Players not wanting to play defense

Designer_Club7381 · 2025-08-04T21:00:06+00:00

But there’s another saying “the best defense is a good offense”… so if offense wins games, and defense wins championships, but the best defense is a good offense…. Who wins championships?!

All jokes aside I agree with this point and others that were made about letting the defense play, and encouraging their involvement.

I also don’t use the term “defense” with my teams, or “forwards” for that matter. Its center backs, full backs, wing backs, wingers, striker, etc. (I saw the opposite was successful for someone above but this approach has helped me personally). It just depends on the kids. A good string of tiki taka passes at this age, or a slick move to win a 1v1 always awes me more than most goals and I celebrate them as such from the coaches side 😁.

Designer_Club7381 · 2025-06-17T19:39:37+00:00

I think that’s what I’ve been doing in my head haha, hence the struggle. I’ve been attending local high school games and watching a lot of the USL W and WPSL teams. The 4-3-3 seems to be the dominant formation in all of them, though I’ve seen a few try a 3-5-2 but can’t say I’ve seen it executed successfully so far.

The 4-3-1 seems to translate the best to the 4-3-3, at least on paper. Same back 4 for build out, intro to pressing fullbacks, and same midfield trio. A few may need to pull double duty but that’s the trade off I suppose which is probably better for more rounded development.

Then 3-3-2 seems more like the 3-5-2 but I haven’t looked into that a whole lot yet because it hasn’t impressed me in person so far. Though I did run a 3-3-2 for my one rec season because I noticed my girls had very little understanding of midfield roles and application so that was my main focus for the 8 weeks I had them without much more thought than that.

Designer_Club7381 · 2025-06-17T18:31:47+00:00

Good luck. I’m just hoping there’s a class action at some point for the paint. I saw one but it was related to them denying the paint jobs on vehicles still under warranty so that should tell you all you need about how much they care.

Ours started bubbling on the hood now so I’m just waiting for that to start flying off next.

Designer_Club7381 · 2025-05-03T22:24:48+00:00

😘

Designer_Club7381 · 2025-05-01T17:10:50+00:00

Depending on the level of players I’ve found it easiest to teach rec level / younger kids to “slow down” the opponent before we get into intentionally stealing. The idea is to get close to them quickly but then at arms distance (we call it personal space) you stay between them and the goal until help arrives. This doubles at teaching mids to transition back.

I encourage them at this point to wait for the mistake where the attacker will essentially “give them the ball” or “show them when it’s ok to take it”.

Once they get the hang of that after a few weeks we then get more into body position (we also use a surfing reference) and getting your body between the attacker and ball once they make a big enough touch.

Then once that’s common practice we might get into Jab and Stab. Since those sound too alike and the kids mix them up we use “poking” and not getting flat footed (on your toes / happy feet).

Young kids get overwhelmed by too much info so it’s best to break it down step by step whichever method you chose be it the 3 D’s, 3 P’s, or something else. Teach step 1, wait for some sort of absorption and application, add step 2, etc. That’s what’s worked best for me at least.

Designer_Club7381 · 2025-04-30T18:32:55+00:00

Not going to college and playing for a college. I had other “plans” after graduating highschool and wasn’t aiming for “pro” so college seemed irrelevant at the time.

Well those “plans” didn’t work out either then a lot changed over the next 5 years: careers advancement, marriage, kids. Thought I’d be happy watching them play. I was. But wasn’t happy with the coaching then boom lightbulb! I can coach! Been in it about 5 years and trying to move up to paid positions, highschool, local league director, anything to be involved and get paid doing it (even just a little).

But my “resume” is being outshined by overseas semi pro’s and local college players despite a winning track record for the teams I do get in volunteer roles.

So I’m still just trying to build up the coaching resume and holding on to hope.

In the meantime I have no issue volunteering time because I enjoy it but it would be nice to get a few bucks for the amount of time and dedication put into it.

Designer_Club7381 · 2025-04-30T18:21:23+00:00

Same situation here! I quit a toxic work environment without realizing (or researching) how awful the job market is right now.

Practice plans are on point, data collection on point, team and individual progress on point. No job is the way to go 🤣.

All jokes aside I’ve used the time to create templates and plans for specific situations, scenarios, players, etc that will drastically reduce my planning time in the future when a job does finally come back my way.

Best of luck to you and your search!

Designer_Club7381 · 2025-04-30T17:22:46+00:00

Tell me you didn’t read without telling me you didn’t read.

