Saturday, February 14, 2009

COLLECTIVE DEFENSE

Today on Friday, February 13, 2009 we have started our journey into understanding the concept of what it means to defend as a team mainly how to function and carry out our individual defensive duties in a team setting. Defending in this way as a team is referred to as collective defense. In today’s game, even heroic Individual defensive activities are not always enough to defeat an attack. The approach is generally made with several attackers participating in the attack (usually 5 attackers). Consequently, collective defensive efforts must be made to cope with the attack. It is specifically this teamwork of the forwards that must be countered with coordinated defensive activities.

The basis of collective defense is the exact and almost automatic application of individual defensive methods. A player who is not familiar with the means of individual defense, such as positioning, tackling, and so on, cannot fit into collective defensive tactics.

It is also obvious that even an adequate knowledge of the individual defensive methods alone does not enable the player to hold his own in a collective defense. It is the basis and nothing more.

In the following paragraphs the defensive methods that require cooperation between two or more defenders to achieve the tactical objective will be dealt with. We have practiced all of these schemes during practice and now it is up to you to master them and learn them as you follow my lines and pictures. I can guarantee to you, that if you do your homework, the job at hand on Monday will miraculously become much easier than anticipated and we will be able to triumph albeit under a lot of stress and very difficult opponents.

THE POSITIONING OF THE FULLBACKS



Remember, that I have said during practice that deception will always be built into our formation and our schemes. So, we will show at all times that we play with a flat line of defense and we will show this constantly, especially in the attacking phase of our game. But the surprise to all of our opponents is when we go into a staggered defense during the defensive phase of our game.

Except for the “sweeper” (the last man used by most teams) the defenders (the full backs and the other center back in a four man defense and a holding mid. in a three man defense) in the system of play adopted by us cover, as a rule the spearhead strikers of the opposing side, especially is most teams today play with only two forwards some even with just one up front. However, if we encounter another team playing a similar formation to ours with three forwards, than the two fullbacks and one of the center backs must mark the opposing teams wingers and their center forward. Each defender positions himself and performs his defensive duties in accordance with the general principals already understood by all of our team members, namely, ball side, goal side, do not be flat but approach at an angle, poke the ball and delay, etc. The sweeper is positioned some yards behind (5 to max 8 yards) behind the line formed by his three fellow defenders and has zonal defensive duties to perform. (This means that he does not mark man to man but defends the zone that he is in and the zone behind his fellow defenders).

As has been pointed out earlier the tactical objective of the defense is rarely achieved if individual defensive tactics are adopted. In today’s game and systems the backs must cooperate very accurately. The trio or quartet of defenders, as the case might be, can only be successful against the opponent’s attackers if, instead of playing independent of their own defensive teammates and of the positioning of their opponents, they position themselves individually as required by the given situation and to correspond to the interests of the collective effort. This is drilled into every session that we do.

FACTORS ON WHICH THE POSITIONING OF BACKS DEPENDS



The positioning of the backs depends in the first place on where the ball is being played, on the focus of the game! The positioning of the backs varies according to whether the ball is being played in front of the opponent’s goal or if the focus of the game has shifted to one of the touch lines. Obviously, they have to position themselves in a different manner if the opponent’s attackers constitute an immediate danger to their goal.

The backs should position themselves in the following manner if the ball is being played in the middle of the field and immediately in front of the opposing side’s goal:
The fullbacks (left back and right back) should stay in the vicinity of the opposing wingers if any or any players on the wings. Where the defenders have no previous experience of knowledge of the opposing forwards (you might know the guys you will play against as friends but might not know them as players) and are not yet in a position to know anything about the relative speed of their opponents, they are well advised not to position themselves too close to the men they must mark. That is why it is the wisest for a back to position himself slightly towards the middle and some 3 to 4 yards behind the man he must cover at least in the early stages of the game. This applies to all the backs except the “center back” or in our case on Monday one of the holding midfielders, who is allowed to position himself before the opposing forward because there is the safety measure of the sweeper lying behind the others as the reserve or free defender. The positioning of the defenders is illustrated in Figure 1. Please note that in our case #5 represents not the second center back but a holding midfielder as we have practiced.





