7v7 Soccer Defensive Continuity — Tactics and Coaching Tips
How to create Defensive Continuity in 7v7 Soccer?
Learn when defenders should move up the field—and how to balance supporting the attack while staying ready to protect the goal.
Key Takeaways
- Protect the Goal – A defender’s first responsibility is to protect the goal, but they can also move forward to support attacking plays when safe.
- 10 Yards from Midfield – As the team moves up, defenders must close the space between themselves and the midfield to avoid leaving large gaps for counterattacks.
- Adjust to the Ball - Good defensive continuity means always staying connected with teammates, adjusting position based on ball location, and being ready to quickly track back.
Full Video Transcript
I get asked all the time, how far can I move up the field as a defender? Today I'm going to share with you some ideas where you should move up the field in different situations.
As a defender in soccer, your main job is to stop the other team from scoring goals, but sometimes you can move forward to help your team try to score a goal. Just remember your first job is to protect the goal. So don't go too far forward and always be ready to run back to defend if the other team gets the ball.
As our team moves forward, there's a bigger space between our attackers and our defenders. The bigger the space is, the more dangerous it is for our team to lose the ball. To support our attacking players, our defenders should move into a space that's 10 or 15 yards away from our attackers. This gives our attackers an option to pass backwards to maintain possession.
If our attackers lose the ball, the first five seconds are an important opportunity to win the ball back before the other team gets their attack organized. Since our defender is nearest to the ball, they should challenge the player with the ball and try to win it back. If they are successful, we can quickly restart the attack.
Quiz question: Our striker has the ball and we're moving forward on the attack. So what should our defenders do? If you said that the defender should move up the field until they are 10 or 15 yards from the midfield, you are correct.
Did you see that when our defenders moved up, they were not next to each other in a line? In our next video, we will learn how defense can help our attack while also creating layers of defense.