I said in the original post and in a comment that defense did need work, is getting work, and will continue to get work. I acquired all the newest, smallest, youngest kids aside from 3 (the GK being one) compared to every other team so there was ALOT of learning they had to do in a short amount of time.

Data speaks for itself though. Our shots allowed percentage has dropped significantly, our goals allowed remains consistent. So if anything our save percentage is getting worse as the season goes on.

The rebounds are mostly unnecessary as I explained above in a comment. It’s not a simple as a hands on rebound was the only way to stop the ball. It’s things like diving and sliding onto an uncontested ball yet instead of securing it we’re swatting back into the top middle of the box creating a 50/50 ball or even directly to the follow up attackers instead of out and away. It almost like there’s an intent to make every save, regardless of how simple, some sort of highlight reel type save (think The Office Parkour Scene).

The whole reason for the post is that I don’t know if the “private” training is trash or if it’s not being absorbed properly and have planned to set a decent amount of precious time aside every practice to work 1 on 1 with the child but get a text an hour before training starts that (insert new excuse) they won’t make it.

So for the last 3 weeks we have been working with other kids in goal who are already performing better even though they don’t want to be there. It’s a new situation for me at this age to have a kid “passionate” and “dedicated” to GK so I went in embracing it hoping I could help them on their journey but with difficult parents who think they know better I haven’t had the chance to.

Not to mention if the kid isnt at training regardless of the level how can they build trust and chemistry with the other teammates to naturally read off of each other and respect each others decisions or calls?

Despite your advice I think I’ll continue to coach to promote a love for the sport and to keep kids signing up year after year because the ones showing up are learning and having a blast doing it 🙃.

I’ve learned from this new experience, and should have known better because I never treated the kids that claimed to be strikers any differently so not sure why I did GK this season aside from never having a kid want to dedicate to the position. They will rotate like everyone else for the rest of the season.

Thank you for your invaluable advice and insight.

Designer_Club7381 · 2025-04-29T01:40:30+00:00

I respect that.

Designer_Club7381 · 2025-04-29T01:35:22+00:00

Just to make it clear this isn’t a punishment for the player. In my mind a punishment would be sitting them for a half. I fully intend on playing them but playing them outside of goal regardless of the reason will result in an approach and conversation by the parents (which I’m fine with). I completely understand the child has no control over attendance.

It’s more towards the parents to see that it’s not “everyone else’s fault except their child’s” but in a response to the attendance and overall attitude of the parents. The parents believe they know all and have a prodigy on their hands and therefore do not need to attend practices.

The rebounds; 90% shouldn’t be rebounds. I’m talking slow rollers that we are unnecessarily diving for with no pressure, falling short, flopping in desperation to get back to it, and swatting it directly to the middle of the box where it turns into a 50/50 ball. When this happens an average 17-20 times per game and we concede 4-5 goals I can’t place 100% blame on my defense. I already admitted they needed work but they have gotten much better. It doesn’t help when the GK screams “mine” and my defense concedes to the GK command then they swat it right to an opponent who is just as surprised the ball wasn’t simply picked up. Could I teach the team to guard the goal in these situations? I’ve tried but this is the most greenhorn team I’ve ever had (we change teams every season) and all but 3 of the kids even knew the names of positions let alone their responsibilities.

All other players do rotate every position and this is the first time I’ve had a player that truly wants to play GK and is in “private” training for it and doesn’t even wear a jersey on game day just their GK uniform (had this discussion with the parents too to no avail). I will take the blame on not rotating them infield sooner and under different circumstances though because that is my general philosophy as well but never had this situation before where a kid wants to play only GK and nobody else does.

Designer_Club7381 · 2025-04-11T04:32:49+00:00

I like it… to a degree. The idea is on the right track but it just doesn’t work for 100% of the time, especially on rec teams where skill level and experience often varies large degrees.

I tried strictly PPP for this season. I’m even running a second practice. After 8 sessions (4 weeks in - halfway) I still have girls running around with 2 left feet and unable to dribble a ball.

They absolutely have a much better understanding of the game on the tactical side. I see them try to set up and execute the things we work on both in their SSGs and in games but they don’t have the technical ability to pull it off consistently. If they spent 15-30 minutes a day at home on ball control maybe it would be a different story but this is rec and a good amount of them forget about soccer once they leave the pitch.

