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whats the best way to keep team shape when not in poccession?
Hi Nicholas,
Make sure your players know what system you're operating and what their role in that system is (4-4-2, 5-4-1, 3-4-2 etc). This way players should know where they're meant to be on the pitch and how far they can stray before this will start to cause problems for their team-mates.
Also, unless your team is man-marking, practice passing opposition players over. This means when an opposition player is moving from one side of the pitch to the other your team should be able to communicate clearly, telling each other whose responsibility it is to mark that player in order to avoid being drawn completely out of position.
You can practice this with your back four, telling them to practice tracking two strikers who are deliberately trying to draw players out of position to create gaps.
Hope this helps,
Alex

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