Attacking Soccer:
Looking for Numbers Up Situations

Welcome to the Soccer Newsletter. Today's subject deals with numbers up situations.

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So much of playing successful soccer is dependent on creating and taking advantage of numbers up situations but not enough time seems to be spent on learning how to do this.

Defensively, numbers up situations are easy to understand. Most teams, if the opponent has 2 forwards will keep at least 3 players back to mark
them (giving them one more defender than the opponent has attackers). If the opponent has 3 forwards most teams will keep 4 players back. By
doing this not only can the defenders mark all of the attackers but they can also provide support as well. If an attacker has the ball and is isolated
1 v 1 on a defender out wide, many teams will then send a second defender over to provide coverage (or support) which then creates a 1 v 2 situation in favor of the defense which is the numbers up situation the defense wants.

Offensively, good teams constantly probe for the opportunity to create a 2 v 1 or 3 v 2 numbers up situation. By doing this, they have the advantage
instead of the defense.

How does the offensive team create a numbers up situation if the defensive team is trying to do the same thing? Using the example above where an attacker with the ball is isolated 1 v 1 with a defender, before the defending team can send a second player to provide support, if the attacking team can have a back overlap around the player with the ball, the numbers go from 1 v 1 to 2 v 1 which is the numbers up situation the attacking team is looking for.

Since the defending team is always looking to have at least one more defender than the other team has attackers the key is for the attacking team to stay spread out to create these opportunities for numbers up for the attacking team. If the attacking team has the ball wide on their left
side and the defending team has numbers up there so that there are 2 attackers and 3 defenders on that side, if the attacking team can switch the point of attack by playing the ball quickly to their right side chances are the attacking team can create a numbers up situation (or at the very
least an even numbers situation) on that side. The reason for this is that since both teams have the same number of players on the field, if the
attacking team is attacking as a unit (instead of just with 2 or 3 players) there is no way for the defending team to have numbers up on both sides of the field at the same time.

The more a defending team can stay compact (meaning all of their players playing close together usually through the middle of the field
but constantly shifting) the easier it is for them to work together and keep numbers up in the dangerous parts of the field. As soon as they get
spread out (players chasing from side to side) they lose their numbers advantage. The more an attacking team can spread out (and get the defense to spread out with them) the greater their chances for numbers up situations. Many times, the team that wins this battle between the defense trying to stay compact and the attack trying to spread out will be the team to win the game.

The next time you get to watch a high level game, watch the battle for numbers closely and see how the real game of soccer is won (and lost).

Any questions, comments or suggestions should be sent to Lawrence@finesoccer.com or they can be posted on the FineSoccer Forum at http://finesoccer.net

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Have a great day!

Lawrence

P.S.   Looking for numbers up situations is part of the mental game of soccer. To learn a lot more about how to be successful with the mental and psychological part of soccer and life, check out SoccerAtEase at http://finesoccer.com/socceratease.com
 

  Web Administrator    Ken Gamble