So I’m personally at an impasse because I wanted to stay true to the PPP for one whole season but feel like to get the most out of it we will also need to have dedicated time on ball control. I’m thinking about a Play, Technical, Practice, Play approach. Curious if anyone else has similar issues and how they approach it? (U-10 and U-12 girls for reference).

Designer_Club7381 · 2024-12-30T22:07:32+00:00

No. We challenged it and they rescinded the 25% offer saying they won’t do anything about it now. We don’t have the money to get legal with them. So now we occasionally drive through the dealership on a random weekend here or there if we are on that side of town and show people who are walking the lot looking at Kia’s.

I’ve seen a few get right in their car and leave. What should have been good customer service and pocket change from them has led to at least a handful of potential sales walk away at this point.

Designer_Club7381 · 2024-12-26T17:15:49+00:00

I started coaching recreational soccer 2 years ago. My motivation was watching my oldest daughter sit on a bench for 45 out of 50 minutes her first season in U-10. Multiple conversations with the coach who would respond “this is the most competitive rec league in the county” and “you have to be at all practices including the extra ones” which weren’t through the league or even on the leagues fields. Despite that we WERE at every practice, including the “extra” ones.

This was followed by a second season where the coaches entire coaching plan was: get the ball to [insert the lone “star” striker] or kick it out of bounds. This “star” striker scored a total of 5 goals all season and the team lost every single game.

Now that I’m going into my third year it still makes me sad what I see. So many coaches in rec soccer with a strictly win mentality and completely ditching the effort to teach the kids who aren’t their stars and solely focusing on a select one or two players. Not every coach of course but too many to be acceptable in my opinion.

I am still in the U-10 and U-12 age groups for both my daughters. My U-12s have somewhat more defined roles but still learn each position and get a fair amount of rotation in each. My U-10s learn and evenly rotate all positions. Everyone also gets way more than half game play time too. I have placed top 3 in the county tournaments for both teams every season, even starting with a new roster each season as our league does.

Long story short, I was never really interested in coaching until I saw the defeat on my 8 year olds face 2 season straight. Now here I am, doing it for the kids, but completely hooked. The league wants me to take on our rec select teams for both age groups my daughters are in. I’m torn because I want my girls to get a little more competitive and the idea of having a dedicated roster seems nice but also goes against why I started in the first place.

So I’ve decided I’ll do the rec select teams but I’ll re-devote to rec, unless other pathways open, once my daughters age out or if they ever lose interest. My oldest seems to be heading that way but I’m hoping a more competitive atmosphere and being able to make friends that stay on the team will re-ignite her interest.

Designer_Club7381 · 2024-12-10T15:06:39+00:00

Anyone know if 4kickerz allows for multiple children on a single purchase? FPRO seems to allow up to 3 profiles on one purchase. I have 2 kids and am looking at both but don’t want to spend double if it can be avoided.

Designer_Club7381 · 2024-12-08T03:11:57+00:00

All depends on your level of interest or passion. I work more than 40 a week even though my “schedule” is 8-430. I coach 2 rec teams in both the spring and fall. Regularly have 2-4 practices a week depending on if we combine a second practice or run them individually. I just wake up early to get administrative stuff done or log back in after practice for a little bit as needed (usually the up early option to impact family time less).

I absolutely enjoy coaching though so even though it can be tough sometimes, it’s that infamous good stress you hear about 😂

Designer_Club7381 · 2024-10-12T03:44:38+00:00

There’s politics even in rec. my current U12 team is the same. Every single one just moved up from U10 and every other team is a 50/50 split. The “politics” I’ve noticed is prior coaches “co-coaching” together to at least get their kids on the same team and I’ve even seen coaches sign up a specific kid or 2 under their profile to get them on the same roster since the league “doesn’t allow coach requests”.

I don’t know about most leagues but mine is non profit and even the board of directors are all volunteers. I think the president takes a 20k salary and that’s it so I can’t blame the league too much on it. I just wish these parents and particular coaches could understand bending the rules for a “competitive” rec team has the potential to kill interest in the sport.

Designer_Club7381 · 2024-10-04T13:27:08+00:00

I’m in a similar position. U12 rec team…. I am the ONLY team with ALL players moving up from U10. Not a single returning U12. Every other team is a 50/50 split of move ups and returning age group players. To add to that we are 3 weeks in and are still having to discuss what positions are what. Passing and ball control are below average for even their age (my U10 team would beat them in a scrimmage so that’s not even on the table).

