If you’ve ever played or watched a game of soccer, you might have heard someone shout the phrase ‘goal side’ and wondered what it means.
Here, we introduce everything you need to know about goal side in soccer and explain why it’s an important part of the game.
What is goal side in soccer?
Being goal side in soccer means that you stand between your opponent and the goal that your team is defending. It’s a really important part of defending, as if you fail to get goal side of your opponent, you give them a much better opportunity to score at your expense. Being goal side is particularly important when you’re defending set plays like corners and free kicks.
Why is goal side important in soccer?
The reason that goal side in soccer is important is that it allows you and your teammates to defend effectively. When you think about it, marking your opponent and standing goal side prevents them from getting an easy run on your goal.
When soccer players mark their opponents at set plays, you will always notice that they stand closer to their goal than their opponent. This allows them to defend with their backs facing their own goal, which is much easier than when you’re defending facing your own goalkeeper!
The bottom line is that if you don’t mark goal side in soccer, you run the risk of conceding more goals. As such, ensuring your teammates stay goal side of their opponents is an important part of any team’s strategy.
Is goal side a tactic in soccer?
In many respects, staying goal side is one of the most important tactics in the game of soccer. It’s also one of the simplest to implement and doesn’t take a great deal of forward planning.
When you’re practicing set plays in training, make sure your defenders keep tight and goal side to the attackers, preventing them from getting a free run on the goal. When practiced out on the training field, you will find that it’s relatively straightforward to stick to.
The only time that goal side isn’t a good tactic to employ is if you’re hoping to play your opponents offside, as we explain in detail below.
How is goal side different from offside?
When a team seeks to play their opponents offside, defenders need to step up in unison. This means that they are no longer goal side to their opponents, and the only player separating the opposing forward, and the goal is the keeper.
Playing offside can be an effective strategy, but you need to be careful. If one of your defenders makes a mistake and fails to step up at the right time, you will leave an opposing attacker with a free run at your goal.
In this regard, goal side in soccer is seen as a less risky strategy and is more likely to be employed by defensive-minded teams. Ultimately, if you’re hoping to keep a clean sheet, ensuring your defenders mark goal side is important.
How do you get goal side in soccer?
Getting goal side in soccer is just a case of standing on the correct side of your opponent, so you’re closer to your goal than they are. As such, it’s not overly difficult to get yourself in the correct position.
However, the difficulty comes with staying with your opponent and tracking their movement and any subsequent runs that they make. Particularly at corners and free kicks, attackers will continually move around, making it difficult for defenders to mark them.
Much of the time, you will see players jostling with one another in and around the penalty area, and perhaps even committing fouls by pulling on each other’s shirts. This is usually all in an attempt to get goal side and prevent their opponents from scoring.
What happens if you don’t mark goal side in soccer?
In most instances, if you don’t mark goal side in soccer, you are more likely to concede a goal. This is because you allow your opponents a free run on your goal and leave your goalkeeper relatively unprotected.
The only exception to this is if you have employed the collective tactic to play for offside, allowing your opponents to run behind your defense in the hope that you will successfully play them offside.
Again, this is risky, but it can be an effective way of mixing up your tactics and catching your opponents off guard.
Recap: Goal side in soccer
Goal side in soccer is a relatively easy term to understand, but it’s one that’s important. As introduced, it refers to the way that you and your teammates defend against your opponents, ensuring that you’re closer to your own goal than they are.
Ensuring you’re goal side in soccer is important, and it will reduce your team’s likelihood of conceding a goal, particularly from set plays like corners and free kicks.