DEFENCE.
General facts.
The main goal of defense is to prevent opposition from scoring.
Another goal is to steal a ball from the opposition. These two goals are closely related to each other
There is a notion of the defending area, which is the area on the field that you players
cover when defending. Most of goals in indoor soccer are scored from the 'D' area
so this 'D' zone and the area close to it must be very well protected
Areas in the center must be protected better than areas on the sides
because the probability of scoring from these areas is higher
There are two widely used defensive systems 2-2 (square) and 1-2-1 (rhombus).
The goalkeeper conforms with the last line of defense and should be made as active as possible.
Picking the right defending system.
There is no good defensive system without good defenders.
There are two commonly used defensive systems: 2-2 (square) and 1-2-1(rhombus)
The 2-2 defensive system is the more vulnerable because it has only two lines and, besides,
they're parallel. In this case, with a pass you can beat the two players. 1-2-1 system is more
reliable if used properly. It has more defensive lines and is more flexible.
In general a team should play a defensive system which best suits its players characteristics
However, a good team should be able to vary the defensive system they play depending on the opposition,
game situation etc. For example, it is more difficult to play 2-2 defensive schema than 1-2-1
against 3-1 attacking system.
Finding the right size for the defending area.
Defending area is the area of the field your players cover when defending.
This defending area can be as small as 1/2 of the field or even less or can be as big as the whole pitch.
Usually teams defend 1/2 of the field (all players stay on their half) or 3/4 of the field.
The size of the defending area usually depends on the number of factors:
the strength of the opposition, size of the pitch, number of subs, the game situation etc.
Below are some basic principals you can you can use when choosing the size of the defending area.
- the better and faster the opposition is the smaller the area you should defend.
- the smaller the indoor field is the more space your players can cover.
- the more subs you have the more space you can defend because your players won't get tired quickly
- if your team is one or two goals behind in the game and you must win then your team has to "open the game up"
and increase the size of the defending area, because you have to put a pressure on the opposition
- contary if you are winning it may be not a bad idea to "close the game down"
i.e. reduce the size of the area you defend.