Football Tactics

abishek.ta0007@gmail.
com 08 Nov 2022

abishek.ta0007@gmail.com 08 Nov 2022
Table of Contents
Chapter 1 Back to Basics: Formations 10
Chapter 2 The Interconnected Wholeness 45
Chapter 3 Field-occupations and functionality 50
Chapter 4: Defensive Tactics 103
Chapter 5: Attacking Tactics 171

Chapter 4: Defensive Tactics

Let’s do a quick recap. So far you learned the basic set-ups
of the most used formations. Then you learned the concept
of The Interconnected Wholeness. Thereafter we went a
bit more in-depth. We talked about the 5 different
corridors and the advantages and disadvantages of each,
and how functionality ensures that no formation is the
same. I went on to explain that the paradox of it is that due
to player movement and the spaces teams want to occupy
the field-occupations are often very similar, and that this
is usually a 2-3-2-3.
So we discussed the basic theoretical background that you

needed to know. Now we are really going into the practical
things. We will start with the defensive tactics. Why?
Because defending is easier then attacking, so
understanding and spotting defensive tactics is easier then
spotting attacking tactics.
There are two basic forms of defending: zonal-marking

and man-marking. However what is important to realize is
that these types of defending are a bit like defining your
gender: you aren’t one or the other, but it is a spectrum
between those two points and you are somewhere on that
spectrum. You aren’t necessarily fully zonal marking or
fully man-marking. A lot of teams use a mixture of both
forms. For example, most teams that use zonal defense will
go man-to-man on the side of the ball, or when the ball
approaches their own penalty box. Meanwhile man-
marking doesn’t mean that defenders will always stay tight
to their opponent, but they will move along with the ball
and letting go of their man when he is on the other side of

the pitch.
In this chapter we are firstly going to look at man-marking

and what it looks like during a match. Secondly we will
take a look at zonal-marking, which can be divided in three
sub-categories: regular zonal marking, man-orientated
zonal marking, and finally passing lane-orientated zonal
marking
Man-marking
You probably understand the idea behind man-marking. I

mean, it is in the name, man-marking, mark the man. In
the most rigid form of man-marking every player is
responsible for one particular opponent. That means if
your opponent walks to the left, you follow him to the left.
If he drops, you drop as well, and if he makes a run, you
follow the run.
The most rigid use of man-marking (everyone going 1v1)

is hardly used anymore as far as I know. Most teams
always want to keep at least a 2 against 1 overload at the
centre of the defense. However going 1 against 1 in the
midfield has been and is still being used a lot.
During a match that looks a bit like this:
(Cardiff using man-marking (man-orientations) against

Manchester City)
(Scotland using man-marking (man-orientations) against

Mexico)1
1
Both of the pictures used here are actually temporally moments of
man-marking used in a man-orientated defensive system. But for
the purposes and clarity of this book I have used them as examples
of man-marking.
There are certain pros and cons to man-marking. The

biggest advantage of man-marking is that you are able to
press every opponent at any given time. This asks a lot of
the technical abilities of the opponent. If a pass is bad, the
ball can immediately be pressed. If a touch is bad, the ball
can immediately be won. Therefore this type of defending
works well against lesser opponents, and is still often used
during pressing (which we will talk about later). When you
play against lesser opponents, getting into 1v1’s can be
wise because you are qualitatively better, and thus it is
easier to win the duels.
That is not to say that it won’t work against a ‘big’ team,

as most players experience difficulty when they are
pressed immediately after receiving, however the better
the opposition’s players become, the more difficult it
becomes to defend against them in this way.
Another advantage of man-marking is that everybody feels

responsible. When it is obvious that Player A marks
Opponent A and Player B marks Opponent B, then it is
also obvious whose fault it is when these players are able
to get free. This isn’t necessarily to be able to blame
someone when it goes wrong, but it ensures that everyone
feels responsible when defending.
On the other side, there is one massive disadvantage about

man-marking which is the main reason that most top-
teams have stopped using it as their main-method of
defending. This disadvantage is that when using man-
marking the opponent decides where our players end up.
If they pull all our midfielders to one side of the field there
will be gaps in our formation. In addition, when we
recover the ball counterattacking will be hard, as our
players could be all over the place.
Opponents can also use this to easily open up passing

