Former England U19 head coach Noel Blake: 1v1 defending in wide areas
Game | Skills | Noel Blake | 04.06.2021
Former England U19 coach, Noel Blake, discusses the 1v1 skills required to defend effectively in wide areas
Learning:
The importance of patience when defending 1v1 in wide areas
How playing in different positions can equip players with better defending skills
How to block crosses and shots effectively
Defending 1v1: keep your eye on the ball
When defending 1v1 in wide areas, it’s important not to dive in and instead keep your eye on the ball. It’s the attacker’s body movement, not the ball, that beats the defender.
That's why attackers do stepovers and feints. Defenders follow the stepover, but the ball is still there and it’s the ball that you want.
Defenders must always keep their eye on the ball. Defenders should repeat it to themselves all of the time: eye on the ball, eye on the ball, eye on the ball.
Defenders should focus on the ball not the body movements of the attacker. Getty Images \ Pool
“As a young central defender at Aston Villa we played full-back to help us learn about 1v1 defending in wide areas against quick wingers.”
