 In this video, I'm going to give you three tips to become a better defender. So whether you're a full back or a center half, even a midfielder or four, it's good to know these things because you may find yourself in certain situations where these principles will come in handy. So the first thing I want to think about is the distance between your teammates, especially your other defenders. So when we're attacking, yes, you want width, you want to get nice and wide. So when we're on the ball, we can use the ball to our advantage. We can move it quickly to touch passing around the back, moving the ball nice and sharp. But when we're defending, we really want to think about our distance in relation to one another. So let's get this red team forward. So we get some good examples. Something like this. So when we're defending, we want to think about the distance between one another. So we want to be inside of the man that we're marking, and we want to be nice and close to one another. Now I'm not saying to be on top of each other like this. You still want to be in space in relation to the guy that you're marking. So if it was like this, we could probably spread a little more. But if these guys are inside, well, we have to be inside of the guy that we're marking. So we're going to be nice and narrow, something like that. So really think about the distance between you and your teammates, especially your partner defenders. You lost out here ball watching and leaving this guy out on his own. Okay, if this happens, then there's easy opportunities for them to attack. So really think about getting nice and close, focusing on your distance between the other defenders. You also want to think about holding a nice straight line. So the worst thing you can do is when everyone says get up the field, get up, get up. Let's say our team's in possession or the other team is in possession and we're trying to get up the field and you are slow or you were lazy and you're trailing behind a little bit and then this guy makes a run and gets played inside and everyone puts their hand up for offside and then they look back and see you here jogging up the field. So really think about holding your line, keeping your distances nice and close to each other, but also keeping this straight line as you move up and down the field. Okay, if you keep a really straight line like that, it's going to be difficult for teams to beat your offside trap. They're going to have to be really precise with their pass, really precise with the timing of the run in order to get past them. So when you're defending, always just look around, say, where are my other defenders? Am I close enough to them, especially when defending and am I staying in line with them or is someone trailing behind? Okay, if you see someone trailing behind, just get on his case, tell him, hey, get up, keep up with us and it's going to help everyone defend better. The second tip I want you to think about is the distance between the man that you're marking. So if you want to become a better defender right away, you want to make a defending a lot easier on yourself. Anytime the guy that you are responsible for receives the ball, you want to be on top of him and forcing him to have a bad touch so you can gain possession and then play with your team, forcing him to go backwards, giving him no time, allowing time for our teammates to come back and help out on defense. So whether you're in the midfield or in the defense, really think about, can I anticipate that the ball is coming to this guy? And as it comes to him, boom, I'm on top of him, I'm forcing him to really focus on his touch. Hopefully he makes a mistake and gives it up or goes backwards or my teammate can come in, we can double up and we can win the ball. So do not give your opponents time and space to hurt you. If you give them time and space, well, maybe he can get a shot off. Maybe he can play a dangerous pass into someone. So the more space, the more time you give them, the more likely they are to hurt you. There's different situations where you can give people a little more space. So let's say that the ball is out on this side. Okay, I'm not just going to stay super tight on this guy because he's my man. Because why? Now our distances are wrong. Now he can get in, someone else can get in like that. So yes, this is the guy you are responsible for. But because the ball is on this side of the field, well, I can give him a little more space. It's going to take a little more time. As that ball shifts, we can start to shift something like this. And then when that ball gets there, I'm on top of him. Okay, so if the ball is on the other side of the field, well, I can give my guy a little more space. I can think about staying nice and compact. I know that if that ball does get played there, I can get there quickly and we can all move across. Okay, so really think about where is the man that I'm marking? Number one, where are my teammates? But number two, where is the man that I'm responsible for? And anticipate when that ball is coming into him. And I get there right on top of him. The third thing I want you to think about when you're defending is protecting the space in behind. So, yes, I want you to get really tight, but you have to be aware of your weaknesses. Maybe you're not the quickest player or maybe you're quick, but the striker is extremely pacing. And all it takes is one chance for him to get past you and he's gone. So you have to really think about protecting this space in behind. Let's move a little further up the field. So a lot of times the most dangerous way for a team to hurt you is to get him behind. If they're in front of you, well, it's easier to defend. We have more control over this. But when you get a pacey striker in behind, because we weren't aware, we weren't protecting the space properly, then they can hurt you fairly easily. So yes, you want to keep your line, you want to think about your distances, you want to think about the man that you're marking. You want to be aware. If I know this guy is faster than me, well, then I'm going to give myself a little bit of space. So when he receives it, then I can come into him and hopefully my teammates can come and cover me. But if I know he's super pacey and I'm up here like this, well, now I'm in a foot race with him. So I really have to be aware of his abilities and my own abilities. If you think you can keep with him, then hey, get pretty tight. But if you know that he's going to beat you, well, you want to think about protecting the space in behind. So if that ball does get clipped in, well, you have a head start on it and you can get to that ball first and we can play possession. Your teammates can help him cover if they have to. So think about, is this guy faster than me? Where is the danger? If he receives in there, is that okay? Can I close him down and now I can jockey and my teammates can help me out? Or do I need to lay off him a little bit? So if that pass does get played in, I can stay with him quickly like that. So think about those three ideas. Number one, the distance between your other defenders, your teammates, the distance between the man that you're marking, if that ball gets there, you want to be on top of him, force him to make mistakes, force him to panic, force him to play backwards and allow your teammates to come and help you out. And finally, think about protecting the space in behind. You don't always want to be like this, especially when we're man marking, because if he gets played in behind, I'm not fast enough to keep up with him. But if I give him a little bit of space in this situation, if that ball gets played in, I can go. And if that ball gets played over the top, I'm already there and I can protect the space. So think about those ideas. If you found this helpful, please comment below. If you have any questions, comment below. Make sure you like, subscribe for more videos, and I'll talk to you real soon.