[tag-tec]Coaching youth soccer[/tag-tec] and your team is struggling to score goals and you are unsure of what tactic or [tag-tec]soccer drills[/tag-tec] to implement next? What is one of the most effective and under utilized offensive soccer tactics? I’m sure you have heard it said many a time ‘get the ball wide’ and “get it across”, but what does that mean?

Most coaches that are involved in coaching youth soccer are aware there are many different ways to execute ball movement both offensively and defensively. One of the most effective [tag-tec]offensive soccer tactics[/tag-tec] is to play wide, attack up the side of the field and use the cross. The cross is used to reverse the ball to the other side of the field. This is most effective when the opposition has over-loaded one side of the field and it can effectively allow a team to create space in order to more efficiently execute their attack. Additionally, it is an effective offensive soccer tactic to use when your team goes on the counter attack and you have caught the opposition defense off guard.

The traditional cross or center to the goalmouth was aimed at the striker in the middle of the goalmouth to enable them to either head or volley the ball towards the goal. There are a number of variations to this.

One popular and very successful variation to this tactic is a deep cross to the far post headed back across the goal, changing the direction of the attack and wrong footing the defense. Ideally, the soccer drills that are implemented at training should involve the strikers working together in attacking movements. In this particular situation, one attacker will run to the near post, not necessarily to get the ball but to take defenders away from his team mate in the goal mouth and then to turn and be ready to feed off any ball that is played back across the goal from the other striker.

The partnership upfront is crucial. Finding two strikers that can work together successfully is not easy. Height, heading ability and preferred foot are all important factors in determining a good striking partnership.

Another very effective cross is the cross to the near post. This cross needs to be driven fast and hard making it extremely difficult to defend against. The [tag-tec]soccer goalie[/tag-tec] finds it difficult to get easy access to the ball and even if the striker is unable to position themselves in front of the defender, there is always a chance that the ball may take a deflection and head towards the goal. If you have one striker that is tall and the other shorter, it is best to position the taller striker at the far post and the shorter striker at the near post.

The third and final type of cross I wanted to mention was the one that swings away from the [tag-tec]soccer goalkeeper[/tag-tec]. By that I mean, if the ball is played from wide out and a fair distance from the goal line, the ball should be aimed towards the keeper but swing it away from the keeper towards the end. This may result in drawing the soccer goalie out and opening up an opportunity for the strikers in the air. Alternatively, if the cross is played from nearer the goal line the ball should be played towards the penalty spot area which will create confusion in an unorganized defense.

As with all crosses, before the ball is crossed the player should be looking up to see where the strikers are. There is not much point in continually creating space out wide and getting the ball across if there are no strikers there to finish off the movement.

The only way for crossing to be an effective weapon in your armory of [tag-tec]offensive soccer tactics[/tag-tec] is to continually practice at soccer training. Make sure you have the right people in the positions and try to simulate an actual game situation with the wide midfielders and strikers against the defense, then constantly practice getting the ball wide and across from both sides of the field. Dedicate some time to this [tag-tec]soccer drill[/tag-tec] at least one session a week.

As far as what soccer drill will work best for your team, only you will know that as it depends obviously on the age, size and ability of your players. However, if you dedicate some time to it at your soccer training sessions, I guarantee that it will certainly add to your options for offensive soccer tactics and therefore increase your chances of scoring goals.