The opposition would not have planned for this and may not know who to mark. Even if they are not the main target, their mere presence alone can cause chaos for the opposition defence as they are not meant to be there. It is common for a goalkeeper to go up for an attacking corner as time elapses during a match where their team is behind on the scoreboard. They now task their keepers to pick out long passes, be comfortable on the ball and even act as sweeper-keepers so their heading skills need to be on point if a ball comes over the top and they find themselves out of their area. Whereas previously they would probably be content to make short passes to their defensive line or just boot the ball up the pitch, modern-day managers have a different view. In recent years there has been more demand placed on goalkeepers to contribute with their feet to teamplay. Whilst they do not do as much running as their teammates, the goalkeeper needs to be physically fit and strong. Not just a shotstopper but a commanding presence in the box on counter-attacks and especially when defending set-pieces like corners and free-kicks.Ī goalkeeper traditionally takes the goalkicks but it has been known for other players (normally a defender) to take them if the keeper is carrying a knock or if the defender has a particularly big boot on them to go against the elements on occasion. They have to be agile, alert and decisive. Your goalkeeper must have vital communication skills to be able to organize the defence in front of them. To avoid confusion, we will base the discussion on a traditional 4-4-2 system (unless otherwise stated) and talk about variations and changes to this later in the article So what do these numbers mean and why is the positioning significant on a soccer pitch? In this article, we aim to clarify the terms and expand on their meaning by taking you through soccer positions by number.

On fans forums, in the terraces and on social media a players suitability to a number six role or a number eight can regularly be discussed amongst fans and critics. It is not just on the television or radio you will hear number positional changes discussed. Therefore the commentator can elaborate on the point and go onto explain why he is suited to both the number nine and the number ten positions. It would be too generic to describe Rooney as centre-forward as it would not reflect his multiple talents. You will often hear commentators refer to positions on a field specifically by naming a number, for example, “Wayne Rooney has the vision to play as a number 10 but also the finishing ability to play as a number 9”.

Despite this, the numbers are important and have a lot of historical value. With such vast rosters of talent and the introduction of squad numbers, it is rare that you see a straight forward one-to-eleven anymore. Anyone coming into the game nowadays could be forgiven for thinking that the numbers on a players back don’t mean much in terms of positioning.

Positional number system in soccer