Teaching defending in U10/7v7 - new video
Those who know me here already know where I'm going, but I'll continue anyways... 😛
Just like coaching the attacking phase with the ball, I think the 1-2-3-1 is the best way to also coach the defensive side of the game for early learners.
Even the most balanced game, teams have the ball 50%, so while I agree that much of your time should be spent with the ball developing those skills, it would be wrong to ignore a whole side of the game.
As I stress on the attacking side (combining form and function with technical skills) the same can be done on the defensive side.
Every position has a role and responsibility, and those roles need specific skills that can be taught and modeled in the 1-2-3-1, and all transfer to the 11v11 game, but in a smaller, limited setting of 7v7.
From these roles, you can then focus on the specific defending skills each role needs over the 2 years to help develop your players fully.
For me, that's:
1 - Keeper as sweeper up and out of the box to compress the open space behind the 4/5
4/5 - Learning to work as a partnership, pushing up and across the field together, defending as a pair
7/11 - Using the sideline, defending 1v1 (flip side of attacking 1v1)
8 - Controlling the center, helping every adjacent position and knowing when to take over from one role to another (delay, jockeying)
9 - defending from the front, start the press, cut the field, defend the center backs to make possession harder. (curving your run, early press, awareness of situation)
New video has details on my approach and thoughts in 7v7 as I continue to refresh my content in that format for the season - lots of bookmarks so if you're looking to focus on one particular area at a time, it can serve as a reference: https://youtu.be/mBiXUlaPEWc