Ask the Coach, Women's College D1

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They nearly lost to England at World Cup. If England's coach had subbed sooner, US may not have advanced to finals. Other countries have kids in our college system too like England.
No a slam dunk anymore for US.

And, wait until you see the coaching change for England....that margin may have just narrowed!

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And, wait until you see the coaching change for England....that margin may have just narrowed!

Ellis? Or Harvey? Both way better than Neville.

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Your kid is “special”.

Aren't they all?

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My kid was surprised as well. Some kids are not taught the game correctly. I see kids in college that do not fully understand off side. They wait for ball to pass them before they move. Players expect other players to know by college.

True. Have seen this as well.
To the Coach on here, how much retooling of the kids does a college program have to undergo?

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True. Have seen this as well.
To the Coach on here, how much retooling of the kids does a college program have to undergo?

You have to remember we are landing the top 1 or 2 kids on teams anyway, and there's a reason for that. They are the top players technically and tactically (hopefully). But, the college game is next level, so yes there's an adjustment. I wouldn't necessarily call it retooling but maybe just developing more sophistication to their game. I think a lot of people think that an 18 or 19 year old has reached maturity with soccer, and it always amazes me the terrific growth that happens between freshmen and senior year of college. I think in some cases, the development in those 4 years is bigger than any other phase.

The biggest weakness we normally see is defending...and I'm not just talking about the back line, but defending everywhere on the field, individually and and group. Most players are very deficient in the understanding of defensive tactics coming in to college. Not surprising because they just don't have a lot of time with the kids during club, and it's something that probably doesn't get as much attention as it needs.

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You have to remember we are landing the top 1 or 2 kids on teams anyway, and there's a reason for that. They are the top players technically and tactically (hopefully). But, the college game is next level, so yes there's an adjustment. I wouldn't necessarily call it retooling but maybe just developing more sophistication to their game. I think a lot of people think that an 18 or 19 year old has reached maturity with soccer, and it always amazes me the terrific growth that happens between freshmen and senior year of college. I think in some cases, the development in those 4 years is bigger than any other phase.

The biggest weakness we normally see is defending...and I'm not just talking about the back line, but defending everywhere on the field, individually and and group. Most players are very deficient in the understanding of defensive tactics coming in to college. Not surprising because they just don't have a lot of time with the kids during club, and it's something that probably doesn't get as much attention as it needs.

This is an interesting comment and I've wondered about this for awhile. My kid is entering recruiting years but has been playing on club teams for some time. I've noticed even on top teams (granted at younger ages but still haven't seen much change) that most coaches take their best few defenders, throw them out on the field for 90 minutes with no subbing and essentially make it their job to keep the ball out of the net. In drills, it's generally the same 3 or 4 players always playing the role of "defender". As a low-scoring sport I've always thought more emphasis should be placed on developing defending and defensive tactics across the board.

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This is an interesting comment and I've wondered about this for awhile. My kid is entering recruiting years but has been playing on club teams for some time. I've noticed even on top teams (granted at younger ages but still haven't seen much change) that most coaches take their best few defenders, throw them out on the field for 90 minutes with no subbing and essentially make it their job to keep the ball out of the net. In drills, it's generally the same 3 or 4 players always playing the role of "defender". As a low-scoring sport I've always thought more emphasis should be placed on developing defending and defensive tactics across the board.

You are falling into the results trap. Youth soccer should maximise the individual development of players. The technical level is usually not high enough to spend meaningful time on the nuances of team defending.

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This is an interesting comment and I've wondered about this for awhile. My kid is entering recruiting years but has been playing on club teams for some time. I've noticed even on top teams (granted at younger ages but still haven't seen much change) that most coaches take their best few defenders, throw them out on the field for 90 minutes with no subbing and essentially make it their job to keep the ball out of the net. In drills, it's generally the same 3 or 4 players always playing the role of "defender". As a low-scoring sport I've always thought more emphasis should be placed on developing defending and defensive tactics across the board.

Don't stop there. Offensive players need to know how to defend, and defensive players need to know how to attack.

As the game evolves the mesh between the two becomes greater. Defensive players are often used to having an attacking player defend them. To your point - they don't know how and are easier to beat. So, teach your offensive players to win the ball in the opposing third. Worst case...you have 60 yards to make up the space.

Conversely, your outside defenders have evolved to being a wingback, and goals are coming off the wings more and more. If you have a defensive player who can get up and down the pitch and put dangerous crosses into the box...that means one more offensive player can be in the box.

Another benefit of that is their attacking player now is pulled back to defend, tiring them out and making them do what they do not want to do. My kid plays wingback (takes after her father and two uncles) and whenever she plays a great player she knows to take the game to them so they end up getting subbed out quicker (hopefully).

We've never looked at positions as being "you play here"; players need to know every role, either to play it or to know how to play against it.