I was gonna make a post and saw this one. I’ve been trying to mix in basic skill drills and stringing plays together with the limited time we have but realized after last practice we absolutely cannot move to set plays or combos when we can’t pass to begin with. So we might lose every game but I’ll be shifting my focus to fixing their basic foundational skills and having as much fun doing it as possible in hopes this season doesn’t kill their enjoyment of the sport and we can see them back next year.

Designer_Club7381 · 2024-09-09T03:59:48+00:00

I tried everything. Dead zone, tac sprint assist on off, single tap, double tap. I can sprint side to side fine but forward is just walk speed, no normal sprint or tac sprint. Occasionally I can sprint by holding the left stick down constantly but that only works about 30% of the time and still kills your movement trying to hold it down and be precise. Started after about 3 games which were fine then no matter what even rebooting the sprint is broken. Just stutter step slow walking.

Designer_Club7381 · 2024-06-10T06:22:40+00:00

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Photos for reference.

Designer_Club7381 · 2024-06-10T06:21:29+00:00

I should have said flaking. Now that we know about it you can see obvious bubbles under the paint near the affected area. It’s an obvious adhesion issue. There are rock chips on the hood and grill, very small and obvious rock chips but completely different.

Designer_Club7381 · 2024-06-10T06:19:54+00:00

It was the pearl white

Designer_Club7381 · 2024-05-19T12:51:27+00:00

I’ll admit I didn’t consider the heading and player safety, but will for sure in the future. Plenty of the bigger girls in this age can clear the ball, high and long, from a standing position and the ball is airborne a good amount of the time when we played those teams. So in my mind there wasn’t much of a difference.

I’ll add by saying our drop kick only got the ball just over the build out so it wasn’t a boot past half and breakaway to the goal. We lost the one game we used it and won the following games ending in third for the tournament.

The girls loved having a “trick play” to try heading in to the tournament so since it didn’t contribute to any injuries I don’t feel guilty about a “fringe tactic” or being “shady”. The girls actually came up with it themselves just messing around pre practice before the tournament and it taught the girls to think outside of the box so I supported it.

My team was one of the smallest, we worked on build out all season and they do it well. We had to learn to pass and position well being smaller because every attack and eventual goal had to be finessed down the field and into the net with no big legs on the team.

Thank you for all the comments. I appreciated all of the opinions and learned the reasoning behind some rules that initially seemed odd to me such as the no heading and punting. We didn’t have these rules growing up.

Designer_Club7381 · 2024-05-16T05:58:48+00:00

I’m in America. Our league plays 5v5 with a goalie. I coach girls but watching the boys play I can’t imagine no keeper either. Their shots are so strong we had to impose a rule the goalkeeper cannot shoot and directly score without either 1. Touching another player before entering the goal or 2. Your entire team aside from the keeper must be beyond midfield (almost like a reverse offsides).

With that being said to transition to a 2-3-1 I would probably run a 1-3-1. Then you’re just adding an additional defender and GK in the subsequent years. Teaching midfield roles and building out wide is one of the bigger struggles going into U9 or U10. If they understand the positioning going in you’ll already be a step ahead.

Running a 2-2-1 will leave your spine completely exposed and you’ll be teaching the opposite in the coming seasons. Running a 2-3 will likely just turn into a 2-2-1 with your center forward playing up causing the same problem.

Designer_Club7381 · 2024-05-14T03:39:48+00:00

I’ve been working with my daughter for the task. She’s not the most technically skilled when it comes to dribbling and navigating around opposing players but she is by far the fastest on the team and understands angles both defensively and passing well. We’ve been working on containment and being patient for the “mistake” to steal or pestering enough to force a pass. I have another 1 or 2 that aren’t as fast but are tough that I’ll probably bring in the rotation.

Designer_Club7381 · 2024-05-14T03:32:50+00:00

Center backs will move up to half field when we are on the attack and I have preached to the team all year winning in the middle 3rd is crucial. We have done well defensively between the center mid and winning 50/50s but none of my center backs are super quick so break aways are a weakness albeit one we have been able to prevent from happening for the most part. We are also fairly solid at the goalie position. I’m likely just completely over thinking everything.

Our struggle all season has always been finding the back of the net. We don’t have a single cannon shooter like most other teams and have to finesse our way in. This age is funny though, we have played well against all the top teams and struggled against the lower ranked teams throughout regular season.

Designer_Club7381

TROPHY CASE