Anonymous wrote:Yeah, there is physicality, height, endurance, etc. but for me the most important quality that the bets defenders have is the ability to read the game. They have soccer intelligence.

When they look up the field they can see the danger, not just the imminent danger, but the potential danger in the next two or three phases of the game. And then they get themselves and their team mates into the right position to deal with it. When you watch a defender at the top of their game they make it look effortless.

So a good defender needs to be intelligent. They also need to be an excellent communicator, as they need to organize the defense and midfield.

Often in the kids games defenders are looked down on as the kids who can’t score. Totally wrong. It is a tremendous position to play.

This is exactly what I think. They know where to be and when. They are two steps ahead of the play. It helps that they are bigger to both defend the space around the goal and to launch the ball down the field.

My dd often plays up a year and almost always put her on defense. She’s got a great read on the field and is much taller than kids in her age (and the year above her).

Anonymous wrote:Always played defense (20+ years)... amazing speed and loved taking the ball away from a forward. Good passer and excellent field awareness. Never a great dribbler.

Thought we’re talking about ulittles not grandpas.

On our possession team the Center D is a key player. They value it as the most coveted spot.

What's a natural defender? At U-Little it's about trust. Midfielders and wings are a dime a dozen at that age. The best teams put their best players back there because the coach trusts him/her to stop the opposition. Generally, physical, tactically aware (especially off the ball), good passer, and can shield the ball.

Anonymous wrote:I think it's someone who reads the field well--someone who is good at directing players (being able to see the whole field) and anticipating plays before they occur. A good defender is also patient--willing to control/contain the play and wait for teammates to regroup vs. making a quick play.

I agree with both of these. Also, it takes a particular mindset/disposition to play defense, and not everyone is well-suited to it. Defenders rarely get the kind of external validation that other players do - a good game goes fairly unnoticed because it doesn't make a mark on the scoreboard, but everyone notices when they have a bad game (and this is 10x worse for a keeper, I am so impressed by the kids who play that position). A defender has to be more internally motivated and can't have a big ego if they're going to play the position well.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A player that can't score to save their life.

Sergio Ramos begs to differ. But, you’re probably American, right?

Or Franz Beckenbauer...

Benjamin Pavard's goal against Argentina in 2018 was THE goal that completely changed the team and that basically paved the way for France to win the World Cup. Great defender, great goal.

I wouldn’t call my son a natural defender but I would call him a necessary defender. He can play offense but they need him too badly in defense.

He is super quick, it’s almost impossible to get past him but if you do he can recover quickly.

His ego is too big to get schooled.

He ended up playing a different sport in college but watching him defend was so much fun.

Anonymous wrote:kids who hate to lose more than they like to win.

Oh man, one of my kids is So Much This. Horrible sportsmanship for years, hated to lose, great defender.

Anonymous wrote:Always played defense (20+ years)... amazing speed and loved taking the ball away from a forward. Good passer and excellent field awareness. Never a great dribbler.

Breakaways in front of goal put me in a complete panic.

The visualization necessary to cut the shooter's angle. The sense of responsibility to take on the shooter and not duck and dive.

Always played defense (20+ years)... amazing speed and loved taking the ball away from a forward. Good passer and excellent field awareness. Never a great dribbler.

Anonymous wrote:grabbing the popcorn.

On DDs team, the one girl who fits the role has incredibly quick feet, is one of the fastest on the team, has great endurance, is very tenacious, is physically large, and is very competitive. She'd excel anywhere on the field, but likes defense, so she gets tagged a natural defender

This is my son and he LOVES defense. He plays ulittle. He is one of the fastest on the team, definitely the most aggressive and the biggest. He runs everyone off the side out of bounds and charges at them. He knocks all the balls down with his body and you can see his size is intimidating to the kids trying to score. I think he gets a rush out of pushing them out of the way. I told him he should stop volunteering for defense so much.

His speed allows him to out run all of the opposing team- so as soon as they think they have a break away, he catches up to them and heads them off. Some kids really love this position.

This is ridiculous. Oh well my son then is a natural forward, he doesn’t like defending, has a big head and big feet. Ha ha there is not such natural, some kids are the result of the other kids never wanting to move to play other positions.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A player that can't score to save their life.

Sergio Ramos begs to differ. But, you’re probably American, right?

Or Franz Beckenbauer...

I imagine most pro defenders played other positions as youth players

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A player that can't score to save their life.

Sergio Ramos begs to differ. But, you’re probably American, right?

Or Franz Beckenbauer...

Anonymous wrote:A player that can't score to save their life.

LOL. That was me. I was a sprinter in high school, so I was always the fastest person on the field. Coaches kept trying to make me a forward. But I absolutely couldn't score. I hated it.

Defense fit me much better. I could press forward on offense without fear of a break way behind me. And as others have said, you gain an intuition for what the other teams will do on offense.

And sometimes the most boring way to play was the most rewarding. Particularly when you're young teams often have one go-to player. If you can shut that player down the whole offense falls apart. Again, it's pretty boring, since I'd pretty much stay near the other player and make sure he never got the ball, but I kind of liked how mad they'd often get about it.