Even after 40 years of playing football, it took me until now to appreciate playing a ‘system’. We were playing a 6-a-side match using a zonal approach. One at the back, one in the middle, one of the right, one of the left , one up front and one in goal. And woe betide anyone that strayed out of their zone! Amazingly (to me) it works!
Last week we drew a friendly 1-1 against last season’s league champions and today we won the first league match 4-1 against weaker opposition.
It is simple, do not follow the man or the ball, stay in your zone.
Number one, you last the full game and two, the opposition never has space, and hence time.
I will report back in a month on our progress.
Our manager, Tim, deserves all the credit for our victory: we have evolved from a kick-and-run rabble into an organised outfit in two weeks. Amazing!
Hi gents,
I have just been chosen to coach a six a side a side team and this is something I have never done before, the team has some what good quality players and all they need is discpline. I like the 1-2-2-1 formation and I believe it will work just fine for the guys.
Wish me luck
Hi Jaffar,
Good luck with your team – try and organise some friendly matches before the season starts so your team can used to the new system.
Russell
Totally agree 1-3-1 is the classic formation for 6 a-side football.
In my humble opinion you need a good winger and two fit midfielders one who get up to support the attack and the other who drops back and acts as a 2nd defender. If you have the players its a very strong formation.
I tried switching from 2-2-1 to 1-3-1 this season and so far we are P15 W12 D2 L1 GF53 GA13
Hi,
I manage and play for a 6 a side team, and we generally win most matches we play and have won the league 5 times. I am interested in why you see playing wingers is a good idea, how wide is the pitch you play on? Is it in closed?
I tened to play 2-2-1 formation to great effect.
We play with one Centre back who stays at the back for most of the match (if he does go forward, someone covers, so there is always a last man). a positive about this is they get to see the whole pitch and can dictate the passing and is also another outlet when things seem to slowdown! This player needs to have good reactions.
Also at the back we play with like a rightback who has a powerful shot and the stamina to get up and down the line… this helps out the attack but when the opposition has the ball he is behind the ball.
Then in the middle we have a defensive mid who gets stuck in and also has a stamina of a god … he never stops running!
Then another midfielder who is more attacking minded helping out the forward and who is very skilful. he has a great shot and a quick footballing mind.
And not to mention my striker who has bags of tricks and scores goals for fun. I let him stay up and then all the other players look for him as soon as we are on the attack.
This is just how we play but it could work for any team, just needs time to settle in.
Hi Dave,
Thanks for your comments. Your approach 2-2-1 is clearly highly successful and positive but does rely more on stamina then my more defensive 3-1-1 approach.
Our 5-a-side pitch is outdoors and is about 30 yards wide so there is room on the flanks for the backs to become wingers when counter-attacking. With this approach the ‘spine’ of the team need only have moderate stamina but good vision and passing, and just the two wingers need the stamina. My 3-1-1 “system” limits the negative impact of the lack in stamina in over 50% of the team, and allows us to punch above our weight (even though we are overweight
Your team does not seem to have any real weaknesses – so you have more flexibility in how you play and can afford to adopt a more attacking approach.
Facebook / Twitter: Shakhtar Donuts FC
Good afternoon guys,
I found all of the above comments helpful and feel I may try one or two out. I run a six a side team and we’re only in our second season. Last season (our first season) we finished a strong – and comfortable – 5th place. So far this year, we got off to a slow start but results are starting to run our way – kicking off our campaign with a 5-0 win, and following that up with a battling 2-2 draw with the divisions best side.
I find for us that a 2-2-1 formation works best – we have two commanding athletic defenders, a defensive midfielder sweeping up, an attack-minded midfielder supporting and a non-stop striker who bagged 17 in 14 last term.
Be great to hear from others!
Regards,
Pete
Hello Russell
I read Football Mundial’s blog the other day. It got me interested in 6-a-side tactics and I stumbled upon your blog here. It seems you both share the same beliefs to 1 at the back, 3 in midfield and 1 up front. I’ve always used the 2-2-1, but might have to give the 1-3-1 a go to try and stop our team leaking goals.
Anyway, it really goes into detail as to what you’ve been discussing, here’s the link if you’re interested.
http://6asidefootballmundial.blogspot.com/
Zack, Thanks for the tip, I also headed over to http://www.footballmundial.com/ to find out more about their organisation.
We settled at the 1-3-1 formation as it fitted the capabilities of our team. As one of the old members I would play in either of “1″ positions; the striker role or the sweeper, where an few accurate shots ond a decisive interception or tackle would be my greatest contributions, and not just running for 20 minutes and then struggling for the last ten minutes when we used to leak goals.
With 1-3-1 the team remains competitive for the whole match and we have taken much better teams right down to the wire on many occasions. Good luck with your 1-3-1 experiment and try and make sure you stick with it during the game and maintain the ‘spine’ of the team.