tactics

Futsal

Futsal Formations: The Basics

This article was written by Chris Rue, Rush Soccer’s Global Futsal Manager.

“Soccer is about mastering all aspects of the game and futsal does just that.”
Keith Tozer, USYF Technical Director.

Futsal is a fantastic complement to a developing soccer player as it continuously places players in difficult situations in all areas of the court. The ability for a player to recognize and adapt to this environment is paramount to their success. The coach’s understanding of their player’s strengths and weaknesses and those of the opponent is vital. The strategy and chosen formation for a particular game will play a large part in determining the success or failure of the team. Physical and technical attributes of your players should be considered when determining the formation of the team. Whether playing a 2-2, 3-1, 1-2-1, 2-1-1, 4-0 or flying GK, individual player characteristics can either enhance or detract to the desired result.

Futsal positions constantly change throughout the match; however, the standard positions are GK, Fixo (center defender), left and right Ala (wing players), and Pivot (striker) each having their own technical, tactical and physical characteristics. The most basic formation, 2-2 or square, is the easiest for a young, developing player to understand. Two players in attack and two in defense. This formation is very static without much interchange of positions, so it is easier to comprehend.

The 3-1 formation allows for the positions of Fixo, left Ala, right Ala and Pivot to be defined. This formation is another relatively easier one for young players but requires the left and right Alas to provide support in the attack and defense, which requires certain physical characteristics to achieve success.

The 1-2-1 diamond formation is a great tool for teaching the game as it provides width and depth in a fluid manner. Similar to the 3-1, this system also identifies with the standard futsal positions.

The 2-1-1 or Y formation is a more advanced system that requires a strong central player whose technical attributes and game IQ to be on point.

The 4-0 is a very difficult system to master both technically and physically, but one that players should be introduced to at an early age. It requires constant movements and positional interchanging that can lead to transitional problems when the ball is lost.

The flying GK system is typically introduced when a team is down a goal and time is running out. It adds an attacker to a team but eliminates the GK. Usually, teams will add a field player and remove the GK to truly give a power play advantage.

The beauty of futsal and why it is the ideal soccer development tool, is that in order to be successful, players need to be able to interchange and play all positions. As Zlatan says, “I can play in the 11 positions because a good player can play anywhere.” There is no hiding in the 5v5 game model. The fundamental ideas are to defend without the ball and attack with the ball. The transition moments occur often and are extremely fast. Defensive sins, like ball watching, are punished immediately and attacking brilliance is rewarded just as fast. Whichever system you choose will have its strengths and weaknesses but should ultimately be determined by your players technical abilities, tactical understanding and physical attributes as well as the oppositions’.

January 10, 2022

Coaching · News · Tactical

The Rush Coaching Manual (U13+): Three Zones Game To Press Up High

Find the full ‘Three Zones Pressing Game’ activity on The Rush Coaching Manual!

Play this three zones game to get many repetitions and opportunities to press up high!

GAME PHASE & COLLECTIVE ACTION

DEFENDING, PRESS: Deny Build Up. Regain the ball or prevent opponent from breaking first line of pressure.

ORGANIZATION & DESCRIPTION:

Make a 60 x 44 field with a five yards zone in the middle from one goal to top of the center circle (box width) and divide the players in three teams of five with two goalkeepers.

The game starts with one team playing out of the back. That team needs to keep possession for six seconds (starting to count when the first defending player steps on their zone) to be able to play the ball to the team on the opposite side of the field. The remaining team is in charge of pressing, but can only cross four out of the five players. The remaining player has to stay in the middle zone trying to intercept the ball.

If the team pressing wins the ball back, the five players are allowed to finish it as quickly as possible trying to score in the zone they’re pressing. If they fail to win it back, they reorganize crossing four players to the opposite zone to restart the press. When the ball goes out of bounds, the team that lost it presses on the opposite zone. The team pressing earns points from scoring and the others from managing to escape the press and playing to the other zone.

