Transitions
A transition is when one team losses possession of the ball and the other regains possession of the ball. From your team’s perspective these can be referred to as a Defensive Transition or an Attacking Transition.
Transitions are normally chaotic, frantic and when you are least likely to be set up in any organised way. This creates risk during a Defensive Transition and opportunity during an Attacking Transition. We’ll attempt to come up with some principles that look to create a semblance of order during Defensive Transitions and some principles that look to take advantage of the chaos during Attacking Transitions.
Defensive Transitions
When we lose possession of the ball, we’re unlikely to be in our defensive shape as we’ll have committed players forward, meaning there will be space that the opposition can exploit.
The principles for Defensive Transitions aren’t too dissimilar to our Out of Possession principles - we need to protect the central space and we should be as close together as possible. Therefore, our immediate priority should be to delay the opposition and allow our team to get back into a compact defensive shape.
If, for example, the opposition goalkeeper collects the ball and is looking for a quick breakaway we should be looking block the central passing lane to allow our team to revert to our Out of Possession shape/set up as quickly as we can. This will likely take good communication to ensure everyone is back into position. As with our Out of Possession strategy we’ll need to give the opposition a ‘safe’ pass, ideally to one of their fullbacks, as this is much more preferable than a pass into the centre of the pitch in our half.
Our attack has come to an end and the opposition goalkeeper has the ball. Blue 2 and blue 3 are going to drop wide to give an option and try to create space in the centre. Red 9 and red 3 should not be drawn out to cover those options and instead should drop back centrally, in order to stop the direct pass into blue 9 or blue 7.
For the most part, Defensive Transitions are about damage limitation and getting into a settled state as quickly as possible. ‘For the most part’ is an important qualifier, as some game states will demand that we don’t just try to recover but also try to use the chaos to win the ball back as quickly as possible (e.g. if we are a goal down and chasing the game). Given the context you are playing in, the opposition may not be very composed and calm on the ball so the Defensive Transition can be a great way to apply high pressure and force mistakes. The important thing to remember is that is no right answer for every situation, so we need to be adaptable, but having a few core principles and possible solutions will help us to be more successful.
Attacking Transitions
If Defensive Transitions are high risk for us, then Attacking Transitions must be high risk for our opposition and a good opportunity for us to score a goal.
These moments are chaotic and we often revert to default behaviour which is why we need to focus on our mentality, rather than a tactical set up. Instead of sighing with relief when we win the ball back and looking to play safe, we should instead be composed on the ball and look to see if there is an attacking pass available. Of course this approach doesn’t come without risk, but the reward can outweigh the risk as there is often a team-mate free that we can pass to and cause on overload in our oppositions half. Communication is also key, as our team-mates can often see things we can’t, so they can let us know if they are in space or if there’s an opportunity to progress the ball forward. Of course in some cases taking the ‘safe’ pass will be the correct option, but it shouldn’t be the default option.
Red 2 has recovered possession - the safe pass would be to play it back to their goalkeeper so the team can reset and get a breather. However, as the blue team has overcommitted red 3 is in space with a clear run on goal. If red 2 can get their head up they can play the ball through to create a goalscoring chance. While this isn’t risk-free it’s a great opportunity to try to exploit.
This guide doesn’t cover every eventuality or scenario but it should help guide your team’s thinking of how to try to be more successful during the transitions phase of a match. The principles covered here are:
Defensive transitions
delay opposition and protect central areas
reset into Out of Possession set up as quickly as possible
Attacking transitions
try to make the most out of the chaos, by being composed and looking for an attacking pass first