What about defending? At this stage of the players’ development, we should be focusing on attacking aspects of the game. There are so many skills and techniques for a child to pick up, that spending time on defending (which can easily be taught at a later stage) is a waste of valuable learning time.
‘It can take years to learn how to master certain technical moves and WOMPPW FYX PIEVRMRK LS[ XS STIVEXI XEGXMGEPP] [MXLMR E W]WXIQ GER XEOI NYWX a few weeks.’ ‘FIFA Coaching’
Remember, ‘winning is not important’ for kids so don’t worry too much about stopping the other team scoring. Let them have fun trying to score themselves. However, there may be occasions with older players, when you may wish to give some very basic tips as an introduction to the defensive part of the game. Start by suggesting that the best thing to do when we don’t have the ball is for each of us to look for an opponent. Then, ask simple questions: UÊ Can you stand between your opponent and your own goal? UÊ Can you stop him from scoring when he gets the ball? UÊ Can you take the ball off him? UÊ Can you stop the ball getting to him in the first place? These questions are of increasing complexity and should not be introduced all at once.
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