How to become a better defensive Soccer player?

Modanoisgod: How to become a better defensive Soccer player?
Im coming up on only my second year playing soccer and im a junior in high school. Believe it or not ill probably wind up playing some Varsity for my school, but thats only because im very fast and very athletic and have picked up the kicking and handling of a soccer ball fairly quickly.

But like I need to understand the game better, particularly the defensive part of the game which is what I play. Just any tips you guys might have on certain game situations or maybe even a website would be all the more helpful.

Answers and Views:

Answer by Durval Smith
Watch as much soccer games as possible and pay more attention to defense.. Watch Itialian soccer games more because they place more emphasis on defense than any other country.. Trust me it will work

Answer by Valencianista
you might like to try watching as many matches as you can from big teams who’re known for playing excellent defence, you might learn alot from it…
and another way is playing with friends who’re excellent attackers, and this is the best way to practice being a better defender…

Answer by gangsterfm1000
just stand your ground. if your a defender your job is not to let the oponent score 😀
practise your tackling and also your slide tackling which can be helpfull in certain situations (just be careful)
also when your one on one with a player and they have the ball dont walk backwards instead walk side to side this makes it harder for them to pass (also wastes time and helps your team to go back)
dont try to go forwards all the time or they will counter attack and probably score a goal.
try to make the opponent with the ball go towards the sideline this means they dont have a scoring opertunity and they would have to cross it.
my last tip is if one on one to the player with the ball dont let them pass if they do pass …. well take them down lool :S (thats what i do) it slows the play down, but try not to be aggresive when taking them down or youll get a yellow card 😛

Answer by julio
i’m a defense and im good considering im 5’3 and im in high school what i do is keep my eye on the ball not the player the ball where the ball is you go be careful for the tricks but it helps alot and dont be scared to fight for the ball and as soon as you have the ball lift your head and look for a team mate you might want to take the ball a little farther than the guy you just took it from and then you can lob or just pass .and also let him come to you let him tire out

Answer by cheamilion
Defense is an interesting posistion, like all others.

You need to be able to read plays. Evaulate everything happening. Who has the ball? Is he any good? Can he hit a shot, and where from? Does he have a good pass?

Basicly everything you will do are based on these questions.

If the guy is good, then you can’t dive in head first. It is sometimes better to not worry about getting the ball, just to block a shot. We played a game last year, and the first ten minutes we kept diving in and stabbing, and got our butts kciked. Eventually we quit and just forced passes, and came back to draw 2-2 from being down 2-0.

You need to learn to block the shot and a pass.Stand kinda between the ball carrier and the goal, but if he has a pass get in the way of it at the same time.

Never ever be flat footed. Be on your heels all game, ready to sprint or turn at any time.

Communicate. Tell your mates whether you are gonna go after the guy with the ball, or whether you are gonna play support. And when the ball isnt near you, and your team is attacking, be yelling out drops, crosses, squares, shots or whatever they are.

Be ready to get hit. And don’t mind. You’ll have players who will body check you or whatever every chance you get. When this happens, you have to get up immediatly, and get back into posistion.

Overlap. If a team-mate comes into your zone, you take over his.

In 1v1 situations, don’t even bother getting the ball inless you’re 150% sure you can. Just slow him down.

At certain times, it is preferrable for you to kick the ball out if you get rushed. This gets your defense and midfielders time to get back to support.

(as much as i hate to say it, i’m a classy player i like to think) Play dirty. Grab a jersey, step on the kleets during corners, give a couple elbows, so whatever if the ref won’t call you for it. This will piss some people off, basicly taking them out of the game.

Know where you’re at, and defend accordingly. It’s ok to play rough, kinda shove a bit outside of the box, but when you’re within the 18, hands go down, absoultly ZERO pushing, shoveing, or anything that can get you called.

If the keeper ever comes out of the goal, and you’re currently doing nothing important you have to get into the goal. Even though you still can’t use your hands, a shot with someone in the goal is way more difficult then one without anyone in there.

Be confident, but don’t play around with the ball. When you get the ball, take control, and get in a posistion where you can start something. Don’t just immediatly kick it.

Take your chances, and prove you want the win. If nothing is being done offensivly, take your chances at times, and go make a shot yourself. (–I saw a girls game last year where ur forwards and mid’s were doing nothing, so one of our Defenders got pissed, went up with the ball after she got it, took a shot and scored. This fired everyone up, and we played great the rest the game.–)

Eh, sorry bout it being so long. Just think, I’m a midfielder, think about everything else i’d know if i actually played Defense…

Answer by matthew
alright snoop, its very simple wait till they make a mistake. it sounds stupid right. wrong! your playin with high schoolers not pros they will make a mistake u just be ready to pounce on the mistake. jockey them til the flub up just stay on your toes cause wen they mess up u need to capitalize whether by slide tackle or steal the ball. gl on ur games and have fun.