8v5 Attacking – Common Problems & Solutions

Below are the most common problems you will likely face along with solutions in terms of coaching points and advice for your players. If you encounter other problems, please post details in the comments on this page and your issue will be addressed.

8v5 Attacking:

Problem: Attacking team not getting to goal enough 

Solution: Encourage your players to focus on the wide areas where they can create 2v1 overlaps and should have a lot of space. The defending team will find it difficult to defend in wide areas with less players and their focus will likely be on defending the goal and central area of the field. If your players can create openings in wide areas, they can then cut in towards goal and cross the ball across the face of goal or cut it back for a shot from an oncoming player.

Problem: Defending team getting beat too often and conceding too many goals

Solution: It is vital that you encourage the defensive players to work together as a unit and shift across the field as a collective. The more separated they are, the more space is available to exploit. Encourage your defenders to communicate as they move, giving each other info about which player or space to cover. This is a great challenge for the defensive team and communication is absolutely vital.

Problem: Attacking team not going to goal at speed, build up too slow

Solution: You can introduce a time limit for scoring, say 15 seconds from the halfway line or whatever is your starting point. This will push your players to be more direct and make diagonal or forward passes as every sideways or backwards pass loses valuable seconds in terms of their scoring time limit.