i love soccer, esp international soccer...unlike alot of americans that actually do like the game, i was NEVER raised on it but became hooked in 98 watching owen and england.

definatley enjoy the athleticism and i think get the game for the most part. that being said, i know nothing technical about the game whatsoever.

will someone explain the positions, desired qualities of players @ positions, and basic strategy?

thanks!

Hey...you will get a lot of good responses I think...here is a pretty cool link to FIFA laws of the game...but the main point of the link is the interactive description of the most common and many times misunderstood rule of the game, offsides.

Hope this helps!

http://www.fifa.com/en/regulations/regulation/0,1584,3,00.html

i understand the offsides rule. more wanting to know about the technical aspects in terms of strategy, personnell, etc.

thats a huge question b/c there are so many different variations to basic formations (4-4-2, 3-5-2, 4-5-1) and each desires something a little different from its players. each depends on how much of an attacking offense you want, or more ball control, defense oriented scheme. im honestly not sure where to begin to help you. if there are more specific questions you have you will get some great responses

i can give you a great rundown of what scheme we ran in HS that i know a few clubs/national teams use. it was a variation of the 3-5-2, but the 2 strikers played 1 behind the other (a 3-5-1-1, if you will). the top guy's sole purpose being to push the defense so as to limit their offsides trap. he would get called offsides at least 20 times a game but he was good for a handful of thru balls that left him 1v1 with the keeper. the rest of the time we would work the wings (outside mids had LOTS of speed) to get a good cross to one of our 2 strikers (1 of which was 6'3). lots of ball control, wall passes, if we couldnt get a good cross in, we would bring the ball back to the keeper or central defender/mid who would switch the field and setup the offense again. won many games 1-0.

not sure if thats what you're wanting to hear, just tried to discribe some of what i know.

Here is a link that shows some of the more common (and some not so common) formations with a diagram and short blurb on the responsibilities of the players:

http://users.multipro.com/haris/formations.htm

Is this kind of what you were looking for?

most clubs run a 4-4-2 its kind of the standard formation, some teams chose to be more attacking by giving their wingers (the outside midfield/defensive players) more freedom to get up the field. The two central defenders are usually big strong players who stay at home except for corners. The central mids usually include attacking, holding or defensive midfielders. Attacking and defensive midfielders obviously due what their name implies. Holding midfielders can be attacking or defensive in nature but are the quarterbacks of the team and start most of the big offensive movements.

That is an enormous question to answer because strategies change based on the personnel even within a given formation, but I'll try and answer as best as I can as it relates to the US team.

The US generally plays a 4-4-2 most similar to the formation on the right in the above link but slightly different in that the one center mid (generally Pablo Mastroeni) plays in a more defensive role stopping attacks and providing a passing link between the back four and the other center mid plays in a more attacking position. His job is to use his vision and creativity to start attacks down the wings with the left and right midfielders or to provide quality service for the forwards through the middle of the field. Can become in essence a third forward when the attack is coming from the sides of the field via the midfielders or defense.

2 Fs - Generally speaking (that's an understatement) the US uses one Forward as a big target forward (McBride or Ching) who's not the fastest guy but is big and then uses his polar opposite at the other position (Johnson or Wolff) who is a little smaller but faster. Essentially, that way you have the best of both worlds. A target forward generally holds the ball up as the ball comes out of defense/midfield and keeps possesion until his teammates can push up in support. In the offensive third of the field, his main goal is getting on the end of dangerous crosses, providing quick passing with his partner and forward and a myriad of other things too numerous to name. The smaller, faster forward is generally using his speed and quickness to make dangerous runs into the opponents defense, using his speed to get behind the defense and run down long balls, and a lot of other things too numerous to name.

4 Ms - the left and right midfielders are busy *******s. Both are expected to pushup into the offensive third to provide crosses from the corners but they are also expected to get back on defense and help out the left and right backs when the opponents push up into attack. I'd say pinpoint corssing and fitness are the two most desired traits in a left or right mid for the US. As I said above, the center mids are generally the maestros if you will...pulling the strings and using their creativity, and vision to spot the opening at the right time and provide the perfect pass. For the defensive mid, you want a hard-man. Someone to break down an opponents attack with a crunching tackle...someone who doesn't give the opponent's attacking center mid the time to use their vision or creativity.

4 Ds - LB and RB are in a lot of ways similar to LM and RM except with more of a defensive mindframe. You'll often see LBs move to LM in an injury crunch or vice versa (that's how Lewis got to be our starting LB). They are first and foremost looking to defend but they also should push up into the attack and provide help for the midfield in the form of crosses. CBs rarely push up beyond the halfway line (unless it's a corner) but all are generally large (Onyewu is actually huge). They'll guard the opponents forwards and usually one is responsible for organizing the back line while defending.

There's a lot more to it than that and that's just my opinion of it all.

Anyone feel free to chime in and add to or correct me.

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"The rest of the world will be rooting for the U.S. to fall flat on its face. Tell your soccer-hating friends that if they couldn't care less about how the U.S. does in these games, they are right in line with the French."

Page 2 writer Michael Davies

That was what i was trying to say with way more detail

Typical Variations off of the 4-4-2 include:
Sweeper an extra man behind the backline (not used that much anymore with most teams trying to run some sort of an offside trap)

The wingback - a very offensively aggressive outside defensive back (usually 2 of these with three big center type backs)

The withdrawn striker - a creative midfielder/striker half breed who plays just behind your main striker

And there are probably others that im not thinking of...

You've got some pretty good explanations so far. Most of other posts were very detailed. I've coached youth soccer, so I tend to start at begining and keep it simple. You probably already know this stuff, but it can't hurt. I'll also throw in some miscellaneous stuff.

One cool thing about soccer is every position uses the same skills. You need to trap (aka settle or control) the ball wherever you play. You need to tackle (steal the ball). You to be able to dribble. You need to be able to kick the ball obviously. The three basic positions place emphasis on different skills, but everybody uses all of them.

Most important skill at EVERY position is trapping the ball. You must be able to control the ball at every position. You must trap the ball first - before you can dribble, pass, or shoot. Watch the difference between good/bad teams, you'll immediately see it in their trapping. You could be the greatest shooter in the world, but if you can't control the ball you'll never score during liveplay.

Forward/strikers - they are offensive players. You're there to either score goals or assist on somebody else's goals. They do some defending, like forechecking in hockey. They are mostly trying to steal ball to start "fastbreak" opportunity for team. Typical range for forward is on offensive side of field (60 yds or so). Forwards rarely come back further than midfield. Forwards must be able to beat defender one-on-one. Can do this by making/receiving good pass, finding open space, or dribbling.

fullbacks/defensive backs - they are defensive players. Job to stop the other team's offense. This position requires the most teamwork and communication. You hand off offensive players to one another, you work offsides traps, call out plays, etc. Typical range is defensive half of field, but might spring forward if they have the ball. Kind of like cornerback on an island, they must be able to stop folks one-on-one. Best play is to take the ball away, second is slow down the ball, third is make ball go out wide.

midfielders - they are both offensive and defensive players. When team is on offense, they move up with attack. Likewise, when team is on defense, they are back to help defend. These are smartest players on field. Have to feel flow of game. Their range is penalty box to penalty box. Gotta have lungs to play here. Since they play offense and defense, they use same techniques as forwards and defenders.

[This message has been edited by birdman (edited 6/5/2006 8:24p).]