lanes. An often-used example is dragging the midfielders
to the side, which opens up the through ball to the striker.
(Klaasen pulls Pogba out of position, which opens up the

passing lane to Dolberg).
Zonal-Marking
Regular zonal-marking:
Zonal-marking is the other way around. I will start with
regular zonal-marking. I believe this is the most used/ most
common form of zonal marking. It comes down to one
player stepping out to press the ball, and the other players
taking up positions in relation to his position. An example
of this would be when a midfielder steps out to press the
player with the ball, the other midfielders position
themselves diagonally behind him to provide cover (see
‘layered midfield’ diagram below).
Instead of marking opponents you now mark a certain

space. Every player is responsible for a certain part of the
pitch, depending on the position of the ball. Therefore to
determine their own position, defenders first look at the
position of the ball, then at the position of their teammates,
and only last to the position of the opponents.
When defending like this it is very important that the

defense is layered. Otherwise the opponents will be able to
break a defensive line with just one pass.
(The Blue team is defending and has a layered midfield: 3

lines of cover).
(The midfield is not layered. There is no cover and with

just one pass, the opponent is able to outplay all the
midfielders).
The biggest advantage of zonal-marking in general (so for

all 3 forms) is that you determine the position of your
defensive formation. Where during man-marking your
players can end up all over the place, during zonal-
marking they won’t be dragged out of position too much.
This makes it much harder for the opponent to create
spaces in your defensive formation, while it is also easier
to counter-attack as your players are still in position.
Another advantage is that there are less 1v1 situations
compared to man-marking. Because the opponent is able
to influence your field-occupation during man-marking,
they can isolate one of your defenders.
During zonal-marking your field-occupation stays more
intact, which allows you to more often have cover for the
defender who steps out to press the ball. Zonal-marking
also requires less energy than man-marking as defenders
don’t have to trace their opponent over the entire pitch, but
can just stay in their zone.
The biggest downside of zonal-marking is that you don’t

have access to press every player. Which means that
certain lesser players (usually the defenders) won’t always
be pressed. When the opponents manage to get a player
free between the lines, you don’t have a player that is able
to immediately press that opponent. And when an
opponent takes a bad touch or something similair, you
aren’t always immediately able to exploit that mistake.
(Atletico Madrid using zonal-marking and having a

layered midfield).
(Huddersfield’s midfield (Black team) is not layered, all

players are in one line. This creates a big space between
the lines and they can be outplayed with one pass).
Two other forms that have become more and more popular
are zonal man-orientations and passing-lane-orientated
zonal marking, both of which I will discuss below.
Zonal man-orientations
Zonal man-orientations are a style of defending that is in

between man-marking and zonal-marking. Where with a
rigid form of zonal-marking the orientation points are ball,
then teammates, then opponents, for zonal man-
orientations they are ball, then opponents, then teammates.
This sounds perhaps a bit complicated but on the pitch it
isn’t that hard. It means that every player has a certain zone
he has to cover, and when there is an opponent in his zone
he marks that opponent.
On the one hand you have the advantages of man-marking.

You are able to press every player of the opponent’s team
and no-one is allowed time and space on the ball, and you
also have the advantage of the zonal element as that your
entire organization won’t be disrupted. When an opponent
walks out of the player’s zone he just stays in position.
On the other hand due to the man-orientations the midfield

is still rather easy to dismark2 for the opponent, because
usually having the midfielders move towards the sides of
the field is enough to create spaces in the centre. However,
2
To Dismark means to disorganise the marking. So, to say ‘the
midfield is easy to dismark’ means it is easy to disorganise the
opponent’s defensive system in the midfield area (to either create
free players in the midfield, or to pull the opposition’s midfielders
out of position).
creating actual chances can be quite hard, as the team

overall often remains organized.
This kind of defending works best when your formation

lines up with the formation of the opponent. For example,
the opponent plays a 4-3-3 and you play a 4-2-3-1. When
this is the case all of your players already have an opponent
in their zone whom they can mark without having to adjust
your field-occupation.
A manager who usually uses zonal man-orientations is

Jose Mourinho. He has used this kind of defending with all
the clubs he has worked at.
(Zonal man-orientations at Chelsea).

(Zonal man-orientations at Real Madrid. Players who have

an opponent in their zone, that is able to receive, mark him
(man-orientated). Alonso’s opponent isn’t dangerous so he
covers the centre(zonal-orientated)).
(United using zonal man-orientations).

