Defensive strategies in football

Good defense is the cornerstone and building block to any great team. This article tackles on the major defensive strategies in football and the advantages they carry on the field. These are often used in the games and proved to be quite successful in holding the other team from scoring. Let us now discuss about :

1) Defending as a unit
2) Holding the line in terms of high and low defense
3) Man-to-man marking and Zonal marking
4) Condensing play, Doubling up
5) Defensive partnerships

Defending as a unit

A team is always better than a single player when it comes to defending in football. Making formations is the basic principle in carrying the essence of a team game play. The major formations include 4-4-2 or 4-3-3 or 4-2-4 or the 3-5-2 ones. The 4-4-2 formations saw Team England march onto winning its first and only world cup title. This is one of the most preferred formations in today’s modern game. This has a balanced mid field and defense while the team’s strikers have a greater work to share. On the other hand the 4-3-3 formation distributes the burden equally on the strikers and the mid-field while the defense is unchanged. The 4-2-4 is an attacking formation and is seldom used in games. Today’s game is won or lost in the mid-field, which is why strengthening the mid-field by the 3-5-2 formations adds to a greater chance that the defense of a team stands unbreached.

Holding the lines ( High and Low defense)

“Holding the line” loosely refers to restricting the opposition in carrying the ball forward. Holding the line starts when the first attacking ball from the opposition is had been headed away. It’s similar to holding lines on a battlefield. If all the defenders don’t step up following the ball, or go at different speeds, the defensive line does not prove effective. Holding the line strongly and watching that the defenders move as a unit denies the space for the attacking team.
A high defense refers to the team’s line pushing forward into the other half and holding the line there. High defending has the advantage that you get the ball as close to the opponent’s goal, Keep your own goalpost safe by holding the line far from it and the best part is pushing the opposition into pressure.
A low defense on the other hand sees that our team falls back to line before applying defensive pressure. This allows the other team to possess the ball in a large area, but scoring would be very difficult as every player from our team is behind the line and there is limited area for their tactics and execution.

Man-to-man and Zonal marking

Man to man marking is a defensive strategy where defenders are assigned specific opponents to mark rather than having them covering an area of the pitch. However, this tight marking is often at the expense of the attacking version as the team’s defenders stand preoccupied with their defensive markings rather than contributing to the team’s attack. This can be best used when the teams are fighting strong opponents.
Zonal marking on the other hand refers to the defender covering an area rather than concentrating on a specific opponent. This includes the defender marking an opponent if he enters his Zone of marking. If the opponent leaves his zone, the defender returns making the opponent a responsibility of another defender.

Condensing play and Doubling up

Pushing up and out of the backfield will give the ability for a team to maintain possession of the ball. This is referred to as “Condensing the field’. When your team is in possession of the ball, quickly move the defensive players forward providing you with more offensive options and cramping the space for the opposition. Condensing can be best understood with the situation where the goalie rushes forward to meet the oncoming offensive player, which leaves the offender less space and time to maneuver and shoot.
Doubling up is a way of winning the possession over the ball by numbers. This is often in sync with zonal marking. When offender when is being dealt by one defender, another defender/defenders pile up on him thereby grabbing the ball from him. This is a classic example of winning using numbers. One of the defender plays a passive role by staying far while the others engage roughly.

Defensive Partnerships

Defensive Partnership is formed when two or more players kick off as a unit, practicing, planning and playing as a single unit. This ensures that these partners know each others better and know their instincts in the game thereby providing an advantage with communication and teamwork on the field. Popular teams have great defensive partnerships covering the goal post and hence the match. The only problem with this is that one feels crippled without the other partner which greatly damages the individual game play.