How Close Should Second Soccer Defender Play To First Soccer Defender?

How close should 2nd defender play to 1st. defender?

My experience is that if the 2nd defender is too close, the 1st defender AND 2nd can be beaten by a wall pass, or the 2nd might be a little slow to react and the 1st can actually run into him. I think the 2nd should have enough distance to be able to see not just the onball attacker, but to have a larger view of what is occurring nearby and time to react to it. (Remember, Space = Time). I think 3 steps is a very short distance when kids are running -- if the 2nd Defender is a little slower, or the First Defender is a little faster, they might run into each other, which could be disastrous. There are trade-offs to every decision. I suggest weighing the benefits against the potential costs. The trade-off of double teaming is that if the onball attacker can get off a pass, someone might be open without a defender. When you double-team you give up coverage of "space" to focus on trying to steal the ball -- that means you might leave a hole in the defense, just like could happen in Football or Basketball -- there's a risk.

David SoccerHelp