What's Your Take...
Direct Kicks
Recently I attended a WPSL CDSA Future's soccer match at Wesley College in Dover, DE. During the match there were of course fouls resulting in DIRECT and INDIRECT free kicks. On one of these occasions I was asked why the players were all bunched up at one side of the Penalty Box. I answered briefly, "Its a set play", and after the play, I explained why.
In the picture above, you can see almost the identical situation that we witnessed that night. So let me explain...The strategy of this play on an offensive note can vary from coach to coach so this is more like an overview of the play from both sides of the ball.
First - What do we see here? A few things, right? We see a wall, a crowd of players, and a player getting ready to kick the ball. Lets focus on the crowd of players first.
Why are they all bunched up? Its a set play. Here we have 6 attackers inside the penalty box rushing toward the goal. As the kicker is approaching the ball, the attackers start toward the goal. Some will head right to the mouth of the goal and some will head for a position in the box to set up for a rebound shot or a pass from a teammate. The idea here is to create traffic in front of the goalkeeper as the ball is in flight. What about offsides you say? Remember the rule about being offside. The player is offside when he/she is beyond the last defender before the ball is played in his/her direction. Once the ball is kicked in the direction of the goal or his/her direction, the attacking player between the goal and the last defender is not offside. The operative words here are "Once the ball is kicked in the direction of the goal or his/her direction". If the ball is kicked to the side of the player kicking the ball before its kicked in the direction of the goal or one of the attacking players (in this case - one of the attackers in the penaly box), and an attacker is between the goal and the last defender, he/she is offside. But that's enough of that... It's always up to the referee or linesman's judgement.
Creating traffic in front of the goal on a free kick in the field is just as important as making an attacking run on a corner kick. Scoring a goal is the object of the exercise and not allowing the goalie to see the ball greatly increases the percentage of scoring opportunity. Depending on where the ball is kicked, the attackers react accordingly to their set positions for the play.
In this example, it appears that the kicker will place the ball toward the middle or right (top side of picture) side of the goal. Being a left footed kicker, its likely that this will be a direct shot on goal, bending the ball around the wall. But why a shot on goal? Its a Direct kick. Only one person needs to touch the ball. How do I know this? Look at the referee in the middle of the picture... If it were an Indirect kick, his arm would be up until a second player touches the ball. Where you place your attacking players after the kick is taken is totally up to you, but ideally you would want 2 in the goal, 2 on the outside, and 2 hanging back near the 18.
Now lets take another look at the picture again now that we can visualize what will happen once the ball is kicked.
Why has the defense created a wall so far out?Whenever you're against a Direct Kick, your defense should make a wall. The number of players in the wall should be dictated by the goalkeeper but explained and practiced during your practice sessions. It is important for your players to understand how many people should be in the wall and who should be in the wall depending on where the kick is placed. In this example, I would bet that the wall consists of either, 1 midfielder and 2 forwards, or 2 midfielders and 1 forward.
- This is a professional team
- This is a medium to high percentage scoring area
- The wall helps to cut down the angle of the kick
Why? Who better defends against forwards? Defenders. The wall is made as an obstacle. The kick being so far out; there is no need for a defensive back to "get in the wall". ( This is not an official term, but one that may be heard from time to time. The meaning is simple and usually yelled by the coach or goalkeeper. It means that the player needs to hustle and become part of the wall. ) Your own preferences as a coach will dictate how you set up different walls on the pitch and what types of angles you want to cut down. So I won't bother you about how to set them here, because I probably have a different method and reasoning for how I have my players set up than you.
As you've read this you should have seen something else in the picture...
The two players that are parallel to the kicker. For coaches of U6 - U10 maybe even U12 teams this might be a new concept: The Outlet.
The closest player to the kicker is the outlet. This is a subtle strategy that is not often used at the lower age groups. The concept here is that... if the kicker feels that the attackers are out numbered, won't gain a good position on the defenders, the crowd of players is too thick for a good scoring opportunity, the wall is too wide for the angle, the kicker chooses to kick the ball to the outlet. This gives the kicker the opportunity to turn a poor scoring opportunity into a moderate to good one. Once the outlet player has the ball, the defenders must spread out with their "mark" or commit to the ball carrier. In this way the attackers would "stretch the field" and play for a better scoring opportunity. Being that there are two players parallel to the kicker, if he (the kicker), chooses to uses the outlet, they (the attacking team) would exploit the weak side of the pitch.
Happy Coaching!