Passing-lane-orientated zonal marking:

Another way of zonal defending that is becoming more
and more popular is cutting out the passing lanes in the
midfield area. I think this mainly got popular after Jurgen
Klopp started using it at Liverpool and Dortmund. This
tactic is usually used by teams that defend in a 4-5-1
formation as this gives you the biggest reach in midfield,
but can also be used in other formations as the 4-4-2. The
striker usually positions himself at the defensive
midfielder of the opponent and presses the central
defenders while taking out the passing lane to that
midfielder. The two wingers position themselves in
between the central defenders and the fullbacks, cutting
out the passing lanes to those players, while the three
central midfield players take out the passing lanes to the
opponent’s central midfielders.
(Blue 4 has the ball. The red team position themselves in

such a way that they take out the passing lanes to the blue
players).
The big advantage of this kind of defending is its

counterattacking ability. When you win the ball back, your
players are already in front of their opponent, which means
that you have a big advantage during the transition. In
addition, it is quite hard for the opponent to dismark when
this is executed correctly, as none of the midfield players
are able to receive the ball at their feet.
The downside of this kind of defensive set-up is its

difficulty to implement. To execute this perfectly, it
requires all the players to know exactly what to do in every
scenario, and to constantly coach each other to take up the
right positions. Liverpool is a team that really ‘owns’ this
type of defense. And therefore, even though it might seem
‘risky’ on paper, it actually makes them quite solid
defensively. Teams that are not as synchronized and
playing this system often fall apart in two blocks as the
space between the midfielders and defenders becomes too
big. Tactically, the weak point is a ball over the top which
one of the midfielders is able to pick up. As your
midfielders are in front of the opposition’s midfielders,
this also means that you are in a disadvantage when the
opposition is able to reach those players.
(Liverpool taking out the passing lanes to all the Arsenal

players).
High-press
Unorganized pressing situations:
Just as there are different pros and cons to defending in a
certain way, there are also different pro’s and con’s to
pressing high up the pitch. In addition, there are also
different ways in which you can press. The most
‘aggressive’ option is man-orientations / man-marking, a
bit less aggressive is option-orientated pressing and the
least advanced is marking the short options.
Let’s start with the pros and cons of pressing high-up in

general.
Pressing high-up allows you to win the ball back near the
opponent’s goal. On one hand this helps you to create
immediate danger, you are already near the goal when you
win the ball. Teams that press with this philosophy in mind
usually start by retreating a bit, allowing the opponents
goalkeeper to play the ball short first before they start
pressing.
There are also teams that press high to force the opponent
to play long. Teams that use this philosophy usually ensure
that the goalkeeper isn’t able to play any short passes.
Their pressing is also usually less precise, as they care
about disrupting the build-up instead of actually winning
the ball back. The main advantage of doing this is that you
don’t allow the opponent any chance of a clean build-up,
as you are marking all their players. When they still try to
build-up, you can intercept the ball and create a chance.
Or, as it often results, the opponent plays an inaccurate
long ball and you are able to start your own build-up again.
So, the pros are: winning the ball back near the opponent’s
goal, not allowing the opponent to build from the back and,
when done right, easy recovery of the ball.
On the other side, the big downside of pressing high-up is

that you leave spaces behind that your opponent can
exploit when they beat your press.
Imagine two castles with kings that are some kilometers
apart. Both don’t like each other, so they want to destroy
each other’s castle. If a king sends his troops immediately
forward, he has the advantage that the fight will mostly
take place near the other king’s castle. So, when his
knights win the fight, they can immediately enter the
fortress. The downside is that when his first line of knights
is beaten, the ‘opponents’ can immediately run up to his
castle without much defense left.
We separate three kinds of pressing, man-orientated press,

option-orientated press, and forcing a long ball press.
A man-orientated press means pressing man-to-man.
Some teams go fully 1v1 over the entire pitch. Most want
to keep a spare man at the back, so they leave one player
free or have one or two players option-orientated, which
we will discuss later.
(Arsenal using a man-orientated press)
(Atletico Madrid using a man-orientated press on the side

of the ball).
The advantages of man-orientated pressing are about the

same as that of man-marking. You have access to every
player that is able to receive the ball during build-up, so
you can press any player. This allows you to punish every
bad pass or touch instantly.
The downside is that you have to leave space behind, as

your players have to step fully forward to press the
opponent’s players. Another downside is that your players
again can be dragged out of position as they follow the
opponents. Teams that are good on the ball often try to
drag the pressers towards their own goal, and then exploit
the space further up the pitch.
(Chelsea absorb the pressure and then look for the space
further up the pitch).
The second way of pressing is option-orientated.

