Don't defend with "just your feet"! Training to improve defending by using your body movement and anticipation to win the ball

This time's theme is "using your body and anticipation to neutralize physical differences and recover the ball."

In the youth age group, there are many players who struggle with "I closed him down but got beaten" or "I stretched my leg out but could not reach."

So this time, we had Coach Masaki Arano of M&A Soccer School demonstrate everything from stepping drills where players move in response to the opponent's movement, to a 2-goal 1v1 where players eliminate the pass lane while guiding the opponent. Coach Arano verbalizes how to move the body and how to duel with the opponent, guiding the players so they can defend by thinking for themselves. The session, packed with the basics of defending, is sure to be useful. (Text by Tomoyuki Suzuki)

Change your steps to match the opponent's movement

The theme of the first part is "steps to follow the opponent's movement." The warm-up is done in pairs.

The front player advances at a jog and suddenly stops, and the back player follows at a distance where he can touch. When the front person stops, the back person quickly avoids so that his own stomach does not bump into the opponent's back.

Coach Arano calls out, "The front person should try to stop suddenly without letting it be obvious." Doing it at jogging speed is easy, so the key is to do it at a speed just short of a sprint.

The first thing Coach Arano emphasized was how fine the steps should be. "If you are matching your movement to an opponent who is close, make your steps fine. It is the same even when the speed goes up," he told them, and he also demanded that they "watch the opponent's body and anticipate when he is about to stop."

Next, they progressed to a rule where the front player stops and turns around, and the back player goes around from far away to get past without being touched. If the front player can touch the opponent, he stays in front, and if he is beaten, the front and back players switch.

What Coach Arano pointed out here was that many players stop and stretch out only their arms. "Turn around and move sideways. If you move yourself, the range you can defend changes," he conveyed, using demonstrations as well.

Do not try to win the ball by stretching out only your leg

Furthermore, the front player dribbles the ball and leaves it to turn around. If the opponent wins it there, he immediately launches an attack, and if the player with the ball can protect it, the roles continue, evolving into that format.

Coach Arano explained the importance of continuing to respond by stepping, saying, "If you try to win it by stretching out only your leg, you cannot stop it when it is played into a spot you cannot reach."

Guide the opponent with how you close down, and win the ball through duels

Next is a 2-goal 1v1. Passing through the near goal or dribbling through the far goal counts as a win. The defender presses while eliminating the pass lane with his back, guiding the opponent.

As an example of failure in how to close down, Coach Arano says, "If you just close down at full speed, you get kicked past and that is the end." The key is to watch the opponent's motion, and if he looks like he will kick, eliminate that option while not letting him advance.

He further explained, "If you run to eliminate the pass lane from the start, you will be beaten on the dribble," and when closing down, because "if your head goes forward, you cannot catch up when the positions switch," he conveyed, using demonstrations as well, that you should keep your head in the direction you want to go.

Once they got used to it, he also demanded duels from the defenders. "In defending that is only a reaction of matching the opponent's movement, the opponent has the advantage," he said, and he encouraged duels such as "closing down in a way that makes the opponent want to dribble, and aiming for that to win the ball" and "guiding him into a pass and winning the ball."

In the advanced version, the rule was changed so that passing into either goal was OK. Here, he coached the movement of moving the body sideways to protect the width of the goal, saying, "If you stretch out only your leg, there is a limit to the distance you can reach."

His advice at that time, "In case you are beaten the other way, put your foot on the ground quickly. Do not move too much," is also easy to use in coaching settings.

Coach Arano's careful verbalization and way of conveying key points are sure to be useful for coaching.

【Instructor】Masaki Arano / Born June 5, 1995. Played for 1FC Kawagoe Suijo Park U-12, 1FC Kawagoe Suijo Park U-15, and Kanto Daiichi High School. Started as a coach at J-FOOT Soccer School in Saitama in 2017. Started coaching at FC Sayama Junior Youth in 2019. Established M&A Soccer School in 2021. Currently gives private lessons and school coaching in Saitama, Chiba, Nagano, Aichi, and Osaka.