Hello All,
We have a playoff game this Saturday, October 24, against a team that I’ve scouted twice.
They play an older style formation pretty well. They have a deep sweeper, about 10-15 yards behind everyone.
Then 3 across the back line with a 6 right in front.
Then 2 offensive mids with 3 forwards.
Both times I saw them, no one ever pressed the sweeper. Leaving him alone to roam. He’s big and fast and cleans everything up. My thought is to mark/occupy him with my 9 and pinch in my 11 & 7 to press the outside backs. Then overlap them to death with my outside backs.
Also have my 8 & 10 overlap the wingers as well with the outside backs sliding into the center mid spots. Also in the offensive third, play into the feet of my 9 to hold and layoff to the 8, 10, 11, 7.
Lastly, I want to transition quickly through the Midfield pulling the sweeper to one side and pinging it across to the backside.
Any thoughts or suggestions on how to beat this system?
We’re x, they’re o.
Attached is a screenshot reply. It seems your opponent wants to play very narrow in order to dominate the center of the field. This gives you 4 areas to exploit: Both central flanks & both forward flanks. On offense I would look to play asymmetrical.
Get the ball into the flanks and utilize the spaces between the lines to work the ball forward through diagonal windows and overlapping runs. This would allow your team to exploit their unoccupied zones while at the same time stretching them laterally to open more space. Attacking in an asymmetrical shape will create chaos for a team that by its very shape is predicated on safety.
This should also neutralize the effectiveness of a sweeper because runs will come from wide and central areas. It also gives your team 2v1 opportunities on their sweeper.
@mobilecityfc
@danielworkman
https://www.dropbox.com/s/umzy93ti0ypwg7q/3four3-coaching-reply.png?dl=0
Intriguing strategy, Billy, & great additional thoughts by Daniel. Daniel, your schematic makes it very clear – well done! The only wee thing I would add, Billy, is to ensure that your attack is *not* predictable. Ensure your 9 has a clear idea as to the options available to him, particularly if your team can get the ball into feet to him when he’s got his back to goal in Zone 14. If he’s got at least 2, preferably 3 options available to him at all times, then their sweeper will be having nightmares soon enough. 🙂 HTH.