Throughout a match there can be many types of situations, in which you can find yourself with possession of the ball and start the attack, or without possession of the ball, and it is in this case that we are going to go a little deeper, about what our players must take into account when they find themselves without the ball.
First, our players must know how to interpret whether they are close or far from the ball. If they are close, they must begin to pressure the rival.
Types of pressure
- Circulating pressure, what this allows is to cover the passing line with the sides, but leaves the passing line free with further away players.
- Vertical pressure, this type of pressure is more direct and will force the opponent to try to play on the sides.
- Diagonal pressure is what will generate the rival being able to change the orientation of the game.
For this, the role of those players who are furthest from the ball is also important. Since these must reduce the spaces that may appear behind us or in our same line.
Why is it important?
If, when a player jumps under pressure, the other players are disproportionate with a lot of distance, the opponent will have great ease in finding spaces and being able to filter passes.
That is why it is essential to keep my team focused, giving importance to those players who do not jump to pressure, whose function is to reduce the spaces between the lines as much as possible, which will prevent the rival from filtering between the lines and if the rival decides to make a change of orientation to look for spaces, our team will have time to pivot and organize itself on the field of play.
The zone defense
One of the most significant advantages of being compact in zonal defense is that it invariably suggests that the defending team, when recovering the ball, will always have a temporary numerical superiority. This, in turn, will be useful for them to avoid pressure after losing the opponent and then counterattack.
It should be noted that when defending in zones, teams that have a symmetrical formation are relatively more defensive than those that have an asymmetrical one. Having an asymmetrical formation means numerical superiority on one side, as well as numerical inferiority on the other. Opponents often find a way to attack that side, thus exposing the defending team's fragilities.
As is evident, there is a lot of variation in zone defense. This occurs because teams vary in their playing systems, their use of trap pressing, their defensive philosophies and ideas, their choice of spaces to press and not press, their choice of players to press and not press, etc.