Tactical Theory: How Do Positional Rotations In Attack Affect Rest Defence – Tactical Analysis

There are four phases of play in football: attack, defence, attacking transition and defensive transition.

Carlos Corberan once stated that if a team executes all their actions well in these phases, then they are playing good football.

This statement, however, is slightly tongue-in-cheek as this is something that is easier said than done, which were sure Corberan is very much aware of.

These four phases are all related and influence one another.

When in possession, teams have to find the right balance between being enough of a threat in attack, without being too vulnerable in the defensive transition.

The term that is used to portray this balance is rest defence.

This tactical analysis piece will be an analysis of how positional attacking rotations affect the rest defence tactics of a team.

Rest defence and attacking football

By now, for most people who are engaged in the tactical aspect of the game, the term rest defence is well known.

Rest defence is a term that refers to a structure that a team holds when in possession, which allows them to immediately defend once possession has been lost.

As a result, this concept directly ties into counter-pressing.

The rest defence of a side usually consists of players in less advanced areas of the pitch and allows teams to cover spaces and players to have close proximity to opposition players in order to nullify counterattacks and sustain “pressure” in their own attacks.

As a result, when creating an attacking structure and formulating principles of play, coaches will often have to take into account whether or not the structure offers sufficient protection in the defensive transition phase.

As stated earlier, finding this balance is easier said than done, as player actions directly influence how effective a structure is in both phases.

For example, when attacking, a team will look to create space in a number of ways such as certain players providing width, players pinning the last defensive line of the opposition, runs from depth as well as positional rotations to name a few.

When deciding what actions to highlight and implement in a team, how these actions affect the defensive transition in the next phase needs to be factored in.

Positional rotations as well as flexible movement from players are particularly intriguing from a tactical theory point of view when it comes to analysing the balance sides need to find between attack and the defensive transition.

This is due to the fact that, on first thought, it would seem as if these actions can only negatively affect a sides rest defence, but this all depends on which players are rotating and how a team compensates for these rotations.

Arsenal’s structure and rotations

Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal have made a surprising push for this year’s Premier League title, with one of the hallmarks of the side being their quality in the attacking phase of the game.

Arsenal on paper line up in a 4-3-3 but are often structured in a 2-3-5 shape when in possession in the oppositions half, with their two full-backs inverting into the midfield, although the left-back has licence to determine when to push more into the centre, in order to create a double pivot.

Two of their three midfielders push further up the field between the oppositions defensive and midfield line in the halfspace, with the wingers providing width, stationing themselves near or by the touchline.

Before delving into some of the roles and actions made by players in attack, it is important to understand how this structure looks to control defensive spaces.

It is also important to mention that, whenever a side is involved in the defensive side of the game, compactness between players as well as balanced player positioning across certain spaces is important.

This allows teams to be able