After watching a few recent EPL and Champions League games in winter of 2016 SSC coaches discussed a few defending trends from those matches. Below are a few ideas SSC coaches can use for defending and specifically “exchanging” pressure on the ball to keep the Back 4 intact or to account for the over-lapping runner.

• Defenders are in white and work in groups of 3 on the vertical half of the field. • To stage the build up and to put defenders in a real time situation the ball would have

just changed from one side of the field to the other where the Red (attacking players) present a passing pattern with an over lapping runner. At this point the activity becomes live.

• Defenders want to think about recovery angles and staying low or “sitting down” to keep their belly button lower than the attackers.

• Defenders want to keep their back line intact by staying low, being under control, and communicating clearly who pressures the ball & then who exchanges with the pressure on the ball and who accounts for the runner.