Choose a Soccer Position

Finding your position in soccer is a lot like finding a home -- you want something comfortable, effective, and that fits you like a glove. And, just like a home, you never know when you might have to move. By talking to your coaches and thinking about your strengths and weakness, anyone can find a position they excel at on the field.

Steps

Choosing Your Area of the Field

1. Jump in as a defender if you're strong, smart, and composed. Great defenders may not get the glory, but they win games. A good defender reads the game and offense to cut out threats before they get near goal. They are confident and physical, muscling off attackers to win the ball either in the air or on the ground. If you love frustrating the other team, leaving them empty-handed, be a defender. Natural defenders tend to be:
   • Tall and strong, holding their own against big forwards.
   • Smart and confident, knowing when to step and make a tackle and when to wait.
   • Good at crosses and clearances from both feet.
   • Effective communicators with teammates and other defenders.
   • Tireless, hunting down attackers throughout the entire game.
2. Play in the midfield if you're a good passer who can run for days. Midfielders are the all-around players who must do a bit of everything -- tackle, pass, shoot, hold the ball, etc. Their most important job is to keep the team together, organizing the attack and distributing the ball from the backs up to the forwards. In general, midfielders:
   • Run up and down the field for long periods.
   • Pass accurately at both long and short distances.
   • Remain composed and calm with the ball.
   • Play effectively with both left and right feet as dribblers, shooters, and passers.
   • Understand both defense and offensive strategies/tactics.
3. Become a forward if you're big, fast, and love to score. Forwards, sometimes known as strikers, have one job: score. To do so, they tend to be big and/or fast players. They must be excellent in the air and have a high top speed to beat defenders to the ball. Good strikers are great shooters, both from the ground and out of the air, and they have an aggressive mentality that aims to score at any opportunity. Strikers prioritize:
   • One-on-one moves and tricks to beat defenders.
   • Bursts of speed and power to win the ball and shoot.
   • Quick, accurate shots from anywhere near the box.
   • Strong aerial play to win crosses and clearances.
4. Try out goalie if you have excellent reflexes and hand-eye coordination. Good goalkeepers are like cats, pouncing on the ball the second after it leaves an attacker's foot. They must also be smart, confident players, knowing when to come out and snag a cross and when to stay in goal and wait for a shot. If you're good with your hands and quick off your feet, consider being a keeper.
   • Remember that being a keeper isn't just about your hands-- it is about rapid, split-second jumps and leaps to block shots.
5. Learn to play many areas of the field to find your perfect position. While the advice above is a good start, you won't know your best position until you've played all of them. Furthermore, the best players in the world can play a little bit of everything and understand the entire field, not just one spot. While body type and style are key, the most important part of choosing a position is feeling comfortable and effective.
   • Until you are 11-12, there is no need to pick one position, just play everywhere.
   • In practice or pick-up games with friends, try to move around a lot. What feels comfortable? What do you enjoy playing?
   • Lionel Messi, based on body type, should not be a striker -- he is much too small. But his incredible quickness, foot-skills, and intelligence helped him become one of the world's best scorers.
6. Understand that your available positions will depend on your coach's tactics. Tactics refer to your team's lineup and are represented by a series of numbers starting from the defenders. So, the phrase "4-4-2" means your team has four defenders, four midfielders, and two forwards. A 3-5-3 would have three defenders, five midfielders, and three forwards. Note, however, that coaches vary the exact positions all the time, meaning you need to pay attention in practice to know what position are available to you.
   • Your team's formation is easiest to see right at kick-off. Where everyone starts will dictate the positions and tactics.

Choosing a Defensive Position

1. Play center back if you're big, strong, and smart. Center backs control the defense and much of the game. You must want the responsibility of directing players to help defend, keep the offside line straight as an arrow, and win absolutely every cross or shot put into the box. Center defenders are physically all-around players, but they must be big enough to challenge for every header and muscle attackers off the ball.
   • Center backs must have a high soccer intelligence, knowing when to step up and attack.
   • When they get the ball, center backs must be able to locate and distribute to the midfield.
   • While speed is important, it is more important to be able to read and win tackles.
   • While good foot skills are always important, center backs can prioritize them less.
2. Play outside back if you have a good top speed and like to join the attack occasionally. Outside backs need to be able to run down and tackle some of the field's fastest players and tend to have the speed and physicality to do so. Furthermore, outside backs will often sprint up the field during openings and counterattacks, creating an "overload" where there are more offensive players than defensive.
   • Most outside defense is one-on-one, meaning smart tackling is a must.
   • Outside backs tend to be good crossers, hitting long balls up and into the box when on offense.
   • While all positions should work on both feet, outside backs can often get away with a much stronger single foot.
3. Play as a sweeper if you like to read the field and be everywhere at once. Not all coaches play with a sweeper, who sits back and covers the entire width of the field, helping out where needed. Sweepers tend to be the last player before the keeper, and must swing back and forth depending on the attack. They must also be able to read and cut out through passes before attackers can get to them.
   • Sweeping is very similar to playing center back, but you usually do not have a partner beside you as a sweeper -- you have a stopper in front.</ref>
4. Hunt and shut down key attackers as a stopper. Stoppers can run all day and are quick to the ball. They are marked up on one specific players, usually a very talented forward. They stay near him/her throughout the game, rarely leaving their side, to effectively neutralize great players and take them out of the attack. A stopper is usually paired with a sweeper, who sits right behind him/her and covers the space a stopper can't.
5. Work with your coach and other defenders to nail down specific positions and responsibilities. Within these three positions there is a lot of variability. This is why communication is so crucial. For example, with two center backs, are you both going to float around the middle, or is one person responsible for the left side and one for the right? Your position is much more than where you start on the field, it is how you must move around it:
   • If an outside back attacks, should a center back slide over to fill the empty space or will a midfielder drop back?
   • Who covers people on corners and set pieces. Is there a taller or more effective aerial player who might mark up on crosses even if they aren't a center back?