There are several reasons for the backs positioning themselves in the manner shown in the figure and our practice session. If the two fullbacks were to position themselves very close to the opposing teams wide attackers, they could be caught by unexpected through balls from behind, as they would have to turn before pursuing the ball, while the attackers would have the advantage of sprinting for the ball before the defenders covering them. That is why it is correct for the two fullbacks to position themselves a little distance from the opposing forwards attacking on the wings. This method is known as I have mentioned on the field loose man-to-man marking.

The sweeper lies behind the line of his defensive teammates partly because in some respect his central position places on him the responsibility for the utmost care and dependability!!!! He must always have in mind the fact that the forward who breaks through in the middle is always the most dangerous. But if he lies fairly deep, he can, in most cases, easily intercept a pass from behind the opposing forward, however; fast that attacker may be.

The question that I ask and you should all ask is, whether this deep positioning of the defenders really does give greater security. There is no doubt about it that positioning of this kind makes it easier for the opposing forwards to receive the ball rapidly, but only if the pass is made from close range. In the event of the long pass (which most of our opponents will play) the distance to be covered by the ball allows enough time for the back to give CLOSE man-to-man marking, to intervene to a tackle when the attacker is in the act of receiving the ball.

The use of a sweeper is especially justified against fast attackers because by lying deeper than his defensive teammates he is in position to move easily to the aid of a fellow defender who has been outwitted by an opposing forward attacking on one of the wings.

Tactically inexperienced sweepers are inclined to make the mistake of following an opposing forward moving back towards his own half. In doing so the other center back moves in front of the line of his defensive colleagues and this leaves him at a disadvantage if he has to chase an opposing winger who has successfully evaded the fullback marking him. In general the attacker who has broken through by outwitting a fullback must be intercepted by the sweeper or perhaps the other fullback. As illustrated in Figure 2.





The fullback at the other end of the defensive line is at quite a distance and very often has a practically no chance of making a successful intervention. The sweeper is the most effective defender in the case described above but only if he has not moved too far ahead and holds his position behind the line of his defensive teammates.

It goes without saying that defenders can and must modify their positioning in a way when they are familiar with their opponents and know that they are inferior to them in respect of speed. In this case they can run the risk of tighter marking (closer to the opponents), a method which enables them to prevent development of an attack when it is about to be started; they can more easily intercept the ball or tackle (unfortunately not allowed indoors) while the opposing attacker is trying to take possession of the ball.

In some cases the defenders may position themselves in front of the attackers they must cover. This applies, in particular, to the left and right backs. I emphasize, however; that this method should only be adopted exceptionally, for in general a defender should not be allowed to position himself in front of the man he has to cover.

The defenders should change their positions in the following manner if the play (the ball) moves towards the touch line from the middle of the field:
Depending on the play and on the movements of the ball the backs can position themselves along a diagonal line. If, from the angle of the defenders, the ball goes to the left flank, the left back moves to give closer cover to the forward he is marking. The sweeper moves to his left to a position slightly in the direction of the ball and behind the fullback while the right back moves deeper and towards the middle sometimes as far as 10 to 15 yards from the man he is covering. (Figure 3)





If the ball is transferred to the other side of the field, the positioning of the defenders and the direction of the diagonal lines change accordingly. In each case the “marking center back” or with three defenders the “holding midfielder” should position himself close to the opposing spearhead forward.

