Be a Team Player
One of the areas that has always been challenging for me as a coach, as it pertains to defense, is teaching players the flat-back four defense. Now, I'm not one of those coaches that stays with one formation for every team that I coach. The formation that my teams play are based on the players that are on the team and what works best for their qualities. However, back to my original point, the flat-back four defense, has alway been an interesting area to coach. Interesting and often challenging. Obviously, the older players catch on much more quickly than the younger ones. But, there are still challenges at all levels; especially if the players have never played that style of defense before. Why is it so challenging? In my opinion, teaching the spacing and the movement of the flat-back four is the challenging part. Defensive minded players always want to go for the ball. They love the thrill of the chase. Then when you attempt to teach t...