Out of Possession
Inevitably, we’re going to give the ball away at some point in a match and our opponents will be In Possession. This means we need to have a strategy for when we are Out of Possession. Most amateur 5-aside teams’ Out of Possession strategy is to try to win the ball back as quickly as possible as they are uncomfortable when the opposition has the ball. However, this approach can often be disjointed and lead to giving up space which the opposition can exploit.
As we’ve already highlighted, when we’re In Possession we want to make the pitch as big as possible. Therefore, when we are Out of Possession we want do the opposite and make the pitch as small as possible.
By making the pitch as small as possible, we’re going to concede some space to our opponents. This is okay - we just need to ensure that the space we concede is a space from which our opponents can’t create goalscoring opportunities.
Once again we need to consider our context when thinking of our Out of Possession approach to ensure that we’re taking advantage of our strengths and mitigating our weaknesses. We can look to the professional game for inspiration but must note that our 5-aside team is unlikely to have the preparation time, the talent or the fitness that a professional team does.
Formation/shape
Whenever we’re Out of Possession there should be a general defensive shape that we have in mind. In order to make the pitch as small as possible everyone in the team needs to be close to each other. We’ve already determined that we will have to concede some space to the opposition, so we should have an idea of what the most critical areas of space are that we don’t want to concede to the opposition. In terms of dangerous spaces to protect, the most dangerous is the central area in our own half. With these two things in mind, our 5-aside team’s defensive shape could look something like this:
Our two defensive players will be deep in our own half, protecting the central areas and marking the opposition’s attacking players once they come into our half. Our two forwards have retreated to our own half in order to stop any passes through the middle. Congesting the central space is key and our forwards must be disciplined and, for the most part, not press the ball when the opposition have it in their half. If they do get drawn out to press the opposition in their half this creates space for the opposition forwards to operate.
We can’t stop all forward passes but we should make it as hard as possible for it go to centrally. In doing this we’ll free up other space - mainly passes going wide - but this is fine as we’re playing the percentages and protecting the most dangerous space (ie the centre).
If the ball does go wide, the forward players should drop even deeper in order to congest the middle. This means that there isn’t a forward second pass available and it allows you to ‘double up’ on the player with the ball if they try to dribble into the central area. Again there is a free pass back to the blue number 2, but this into a non-dangerous area so we are fine with it.
Blue number 2 has played the ball forward and wide to blue number 9. At this point red number 7 should pressure the ball and red number 9 should drop back to congest the central area. Red number 3 is protecting against a switch of play to the blue number 3.
The other benefit of being compact and close together is that if one of our defenders manages to get a foot to the ball and cause it to break loose, we’re close enough that we can win the second ball.
When to press higher up the pitch
Our basic structure is focused on making the pitch as small as possible and blocking the central areas. To do this we have to be very compact and patient, waiting for the opposition to make a mistake. With this approach we are unlikely to win the ball back high up the pitch as we are for the most part, concerned with protecting our own half. However, we can look for certain triggers that allow us to attempt to win the ball higher up the pitch. While applying pressure on the ball higher up the pitch may carry some risk, if we can do it at time that the percentages are in our favour then we’ll succeed more often than not.
In the In Possession section we discussed a situation that we wanted to avoid - being in a 1-3 formation with the 1 at the back in position and our other three outfielders ahead of the ball. The reason we want to avoid this is because it congests the space, there is no easy pass to move the ball and if we lose the ball then we are likely outnumbered as we only have 1 player to defend. All these reasons make it the perfect trigger for us to press the opposition higher up the pitch when we are Out of Possession.
The opposition has found themselves in a 1-3 formation in an attempt to break us down. This gives red 9 an opportunity to pre-empt the pass back to blue 2 and then apply pressure aggressively. Timing is important as if red 9 goes too early it may open up some space for the ball inside to blue 7. Once red 9 press blue 2, the rest of the red team should make sure they are ready to apply pressure on their attackers in case blue 2 manages to play a pass forward. This should be to our advantage due to the congestion caused by having 6 players in our half.
It’s also a good idea to have specific scenarios when we should try to avoid pressing high up the pitch (it may not always be possible depending on the current game state). Often players want to effect the game and win the ball back as quickly as possible and therefore one player will make a gut-busting sprint to pressure the ball high up the pitch. While the intentions are good this can be detrimental and create a problem for our team. A classic example of this is show below:
Pressing the fullbacks in this scenario should be avoided. It’s high risk, as it makes the pitch really big and leaves a big gap in the middle, and it’s relatively low reward. If you manage to win the ball back the angle for a shot is difficult due to where you’ve won the ball on the pitch and your team-mates are all too far away from you to be able to make a pass. Of course there may be times when you do need to press the fullbacks but the chances of success are low.
Again, this isn’t a complete list of all the Out of Possession options, but it should spark thought on how you can apply in your specific context, remembering the Out of Possession principles:
make the pitch as small as possible (compactness)
protect central areas
plan the triggers for a high press that will increase your chances of success
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