Option-orientated, also called being ‘half-and-half’,
means that a player takes up a position between multiple
opponents. This allows him to press multiple players,
depending on who receives the ball.
(Sevilla using an option-orientated press from where they

can press multiple opponents).
The advantage of pressing this way is that you need fewer

players to have access to all the players you want to press,
and therefore can keep more man at the back. The
downside is that you don’t have immediate access to every
player, so you are not able to punish every mistake and it
is easier to play out underneath the press. Teams that use
man-orientated pressure usually use option-orientated
press on the far-side, so they can commit more players on
the side of the ball while still keeping players at the back.
The third way of pressing is forcing a long ball.

With every way of pressing a long ball can be forced, but
with this kind of pressing it is the main objective. This type
of pressing is usually used during open play when the
opponent plays the ball back to the goalkeeper. One player
presses the ball from the side, while trying to take out
passes to that side. And about two other players mark the
nearby passing-options.
(United forcing a long ball. Lukaku presses the goalkeeper

and takes out the passing lane to one side. Fernandinho is
being marked and the right winger is option-orientated to
be able to press both the central defender and the fullback).
The advantage of pressing like this is that you don’t need

a lot of players to force a long ball. So you can keep a lot
of players at the back, while still having an OK press.
The downside is of course that you don’t have access to a
lot of players, so the opponents can easily play out
underneath it when the press is not executed perfectly.
Organized pressing situations:

The next step when watching a team press is determining
which player is pressing which player, especially at goal
kicks. This doesn’t necessarily mean the names of the
players, e.g. Ronaldo is pressing Jordi Alba, but the
positions in the original defensive and attacking set-up
(right winger presses left fullback). As normally most
teams don’t want to go fully 1v1 they will leave a player
free somewhere on the pitch. When this free player does
receive, the defensive team (usually) has a plan that
determines which player now has to step out to press the
new ball carrier.
There are numerous ways to press a team on a goal kick,
and naming all of them would go beyond the stretch of this
book. I will discuss some examples here.
The first way of pressing is the most used way in The

Netherlands. Especially in the Youth Leagues you see it
everywhere, as it can be quite effective.
One of the wingers and the striker cover the central
defenders, while one of the fullbacks is ‘left open’.
(The Red team presses the Blue teams goal kick by leaving
the Blue rightback (2) ‘free’. The leftwinger (11) is in
between the central defender and the fullback)
Now the Blue goalkeeper could try to play the ball to Blue
2. When this happens the Red team can have multiple
responses, determining on the qualities of the players and
the preference of the coach.
The first option would be to have Red 11 press Blue 2.

This could only be possible when the space between the
central defender (3) and the fullback (2) isn’t too big.
(Space is small enough for Red 11 to cover when the ball

goes to Blue 2)
Usually the space between the central defender (3) and

fullback (2) is bigger (we come to that later), so another
player has to step out.
Another option could be to have the midfielder Red 10 step

out to press Blue 2 when the ball is played. As his
opponent Blue 6 would then be free, Red 6 could also step
through, and Red 3 would then have to take over Blue 10.
(Red 10 goes to Blue 2, Red 6 takes over the marking of

Blue 6, and Red 3 takes over the marking of Blue 10).
(Which makes you end up with this field-occupation).

