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Risky, but it does come with its benefits. The sweeper-keeper role is what allows teams that run this strategy to play the defenders closer to the middle of the field while having their back end covered. However, due to the danger of keeping the attacking team onside at all times, goalkeepers are those who are starting to take on the responsibilities of the sweeper roles.
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This meant that sweepers needed to return to their original job of being the last line of defense. Following the most recent trends, we can notice the role of sweeper moving back to its roots, in some way:Īs soccer became a more pressing game and the entire game started to be based on winning the ball as high up the field as possible, the defensive line had to be moved towards the middle of the field. The evolution of this position is still ongoing, as the game of soccer keeps changing. The sweeper’s main job has moved from clearing out potential dangers to organizing the attack and assisting on the defensive end of things. During the last few decades, sweepers have turned into midfielders instead of defensive players. However, as soccer evolved, this position went through multiple changes in its job description.
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Over time, sweepers had a really simple job which consisted of standing behind their team’s backline and clearing any ball or removing any threat that makes it through that line. As evident from the text above, sweepers in soccer have a much more convoluted job: We tend to think of the sweeper as a person on the field whose only purpose is to clear out the ball and send it down the field. What does a sweeper do in soccer?Ī sweeper in soccer has multiple duties which are much more complex than what we commonly assume. This is how sweepers became so relevant they are the connection between the defensive and the attacking end of the field whose job is not only to ensure that their team doesn’t receive a goal but also to organize the attack. This allowed the sweepers to perform their defensive task by protecting the backline and attacking the ball, while the defenders behind them sweep up. So, instead of placing the sweeper back like in the good old days, soccer teams around the world adopted the strategy of moving the sweepers forward. What this meant is that having a player sit behind the defensive line and clear any balls was no longer a viable strategy, as they’d always keep the attackers onside. The second change to the offside rule happened in 1990, stating that attacking players were not in an offside position as long as they remain even with the last defender, not including the keeper, when the ball is played. The first one occurred in 1925 and made sweepers almost obsolete. There were a few major shifts in the sweeper position and both of them occurred with the introduction of new offside rules. In some languages, sweepers are referred to as libero, which can be translated to the leader. In addition to being the last defensive player, a sweeper also serves as a playmaker for the team. With time, however, the sweeper role has evolved to account for the modern soccer playstyle. At first, the only duty that the team’s sweeper had to do was to clear any balls that had the potential to end up in the net. Enjoy the reading! What is a Sweeper in SoccerĪs explained above, a sweeper in soccer is the last line of defense for any team. In today’s text, we’ll learn what is that the sweeper does on the field, as well as share some interesting information about this important position. The role that the sweepers play in soccer is one of the crucial roles on the field: In addition to being the last line of defense, their duties include various other responsibilities. The term sweeper has been in use ever since the late 19 th century when it was first used to denote the job of sweeping up any potential mistakes and clearing out the ball and attackers that manage to get through. Sweeper’s job is to counter any attackers that might get through the rest of the defense. Where is this player located on the field and what is their job?Ī sweeper in soccer is the last line of a team’s defense. One of the key roles on the soccer field is played by the sweeper. However, these four positions can further be divided into 11 others one for each player on the field. Goalkeeper, defender, midfielder, and forward are the four basic soccer positions. This site also participates in other affiliate programs and is compensated for referring traffic and business to them. Authority Soccer () is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to.