How To Create A Soccer Lineup

The finest coaches in professional soccer, such as Sir Alex Ferguson of Manchester United, plan their lineups weeks in advance so that crucial players get rest during easier games and return refreshed for challenging matches. In preparing the Los Angeles Galaxy lineup, coach Bruce Arena finds time for two international stars, David Beckham and Landon Donovan. At the recreational or club level, creating your lineup is likely to be a game-day decision, depending on who is healthy and who arrives at the playing field on time.

Step 1

Select a formation for the team, most likely the 4-4-2, with four defenders, four midfielders and two forwards. "Formations are expressed in numbers from the back of the team forward, and you don't include the goalkeeper in the numbers," explains Wes Harvey, former men's soccer team coach at Morgan State University in Baltimore. If you have scouted your opponents and know they are weaker, you may be able to run a 4-3-3, moving a midfielder up as a forward, he notes.

Step 2

Identify the best players for your formation. If you have four midfielders on your roster, all will need to start. If you have four forwards, the two strongest start, and two others substitute later in the game. If you have a standout forward who can hold the ball and lots of good midfielders, switch to a 4-5-1 formation to match your talent, as the U.S. men's team did with forward Brian McBride in the 2002 World Cup, Harvey advises.

Step 3

Assign the strongest players to central positions. "I usually start with the center in designing the lineup and go next to the wings," Harvey states. "The middle players are most important, because other players play off them. I would start with center midfielder, while other coaches start with the center fullback." Weigh factors including how hard your athletes work in practice, previous performances, chemistry in the lineup, discipline problems and player attitudes in deciding who should start, writes coach Debra LaPrath in "Coaching Girls Soccer Effectively."

Step 4

Tell the players 15 minutes before the game starts where they are playing, if you are coaching an experienced adult team. Announce to each player whether she is playing center mid, right back, left back, sweeper and so forth.

Step 5

Diagram the lineup on a chalkboard in the classroom before taking the field if you are coaching a high school team so that players can see the shape of the lineup in a more structured team. Similarly, draw the lineup on a dry erase board and show it to a youth team. A simple diagram showing names in the appropriate position will suffice. "It's not like American football where you want to diagram every play," Harvey notes. "Soccer is a lot more creative sport for the players; each one is the quarterback when they have the ball. Their training and knowledge of the game will have to be sufficient once play starts" as the coach cannot direct player decision-making.

Step 6

Submit your lineup in writing, noting starters and substitutes, before the game to the referee if your league requires this. Keep a copy in a three-ring binder for later study of which lineups worked and where a player may need more development.