Im playing as a left back and im always confused when this situation happens. This happens to me in the past but i always manage to turn and cover up the space behind. But now im playing against a better team... i guess its at a diff level, last time when i concede space like this, the striker won't create much but if higher level u give the striker a bit of space and hes gonna punish you.



In this case, im the left back on the outer left most and i keep getting fooled like this all the time. The forward will be standing right on the last line so hes not gonna be offside. And i will have a problem becoz i have to focus on both the player wif ball and the runner. The ball holder will give a pass in between me and the centre back and the forward will collect it behind. If hes positioning is good, it wont be offside. The centre back didnt give me any hint to play offside trap but we are all standing on one straight line.

I know i shud follow the runner but not after he cross the last line. But thats gonna be damn hard isn't it ?

sometimes i try to anticipate the pass but its not easy to intercept it, and once u fail, that forward will run freely down all the way to your goal.

How do i deal with this kind of situation.

I salute you for opening this thread up. I shows you have so much interests in football to the point that you researching to encounter the problem.

I don't have much to say, but i think it is not only you who having this problem but world class team too as i see they are struggling too.

The main things you need to be aware is the how is the whole team's effort in defending, you can't do all defending by yourself. World class team's player always tracking back the opponent during opponents attacking not only the defenders but even the strikers.

It's all about team work mate, football is about team work. I hope it helps.

u need to focus on the striker besides you. let ur centreback deal with the thru pass. try defending posture with ur right hand side of body slightly bend over to right side.

so even if it is the thru pass, u still be able to turn ur body to run to intercept and able to guard the striker at ur left side.

Echo what maxizanc above says. It's a common problem, and requires the team to defend well... starting from the defensive midfielders whose job is to prevent the opposition midfielder from making the thru pass in the first place. I hope you have a Lucas or Mascherano in your team.

It's okay if the cb can read the game well, but if he commits too much, a wide gap will open in the middle.
There might not be a through pass after all, a shot on goal might be

Just my 2 cents.

try to adapt paolo maldini defensive style..one of the greatest LB....try to watch him play..but first important thing is teamwork and good communication between all defence.

Its not ok to say its hard to def hence its ok just leave it, if ur opponent do this all the time how? die liao

This is the time where u have to be very alert..
I'm playing as a left back too and whenever this going to happen, I will shout "UP" so that the rest of the defenders will move forward and make him offside.

But of course it's not all the time they will be caught offside..so u always have to anticipate that he's not offside after the pass, whether he's clearly offside or not, this is the time where u need to turn around and chase him like mad cow. If he's offside, u will hear the whistle later on. If no then u just have to continue chase and pressure him.


Its not all the time that only the center back must be the one who give hint on playing offside trap. U too can do it and most important its all about understanding and communications between the defenders.

This post has been edited by Predator10: Oct 9 2010, 02:35 AM

you need a breaker to break the flow of the ball from the mid, usually the center back or def midfielder. Just like everyone said here, the strategy of defending is taking a team not an individual. But if the situation is like you draw, your center back is making a mistake, he should approach the the guy with the ball so both you and the right back can follow up to set the striker for an offside. One note that you should always remember: you should never let a playmaker approaching freely to your defensive area, your picture really annoys me because i dont see a midfielder there to guard the area lol..

You need a stopper.

The CB should press the attacker and you should just mark the runner.

either u or the cb must go close down the guy who is gonna pass the ball. Make the angle tight, hard for ball to go thry (this is the job of the fellow closing down). IF u choose to let CB close down, u will have to cover the outside winger n deal with the thru ball. Worse case scenario, both u n CB do nothing, let the winger go pass easy. Need a bit of understanding in defence about who does what. Doing offside would require more coordination, dunno what level of understanding n training ur def had so can't suggest that. Worse come to worse, if both of u n cb does not do the closing down, n u let him pass, dun try to follow the fellow coming from the side. He would have gotten a head start on sprinting/ hard to get up to speed to stop him. (unless u r an ashley cole or evra).Always try to intercept/deflect the pass (maybe can get corner or GK can pick up loose ball).

Another good tip ... try not to square up to the opponent. dun stand facing ur opponent, try to get ur body facing the ur own goal slightly sideway just enuf to keep an eye on the passer, good for timing n easier to get into position to intercept. If u square up, harder to do that, turning n reacting etc.

This post has been edited by calvin_yit: Oct 9 2010, 04:44 AM

you have another 3 defenders to cover you plus another one from DM (assuming you play with 4 at the back).if you+your CB partner couldn't intercept the ball,one of the solution is to ask the other CB to at least close the space for the forward to make him hard to score/cross;and you+your CB partner can go to the center and cover that area.

i play as CB though.me and my team always back each other and cover the space when either one of us left our area.

my 2 cents.

I assume you are fast, that's why you become a left back. It's shouldn't be a problem if you are faster than the striker besides you.

or ask your coach to use tactic asking the left winger in your team help defending

hm....
agree with sickx.....
i used to play right back and left back during my playing time.
whenever this happen, my CB will try to cover my position while i try to cover his place, since i was not fast enough.
but in this case, u have to have a good CB that can read game fast, and also good communication among all defender.
so, the most important things is communication and cooperation among defender.....
really miss playing as a defender...

drop deep. dont play with offside trap if you notice that your opponent is faster than you. park all the four defender in front of the goal. urge the midfielder to close down.
as for you as the left back, marking with extra tight. so that when the ball is passed at the striker feet between you and the striker the space is not that far.
this is what i do usually.

cant.... standing squarely, if that forward is fast centre back also he can outrun.

All superb player has two good feet. Practice your right foot. Maldini is 2 footed , Andreas Brehme ( Germany ) leftback but score the world cup 1990 final penalty against Argentina with his right foot!! Imagine that !! he is a natural leftback !!

Good Luck

Lb move forward...DM will cover him...that usually happen at Chelsea...but if the DM march forward also..left CB will cover...

I would move closer to my CB. This would give the opponent less space to make a through pass. Most probably he will go for a direct pass, opening up to the byline.

I think in this case maybe the left midfielder or one of the defensive midfield need to track back because they let you solely doing the defending. Or maybe you can improve your anticipation skill. I'm not an expert but a good defender can read and intercept pass and opponent movement. What are your role in fullback? Are you an attacking like Evra or more of defending like fullback in Holland national team?