This is a way of pressing I have seen in Dutch youth

leagues, and even a way of pressing I did myself for a
practice at my UEFA C license. However, you don’t see
this much at the top-level at the moment as this ‘passing
over’ of players is quite difficult if we also take into
account that Blue 6 might drop back to his own penalty
box. In addition, there aren’t a lot of managers at the top
level who are willing to have one of their central defenders
leave the defensive line.
Another option to cover the Blue 2 would be to have your

fullback Red 5 step out to defend him.
(Blue 2 has received the ball from the goalkeeper, Red 5

steps out to press him and Red 4 takes over the marking of
Blue 7, with Red 2 and Red 3 moving to cover the centre).
The advantage of this is that the midfielders can now just

stay in position and follow their own man.
This is also the way of pressing Louis van Gaal used at
Barcelona during certain games, for example.
(One fullback is left free)

(Fullback steps out to press the opposition’s fullback (the

player who received in the previous picture), the central
defender takes over the marking of the winger).
Once the opponents have chosen a certain way to press on

a goalkick, the team that tries to build-up has two choices:
1) Don’t build-up and play a long ball,
2) Move players in such a way that you are able to create
a new free player, which is usually done by creating bigger
distances between players. Once the attacking team does
this, the defending team has to come up with a reaction to
counter this
.
Let’s look at some practical examples of Premier League
games:
Arsenal – Tottenham:
Here in the first picture you can see that Arsenal press with
their 3 strikers who are positioned on the 18-yard box. In
order to create bigger distances between the players,
Tottenham have dropped their central defender back to the
goal-line, and two central midfielders to the edge of the
18-yard box.
As the distances are big enough, Tottenham are able to

create a free player. Arsenal’s fullback is too late to press
Tottenham’s fullback, and Arsenal’s midfielder and striker

are too far to press Tottenham’s midfielder.
A couple minutes later and Arsenal have changed their

pressing. Now the Tottenham midfielder is marked, and
Tottenham are forced to play a long ball.
This is near the end of the match. Arsenal now chooses to

force the play to the right central defender of Tottenham.
Look at the positions of the Arsenal attackers. The one on
the right is on the edge of the penalty area, the one on the
left is more on the inside. This allows the one on the left to
be able to press the midfielder easier if the goalkeeper does
choose to pass the ball to him.
A couple minutes later Arsenal press in the same way.

Tottenham again have two choices: either move and create
a new free player, or just play a long ball. Last time the
Tottenham defender lost the ball, so they don’t want to
pass the ball to him again, and decide to go for the long
ball.
Chelsea – Manchester City
Here is another example. Manchester City have made the

spaces bigger by pulling their central defenders back and
having two midfielders fall back to the 18-yard box.
Chelsea don’t want to go 1v1 so they leave one central
defender free.
When the ball is passed to the free defender the nearest

Chelsea player steps out and the other players move over
to cover the player he leaves.
When Manchester City do manage to reach the other side

of the field (switched through the goalkeeper), one of
Chelsea’s midfielders (Kante) steps out to press him.
Same scenario, right central defender left free is just

outside the screen.
As the distances between the City players are too big for
the Chelsea players to cover, City are able to create a free
midfielder once the Chelsea attacker steps out to press the
receiving defender.
Pressing triggers
Pressing all the time however, is pretty pointless and a
waste of energy. If the opponent is completely organized
and has the capabilities to play out, the press will most
likely be ineffective from the get-go. On the other side,
there are also moments during a game in which the
chances of you winning the ball during pressing are much
higher. These moments are called ‘pressing triggers’.
Examples of pressing triggers are: a bad touch, a difficult
pass, a ball into a corner, or a player that receives without
orientating himself first.
Just think about the kings that are fighting between the
castles again. It is much easier to defeat the other army
when they are on the edge of a cliff than when they are
organized on the open battlefield.
There are three categories of pressing triggers. The first

one is pressing when the opposition are not yet organized.
I think most people have heard of the infamous “five
second rule” once installed at Barcelona by Guardiola, or
the so-called ‘gegenpressing’ by Klopp.
The idea behind this is that the opposition isn’t in an ideal
shape when they win the ball, since they are in their
defensive formation instead of their attacking one.
Therefore ball retention will be more difficult, and it is
easier to win the ball back.
(Guardiola’s 5-second rule: Immediate pressure after

losing the ball).
The second one is a lack of control of the attacker. This

involves: a bad pass, a ball that is difficult to control (high
ball, bad pace of pass), a long ball, a player that hasn’t
orientated himself before receiving, a ball played into a
corner, a ball played vertically back, a bad first touch, long
or slow ball back, player receiving with his back to goal, a
player looking to switch the play (and therefore has to put
his head down), and even bad parts of the pitch can be this
type of pressing trigger.
The idea behind this kind of pressing trigger is that the
opponent won’t have full control of the ball so pressing
him will increase our chances of winning the ball back.
(Pressing trigger: Player with his back to play receives).
(Pressing Trigger: Ball is played vertically back. Presser is

able to press the new ball carrier and take out the passing
lane to the player that passed the ball).
(Pressing trigger: Switch of play)
The third kind of pressing trigger is a forced pressing

trigger. This means that a team forces the opponent to a
certain part of the pitch in which pressing is easier. An
often-used example is teams making themselves compact
in the centre, which forces the opponent to the outside.
When the opponent plays the ball to the side, they start
pressing as the opponent is closed in by the sideline.
(Ball is played to the side so Liverpool start pressing).