The above described positioning of the backs is the most rational method of effectively placing the defenders to prevent an opposing attacker from breaking through. As we stated earlier, if the opposing right winger evades the marking by the left back, the “sweeper” is in a favorable position to challenge and stop him. At the same time extra safety is provided by the other fullbacks moving in towards the middle of the diagonal; if the ball is played near the touch line at the far end, he can safely move towards the center of the defense. In case the attacker on the right side should make a cross field pass to the unmarked attacker on the left side, it will not be difficult for the right back to move quickly and mark his attacker. (We have demonstrated this at our session) The fact that the ball must travel across the field from the other end allows him time to run into position.
The defenders should position themselves in the following manner when play is in the area of the goal they are defending:
When the ball is being played near our goal area, the defenders should adopt close man-to-man marking. Also this was explained and covered in our session) The nearer the ball moves to the goal the closer the backs must be behind or next to the opposing attackers. This kind of close man-to-man marking lessens the danger of a fast attacker breaking away from his marker, because he is not given room to take advantage of his superior speed. (Figure 4)





If the opponents do succeed in breaking through following a successful dribble, faint or fast pass combination, there is still the sweeper in reserve to block the path, the player who in principle is the final obstacle confronting the attacker in his trust and attempt at our goal.

POSITIONING OF THE MIDFIELD PLAYERS



Here I want to mainly concentrate on the two defensive or filtering midfielders. They are also referred to as wing halves!!!! The wing-halves or holding midfielders have the DUTY of keeping an eye on the opponent’s second line of attack, that is opposing midfield players. Wherever the opposing side is in possession of the ball, the midfield players must find and position themselves in the vicinity of their opposite numbers. While the team is on the defensive the midfield players must give close man-to-man marking to their respective opponents. It is important that they do so, because generally it is the midfield players who engineer attacks. The opposing midfield players must be constantly disturbed in their efforts to build up an attack. Close man-to –man marking involves little if any risk in the case of the wing-halves. They are the true, first line of defense after the good delaying work of their forwards; and if one of them is beaten there is still behind them another obstacle confronting the attackers, the second line of defense.

The positioning of the holding midfielders is very largely dependent on the MOMENTARY situation of the ball, the actual state of play. If the ball is in the position of their own attack, the midfielders are allowed to position themselves in front of their mark because in this case they are in a more favorable position to intercept a pass back by an opponent (Figure 5) or if necessary they can join in the offensive movement as the second wave of attack.





If the attack is being made down one side of the field, the holding midfielder on that side should move forward while his teammate at the other end should move towards the middle. (Figure 6) Again this is in ATTACK! We did not go over this but you can see where you need to be on the attack!





In these changes of position, the holding midfielder is required to position himself closer to his own goal and is never allowed to move too far out in front of the opponent he must cover, for he must be able to return to marking the abandoned opponent as soon as possible after his side’s attack has been stopped or foiled in any way.

The holding midfielders should NEVER rush at the man he is covering immediately after the opponent has managed to take possession of the ball. Instead, he should jockey or channel him until the time is right to win the ball (outdoors a tackle MUST be thrown) with the minimum risk. To rush at the opponent is a serious mistake especially if he is a good dribbler and feinter; a successful evasion of the tackle or attempt to win the ball puts the opposing midfielder in a position to quickly achieve numerical superiority in the attack.

When the holding midfielders are about to challenge, tackle or intervene, they must always bear in mind the great responsibility they carry for the whole team, but especially their responsibility to the defense.

COOPERATION BETWEEN FULLBACKS AND HOLDING MIDFIELDERS



Although I can not emphasize enough the importance of the tackle in the central zone or middle third of the game, during indoor season this is not possible as the rules do not allow it. Therefore, since it is impossible to tackle the midfield player is advised to retreat in the direction of his own goal but while doing so he should always challenge the man he is marking.

Inside what is called the “danger zone” (which begins some 20 to 25 yards from the goal line), the holding midfielder must offer MAXIMUM resistance to the attacking opponent. Failure to do so will allow the attacker to try a shot at goal. A quick forceful challenge can be made here with greater possibility of success: the defenders are much closer to one another and if the challenge does not succeed a covering defender can quickly follow with a second forceful challenge. (Again, outdoors here a tackle is a MUST)

A holding mid may often be beaten in midfield by the opponent’s attackers.
In this case the beaten midfielder has the following duties:
If he was beaten in the central zone he should run after the man he marks at full speed and challenge him again for possession of the ball. If he fails to catch up with him a change of position or marking involving the midfield players and fullbacks may prove necessary, depending on the extent of the danger.

