Football Defensive Tactics

While it is the main obligation of the goalkeeper to defend the goal at all cost and prevent the other team from scoring, the other 10 players in the field have to do their individual roles to keep their opponent from creating scoring opportunities.

There are two main ways of defending: man-to-man defense and zonal defense.

Man-to-man defense is pretty straightforward; all 10 players in the field are assigned to guard a particular opponent. Man-to-man is very effective alongside a sweeper who has a free role and can provide defensive assistance to any of his teammates who is having trouble with his assignment. A sweeper can prevent through-balls and over the top ball wherein the forward players can run onto.

Man-to-man has a weakness, though. If a slower player is assigned to defend a fast striker, the result may be very grim. The manager has to decide carefully the individual match ups.

Zonal is another straightforward defensive tactic. Each player has to protect an area in the field. Unlike the man-to-man, zonal doesn't rely on the individual ability of the players to fulfill their roles. Instead, the players have to protect the field as a team to prevent attackers from moving the ball forward. This compensates the lack of pace and technique of the team or the players in the field.

Ideally, the attackers will have to face two lines of four players, with the defensive line being the most important. With team chemistry and synchronized movement, the defensive line using a zonal defense can force the attacking team to commit off-side and prevent through-balls and long-balls. The midfield has to defend and as much as possible, intercept the ball before it gets into the defenders. Zonal defense is very easy to execute but if one player fails to do his role, attackers can easily penetrate and create a scoring chance.

Since scoring chances are high during set pieces such as corner kicks, crosses, and free kicks from shot range, the defensive team has to execute either man-to-man or zonal.

Attacking team that crosses the ball (or kicks the ball from the corner) has a great tendency to score with a header. It is important, therefore, for the defensive team to use man-to-man defense to prevent their opponents from getting into a good position to receive a header. In free kicks at shot range, the defense has to create a wall. The number of player that will comprise the wall defends on the angle of the kick and the skill of the striker. The players, therefore, have to carefully judge what type of play to use during free kicks.
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