When talking about defending in football, there are many ways on how to defend when the ball is lost. But one main rule is, when the ball is lost, the team must defend and try prevent breakthrough / finish in their own defensive zone. It can be done at different times and ways. But each team must develop their own way of defending (defensive tactics), which is adapted to the team and the players individual characteristics.
The players on the defending team must also, when the opponents have the ball, think in defensive lanes, such as; ”How can I help the team win the ball back?”. At the same time, some of them also need to think about how they can ensure an advantageous position, when the team wins the ball back.
When the opponents wins the ball, the team should have a quick transition from attack to defense – a so called ”transition”. The defending players should position themselves in the right defensive positions. Because when the team loses the ball, most of the players will be in front of the ball! So the players should position themselves on the right defensive side (closer to their own goal than the ball). Players high up on the field should move back, so they are closer to their own goal than the nearest opponent.The players at the back must try and move forward and get close to their direct opponent, if there is a possibility that the opponent can receive a pass!.
Another important area in the defensive play is controlling the opponents' buildup. The defensive team can, with the right position on the field, reduce the opponents' area of buildup/attack and partly control their way of building-up/atttacking.By covering a zone, the ball carrier can be forced to pass/drible into an area that is beneficial to the defending team. For example, it could be an area where winning the ball could create a dangerous transition to a counterattack, or where the opponents' have a less ball-safe player?
An example (pitcure beneath) could be, that the whole defending team works together to ”force” the opponents' buildup/attack out on the left side, where they might have some problems. After the opponents' have played the ball out to the left side, the defending team (red team) puts in their pressure, which could increase the probability of winning the ball.
As a part of my ideas and thoughts about defending (also depends on the team), I would like to divide the field into 3 zones, which also can be defined as defensive zones.
I will mainly focus on the defensive zones number 2 & 3, as there are some tactical situations I want to use to be able to handle/control different opponents', such as;
1) With build-ups from the opponents' keeper, I would like us to position us selves high on the field (zone 3) to cut off the possibility for the keeper to pass it out. Or, we will wait until they pass it into to one of the midfielders.
2) In my tactical style of play, I would like the team to work with quick transitions from defense to attack, which mean, we might have to position us selves a bit more defensive (zone 2), and therefore wait until the opponents comes forward. This can create space for the players to use the the space created, after the ball is won back.
3) In the defensive zone (zone 1), the focus is to keep a compact and short distance between the lines, and work with a ”block defense”. We are therefore standing further back on the field.
(For further information about my ideas & thoughs about pressing/counter pressing as a part of defending, have a look at my article at this link)
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Drill for defending in Zone 1:
Focus on developing / further developing the defenders' reactions and movement to prevent passes between the chain.
Description:
6vs4 is played (blue offensive, red defensive).
The exercise starts by, blue team playing to each other, where defense must position itself according to the position of the ball.
If a blue midfielder dribbles forward, the player can pass forward and the direct marker must sit close to the attacker.
If the ball is played back, they must return to their position and act on the position of the ball.
Progression:
Set 11 'man goals, where blue team can now try to get to the end.
Set up two smaller goals, so that defense when conquering must try to play out / hit the goal.
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