Ideas to help reducing space defending as a team
To have a solid defensive block the decisions in the ball area have to be quick and assertive to allow the lines to be tight (goalkeepers and defenders to push the team up). The triggers allow the players to have criteria in the pressing decision or to hold position. There is advantage in starting to press if some of the next conditions exist in the context of the game: opponent with closed body and limited vision; bad control; bad pass; slow ball in the air; numerical advantage in the space;
If the opponent has the situation under control and the ball has no pressing it’s important to recognize quickly the disadvantage and gather the lines closing the key spaces inside of the block. In these moments it’s better to win time and hold positions keeping the space under control. The process starts to be complex at this time and best players defensively can read the space better and cover more area in moments where balance is lost. Behaviors like man marking have to be controlled and that is something that comes from a high demand in training sessions. The players have to be taught to recognize how the opponent moves and why is he moving that way.
Having a good defensive unit it’s difficult to achieve especially because most of the times the relations between the players change mostly because the system changes. For me dynamics sets the way, principles make you decide better and the shape you chose may influence the way the team covers the space. It is different to defend 1x4x4x2 or 1x4x3x3 or 1x5x3x2 or … What is really important is to choose shapes that coordinate with the offensive process and vice versa because the game brings constantly a change between offensive and defensive dynamics.
How do we develop the process? Which exercises do we use? How can we commit the players?
The training process has to have variations. Exercises shall create context in which decisions are made but connected with the game philosophy. Changing numerical relations and exercise dimensions push for more difficult decisions for instance. It is vital, along the process, that the cycle between instruction, observation and feedback creates a positive message (using video) and shows the advantages of what the coach wants. It’s all about influencing throughout communication and exercise forms based in game situations that will create the scenarios that are going to appear in the competition.
