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AYSO Area 11V

Game Strategies for Coaches

My team is overwhelming the other team .....
Do I play keep away?, Do I yell at my kids not to score? Am I going to lose team points if I keep scoring?
No, No, maybe yes ...more than that do you really want to crush your neighbor's kids

What should you do ?
Recognize when the game is in hand, usually at 3 or 4 goal lead

You could chose 1 player to be shooter, perhaps one who has never scored or get to be upfront

Or even better, have your team pass the ball back to the sweeper and have that player restart your offense going to the designated shooter which if they miss, the ball goes back to sweeper again, sweeper gets 1 touch=shooter gets one shot

Why is that better, for one your not losing team points or humiliating the other side;
more importantly you are teaching your team a new tactic  by learning to play the ball backwards

and letting the sweeper switch the field

My team always seems to be playing defense in front of the goal....
Two part problem
1) 
Selection of players for positions, often coaches put their best player upfront; but the longer you coach
the more you recognize, the Midfielders do the heavy work for team. They should be durable, good defenders unafraid of
contact, and handle the ball well
2) Change some of the responsibilities for your players, forwards need to start on defense the moment they missed their shot, defenders are laying wait back be the goalkeeper, they should be tracking their players not ball diving, are the midfielders being aggressive enough to challenge the other team
3) Of course there are more parts to the solution than 2, remember back in training we talked about exit plans for the ball....you should still have one and it should go further down the field

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