As always in football, whenever there is a defensive

development it is followed by an attacking development
and vice versa. With pressing triggers it is the same. There
are teams that have started using pressing triggers against
teams by pretending that a pressing trigger occurred. This
was mostly the second category. For example, a player
pretends not to have orientated himself before receiving
and is therefore pressed. However, he has actually trained
on receiving the ball in that situation and already knows
what to do next in order to exploit the space the presser has
just left behind.
Counterpressing
I already mentioned it briefly in the last paragraph,

counterpressing or ‘gegenpressing’. Loved by internet
analysts, hated by ‘old school’ journalists (well, at least
here in The Netherlands).
Imagine that you are playing a game of football, perhaps
even at the highest level, and you are a central defender. A
football field is about one hundred meters in length, so
about fifty meters per half. That means that every time you
win the ball and advance into the opponent’s half you have
to sprint fifty meters forward. Which is usually doable,
especially as it is ‘positive’ mentally as you start attacking.
Now, every time you lose the ball you have to sprint back
about 50 meters. This gets exhausting and annoying very
very soon (at least for me as a player it did). In addition,
when you are a possession-based team you just advanced
to a certain part of the pitch. If every time that you lose the
ball you run back, you have to start over from scratch
during every attack.
But have no fear, because counterpressing is here!
The ‘5 second rule’ basically just means immediately

pressing after you lose the ball. The main advantages of
that being that you don’t have to run backwards every time
you lose the ball, and able to intercept the ball where you
lost it so you don’t have to start all over again.
However, the philosophy of counterpressing actually goes

one step further. Where some coaches just want their team
to immediately press the ball so they can win it back, there
are coaches like Jurgen Klopp who deliberately look for

counterpressing moments. He has had teams who lost the
ball on purpose, just so they could counterpress. The
advantage that counterpressing in this way has is that it
takes advantages of the opponents’ positive transition.
The opponents win the ball back, so start spreading out to

get into their attacking shape, which leaves holes in their
defense. By counterpressing and immediately playing the
ball forward you are able to exploit these spaces
(remember that unbreakable wholeness I talked about
earlier J ). Klopp also called counterpressing “The best
playmaker in the world”, as taking advantage of this
transition is so effective.
Roughly, there are four different kinds of counterpressing.

Each one immediately presses the ball, but they have
different orientation points.
The first one has the ball as orientation point. This is the
first way teams started pressing the ball after losing it. The
main example is the Dutch National team of 1974. They
all ran forward to close down the ball. However, this was
mainly possible because of the different interpretation of
the offside rule. Back then offside was flagged if there was
even just one player somewhere on the pitch offside.
Nowadays it only counts for the player receiving the ball.
That is the reason that this kind of pressing isn’t used
anymore.
(The Netherlands ‘counterpressing’ in 1974).

The second one has opponents as orientation point. Each

player immediately starts to mark an opponent. The
pressure on the ballcarrier isn’t intense, but because all his
passing options are heavenly pressed it is usually enough
to win the ball back.
The team that is most associated with this type of

counterpressing is Heynckes’ Bayern Munich that won the
Champions League in 2012.
(Man-orientated counterpressing. One Bayern player

immediately presses the ball, the other ones mark a passing
option).
The third one has space as its orientation point. The players
around the ball immediately press the space around the
new ball carrier. Hereby blocking passing lanes, reducing
space, and putting pressure on the ball, Klopp’s Dortmund
side made this type of counterpressing iconic. And it is still
a popular way of counterpressing.
(Dortmund loses the ball and 4 players immediately close

down the space around the new ball carrier).
The fourth and last one has passing lanes as its orientation
point. After losing the ball the players near the ball
immediately take out a passing lane, reducing the options
for the opponent on the ball. This type of counterpressing
is less about immediately winning the ball back, but more
about forcing passes to a certain space, to win the ball back
cleanly. Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona used this type of
counterpressing.
(Pep’s Barca immediately pressing the ball after losing it

and taking out passing lanes to potential receivers).
So, does every team counterpress? No, not every team.