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Don't stop there. Offensive players need to know how to defend, and defensive players need to know how to attack.

As the game evolves the mesh between the two becomes greater. Defensive players are often used to having an attacking player defend them. To your point - they don't know how and are easier to beat. So, teach your offensive players to win the ball in the opposing third. Worst case...you have 60 yards to make up the space.

Conversely, your outside defenders have evolved to being a wingback, and goals are coming off the wings more and more. If you have a defensive player who can get up and down the pitch and put dangerous crosses into the box...that means one more offensive player can be in the box.

Another benefit of that is their attacking player now is pulled back to defend, tiring them out and making them do what they do not want to do. My kid plays wingback (takes after her father and two uncles) and whenever she plays a great player she knows to take the game to them so they end up getting subbed out quicker (hopefully).

We've never looked at positions as being "you play here"; players need to know every role, either to play it or to know how to play against it.

While a lot of attention at all levels is on turning outside backs into attacking players, very little attention on midfield and center backs role in filling the space when the outside back plays up. We’ve come to expect superhuman feats by the outside backs to simultaneously cover both roles rather than to focus on team defending. You can even see this at the USWNT level where former college forwards like Dunn are put into the outside back position for speed/attack but the skill level of the center backs are unchanged and the defensive role of the midfield is absent.

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While a lot of attention at all levels is on turning outside backs into attacking players, very little attention on midfield and center backs role in filling the space when the outside back plays up. We’ve come to expect superhuman feats by the outside backs to simultaneously cover both roles rather than to focus on team defending. You can even see this at the USWNT level where former college forwards like Dunn are put into the outside back position for speed/attack but the skill level of the center backs are unchanged and the defensive role of the midfield is absent.

Well said. There HAS to be a shift to cover space if backs are running the flanks. Ideally, if a left back runs much of the alignment shifts clockwise to cover.

I have to bite my tongue when I hear someone comment "where the hell is the left back?" when they just made a run. Essentially, it's not them who is out of position, is the lack of cover for them.

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Well said. There HAS to be a shift to cover space if backs are running the flanks. Ideally, if a left back runs much of the alignment shifts clockwise to cover.

I have to bite my tongue when I hear someone comment "where the hell is the left back?" when they just made a run. Essentially, it's not them who is out of position, is the lack of cover for them.

Hey Coach,
For a country that can’t put 11 quality men on a pitch, did you think there were this many experts?
278 posts later—you may as well start a blog or podcast.

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Hey Coach,
For a country that can’t put 11 quality men on a pitch, did you think there were this many experts?
278 posts later—you may as well start a blog or podcast.

Not sure what you mean, some people just love the game and love to talk about it.

You are welcome to go back to watching Grey's Anatomy if you like.

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Don't stop there. Offensive players need to know how to defend, and defensive players need to know how to attack.

As the game evolves the mesh between the two becomes greater. Defensive players are often used to having an attacking player defend them. To your point - they don't know how and are easier to beat. So, teach your offensive players to win the ball in the opposing third. Worst case...you have 60 yards to make up the space.

Conversely, your outside defenders have evolved to being a wingback, and goals are coming off the wings more and more. If you have a defensive player who can get up and down the pitch and put dangerous crosses into the box...that means one more offensive player can be in the box.

Another benefit of that is their attacking player now is pulled back to defend, tiring them out and making them do what they do not want to do. My kid plays wingback (takes after her father and two uncles) and whenever she plays a great player she knows to take the game to them so they end up getting subbed out quicker (hopefully).

We've never looked at positions as being "you play here"; players need to know every role, either to play it or to know how to play against it.

in the finals, UNC put the kid from MD Bridget A on the back line as an OB. She was wonderful. Shut down Macario and now plays in NWSL for Houston Dash.

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While a lot of attention at all levels is on turning outside backs into attacking players, very little attention on midfield and center backs role in filling the space when the outside back plays up. We’ve come to expect superhuman feats by the outside backs to simultaneously cover both roles rather than to focus on team defending. You can even see this at the USWNT level where former college forwards like Dunn are put into the outside back position for speed/attack but the skill level of the center backs are unchanged and the defensive role of the midfield is absent.

OHara is used as an attacking OB now too instead as a striker. She and Dunn have the speed and footskills
They will many times bring up the ball, draw in the opponent going up the sidelines and then send it across the field to a wide open Alex M, Rapinoe, Pugh, Press. The mid field really is only a decoy.

[Unregistered]

Well said. There HAS to be a shift to cover space if backs are running the flanks. Ideally, if a left back runs much of the alignment shifts clockwise to cover.

I have to bite my tongue when I hear someone comment "where the hell is the left back?" when they just made a run. Essentially, it's not them who is out of position, is the lack of cover for them.

I see CB's get caught ball watching during this. How do you break that bad habit? You will watch a gk make a monster save; completely out stretched; and the ball gets in because the line watched and did not clear the save.