by Matthew Adams

Created on: August 04, 2010   Last Updated: November 11, 2010

Defending in soccer is what can really make the difference to a soccer team's results. A team that concedes a few goals a game will find it hard to win matches consistently. As such, some coaches put more emphasis on defending than actually going forward.

Overall, defending in soccer is all about stopping the opposition from scoring goals. As such, the playing position of the defender requires lots of tackling which will then win the ball back for their team, and potentially prevent the opposition from scoring a goal. Tackling can be either on the feet, or alternatively sliding tackles where players slide in and take the ball from the forward players.  Overall, it is important that tackles are clean and timed well, so as to not foul another player and give away a penalty or free-kick close to goal.

Tackling aside, defenders are also required to mark the opposition players. Marking requires that players close down the forward players. There are really two types of marking in the game of soccer. These are man-marking and zonal mark. The main difference between these two types of marking is that man-marking requires that a specific player is marked, while zonal marking requires that zones of the pitch are covered.

Aside from this, other requirements of defenders is that of positioning. In a way, this is linked to marking and requires that each of the team's defenders are well positioned in and around their own penalty box. With this, the opposition players should not have that much space to pass and score goals for their team.

Overall, defending also requires a little team-work. Defenses need to be well organized. A well organized defense will be difficult for the opposition team to break down.

In terms of organizing defenders, soccer teams have a specific number of defenders for defending. This depends on the type of team formation selected by the team manager. Overall, there are two main types of defense in soccer.

The flat-back four is the most standard number of defenders used by teams today. These include two center-backs, who play in the penalty box, and then two full-backs who defend the left and right side of the pitch and can also push further forward to support the midfield more.

The main alternative to a flat-back four is a back three. The back three does not include full-backs, but instead makes use of three center backs with two man-marking. The lack of full-backs is a weakness, so sometimes the two wide midfield players can track back more and provide further cover for defending. One variation of the flat-back three is the sweeper whereby the middle defender drops very deep and then plays the ball out of defense.

So, to play defense in soccer most teams will either make use of four or three defenders. Then, these defenders are used to firstly mark the opposition players, close-down, and then also tackle and win back the ball if required. Effective defending will give the opposition few clear chances at goal, and so reduce the number of goals conceded.

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