However, every team does transition after losing the ball.
Therefore (almost) every team wants immediate pressure
on the ball. This allows the rest of the team to get into the
defensive shape, while the opponent isn’t able to
counterattack. The most important thing in that way of
pressing is to take out the forward passing option for the
opponent. But that kind of pressing is more orientated on
‘getting into the defensive shape’ then on ‘winning the ball
back’.
In this chapter you learned the different kinds of defensive

tactics and how they are used. In the following chapter I
will tell you the different ways in which teams try to pull
apart these defenses.
Worksheet #3
In this worksheet we are going to look at recognizing

zonal- and man-marking during matches.
Exercise #1
I’m going to show you pictures from a match, and your job
is to say what formation is being played, and what kind of
defense they are using: man- or zonal-marking. When it is
zonal-marking, also try to say what kind of zonal marking
(regular, passing-lane-orientated, zonal man-orientations).
You see these two shots during a game. How is Nigeria

(Green team) defending?
Nigeria is defending in a 5-3-2 using zonal man-

orientations. You can see the structure in the first picture,
as there is quite clearly 3 in midfield and 2 upfront. The
first picture also shows man-orientations in midfield,
however this can still be either man-marking or zonal man-
orientations. In the second picture we see it is the latter, as
they are now positioned zonally when there isn’t a man in
their zone.
Looking at this picture, how is Chelsea defending?

Chelsea is defending in a 5-4-1 using regular zonal

defending.
First of all it is a 5-4-1 as you can clearly see a line of 5
and a line of 4, leaving just one player outside of the
screen. Second, the “lines” show it is zonal marking. And
you can see it is teammate-orientated as one of the central
midfielders steps out to press the ball, and two other
midfielders provide cover for him.
How is PSV (Black and White team) defending here?

I would say this is a case of man-marking. As you can see

all players have followed their opponent, and the far-ball
midfielder hasn’t tucked inside to cover the centre.
How is Liverpool defending?

Liverpool is defending in a 4-3-3/4-5-1 shape, and they

have a clear passing-lane-orientated style of defending.
The striker is trying to take out the pass to the defensive
midfielder, and you can clearly see the two midfielders
taking out the passing lane to opponents behind them
How is Valencia (Black and Orange team) defending?

Valencia is defending in a 4-4-2 shape, in which they use

regular zonal marking. This is noticeable as the left
midfielder has stepped out to press the player on the ball,
and the left central midfielder is taking up a position in
which he is able to cover his teammate.
How is Manchester United (Blue team) defending?

Manchester United is clearly using Zonal Man-

orientations. You can see all the players on the left side
marking the player in their zone. While the players on the
other side of the field have moved inside to cover the
centre.
And lastly, let’s do a more difficult one. How is Real

Madrid defending here? Mainly focus on the two
defensive midfielders.
Real Madrid is here using zonal man-orientations.

However this is the more zonal way of doing it. In the first
picture you can see the right defensive midfielder having
a man-orientation on his opponent, while the left defensive
midfielder covers the centre. In the second picture they
same thing is happening. The left defensive midfielder is
now on the side of the ball and goes to the side, while the
right defensive midfielder takes the centre. However, there
isn’t an opponent in the left defensives midfielders zone,
therefore he just stays in a zonal position.
Worksheet #4
In this worksheet we are going to look at some forms of

high-pressing. We start with unorganized pressing
situations, which are situations during open play in which
a team presses high-up. For now the only thing you have
to find-out is which way of pressing is being used: man-
orientated, option-orientated, or forcing a long ball.
Exercise #1
How is Real Madrid pressing here?

Real is using a man-orientated press. Everyone steps up to

be able to cover an opponent.
What kind of pressing is Spain using here (you could say

it is a combination of two)
Spain is forcing the opponent to play a long ball by using

man-orientations. It is a man-orientated press in the
beginning, but one player makes a curved run to be able to
press the goalkeeper.
How is Liverpool pressing here?

