Soccer Leaders Home >

Basic Formations & Positional Training: 3: Older Rec - 1st Weeks - Rotation - Specialization

Picking Formations for Older Recreational Teams

Okay, but what if you are stuck with a team that is playing 8 v 8 or 9 v 9 or 11 v 11, even though it is plain that many of them need lots of remedial work on the basic skills? And, what happens when you get your team assigned only 2 weeks before your first game so that there is no possible way to cover even beginning 1 v 1 work before you are thrown to the sharks?

You know that many parents and players may start questioning your abilities if your team starts losing its games by big margins, even if you have solid credentials as a coach. Also, since this is recreational soccer, your job of player development is likely to be complicated by having at least 1-2 players who have little athletic talent/interest, or who have physical/mental impairments that make learning more challenging . Unfortunately, it is unlikely that some of these kids could become soccer players even if you spent every waking hour on the task. Finally, the kids on your team might have lots of overall athletic talent, but may be smaller/younger than average and be unable to win footraces or pushing contests with kids who are a foot taller and 50 pounds heavier. At this point, you may simply have to face the reality that short-term wins are very unlikely, no matter what you do.

When you are facing these types of predicaments, it may become necessary to use some initial positioning assignments just to buy the time needed to work on the basic skills of the core group of players, bearing in mind that it may take 2 or more seasons to accomplish this. While it IS possible to play virtually positionless soccer from the beginning by adopting an approach based upon natural swarming , it may be so unfamiliar to your audience that you decide that it’s more trouble than it is worth. So, if you decide to use positional assignments for your group, here are some suggestions.

The First Few Weeks

For the first few games at least, consider putting your best players on central defense. While you probably won’t score, at least you’ll avoid getting clobbered quite as badly. Then, as soon as you can, try to develop a few promising players to work in as wing defenders which will allow you to rotate your more seasoned players into the central midfield or even into a forward role. It is generally considered that the hardest job on the field is sweeper, or central defender, if you’re not playing with sweeper. The second hardest is center midfield and central defender with a sweeper behind him, followed by center forward, left defender, left mid, right forward, right defender, left forward, and right midfielder. Typically, for weaker or less-talented players, it is conventional wisdom to put them in one of the easier positions and sandwich them between two solid players so that there is good cover if they run into problems.

Take Care with Positional Rules

Having started out with assigning players to particular positions in a formation, it may be difficult to try to abandon the positional approach later. All is not lost, however. Why? Because you can set positional rules which allow players lots of flexibility to participate in the play. For example, those players who are assigned to act as wing defenders can be given positional “rules” to cover opposing attackers, but don’t need to have their feet nailed to the midline. Instead, you might allow them to follow the opposing attackers anywhere so, if their mark (the player they are responsible for) drops back to his own penalty to try to get the ball, your defender will be on his heels trying to steal it back and put it in the net. Your sweeper likewise can be given great freedom to simply play off of the main group of teammates as the trailing defender, i.e. the 3rd Defender or Balance player. If everyone is at the opposing goal, then he can move up as well and even score if the ball comes his way. Your center midfielder might be assigned to act as the fill-in for the sweeper, and told to drop back to cover if the sweeper goes to goal. Other players will also be given support duties for the players beside, in front of, and behind them.

Adopt Developmental Rotation Plans

Additionally, you need to create a plan to train your players so that, over the course of 1-2 seasons, most will be able to play in any position on the field. Finally, you will need to spend considerable time teaching the fundamental principles of support and defense, as well as the basic skills that form their foundation. As a result, as your players gain the knowledge and skill to apply these principles, their “positions” can ultimately serve more as guidelines for their major area of responsibility while they are in this particular relative space.

What initial formation should you choose? The basic decisions involved in choosing formations will be covered in the “Advanced” section, along with a discussion of various common types of formations. However, regardless of the formation, you must remember that your ultimate goal is to develop every player to the point where he can do any job on the field with reasonable competence and that, to reach this goal, each player MUST know the basic principles of offensive and defensive support.

Specialization Is for Advanced Players - Not Beginners

As players get to high school age, it is likely that they will start to “specialize” in one or two particular areas of the field which best suit their talents. At this stage, coaches will also pay greater attention to adopting a formation and style of play that capitalizes on the special skills/talents available, while masking any weaknesses. This approach is possible because the players have progressed intellectually to the point where their brains are ready for the challenge of complex tactical decisions and they will have developed emotionally to the point where they are more willing to sacrifice their individual goals for the goals of the group. Even at this age, however, coaches must be mindful of their duty to work on correcting those weaknesses, instead of merely trying to cover them up.

Do not make the mistake of treating your young charges like older high-school players. There is, obviously, huge difference between a 17 year-old and an 8 year-old. Similarly, but less obviously, there is a huge difference between a 12 year-old beginner and a 12 year-old who has been playing soccer for six years.

New players need to gain experience in all positions. Don’t try to constantly ‘hide” them in positions that will cover up their deficiencies. This is the lazy coach approach. Far better to take the time to develop their skills, so that they don’t need to be hidden.

Of course, this does not mean that a player should be forced into a position/job for which he clearly is not ready. Many shy players are reluctant to play goalkeeper, for instance. While it may be okay to give them chances to try this out in practice, and even push them to try, games may be a different story. If they really think that they’ll humiliate themselves playing keeper, they’ll rarely do a good job there. Ditto for players who are fearful of playing forward or back positions. So, if you get a shy one or one who is afraid to try new things, you may need to take a longer-term approach to their particular development. As long as you are keeping the player’s development in mind in making positioning decisions, rather than focusing on the “wins”, you should pat yourself on the back.

Will you make mistakes? Of course. Some probably will be doozies. But, every game or two, you will have some little tyke who gets the wonderful “I can’t believe I did it” grin on his face as he attempts something which he never thought was possible and sees it work. Be careful about those grins, though. They tend to be addictive!

[source:  Soccer-Coach-L manual.  Updated 6 April 1999. 
Read these legal and copyright notices before using any Soccer-Coach-L material…]

<< Back to main page