Soccer Edition 60

Welcome to the Soccer Newsletter.  Today’s subject will deal with beating an offsides trap.

As more and more teams are playing flat across the back, it is becoming much easier for them to step up into an offsides trap or even to simply step up into support which will put many teams offsides (see http://finesoccer.com/soccer_edition_58.htm for information on stepping up defensively).  Teams that are unprepared to beat a team that steps up like this are bound for many, many losses.

Beating a team that steps up hard is actually quite simple provided there is the proper mindset.  The first thing to understand is that there are good offsides and bad offsides.  If a player is caught offsides because she is lazy and didn’t bother to come back onsides when a ball is cleared, that is most definitely a bad offsides.  However, an aggressive run by an outside midfielder that results in an offsides because the player with the ball might have taken an extra touch on the ball is actually quite acceptable and I would consider it to be a good offsides.  What is the difference?  In the first example, the player will be caught offsides every time she does it and there is no positive that can come from this action.  In the second example, while the runner might have been caught this time, the next time, when the player with the ball is ready for the run, she will be onsides and through for a breakaway.  I remember a game I was coaching where we played a team that used a really ridiculous offsides trap.  We were caught offsides 10 times throughout the game, but won 8-0 because each time we timed our runs properly, we were on a breakaway.  This opposing coach looked so proud of himself whenever we were caught offsides but never realized that he had taken a good team and turned them into a bad team simply by not understanding the consequences of an offsides trap (I wont get into the fact that this so called coach is an A Licensed coach and director of coaching of a big club).  Once you have the proper mindset that aggressive offsides can be ok, then the next step is to know how to use this.

The key to beating an offsides trap is to realize that the forwards should NOT be standing on the last defender waiting for the ball to be played and then run onto it.  This is the way I see most players try to beat it and it really is quite ineffective.  First of all, by looking back to the ball, they cannot see the last defender, which makes it very easy for them to step up one more time and catch them offsides.  If this forward is fortunate to be onsides, the defender will be closer to the ball then the attacker when it’s played overtop which will result in the defender having a better chance of winning this ball.  The better way to handle an offsides situation is for the forwards to check back to the ball, which will allow the forwards to stay onsides, and have the midfielders run through. By doing this, the forward can receive the ball at her feet and if she turns, there is only one defender to beat since the backs are playing flat.  Even better, the forward can receive the ball at her feet and one touch it back to a center midfielder who then finds another midfielder who is making an aggressive diagonal run forward.  The reason for making this a diagonal run is that a straight run forward will most likely put you offsides before the ball is played through to you.  By running diagonal you can stay onsides and if there is an extra touch or two, you can even bend your run so that you are running along this last line of defense. By doing this combination, you have the backs stepping up with the forward, the ball played to the forward which will really get them defense flat, the ball is played back to a center mid which will allow the backs to relax a bit and then the midfielder who is making the diagonal run forward will be going against a flat, relaxed backfield.  With proper timing, this three-person combination becomes a very easy way to beat an offsides trap.

The next way to beat an offsides trap is to simply have a midfielder or back dribble through the offsides trap.  While the opposition is stepping up waiting for the pass to catch someone offsides, they frequently forget to stop the person dribbling the ball.  By simply pushing the ball through the last line of defense and running onto it (the person who pushed the ball through runs onto it not anyone else) the defense could have everyone else on the field offsides but since there was no pass, there is no offsides.  This is best used when the defense is in the middle of really stepping up hard as their momentum going right at the dribbler will make it nearly impossible for them to stop and change directions quickly to defend this dribbler once he is through this last line of defense.

Beating an offsides trap is NOT a difficult thing to do.  It simply requires patience, discipline and the proper mind set.

One of the keys to beating an offsides trap is to NOT wait for the game to deal with this situation. Practicing for this situation will make your life a lot easier.

Remember that this newsletter as well as all of the others is archived online at http://finesoccer.com.  

Any questions, comments or suggestions should be sent to comments@finesoccer.com or feel free to visit the FineSoccer Forum at http://finesoccer.com/forum.htm and post them there.

Have a great day.

Lawrence