We love football. We love small sided football. And we also love tips that help us improve our weekly game. This is why we have provided some tips on how you can be a little more confident when it comes to 2v1 defending.

We are confident that most people would agree that defending isn’t an easy task, so when you have to defend on your own and it’s against two players, the difficulty increases. If you have never been in this situation in real life but play FIFA, you will know exactly how frustrating this is. Not only that, you understand that the odds are not in your favour. In addition, they normally happen on the break and if you have a team that do not track back, the odds become even worse.

2v1 situations are difficult, it’s how goals are scored most of the time in 5-a-side so how do you defend when you are put into this position? Surprisingly, there is a few tips to help you block out the attack and make it harder for the attacking team to score.

Position

“Goalside! Keep ‘em goalside!” is probably a phrase you have heard often. It’s true though, try to keep as central as possible. More than likely the two players will want to link up to make it easier to score and make you look like a headless chicken. Keep your cool and keep between the two because you will make it harder for the team to link together or, in other cases, cut into “goalside”.
Many situations however you will find yourself closer to one player than the other. If that’s the case you should never try to move into the centre. Always close down your nearest player quickly to stop any form of link up play.

Block the Lanes

Much like your position, it’s important to block any passing routes your opposition may be showing. Look for both players run’s and watch any open passes that could be made however, it is important that you do not rely on just blocking these lanes.

Without committing fully, make your opposition believe you are committing by staying on your toes. The quicker your feet, the quicker you will be able to defend the pass or press the player.

We know that this situation is difficult, we have been there many times but as mentioned, it’s important you give the attacker the eyes. When doing so, you may actually give your team enough time for a mate to come back in to help. WAIT until your defender has crossed the passing lane though, you don’t want to be throwing away all the hard work you have put in.

Pressing the Player

Eventually you will need to bite the bullet and just go full steam ahead; stick a foot in, take the ball, stop the play. But when do you do it? Its 2v1 remember and if we politely remind you again, the odds are never in your favour.

Timing. It’s all about making sure you have the right moment. Unfortunately there is no magic moment, it’s just about making the perfect decision at the perfect time. Think of it as manually inputted luck. Our findings? Well we would say go for it when you see a player make a mistake such as a heavy touch or a bouncing ball. This will make the opposition panic and try to reach for the ball, more than likely causing another error and allowing the play to slow down a little.

With this and our 5-a-side tips blog, we hope that you will take this new found knowledge to the pitch. If it worked for you then let us know on our social channels: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram.

 

Good luck!