Defending in the Attacking Third "Role of the midfielder block"

Diagram 1: Midfield block when the ball is with the outside fullback.

With the ball in possession of the right fullback , it can be seen that the two forwards work together forcing the ball back towards the middle.

The left forward takes away the pass down the line while the second forward shifts into a “cover”position taking away the pass to the central midfielders.

By working as a unit the forwards force the play back to the middle of the field and eliminate passes to the central and right midfielders.

Diagram 1a. Not working as a unit when the ball is outside.

With the ball in possession of the right fullback , it can be seen that the two forwards are not work together.

Instead of taking away options the opponent has passing lanes to almost every player on the field. Furthermore a quick pass can split the two defenders opening up the game for the opponent even further.

Diagram 1b. Adjusting as the ball works to the center fullback.

The forwards work together forcing the ball back to the middle. As the ball works across the back the forwards work to the middle attempting to take away a central pass.

Also seen is the midfield adjustment. The central midfielders will need to adjust to checking opponents midfielders. The outside left midfielder must adjust and “tuck in”as his midfielder is less dangerous. The right outside midfielder must step a bit as his midfielder has become more dangerous.

It can now be seen that the midfield block forms a V.

The defensive back four will be addressed late. They are represented as flat to maintain the image of 11 on the field, though they will rarely be flat in the game.

1c. Reversing Pressure / Cover / Balance as the ball reverses in back.

The ball begins center and works to the left fullback.

The two forwards attempt to work together to again force the ball back inside. The right forward is now pressure and the left forward is now a cover defender.

It can be seen in the midfield block that the diagonal has completely reversed. The now more dangerous left midfielder is tightly marked by the defending right midfielder and the defending left midfielder has tucked in.

Important defensive note:

The forwards will not always be able to work across the entire field to force the ball back inside again. However, by forcing it to one side the rest of the team can adjust prevent penetrating passes to the more dangerous players.

Diagram 1: Defending when the ball is in the midfield flanks

When the ball is in the flanks, the ball side, outside halfback must work to pressure. The away side outside halfback must tuck in as his player is not dangerous. The opponent's halfback is dangerous as he possess the ball so he must be pressured. The away halfback is not as dangerous because he is far from the ball. This cannot be overemphasized in training. The nearer in proximity to the ball the player is the more dangerous they are. Players should continually be asking themselves “is he dangerous or not dangerous?” As the away midfielder tucks in he should be able to see the man and see the ball. “See ball, see man” is a common phrase heard when training defense. The balance defenders should be able to see the man and see the ball. (1)
The ball side central halfback provides cover to the outside halfbck but still needs to be in the appropriate distance away such that he can still step and pressure the opponent's central halfbacks if they are to check into the open midfield. The away central halfback must be able to balance both players taking away through balls, but also being able to step and provide cover and pressure when the ball is played into the center of the field.

Marking when the ball is in the flanks

The ball is with the outside right midfielder. The defending left midfielder steps to pressure the ball.

The central midfielder provides cover and the second central midfielder drops off a bit to protect against balls over the top into the gaps.

The outside right midfielder tucks in to balance the midfield block. His mark is not dangerous so he is tucked in taking away an long serve into this space. As the ball works around he will be able to rotate back towards this midfielder to keep him from attacking.

Diagram 1a: Defending when the ball works into the middle

If the ball works to the center of the midfield, the central midfielders now step to pressure and the outside midfielder drops off to cover .The central midfielder should use a curved run to try to force the ball back outside or force a back pass. Using the curved run dictates where the attacker is going to go and will allow the defense to adjust because play is more predictable. If the ball is played back to the outside midfielder it just came from, the outside midfielder can step back to pressure and the central midfielder can drop to cover; these are the roles of the first and second defenders. As the ball works to the midfield the away outside midfielder needs to adjust as his man is closer to the ball and therefore, more dangerous. He must still be wary of a ball played over the top, behind the defense so he needs to stay somewhat tucked in, but he must also be able to get to his man if a ball is played there. Remember "See ball, see man."(1a).

The ball begins with the right midfielder and is played into the checking central midfielder.

Even though the central midfielder was cover, he can still step to pressure the checking midfielder in time. As the central midfielder steps, the left midfielder drops off and provides cover. The central midfielder should show to cover, which is the outside player. If the ball is played back to the outside midfielder, then the left midfielder can step back to pressure.

Notice the away central midfielder steps a bit to cover and the right midfielder adjust slightly as their left midfielder is now more dangerous, yet he stays tucked in to prevent the over the top pass.

Diagram 1b: Defending against a wall pass

The zonal defending system can be vulnerable to combination play. Defending to prevent this takes constant communication and excellent understanding of how to move on defense. Because combination play is so quick, a strong knowledge of the movement of the first and second defender is very important. As the ball moves within the midfield, the midfielders must be working as one unit. When the ball works away from pressure, pressure must immediately drop to cover as cover steps to pressure. Reading non verbal cues such as eye movement, the opening of hips and other body language is critical and the extra half second gained from this may eliminate a seam that would otherwise allow the opponent to combine past the defense. Finally as the ball is played and pressure drops to cover, the cover defender needs turn away from the ball to drop into the seam, taking away the passing lane. As the passing lanes disappear so will the combination play. Of course combination play can be expected from good teams but learning to minimize it, is the difference between good teams and great teams.

Zonal defending versus the 1-2, (or the wall pass)

The central midfielder tries to perform a wall pass with the outside midfielder. As he checks to receive and play thru:

The central midfielder curves his run to pressure and forces the ball back to the outside. As the pass is being made, the left midfielder turns away to get into cover taking away the passing lane and thus the wall pass.

Reading the visual cues here are key. As the hips open for the pass, the extra two steps gained from reading the pass are crucial to taking away the little space quality players need to perform.

Diagram 1c: Tucking in; balancing the defense

When the ball is away from the defender, the away outside midfielder must learn to tuck in. Generally this involves being in line with the other three midfielders to balance out the defense. The rule of "see man, see ball"certainly applies here because this player must know where his man is and be able to see the ball. By being "tucked in" he is taking away the long switch into the attacking third as he has positioned himself to win the ball when it is served over the top. Furthermore his defender is not dangerous because he is far away from the ball. Any long ball played back to reverse the field will have long enough flight time that the tucked in midfielder can step to pressure. It can be seen that by not being tucked in, the outside midfielder shown here is easily beaten and the defense will now become unbalanced.

Not "Tucked in"!!!

It can be seen here that the right midfielder is being lazy and not tucking in. The attacking right midfielder simply needs a little space to get off a serve and the attacking left midfielder is in unmarked as the away midfielder is caught watching the game.

The player represented by the light blue circle is tucked in and it can be seen , can easily prevent the ball behind the defense.

The importance of the outside midfielders working hard to tuck in can not be understated. It is unglamorous and rarely noticed but it is often the difference between a good player and a great player. The player that is tucked in positions himself to win the ball easily. The player that does not tuck in forces himself to make up ground and needs his teammates to cover for him unbalancing the back line. This leads to goals against.