midfield? Stop doing what everyone else does and use the whole field.
September 1st, 2012 at 8:57 am
@coach Aaron we conconceded 24 goals and scored 111. I don’t know what type of players you have but 90% of my team have been playing since they where 4. They are very mature mentally, and have no trouble what’s so ever in defense.
September 1st, 2012 at 8:51 pm
Well when you face the same level of offense, running a two zone defense is just suicide.
How bout: new U12 team running a 3-1-2-1 (diamond offense)this creates the maximum space and everyone within a triangle formation with other players
September 2nd, 2012 at 4:01 am
@coach Araron not really our philosophy while running a 2-3-1 is defend with five and attack with four. It’s all about your players sacrificing them selves. We constantly make subs once we see our kids start to get tired. The trick is not to lose anything when you make those subs. We have very good all around kids who are in it for the long run. None of our kids just woke one day and decide to play soccer. They have been playing for more than 5 years(keep in mind we have a U13 squad). My kids and their parents are very committed.
September 4th, 2012 at 8:35 am
Room for different approaches. I’ve found a lot of young players have difficulty maintaining spacing with 3 levels, never mind 4. The 8v8 fields are small enough that midfielders can move up to support the offense and still get back to help out the defense. My guys went undefeated last spring and a lot of the games were won by controlling the middle of the field.
September 4th, 2012 at 10:07 am
The stopper appears to be the lone midfielder, but my playbook is for the wingers and the wide backers to share the responsibility on their sides. Sadly coaches just follow what other coaches do, and have completely lost touch with the Xs and Os of the game.
September 6th, 2012 at 2:10 pm
US going backwards?? I believe US Woman just won the gold.
I like the 3-1-2-1. Tried it but the 1-2-3-1 fit better for the girls I had.
Every formation deals with X’s and O’s of the game.
September 10th, 2012 at 4:01 pm
I’ve been experimenting with a 2-1-2-2 with my U10 boys team. So far it’s worked out well mainly because I have 3 boys who can rotate into the stopper role. I try to have one of my most athletic boys play that position while hiding my weakest player at midfield