5-4-1,
Defense;

5, defenders,

The addition to this defensive style is a central defender who can control the play from the back line.
This defender could also be an attacking player who will feed through balls to the striker. In addition to this the play maker will help create and initialze an attack from the defensive edge of the mid-field.
It can be thought that this player is also a mid-field player when the attack is mounted.

This team has this formation of positions in order not to lose.
They do not want goals scored against them and are usually willing to have a single goal scored for them and will to play for a draw, albeit 0-0.
It is also possible that their goalkeeper is not the "best" in the league.

It is possible however that this team has also been set up to play a strong attacking team.
This would mean that the coaching staff has done their homework and scouted the opposition.
All in all this team is more prepared to defend as opposed to attack.
This team is an opportunistic attacking team and will usually attack against the run of play.
This happens when the opposing team has made a mistake.

This system and idea can also produce and utilize the positions and concepts known as "wing back".
These are the players who can make over-lapping runs from their defensive ends right to the opposing goal lines.

When communicated properly the following happens.

1) A full on attack has been launched.
At least 5 are attacking simultaneously.

2) The outside midfield has now become support, over lapping and or cutting in and out when and where necessary.

3) Positons have changed to reflect those areas (space) not covered.
The attacking team has changed the zonal aspects and created a player mis-match numerically.

4, mid-fielders are usually arranged as outside left, inside left, inside right and outside right.
The outside players are called, wingers or flank players and are also involved in striking the goal.
This would make this line up have a possibility of 4 strikers at any given time.
These wingers usually have the bulk of the running to do as they could carry the ball from the defending third and into the attacking third.
This also depends on the team strategy as outlined by the coaching staff.

The two inside midfielders are supposed to be the "play makers". These are the individuals who are responsible for carrying out the plans the coach and players have designed and used as the methods of attack and goal scoring.
These positions have traditionally played these roles. However nowadays the play making comes from anyone and sometimes all the players at any given time.
These inside players have also been more defensive in their general on field play.
This defensive idea is to stop the opposition from creating attacking options.

This team will require a midfield who is willing to strike the goal at any given time.
Usualy 2 of these players are latent strikers.
They might feel confident that the defense is solid and willing to step up into the middle third of the field.
They then work in unison with the striker/forward.

This team is usually confident of their lone striker.
The striker in this formation actually acts as a post-up player. This means that this striker usually plays with the opposing defense at his/her back.
This player will try and stretch the defense, will receive the ball to lay it back to the oncoming team-mates to close the ground/space that this striker has created.
The cycle continues until a good scoring opportunity has been formulated.

Occationally this striker will turn and attack the goal when the timing is right.
This is usually communicated to the strikers by their team-mates.
However a great striker will sense these situations based on the run of play and the opportunities that this striker has created.

Steve September of On The Ball Soccer Training has been involved in soccer for over forty years and on three continents. As a player, player coach and high performance coach Steve wants to share the knowledge and experiences with all levels of people involved in the soccer scene. Check out the philosophy and information at http://www.soccertrainingskills.com