CLEARING THE BALL
With a hyper-focus on “building out of the back” these days, the concept of “clearing the ball” as a defender often gets frowned upon, however, it’s often the smart play. Sure, maintaining possession in your defensive third, as opposed to just booting the ball up field, is definitely the right strategy, but giving the ball away to an attacker in front of your goal is the quickest way to end up on the bench. Put it this way, an intelligent coach should never yell at a defender for kicking the ball up field when they’re under serious pressure.
How many times has a defender tried to play out of the back only to get intercepted by a smart attacker who is anticipating the pass? Too many. Just ask everyone’s favorite punching bag, Harry Maguire, who often gets cited for poor play out of the back. However, poor Harry frequently gets set up for disaster. His teammates, and especially his former goalkeeper, David de Gea, pass him the ball when he’s clearly covered instead of playing it safe and clearing the ball up the field. Check out this video of Manchester United trying to play out of the back in the very first clip. They give the ball away, which leads to a goal for the opponent. This is just stupid soccer.
Just like you don’t want to receive a pass when an attacker is right next to you, your teammate doesn’t want to be put in that same situation either. Therefore, you must gain the awareness to know who’s the best option. Nevertheless, even after meticulously surveying the field and establishing a mental image of your teammates’ positions (sight picture), there are instances when you receive the ball under pressure, only to realize that the teammate you initially considered as a passing option is no longer available. Do you force the pass to them just so you can play it out of the back? No, you clear it up the field to an area where you last remember a teammate was located.
Definition: Building Out Of The Back
Building Out Of The Back in soccer refers to the intentional strategy of initiating an attack from the defensive zone, usually involving the goalkeeper and defenders. The objective is to maintain possession, advance the ball methodically, and bypass opponents’ pressure by using short, precise passes and coordinated movement. This approach aims to create more controlled and structured attacking opportunities from the back of the field.
EX.01
Play Simply
Translation: Don’t Make Unforced Errors
You may hear your coach proclaim that he wants your team to “play simply.” But what your coach is really trying to say is “don’t try and do too much” that will result in losing possession or committing an unforced error. Often times when you try and thread a pass between two opponents, instead of delivering a safe pass to your wide open teammate, it will get intercepted. If this happens, you just made an unforced error. And guess who’s going to be more frustrated about this than you? Your coach. Continually making unforced errors on the field will result in only one thing: spending more time on the bench.
★ Smarter.Soccer Insight: Playing Simply doesn’t mean play boring soccer — it means playing smarter soccer.
Play Smart
Play Smart