Choosing a Midfield Position

1. Work in the central midfield if you want to dictate both offensive and defensive strategies. Other than center backs, perhaps, central midfielders are the most intelligent players on the field. They are always in the action, trying to win the ball back in the midfield and starting the offensive maneuvers. If a team can't control the center of the field they rarely win -- and this is your primary responsibility.
   • You should be able to trap and accurately pass the ball in 1-2 touches every time.
   • Center-mid is likely the most tiring position on the field. Endurance is key.
   • Tight, controlled foot-skills are a must.
2. Play defensive midfield if you're calm, composed, and effective under any kind of pressure. Defensive midfielders sit back a bit on offense, not because they don't attack, but because they can see the entire field. Furthermore, they come back and plug up any holes or unmarked attackers on defense, making them all-over players with a lot of responsibility.
   • On offense you'll often be tasked with getting backward passes and changing the field, hitting a ball over the top, or slowing down the attack to reorganize.
   • On defense you need to clog up the center of the field to make attacks difficult. You want to win the ball back from their midfielders and get counter-attacks started quickly.
3. Play offensive midfield if you like quick combinations and long-range shots. Sitting between the strikers and the center midfield (or, often, a single defensive midfielder), offensive midfielders play lots of 1-2 touch passes with other offenders to break down defenses and get shots off. They also shoot and cross a lot from outside the box, which generally pulls the defense forward to make more room for your strikers.
   • Offensive midfield is a hybrid position that is highly dependent on your coach's system. Some coaches like them to hold in the center of the field, making the "last pass" to a striker, while others want you to play as another forward who also gets back on defense.
4. Play outside midfield, or "wing," if you can run for days and days at a high speed. Outside midfielders need speed and the stamina to keep it up. As a winger your job is to get to the end line and hit a cross into the strikers, or cut in near the box and fire off shots from the outside. However, it is also your job to mark the opposing outside mid, meaning you'll be running end to end all match.
   • Hitting the ball across your body, from the sideline into the center of the field, is an essential skill.
   • Wingers tend to have decent tricks and one-on-one moves as well, helping beat their one defender and get a cross or shot off.
   • You must have good, tight foot skills to keep the ball near the lines. You'll run straight at the defenders, challenging them quickly for long balls or passes with very little room for error.

Choosing a Forward Position

1. Become a center striker if you're big, strong, and can finish from anywhere. The center striker, on most teams, is the top goal scorer. They must be aggressive towards goal, with a wicked shot as well as the ability to put any sort or pass or cross on goal no matter the body part. They use their strength to hold off defenders and keep the ball, either to turn and shoot or to wait for support to arrive.
   • Center strikers must be confident with their back to goal, even if there is a defender on them.
   • Moves, tricks, and quick bursts of speed are all important weapons to blow by defenders.
   • You must not only shoot well but quickly. You should be able to fire off a shot with only a little bit of free space.
2. Play outside striker if you've got talented moves and lots of speed. Outside striker systems often don't have outside midfielders, meaning the outside striker has space to beat one defender and attack the goal. They are good crossers and good in the air, getting lots of balls from the striker on the other side of the field and sending others over. They tend to have good endurance, too, as they defensively cover the field back to half-field or further.
   • Speed and quickness, as well as controlled foot skills at high speed, are highly recommended.
3. Work with your partner in a paired system to stagger two strikers. A frequent striker combination is to have two center forwards up together. But forwards are never effective when they're taking up the same space -- they work best when they are staggered with one above the other. The striker near goal holds the ball up, facing half-field, to draw defenders in. This creates space for the lower striker to get the ball facing goal, taking more shots.
   • When staggered, the top striker is usually the bigger one. He/she wins the ball out of the air, holds it, then plays off to the lower striker.
   • The lower striker is usually quicker, turning and facing goal with quick passes and moves and using the high striker as support.

Tips

• No matter what position you play, you must always play defense. Remember that a striker will never score goals if their team doesn't have the ball.

Warnings

• It's very rare to be totally locked into one position your whole life -- even professionals change spots. Always be flexible and trained to play across the field.

Related Articles

• Choose a Pair of Goalie/Keeper Gloves
• Be a Soccer Goalie
• Play Defense in Soccer
• Play Forward in Soccer
• Dribble a Soccer Ball Past an Opponent
• Feel Confident and Not Afraid of Passing a Defender in Soccer

Sources and Citations

See also

• Become a Soccer Referee
• Juke or Dodge a Defender in Football (Soccer)
• Be a Better Football (Soccer) Manager
• Improve Your Game in Soccer
• Play Soccer
• Dive in Soccer
• Be Good at Soccer
• Be a Good Central Midfielder in Soccer
• Become a Professional Soccer Player
• Become an Advanced Soccer Player

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• Become a Professional Soccer Player
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