KEY COACHING POINTS (PICK TWO-THREE MAX FOR ONE SESSION):

Together! Pressing is a collective, team action. When we go, we all go!
Cues to Pressure: Apart from specific situations (like a goal kick), recognize bounces, bad first touches, technically poor players, and opponents playing back to goal as individual cues for pressuring.
No foul! Avoid the foul when you’re pressuring, you’re solving the problem for them when you do.
Lead to ‘hotspots’: Define where we want to lead their play to apply high pressure, where the ‘hotspots’ will be. There are many ways of doing this. That’s up to you coach to decide.
Shadow Press: As the first defender in the press, utilize a curved approach that removes a passing line and offer a pressing direction to the rest of the team. This approaching run most frequently attempt to lead play to the sideline and ‘cut the field in half vertically’ but that’s not a rule and fully depends on the coach’s pressing strategy.
Find the man on the strong side, balance on the weak side: If the first defender ‘cuts the field in halves vertically’, the team behind should quickly identify the strong side (where play is being led to) and the weak side (the opposite side). On the strong side we need to quickly apply pressure over every passing option, while on the weak side we balance, adopting intermediate marking positions.

Find Guided Q&A, Activity Animation and Additional Comments on The Rush Coaching Manual!

October 28, 2021

Coaching

Starting With ‘Play’ – By Megan McCormick

Megan is Rush Soccer’s Coach Education Consultant & Lead on The Rush Female Coaches Alliance.

The single most common question I get working with young players:

“Coach, when are we going to play?”

Why not answer the question before they even have a chance to ask it? Not only will it save the explanation that everything we do at training is actually “playing”, there are also plenty of significant learning and developmental benefits to starting with play (the game). To name a few obvious ones:

Players are excited to arrive to training.
No need to wait for stragglers. Players are immediately engaged and can burn off excited energy.
Coaches can observe to tailor and adjust the session’s coaching points to player needs.
“Free” play increases opportunities for decision making and creativity similar to street soccer or pickup.

There are also some, in my opinion, more deeply compelling reasons to start a session with some form of play. (Be it 2v2, 4v4, or in this case full 7v7.) I want to share a few that helped shift my firm commitment to progressive sessions into a borderline evangelical belief in starting with the “game”.

Finishing with “success”

Performance and execution is often best at the beginning of a traditional “progressive” session. As activities become more complex, we expect to see more struggle and failure. This can leave young players feeling frustrated as success decreases through the session. Utilizing a “play practice play” or “whole part whole” structure can allow players to experience increased success at the end of a session compared to the initial play phase. The result for young players can be an increased sense of accomplishment and keen awareness of the impact of effective coaching. Players walk to the parking lot feeling like they improved and motivated to return to the training environment.

Increasing the value of coaching

What we know from education research is that people are more likely to tune in and retain information that is immediately useful for them. A quick example:

In February 2020, I knew NOTHING about the importance of incident rates and average test positivity when tracking a virus… let alone how a community achieves herd immunity. The information has always been there, and yet, I found very little reason in the past to give it more than a passing glance. And here I am, a year later, writing COVID-19 protocols for a soccer club.

Players behave the same way. If they are finding mostly success as a task or activity starts simple, they have little reason to tune in and pay attention to coaching. Starting with the game allows coaches to pose questions and point out challenges, allowing players freedom to explore and experience failure. This can make them more likely to pay close attention and work to implement coaching points that could turn their failure into success.

Replicating the structure (chaos) of the game

The most chaotic and complex minutes in soccer games often occur when? The beginning. In my experience, this is especially true with young players as they settle into their positions, navigate relationships with teammates, and take stock of the opponent. A progressive session structure moves from simple to complex and systematically introduces challenge and complexity (i.e. direction, an opponent, etc.). However, we know intuitively this is not how players will experience the game on Saturday. Introducing a scrimmage or play at the beginning of a session can support a player’s ability to jump straight into the chaos and build the habit of working to immediately solve problems. The player’s mental and physical experience throughout the week will more closely mirror what they are likely to experience during the weekend.

In conclusion, there is certainly no one-size-fits-all solution when it comes to developing young people. Increasing the number of tools at our disposal as coaches increases the likelihood we will be able to meet the needs of the players in front of us. Session structure is one of those tools, so regardless of your comfort with play-practice-play, I challenge you to take it for a spin and look for signs of the benefits listed above.

February 9, 2021