Exclusive Interview: Tactics For Underdog Success Revealed By Aravaca Head Coach Miguel Madrid

Tercera Federación is a hub of talent in Spain.

This is not only true of talent but also of the tactics within the tournament for every single team.

In a country where positional play abounds and space management is usually similar, the differences in the styles of play in these categories are easy to detect.

There are three youth teams from LaLiga clubs in Tercera RFEF, Group 7 (Madrid).

Even teams like RSD Alcalá or Alcorcón B are constantly trying to recover high, fast and playing with a proactive style.

In that sense, one of the rarest stories this season is that of Aravaca.

Miguel Madrid, the head coach—alongside Jorge Beamonte, Miguel Martínez, and Enrique Forment on the technical staff—has developed his team using a more reactive philosophy and exploiting some of Aravacas specific strengths.

In this tactical analysis, including an interview with head coach Miguel Madrid, we will dive into Aravaca’s throw-in tactics, the resources that they possess to become strong in that topic, and the training methodology that he applies to become better in set-piece actions.

Aravaca’s Context In Tercera Federación

With positional play abundant, Miguel Madrid’s Aravaca—recently promoted from the Autonómica category—are trying to become strong in duels, velocity, and set-piece actions at home.

Why at home? Well, Aravaca’s stadium is one of the smallest in the tournament.

That is the main reason for consolidating a more reactive style of play than other teams.

“We want to bring them into our game at our home—a physical style full of duels, pace, and high intensity.

Some teams come in and stick to their possession-based approach.

That’s when we try to steal the ball back as quickly and as high up the pitch as possible because our defenders know how to cover space.

That’s when we press.

In the second half, there are moments where they dominate, and we drop into a mid-to-low block to try and hit them on the counter with our wide players, Madrid told us after asking about the impact of Aravaca’s home and the style of play that they want to have there.

Other teams have technically privileged players, whereas Aravaca are stronger in physical terms.

The rhythm of the game is crucial in that sense.

“(On Aravaca’s current game model) We can’t score a goal with 20-25 touches on the ball.

We try to handle possession well, but if we can score in two touches, thats great—and if it takes six or eight, that’s fine, too.

Playing out from the back is tricky because of the dimensions of the pitch.

We can play short, maybe once out of every five goal kicks; the rest go long to try to win aerial duels and second balls.

Once in the opponent’s half, we link up with the centre-backs or midfielders.

How Does A Non-Youth Team In Tercera Federación Organise Their Training Sessions?

Madrid explains their weekly work to help understand Aravacas training routine.

“We train three days a week.

On Tuesdays, we focus on physical work and introduce tactical concepts on a macro level.

Due to facility limitations, we can’t train for four days.

Thursdays are for tactical work across the whole pitch: passing drills, technical shapes, and tactics (attack and defence, with more emphasis on defence on Thursdays).

We also dedicate the last part of the session (15-30 minutes) to set pieces.

On Fridays, we focus heavily on finishing, combination plays, tactical review, and watching video analysis of the opponent.

How Do Aravaca Train The Offensive Set-Piece Actions?

With a lot of time and theory behind the scenes, Aravaca use pre-rehearsed movements and formations in the oppositions box.

Interestingly, their offensive set-piece actions include corners, indirect free-kicks, and throw-ins in the rival’s half.

So, Madrid and his coaches think set-piece actions are crucial to deciding matches.

He explains the process that he employs with the team to study and prepare the offensive set-piece actions.

Aravaca’s training plan on this topic is divided into three phases.

“Set pieces are key.

We need to improve in that area, especially since we have a specialist for throw-ins.

Then there are free kicks and corners as well.

At the start of the season, we work on them analytically without opposition, focusing on positioning in the initial zones and drop zones, using screens and decoy movements.

Once we’ve mastered the analytical phase, we move to an integrated approach.

At first, the initial touch is free, and then the defence becomes semi-active or semi-passive.

From there, we progress to active defending, focusing on the second ball, drop zones, and other details.

Analytical and integrated are the first two phases of the training sessions.

There, Aravaca’s players get prepared for the most realistic phase: the competitive stage.

Madrid gave us an example with corners.

“For corners, we start analytically and finish integrated, but we don’t load up with too many defenders.

We want the players to score and execute the play visibly.

Instead of defending with six players, we defend with four and use two mannequins, giving the numerical advantage to the attackers.

From the integrated phase, we transition to a competitive setup where the losing team might have to treat everyone to refreshments that week, for example, adding a competitive stimulus to take it seriously during the training.

Making it competitive helps boost intensity.

Throughout the year, I like to review set pieces twice a month. When we face matches where set pieces are critical, we are willing to dedicate three weeks to fine-tuning them if necessary.

Let’s illustrate this training methodology.

In Figure 1, there are no defenders, and after studying and understanding the positions, the players recognise the signals and the potential movements.

In terms of the analytical aspect, players’ stimuli during the session are only the designated zones for understanding the potential plays that they can execute in a future match.

Then, the integrated phase.