PAGS On-Line 2008

Beating the Offside Trap

Beating the Offside Trap
by April Kater and Robert "Butch" Lauffer

There are five ways the attacking team can defeat the offsides trap.

1. Dribbling through: The player who is in possession has time to control the ball and get positive forward momentum toward the defending team as they push out. If the player in possession is not quick enough to penetrate the entire defensive line, she will at least draw players toward her. This will create spaces behind the first defender for other attackers, too, which creates time and space to run at them.

2. Passing through: Again, the problem starts when the trapping team does not apply enough pressure to the ball quickly enough. The player who is in possession has time to control, get her head up, and find a runner and space where the ball can be played to.

The run can come from another area of the field, from a player whose starting position is deeper than the player who is in possession of the ball. This movement is a push-pull movement on the striker's runback towards the halfway line. At the same time, the runner (usually a midfielder or defender) from the deep position runs forward. The pass can be made on the ground, which is the easiest to control, or a short diagonal chip with backspin, which will hold the ball up as it bounces. A through pass can also beat a trap when the attacking strikers run parallel to the defending line and one looks to time her run as the ball is played, then darts behind the defending line. A runner can also start from a wide position and run inside.

3. Diagonal Pass: A short or long diagonal pass is another effective way to beat the offside trap. The first example is when the ball is in a wide position and the defending team tries to push out and press the ball. The biggest mistake is that the defending tema tries to trap when the ball is in a wide position, where usually there is not a large concentration of defending players and runners that can run vertical to get behind the defending team.

With a long, diagonal switch, the ball can be played over the top of the defense to an attacking player who is starting her run from deep and arriving late. A good example is an outside back who is getting forward.

4. Two passes: Here you need two passers to beat the trap. The ball is cleared out and pressure is applied. Pressure is applied to the ball quickly, but not quickly enough to stop a square pass to a teammate, who then plays a penetrating pass in behind the defending team that is pushing out.

5. Self pass: In an old-fashioned version of up and over, the player in possession beats the trap by playing the ball to herself, a self pass. A situation may occur when the ball is cleared out and the ball may be bouncing and the attacking player will volley the ball over the top of the defending team as they are pushing out.

In all of these examples on how to beat the trap, the common denominator is that there is not enough pressure put on the ball, either by the amount of pressure by itself or number of player getting free to put pressure on the ball. The defending team also does not push out quickly enough or at the right time.