Filed under: Dave Clarke, Soccer Coaching, Soccer Fitness, Soccer News, Soccer Refereeing, Soccer Skills, Soccer Team Management, Soccer Training | Tags: attack, block, centreback, defender, defending, puyol, tackle, tactics
By David Clarke
Barcelona’s captain Carles Puyol is known for his intense commitment and strength as a defender. According to Barcelona’s head doctor, Puyol is “the strongest, who has the quickest reactions, and who has the most explosive strength”.
Love him or loathe him, he is the sort of player who gives everything for the cause, who prides himself on being alert to wave after wave of attacking threats in and around the box. He is also the sort of player who is not afraid to put his body in harm’s way. And he’ll grab you the odd goal or two.
Ensuring that your players are back on their feet after a good tackle or clearance and ready to combat a second wave of danger is essential.
To keep them alive and reactive, here’s a defensive move that asks for quick reactions and tireless commitment to the cause.
How to set it up:
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Create a playing area measuring 10×10 yards.
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The drill requires four servers and one designated defender.
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Each server starts on a different side, with a ball.
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Place your defender in the middle – his job is to react to a different serve from each player around the area. After each serve, his task is to keep the ball within the box.
Getting started:
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Starting on the left-hand side, server 3 throws the ball up for server 1 to head into the middle. The defender tries to stop the ball from going out of bounds.
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Immediately, server 2 passes a ball towards the opposite line. The defender must now react, running to slide and stop the ball from crossing the line.
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Now server 3 dribbles onto the pitch and attempts to get to the line opposite. The defender tries to stop him.
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Finally, server 4 throws the ball over the defender’s head and attempts to run around him to win it back. The defender’s task is to shield the ball, letting it run over the line. If the ball stops dead before the line, he can then kick it clear to the left or the right.
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Now rotate so that a different player acts as the defender.
Why this works:
Adopting the mindset that a defender’s job is rarely complete is absolutely vital if players are to counter all of the threats on a match day. After each phase of this drill, the defender needs to be alert to a new test, reacting quickly to each ball and clearing the danger.
Each test offers a new skill, and provides you with a quick-fire snapshot of where the defender’s game can be improved.
Filed under: Dave Clarke, Soccer Coaching, Soccer Fitness, Soccer News, Soccer Refereeing, Soccer Skills, Soccer Team Management, Soccer Training | Tags: Barcelona, central defender, defender, explosive power, puyol, spain, strength
By David Clarke
Barcelona’s captain Carles Puyol is known for his intense commitment and strength as a defender. According to Barcelona’s head doctor, Puyol is "the strongest, who has the quickest reactions, and who has the most explosive strength".
Love him or loathe him, he is the sort of player who gives everything for the cause, who prides himself on being alert to wave after wave of attacking threats in and around the box. He is also the sort of player who is not afraid to put his body in harm’s way. And he’ll grab you the odd goal or two.
Ensuring that your players are back on their feet after a good tackle or clearance and ready to combat a second wave of danger is essential.
To keep them alive and reactive, here’s a defensive move that asks for quick reactions and tireless commitment to the cause.
Who knows, maybe it’s this "British Bulldog" mentality that may one day see one of your lads emulate the onfield achievements of the England captain?
How to set it up:
-
Create a playing area measuring 10×10 yards.
-
The drill requires four servers and one designated defender.
-
Each server starts on a different side, with a ball.
-
Place your defender in the middle – his job is to react to a different serve from each player around the area. After each serve, his task is to keep the ball within the box.
Getting started:
-
Starting on the left-hand side, server 3 throws the ball up for server 1 to head into the middle. The defender tries to stop the ball from going out of bounds.
-
Immediately, server 2 passes a ball towards the opposite line. The defender must now react, running to slide and stop the ball from crossing the line.
-
Now server 3 dribbles onto the pitch and attempts to get to the line opposite. The defender tries to stop him.
-
Finally, server 4 throws the ball over the defender’s head and attempts to run around him to win it back. The defender’s task is to shield the ball, letting it run over the line. If the ball stops dead before the line, he can then kick it clear to the left or the right.
-
Now rotate so that a different player acts as the defender.
Why this works:
Adopting the mindset that a defender’s job is rarely complete is absolutely vital if players are to counter all of the threats on a match day. After each phase of this drill, the defender needs to be alert to a new test, reacting quickly to each ball and clearing the danger.
