Coaching Defensive Transitions – Tactical Theory

Having players quickly react to a loss of possession is an issue that can plight even teams at the highest level in the game.

When coaching this aspect of the game, it is often useful to constantly have transition moments throughout other sessions.

Defensive transition can be a sub-focus in a session on building out from the back, for example.

If we only visit attacking and defensive transitions in those rare sessions where we dedicate the entirety of the practice towards these elements of the game, then not only are we likely to struggle, but teams also have a habit of separating them from the other moments in the game.

Teams that are often slower with their defensive transition, for example, have a habit of looking as if they go through the motion of in possession, to defensive transition, to defence, to attacking transition.

However, incredibly efficient counter-pressing sides like Liverpool will often position players in their attacking phase so that they are ready to move instantly into the defensive transition phase.

They are actually already in defensive transition when they have the ball, anticipating the loss of possession and ready to move into specific areas as soon as the ball is lost.

Using counter-pressing in defensive transition can be highly useful for a number of reasons.

Firstly, if you are a possession side, then you want the ball as often as possible.

Therefore, upon a loss of possession, it makes sense to regain the ball as quickly as you can, rather than dropping back into a deeper defensive shape.

However, former Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp was often quoted as saying that it can be used as a playmaker.

Teams may strategically turnover possession in certain areas of the pitch before using their players in the immediate vicinity to press, win the ball, and attack quickly as the opponent has transitioned into attack, leaving them open to a direct attack through the centre of the pitch.

Finally, it can be a highly useful approach to prevent a counter-attack.

By providing pressure around the ball, it can delay an attack, preventing the opponent from immediately being able to play through the centre of the pitch.

The intensity of the counter-press can also provide time for defenders further away from the ball to get back into shape and protect the central channel.

Your emphasis on this moment may be slightly different depending on your philosophy and game model, so the practices suggested in the article and your game model can, of course, be tailored to suit your needs.

This article provides some ideas for structuring a session on defensive transitions.

It will examine how to coach some of the basic tactics of defensive transition and analyze some of the key moments we may want to highlight in such a session.

Exercise 1

Defensive transitions cannot be effective if we don’t understand how to prevent the opponent from breaking away from our counter-press and entering into the attacking phase.

A good primer activity can be something like a 6v2 or 6v3 rondo, where when one of the two defenders wins the ball, they look to dribble out of the square.

They can combine or go alone.

However, if the attacking team can prevent them from doing this, then they have to continue as defenders.

The area should be made wide enough to give the defending team a decent chance of achieving this, whilst passes along the width of the grid, as shown below, can be can be stopped to ensure the defensive duo stands a chance in this wider area, and of course we can therefore force more turnovers.