40 thoughts on “Teach Youth Soccer Players How to Defend!”

  1. Right now I only have a single pair of PUGG goals to do these sorts of drills. Do you recommend getting another pair? Is it worth it or is a pair of cones just fine?

  2. In that first diagram, 2 v 2, I would want the interior defender to close the middle to push attacker to their right (even though it will most likely be their dominant foot). However, at the same time the second defender should scoop towards middle despite giving room to second attacker by the sideline. I'll take that chance anytime over pushing the attacker to top-middle of the box.

  3. Do you have any videos on how to coach when the defender is beaten. The second defender presses, the will double back back, but what does that look like and how should you reset so it’s not a giant player blob.

  4. Hey coach, another great video! I help coach a first grade 6v6 team Where goalkeepers are not allowed at this age. We have two defenders one that always pressure and one that always covers near the goal but comes out if there is a loose ball or the opponent has a bad touch. The challenge is that the defender that covers deal with lots of full speed breakaways. What should I tell the defender to do in those situations?

  5. Hey Coach, Great videos. I'm really enjoying your stuff and am using it to train my U12 Girls team. Honestly it is better material and more palatable than some training I've done via US Soccer Learning. I have a request. Are you able to chop up some of your videos into shorts? I want to be able to send shorts of many of your concepts to my girls and parents as needed. Specifically your F,S,S,L defending technique as well as the Protect, Cover, Balance piece are great resources. Lastly, I want to encourage you to continue putting out this great content. And thank you for the recommendation on the duKTIG products. I've started using their mini-books to track seasons and I laminate the hand-sized field cards to diagram my training sessions based on your video content.

  6. YOu videos are great!! I use them to explain basic movements to my team which are adults haha. It would be great to see some other formations and comparisons. Thank you for the content!

  7. Thanks so much for this video. I've introduced the fast-slow-side-low concept to my U10 team, and they picked it right up. I think it's really going to help them remember how to defend.

  8. My U9 team is playing up in a U10 league with faster, stronger, and bigger opposing teams and by implementing sound defensive principles we have been very succesful at stopping them. We are currently the top team in the league thanks to following your advice on building out of the back, patterned play and just trusting the development process. Thanks for your awesome content! Looking forward to more!

  9. Coach once again a fantastic video! As a non native English speaker I especially appreciate the concise and on-point explanations and instructions. Outstanding!

  10. Hi, I really like your tips. My girl plays G15 soccer and her position is RB. She's a little small and sometimes goes up against bigger and faster attackers. What do you recommend for mitigating this?

  11. It would be good, and extremely difficult, to do a video on culture. That's built at practice and the dad coaches need to know how to build the culture needed for success in this game 😁

  12. I love the breakdowns you do man very specific it's lovely for a new coach. These youngsters ultimately do what we say because they are supposed to. Can you do a video on purpose? The D wont press together unless they have purpose. Can we talk forwards and backwards passes with purpose? It's difficult when they all play baseball and basketball as well with different coaches.

  13. Thanks for another great video. Any tips to help the CBs stay connected? I often find my CBs lose shape and get isolated 1v1 or leave big gaps in the middle. Of all the positions, the CBs seem to struggle with their spacing the most.

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