Each test offers a new skill, and provides you with a quick-fire snapshot of where the defender’s game can be improved.
Filed under: Dave Clarke, Soccer Coaching, Soccer Fitness, Soccer News, Soccer Refereeing, Soccer Skills, Soccer Team Management, Soccer Training | Tags: Barcelona, centre-back, defending, how to defend, puyol, Real Madrid, spain, youtube
David Clarke
Carles Puyol is the type of player every team would like. He is the classic old-fashioned captain. Quick and powerful, committed almost to the point of comedy, he is an inspiration to team-mates and an idol for the fans.
His intense commitment to Barcelona runs deep – he often stays behind to train and reportedly comes in on his days off to put in some extra work.
He makes a good roll model for youth players because he has made himself great even though he does not have the reputation of some of his team mates. Puyol has played for Barcelona since 1999 and been club captain since 2004. In his early years as captain before Iniesta, Messi and Xavi came on the scene he said of his team mates: “I don’t have Romário’s technique, [Marc] Overmars’ pace or [Patrick] Kluivert’s strength. But I work harder than the others. I’m like the student who is not as clever, but revises for his exams and does OK in the end.”
“Puyol is the key,” says Xavi, the Barcelona midfielder, “not just because he is one of the best defenders in the world but because of his character. He never lets up. If he sees you relax at all, he’s suddenly at your side demanding more.”
He has starred in more than 500 official games for the team, winning 18 major titles, notably five La Liga and three UEFA Champions League championships. At international level he has won the Euro 2008and the 2010 World Cup tournaments with Spain.
Team mate at Barcelona Gerard Piqué said: “He’s someone who, even if you’re winning 3–0 and there’s a few seconds left in the game will shout at the top of his voice at you if he thinks your concentration is going.”
More recently said, “Even four goals down he thinks we can still win.”
“The fans appreciate that I work my hardest all the time,” Puyol explains. “I need no encouragement because I’ve always been a cule – I’ve never hidden that fact. I am living the dream playing football for Barça and it is my dream to retire playing here. I know someday that I will have to leave and I am not looking forward to that day. I will work hard to realise my dream but if I can’t then I would like to play in another country. I wouldn’t want to play in Spain. I would go to England or Italy.”
Filed under: Dave Clarke, Soccer Coaching, Soccer Fitness, Soccer News, Soccer Refereeing, Soccer Skills, Soccer Team Management, Soccer Training | Tags: cannavaro, centre-backs, five best defenders, lucio, piquet, puyol, Thomas Vermaelen, vidic
How many professional teams won at the weekend due to a centre-back scoring from a corner? They do it so often because they are the players who practice outjumping their opponents when they are defending – hence they can do it when they are attacking.
A lot of youth teams keep their centre-backs covering on the half way line, rather than see them get up into the penalty area for a corner in case the defending team wins the ball and makes a quick break. But you don’t have to be so cautious, other players can cover, it doesn’t always have to be your centre-back.
When you are coaching attacking situations make sure you use your centre-backs to attack the ball as well as your strikers. They can learn a lot from positional play when they are attacking so they can understand how to defend the same situation.
My five top centre-backs to use as an example to your players are:
- Gerard Piquet, Barcelona
- Nemanja Vidic, Manchester United
- Carles Puyol, Barcelona
- Lucio, Inter Milan
- Thomas Vermaelen, Arsenal
Watch the clip below of Gerard Piquet scoring for Barcelona:
Filed under: Dave Clarke, Soccer Coaching, Soccer Skills, Soccer Training | Tags: AC Milan, Barcelona, close down, defender, Italy, nesta, puyol, spain
One of the problems for defenders is that when they are closing down players a clever attacker can break away with the ball into goal scoring positions. The best defenders will stay with the attacker and get a block on the shot or a last second tackle to poke the ball away.
This situation is quite likely in youth soccer when young players lose concentration at the back and an attacker gets free with the ball. Rather than stand and watch the drama unfold they should be running to get back and cover the attacking player.
There will always be opportunities for a defender to recover when they have made a mistake or the attacker has worked their way free from the covering defence.
As coach you should be encouraging your players never to give up when they have lost the ball and work hard to win it back and stop the opposition scoring.
Check out the clips below of two of the world’s best attackers making last ditch tackles and blocks to save their team losing a goal – Alessandro Nesta of Italy and Carles Puyol of Spain show how giving up just isn’t in their vocabulary.
Soccer drill to coach the block tackle
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