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Have you ever found yourself in a state of utter confusion in choosing soccer positions for your players because of an inadequate Soccer field diagram ? You’re not the only one. Each one of us gets in a situation like this one time or the other in our careers no matter how experienced we may be.

Nonetheless, when you’ve just started to train players in a new team, this experience is even more common. Eventually, this gets fairly simple as you get to recognize the various strengths and weaknesses of your players. In contemporary soccer, there is nothing more significant than educating the players regarding different positions and their importance.

A majority of players would be adamant to play as forwards or strikers but some will still have to be designated as a goalie and mid-fielders as well. But let me tell you one thing. You cannot choose the player best suited for a single position if you’ve not attempted to experiment a bit with changing their positions.

Following is a brief description of each position and its importance. This will allow you to make up you mind on various soccer formations and choosing the players best suited to the key positions. At the time of drawing up a soccer field diagram, make sure you reflect on these too.

Sweeper: A player who has a good knowledge of the game along with certain leadership traits qualifies for this position. His task is to ensure that team’s defense remain strong at all times.

Center fullback: This player’s role is to mark the opponent team’s forwards and midfielders. He or she must also do the task of interchanging the ball amongst the midfielders.

Defensive midfielder: This player’s duty is to stay at the forefront of the defense line. This area will entertain numerous attacks and therefore this player must be tough.

Central midfielder: This player must possess strong ball handling skills along with excellent passing skills. This position also involves dodging the opponents to prevent them from entering the last line of defense.

Winger: This player will need to run around and cover a lot of field area, when making crosses or passing the ball.

Striker: This accounts for the most demanding and the most significant position. The sole standard for this position is the player’s skill of scoring quick goals. If this is not the case, he or she is a failure in this position. It clearly calls for excellent shooting skills, dribbling skills, lot of power and ability to think promptly.

I hope this has given you a good deal of tips to help in allocating various positions between the players. One of the most successful tactics is that of continually rotating the players to find out who fits where. No doubt it calls for a lot of time but it is totally faultless.

Apply this without any waste of time. Make the kids play in several positions by drawing up a soccer field diagram. You will soon be able to figure out their respective positions. Find a wealth of knowledge in terms of articles, videos, and newsletters on coaching youth soccer by subscribing to our youth soccer coaching community.

Andre Botelho is the author of “The Expert Youth Soccer Coaching Guide” and he’s a recognized expert in the subject of youth soccer coaching. Learn how to explode your players’ skills and make coaching sessions fun in less than 29 days! Download your free pdf guide at: Soccer Training.