Live The Pitch

There are numerous formations to teach kids at the elite club level in youth soccer. To compete with the best, you absolutely have to play a flat-back four on defense. I have seen teams play with the so called “sweeper” in the back, but for the kids to truly understand and learn the game they need to understand the flat-back four.

First, the main thing when teaching a flat-back four is PRESSURE on the ball. At all times there needs to be pressure on the ball whether it’s the forwards, midfielders, or defenders. The flat back four does not work properly if there is not pressure on the ball. The team you are teaching needs to be in top physical shape to succeed with this formation.

Who pressures the ball?

At all times the first defender provides pressure to the ball with a second defender to provide cover and also a third defender to provide balance to the defense. Throughout my years as a youth coach I have taught the closest player to the ball, no matter what position they are playing to apply pressure.

Next, the flat back four formation is rarely ever actually a straight flat line in the back. The players need to constantly be communicating with each other when playing a flat-back four. Communication is very important to have success with this formation. The two center backs need to be leaders on your team to keep everyone organized.

There is NO man-man marking in a flat-back four. This seems to give the players the most problems when learning this system. The players actually have certain zones or areas that they are responsible for covering. When playing the flat-back four your shape is always changing.

If you come up against a team who is fairly strong up top, your center backs have to ability to drop off into space to provide cover for other defenders. There are many coaches who are strict about the zones that you allow your players to cover, but I don’t believe this is the way to teach it.

Yes, as a coach you would like your right back on the right and your left back on the left but in my years of coaching I don’t like to restrict my players. As I stated before the success of this formation comes from PRESSURE on the ball.

Finally, what are the pros of this formation?

The best thing about playing a flat back four is the ability to spread the field when you get possession of the ball. This formation frees up the outside backs to get involved in the offense on the wings. Since there is NO man-man marking, the outside backs will become a huge asset to your team moving possession forward.

There are numerous ways to play in front of the back four. My favorite is a 4-4-2 with a holding defensive center mid and a free center mid who has the freedom to roam the field when going forward.

Learning this formation does not happen overnight even at the elite youth level. Many coaches will try the flat back four and not get the results they want right away… So they give up on it. In most cases, coaches will stick there best player at sweeper so he can provide cover to the outside backs.

When teaching the flat back four as a coach you need to be patient. Most, if not all youth players today are taught the sweeper formation from day one. If taught properly, the flat-back four is a much more effective defensive formation.

The ideal formation in my opinion for the flat back four.