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Written by Administrator   
Wednesday, 18 July 2007
with www.locallotto.ie

"A lot of teams nowadays drop an extra defender back in front of the full back line. Any suggestions on dealing with this?" - a senior club manager.

Liam Og Gormley, Sligo Coaching & Games Development Officer, has given some thought to this situation:

" You must first look at your own team and identify what options you have to deal with this system. These are just some of the possibilities:

1. Do you have a good ball carrier, who is intelligent in possession and can score?

If so, you can use this player as the spare man who will create an overlap. The team needs to be very penetrating in attack when using him - breaking the first tackle, releasing ball early and fast.

2. Do you have good high-fielders in the full-forward line or, alternatively, speedy inside men?

When working with the former, then long, direct, early ball is the key, with half forwards supporting at pace.

If you have the second alternative, then you do not play an orthodox full forward; you allow all inside players the freedom of the inside line. Play quick ball into space for these players with, once again, the half forward line supporting at pace.

Finally, if you have a mixture of both, you step the full forward (good fielder) up on the extra defender as if to give defensive team advantage and have your other two pacy forwards prepped to work off breaks.

3. Coach your team to perfect the gaining of possession and moving the ball quickly and effectively.

The ball should be taken off the shoulder at an angle, thus changing direction of play constantly to open the opposing defence. Teams who take the ball into the tackle will struggle to break down the 'extra defender' system.

Also, teams who have players who slow the game down will find it extremely difficult when faced with this situation, as defenders will surround them in groups and frustrate them."

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