When the opposing attacker is thrusting at goal he should if possible be challenged by one of the fullbacks (left or right) and only where absolutely necessary by a center back. It is more advantageous if the fullback makes the first challenge to the oncoming attacker because for the moment the man it is his duty to mark on or close to the touch line is now a lesser danger than the opponent bearing down on goal in the middle. So, it is imperative to go counter reflexes and leave the marked man on the sidelines momentarily unmarked. The center back should only move forward to challenge if the attacker has broken through in the middle and the outcome of the challenge by any of his defensive teammates on either side would be highly doubtful.
When a holding mid has been beaten and another defender comes to his aid, the beaten midfielder should take over the job of covering the opponent the other defender has been marking. (In figure 7 the holding mid moves into the position of the left back or more exactly, the holding mid moves to cover the opponent that the left back has marking.)





In general the holding mid who has been beaten and thereby left without an opponent to cover or challenge should always mark the attacker who, at that particular moment constitutes the lesser danger to goal. In that case the slight interval before the holding mid is in position to mark should not cause any serious trouble as we have demonstrated during our practice session.

When the center back moves to cover the opposing attacker thrusting at goal through the middle and so replaces the player originally marking that opponent (change of marking), the opposing forward should be covered by the sweeper whose position should be taken by the beaten holding mid as quickly as possible as in (Figure 8).





This situation is rather dangerous because a change of marking involving three players is necessary to solve the problem.

The success of these defensive activities will be even more hazardous if one of the defenders is somehow rendered ineffective either as a result of the opponent’s tactics or of an error committed by the defender himself. Again this was covered during our session and all questions and most possibilities of what can go wrong were demonstrated. A rapid change of marking may momentarily make it possible to avert immediate danger, but however smoothly the change is effected there must be moments during the movement when some attackers are unmarked. Please note that due to the narrow field it was the outside backs who in our session made the inside cut to pick up the dribbling opponent. However, on a wider and bigger field it is the job of the “second holding mid” to make the cut in and pick up the dribbler!!!! If the opposition is able to take advantage of these critical moments for the defenders, scoring opportunities are virtually bound to be created.

It is obvious that the even the most perfectly organized collective defensive move is vulnerable and has critical moments. From the point of view of positioning the biggest problem is in countering numerical superiority on the part of the opponent’s attackers. This is the point at which a change of positions or marking becomes necessary for the defenders and however smoothly this move is performed, a highly dangerous gap may open up in the wall of defense even if for a moment or two only. Where the defenders have a good understanding, they can reduce the danger to the minimum.

The examples we have practiced and discussed at the session of a few salient plays. It would not be possible for me or for anyone and it would also be unnecessary to describe all the possibilities in detail. The objective of these examples has been that of bringing to attention the FUNDAMENTAL principles governing collective defensive activities in our system of play.

Collective defensive activities are founded upon mixed defensive activities on the basis of the principle of mutual safety. Basic to this concept is that the opposing forward who offers the greatest threat to goal should always be marked by at least one but possibly two defenders. Close man-to-man marking should be maintained only for as long as no attacker moves clean into the vicinity of the goal, because such an opponent who is not covered is, therefore, comparatively more dangerous. In such cases the defenders should adopt the change of positions and marking while sticking to the principles of mixed defense. (Meaning zonal and man2man) The change of marking however can only avert the immediate danger temporarily. The numerical superiority of the attackers can only be countered if the beaten defender who is momentarily missing from the defense can again join in the collective defensive activities. (THIS IS ONE ASPECT OF OUR GAME THAT IS LACKING!!!!!)

CHANGE OF MARKING BY THE DEFENDERS



In discussing the positioning of the defenders I referred to the fact that the defenders must position themselves so as to serve the success of defensive tactics exclusively.

At any moment of the game irrespective of whether the play is in the opponent’s half or in front of the defender’s own goal they should position themselves so that if necessary they can give quick and effective aid to the other defenders.