Liverpool is pressing in the same way as Spain in the

previous picture. Forcing a long ball by using man-
orientations. The reason I put in the same kind of pressing
twice is because this is by far the most common way of
pressing in these kind of situations
Organized pressing situations:
Look at the following two pictures of a team pressing on a

goalkick, and tell me which three players form the first line
of pressing and who are they responsible for in the press.
And second, when the first line of pressure is broken (free
player is reached), who is responsible for pressing the free
player?
(One central defender of the attacking team is just outside
the screen on the left of the penaltybox).
The striker is option-orientated between the two

midfielders that have dropped. Both the wingers are
responsible for pressing the central defender on their side
and tucking inside when the play goes to the other side.
Once one of the free fullbacks is reached, a central

midfield player steps out to press him.
Exercise #2
Pressing triggers
Below I will show you some examples of a team pressing.

Your job is to say which pressing trigger is being
“triggered” in the shot.
What pressing trigger do we see here?

An opponent receiving with his back to goal.
What Pressing trigger do we see here?

An opponent that wants to switch the play, and therefore

has to put his face down to look at the ball.

A ball that is difficult to control/bouncing ball

Trapping the opponent on the side of the field
Assignment: Now I want you to look at a match and

decipher the entire defensive plan of a team. Do they use
zonal- or man-marking, in what formation, how do they
press on goalkicks, who goes to press once the opponent
finds a free player, when do they press, do they use certain
pressing triggers, do they try to force the opponent to a
certain part of the field?
Don’t be alarmed when you have to watch a match
multiple times to really figure this out. But I would
definitely recommend doing this, because once you
understand the patterns you recognize them in every game.

Football Tactics

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Football Tactics

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Football Tactics

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

abishek.ta0007@gmail.

com 08 Nov 2022

Chapter 1 Back to Basics: Formations 10

Chapter 2 The Interconnected Wholeness 45

Chapter 3 Field-occupations and functionality 50

Chapter 4: Defensive Tactics 103

Chapter 5: Attacking Tactics 171

Chapter 4: Defensive Tactics

So we discussed the basic theoretical background that you

There are two basic forms of defending: zonal-marking

and letting go of their man when he is on the other side of

In this chapter we are firstly going to look at man-marking

You probably understand the idea behind man-marking. I

The most rigid use of man-marking (everyone going 1v1)

(Cardiff using man-marking (man-orientations) against

(Scotland using man-marking (man-orientations) against

There are certain pros and cons to man-marking. The

That is not to say that it won’t work against a ‘big’ team,

Another advantage of man-marking is that everybody feels

On the other side, there is one massive disadvantage about

Opponents can also use this to easily open up passing

(Klaasen pulls Pogba out of position, which opens up the

Instead of marking opponents you now mark a certain

When defending like this it is very important that the

(The Blue team is defending and has a layered midfield: 3

(The midfield is not layered. There is no cover and with

The biggest advantage of zonal-marking in general (so for

The biggest downside of zonal-marking is that you don’t

(Atletico Madrid using zonal-marking and having a

(Huddersfield’s midfield (Black team) is not layered, all

Zonal man-orientations are a style of defending that is in

On the one hand you have the advantages of man-marking.

On the other hand due to the man-orientations the midfield

creating actual chances can be quite hard, as the team

This kind of defending works best when your formation

A manager who usually uses zonal man-orientations is

(Zonal man-orientations at Chelsea).

(Zonal man-orientations at Real Madrid. Players who have

(United using zonal man-orientations).

Passing-lane-orientated zonal marking:

(Blue 4 has the ball. The red team position themselves in

The big advantage of this kind of defending is its

The downside of this kind of defensive set-up is its

(Liverpool taking out the passing lanes to all the Arsenal

Let’s start with the pros and cons of pressing high-up in

On the other side, the big downside of pressing high-up is

We separate three kinds of pressing, man-orientated press,

(Arsenal using a man-orientated press)

(Atletico Madrid using a man-orientated press on the side

The advantages of man-orientated pressing are about the

The downside is that you have to leave space behind, as

The second way of pressing is option-orientated.

(Sevilla using an option-orientated press from where they

The advantage of pressing this way is that you need fewer

The third way of pressing is forcing a long ball.

(United forcing a long ball. Lukaku presses the goalkeeper

The advantage of pressing like this is that you don’t need

Organized pressing situations:

The first way of pressing is the most used way in The