Unlocking the Box: Exploring tactical principles for efficient penalty area entries – tactical theory

Sitting in the USSF B license (badge) course and working on a performance analysis project got me thinking… What are some common box-entry principles that lead to quality goal-scoring opportunities?

And thats where this tactical analysis was born.

Our objective in this tactical theory article is to identify some of the best box entries from the weekend, each of which led to a goal.

In each case, the attacking sequence ended with a goal from a high-quality scoring opportunity. Those are the box entry ideas we want to decipher and replicate in our own environments.

Overload to enter the box

Lets start on the wings.

When facing a highly organised defence, box entries seem like little more than a crap shoot. Opponents will tend to have numbers up centrally to defend against crosses, cover for the first defender and a balanced structure that gives them a positional superiority.

For the attacking team, the prerequisite for a quality box entry destabilises the opponent. Theres a need to move their lines and disconnect their defensive network. The in-possession team has to create the space they want to attack.

One way to disorganise the defending team is to use a numeric overload in the wings, which Real Madrid used for their second goal over the weekend. Their opponents, Osasuna, held an advantage centrally, so Real Madrid went to work in the wings. In the image below, notice the structure of this Osasuna side. To counter their defensive tactics, Real Madrid overloaded in the wings. In doing so, they posed a threat to progress into the box from either the left wing or left half-space. That required their opponents to slide away from the middle and nearer to the ball.

La Liga’s leaders drew the opponents near to the ball and then offered a sequence of runs behind the backline. It all started with Vinícius Júnior. Initially, right in the midst of the press, as the opposition compacted the space, the Brazilian made a horizontal run to the centre of the pitch and initiated his movement towards goal. In doing so, he took two defenders with him. Osasuna was happy to comply and keep their plus one in the goal zone.

His movement s