Thanks Ken. Your explanation certainly clarifies their roles. Much
appreciated for the referral as well.


>From: "Forsyth, Peter" <pforsyth@...>
>To: "'peterforsyth@...'" <peterforsyth@...>
>Subject: FW: [Good, Bad and Ugly (about Soccer)] soccer positions and resp
>onsibilities
>Date: Fri, 27 Jul 2001 09:14:56 -0400
>
>
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Ken Gamble [mailto:dsports@...]
>Sent: Thursday, July 26, 2001 5:22 PM
>To: Good-Bad-Ugly@yahoogroups.com
>Subject: Re: [Good, Bad and Ugly (about Soccer)] soccer positions and
>responsibilities
>
>
>Peter,
>
> Here is some information on fullbacks, stoppers and sweepers. This
>is
>from Gary Rue's Series of Articles on Style of Play located at
>http://www.decatursports.com/exercises_of_the_day_by_gary_rue.htm
>The portion below is actually from segment 4, although all of this series
>is
>worthwhile reading about positions and what types of skills players need
>for
>each position and how a coach should decide on what style of play his team
>should play.
> I differ slightly in my opinion (from your other replies) that a
>stopper, while mainly a defensive position, should also have free rein to
>go
>forward with the ball when he wins the ball in the middle third of the
>field. I consider stopper to be more of a center defensive (holding)
>midfielder who plays in front of the sweeper and who often marks the ball
>rather than the player as it enters your defensive third - being first to
>the ball. He delays the attack until his defense can recover behind him.
>But I allow him to make quick counter attacks if he wins the ball and that
>includes both passing and dribbling into the attacking third.
>
>Fullbacks
>Backs should be strong and have a passive aggressive nature. Though this
>sounds oxymoronic, a back needs to be very controlled at times and then
>very
>strong and aggressive in the man-to-man, 50-50 ball battles. Because of the
>self-checking nature of the other team's attackers, a coach can sometimes
>get away with using players that have little speed and quickness. In other
>cases, at higher playing levels, it is very necessary that a fullback have
>good quickness, average short distance speed and decent kicking skills.
>Players that are below average in speed can make up for this with good game
>knowledge and positioning. Exceptional dribbling skills are not a major
>requirement in this position. Fullbacks do need to be good communicators,
>constantly directing and offering information to teammates.
>
>Sweeper
>This position is similar to the fullback characteristics, however, there
>are
>certain differences. This player needs above average short distance and
>long
>distance speed, good kicking technique, a very good understanding of the
>team shape, and good communication skills. He needs to be able direct the
>players in front of him and run down through balls and breakaway attackers.
>Since he is support to the players in front of him, he must be able to pick
>up dribblers as they get past their marks or track down unmarked attackers
>as they make off-ball runs on goal. Often the sweeper is the first or
>second
>best athlete on the team and one of the fastest. This player must be a
>thinker with decent reaction time.
>
>Stopper
>This position requires a combination of sweeper, fullback and center half
>characteristics. The stopper often has some free rein, must be able to
>distribute the ball, win balls in traffic and get back to pick up unmarked
>attackers. At times, the stopper needs to recover into the sweeper
>position (deep center) if the sweeper is pulled out.
>
>
>Ken Gamble
>http://www.decatursports.com
>
>
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "Forsyth, Peter" <pforsyth@...>
>I have a daughter playing competitive U13. Her coach is using her in a
>number of positions and being a guy raised playing hockey, I have a good
>understanding on how the positions in hockey work. Soccer introduces two
>positions that are a bit foreign to me and I am hoping that somebody can
>explain what the responsibilities are of the Stopper and the Sweeper. I
>understand where they play on the field but I a bit lost on what they are
>supposed to do.
>Thanks.
>
>
>
>
>
>To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
>Good-Bad-Ugly-unsubscribe@egroups.com
>
>Free Soccer Clip Art, Images and Animations - Page 1 of 102
>http://users.erols.com/soccertip/cool/soccimag.htm
>
>It is all on CD (Rom) Soccer Material
>http://users.erols.com/soccertip/forms/donation.htm
>Understand Soccer: Material about soccer coaching,
>soccer training, soccer drills. For soccer coaches,
>soccer players, soccer clubs.
>
>Owner Coach Cameron
>
>Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
>


_________________________________________________________________
Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp