Team defending part 4: Defending in a low block – training analysis

This article represents the fourth instalment in a six-part series on coaching team defending. This is looking at group tactics, rather than the individual, so whilst individual technique or tactics can certainly be coached if necessary during these sessions, these aren’t the main outcomes of the practices shown in this analysis.

Secondly, as a caveat, these practices shown are just ideas, and may not suit every team, or every age level. However, if they can be used as a framework to generate new ideas or adjusted to make a session, then this article will have done its job. It’s not always advisable to simply “copy and paste” a session plan and apply it to your own team, given that your game model may not suit these practices, or perhaps your team’s current learning curve is not at the level required to run these, or conversely they are at a level where these practices aren’t challenging enough.

Finally, this writer doesn’t claim to be the creator of any practices, however, isn’t knowingly “copying and pasting” ideas himself either. Session ideas and individual practices are, and should be, accumulated over long periods of time, tried, tested, and adjusted, with different teams, age levels and ability levels. As coaches, we should be working collaboratively, sharing ideas and promoting a transparency and openness that helps us and our players achieve our goals. There should be no secrets and it’s so important to share, work together, and support.

Defending in a low block: The session

This set of practices shown in this tactical analysis looks to develop a team’s understanding of defending in a low block. When we talk about a low block we are talking about a team defending in a very deep position, rarely looking to press, and often trying to keep as many men behind the ball as possible. Teams can look to use this tactic when playing against a strong opponent who are possession dominant, and in doing so they will look to defend resolutely before often counter-attacking after soaking up the pressure.

There are specific outcomes we need to draw out of this session. Firstly, when defending in a low block, as obvious as it sounds, we need to prevent the attacking team from scoring. In order to achieve this goal, we need to prevent easy passage through the central channel, whether through link-up play or through passes. We ideally want to prevent the opponent from making crosses easily as well.

In terms of team shape, we want to achieve consistent defensive compactness, both horizontally and vertically, leaving as little space as possible for the opposition to access.

Part 1

A good way to introduce this topic can be achieved through a practice with an offensive overload, giving the defensive team a slightly more difficult task of preventing the opposition from scoring.

The example shown below is a 6v5, with a centre circle space the defensive team are looking to protect. There are four outlet goals for the defensive team to score in if they win possession, giving them motivation to win the ball other than to just defend the space, and allowing the ball to turn back to the attacking team quickly after losing it.

In order for the attacking team to score they need to thread a through pass into the central space and find a teammate making a run into this area. A three-second rule can be put in place to avoid attackers just remaining inside the centre circle and forcing them to have to time their runs.

This forces the defenders to scan out of possession and check for players around them, and potential runs being made into the area. In the example below a red defender recognises the run of the blue attacker and places themselves in a more narrow position to prevent this pass.