The best way in which one defender can aid another is through change of positioning or marking. The attacker who has beaten a defender should, as a rule, be challenged by the nearest defender. The defender who leaves an opponent unmarked temporarily to challenge an attacker who has evaded cover, has virtually switched his duty under the man2man marking system, he has changed position by running from one into another.

The question arises: when and in what manner a defender should change position?

A change of marking is necessary when one of the defenders has been beaten and an attacker is left free to thrust at goal. This is the VITAL moment at which the changing move has to be started.

The position changing move, however; must be started with utmost care. If the opponent’s attack develops at a fast pace and at a distance from goal and the defense is not yet ready to counter the offensive, the defender on whom the duty devolves to make the switch of marking should delay his move; in other words he should not leave the man he is marking immediately and run to challenge the attacker thrusting towards goal. His first duty is to make every effort to slow down the pace of the offensive, so that the other defenders or midfield players who have moved too far forward and into the opponent’s territory may have time to fall back into their own half and help in defense.

The change of positioning or marking, however, should be executed without delay when the ball is in front of the goal because in that case any unmarked opponent is an immediate potential danger to the goal. If the defenders are grouped in front of the goal area it is much easier to change the marking since the distances among the defenders and, for that matter, between the attackers and defenders are considerably reduced.

Let us examine through examples the ways in which the change of marking involving defenders takes place. Supposing that the opponent’s right-winger has beaten the left-back in the vicinity of the half-way mark and his path towards the goal is no longer blocked.





What should the nearest defender, the centre-back or the sweeper do in such a case? To rush immediately to challenge the right-winger would be a mistake, because both the beaten full-back and the holding midfielders who have moved far up in the field are absent from the defense. When an attacker has made a break-through the position is one of great danger and if the defenders want to counter the offensive with any hope of success, it is vitally important that they should reestablish at least numerical balance between the attacker and the defenders. The best way to achieve this objective is to delay the attack. This should be done by the centre-back or the sweeper by moving circumspectly towards the attacker who has broken clean while the other defenders fall back into position as rapidly as possible. Meanwhile the defenders should move so as to prevent a situation in which the winger can pass to the unmarked centre-forward in an open space. By jockeying, channeling and impeding the line of approach to goal the defenders make it difficult for the attack to make direct progress and the opponents are left with the possibility of square or diagonal passes. Meanwhile the right-back who is moving in towards the centre of defense and left back are given enough time to cover the forward; all the other defenders may be able to run back into position.





It must be remembered that the defenders should not be too hasty in making the change. If the centre-back leaves one of the forwards unmarked too early to run and challenge the oncoming right-winger, this involves the danger of the winger passing to the other forward before another defender has been able to move into a covering position. While affecting the position-changing move, the defenders must always have in mind which attacker momentarily represents the greatest danger to goal. But there is no time for consideration when the ball or the unmarked attacker has penetrated the danger zone. In this case the change must be instantly executed.

It is also necessary to switch marking when an attacker has beaten the centre-back in the middle. It is the duty of the nearest back to make the position-changing move and challenge the attacker. This duty may fall to either full-back, but most often it is the sweeper who has to challenge the forward who has broken through.

Danger is immediate consequence of unexpected central break-through by the centre-forward following midfield play. The goal is exposed to immediate danger if there is not complete harmony among the defenders, because the slightest lack of understanding or split-second delay can lead to a critical situation.

Naturally the beaten centre-back should not remain at the place where he was outwitted; he must join in the defensive activities as soon as he can to assist his teammates. If he has a chance of catching with the forward he should race after him. But it is rarely the case. That is why it is more rational to cover as soon as possible the attacker left unmarked, by the defender who has moved to challenge the centre-forward, or the outwitted defender can choose another unmarked attacker.

It is quite easy to carry out the position changing move if the defenders outnumber the attackers. In such a case defensive movement over a wide area of the field of play, which is what is required to be performed by the defenders of the three-back system, is rarely if ever necessary.

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