In Possession
Football is ultimately a game of who can best manage space. When in possession, we want to maximise the size of the pitch as the more space we have the better chance we have of being able to do what we want with the ball. It’s also important to remember that not all space is equal. After all, we’re unlikely to score if we only have possession in our half of the pitch. We therefore need to manipulate the opposition into giving us space in the areas we can score from. Pep’s teams do this by keeping possession for long periods and devising automations that create and exploit space. For example you would see Man City score a lot of goals from cut-backs as their play is designed to get one of their midfielders to the by-line in a central area. Klopp’s teams do this by aggressively pressuring the opposition high up the pitch to win the ball back in very dangerous areas to immediately counter-attack.
While these approaches have been very successful for both managers, we’re unlikely to have the talent or training time to implement either system into our 5-aside team. That doesn’t mean a plan is fruitless, but does mean that we need to take an honest look at our context before deciding on our 5-aside team’s attacking plan.
Formation/initial set up
When thinking of a formation In Possession it’s easiest to think about the shape we want to be in when our goalkeeper has the ball in hand. At this point the game is at rest and we can create some order out of the chaos. The formation or set up you choose has to be decided with your specific context in mind. This should work towards your strengths, but also help to guard against your team’s weaknesses. For example, if your defenders aren’t comfortable picking a pass then you shouldn’t set up in a way that requires them to play forward into highly congested areas.
Keeping the most basic principle of being In Possession in mind - making the pitch as big as possible - helps guide our decision on our initial formation. Having two players wide in the full back positions means that the goalkeeper can choose whether to go left or right relatively safely - the opposition is unlikely to commit to applying aggressive pressure that high up the pitch and, if they do, it creates spaces in the middle of the pitch that we can exploit.
We typically want one player to stretch the pitch vertically and one player to occupy the middle of the pitch. That leaves us in a 2-1-1 formation. The goalkeeper can then go left or right to the defenders or into the feet of the players higher up the pitch:
As a general rule this is a good formation to fall into whenever your team has the ball - you just might do it higher up the pitch. From there you can create space with different movements and player rotations. For example, if the ball goes out to number 2, they can play up the line into number 9 and number 7 can get close to offer a quick combination. If that pass isn’t available number 3 can support from deep to be an alternative passing option. The key thing here is to ensure the team is supporting the attack. If the ball is played into red 9 and the rest of the red team hold their position deep in their own half then they are isolated and giving up huge space in the middle of the pitch if the red 9 loses the ball.
Number 2 has played the ball into the number 9 who can now play a short pass into number 7, or a deeper pass to number 3. Remember that the team needs to support the attack, either by being a passing option or by being in a position to contest the ball if red 9 loses the ball.
Timing is important to finding space, but even if you don’t get it right first time, you are in a position to reset to your initial setup and try again. The team should look to revert to this initial setup when recycling the ball and trying to break a team down. We can put in place some basic principles to guide our play, for example ensuring we only have 2 players ahead of the ball at any time. This approach allows us to have an easy, low risk pass that we can make in order to pull the opposition into different places of the pitch (a lateral pass from one defender to the other). A lot of teams end up in 1-2-1 formation and this can make it extremely difficult to progress the ball. The forward players end up congesting the key attacking space and the player furthest back is vulnerable to being pressed and the opposition winning possession of the ball.
A 1-2-1 formation, where the deepest defender (red 2) only has high risk passing options and is vulnerable to being put under pressure by blue 9.
In this shape, every pass carries risk and even if the first pass is successful there isn’t a clear second pass to make, putting a lot of pressure on the player receiving the ball. It’s also very vulnerable to quick counter attacks as if the pass forward is misplaced and intercepted it can turn into a 2 on 1 in the favour of the opposition. If you find yourself in this position, it’s often a good idea to play the ball back to the goalkeeper and get the team to fall back into the 2-1-1 formation.
Player rotations
Now that we have a basic structure when we are in possession, we need to focus on how we find space for ourselves. We can rely on individuals winning their individual match ups - e.g. a strong dribbler beating a defender 1 on 1 - but even in this case we need the system to work to get this player in a 1 on 1 situation. If we don’t possess a strong dribbler then it’s even more important that the system is designed so that players can receive the ball in space (in the high value spaces). A basic principle here is to aim to create confusion amongst the opposition. One way to execute this is to ask players to rotate positions to create space for others or themselves and make it unclear for the opposition to decide who they should mark. A very easy, but effective, way to do this is to just swap spaces with another player on your team. This can be laterally or vertically. The opposition will be unsure if they should track their player all the way or pass the player on to their team-mate, creating space for one (or both) of the players swapping positions. This doesn’t even require practicing together - a simple shout to a team-mate to switch positions will often be enough to create space for yourself or your team-mate.
Red 3 and red 9 swap sides - blue 2 and blue 3 need to decide whether to track their player all the way across the pitch or to pass them on to the other defender. This should give either red 9 or red 3 a little more space and time to receive the ball.
These are by no means the only way to approach the In Possession phase of a match, however they should be a good starting point for you to devise a plan for your specific context. Good principles to keep in mind when doing this are:
make the pitch as big as possible
ensure the whole team is supporting the attack
try to create uncertainty and confusion within the opposition defence
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