In this post we are going to talk about attacking in football trying to break down the game in a general and understandable way. It must be taken into account that football has an infinite number of micro details that can change the result of the following action.
The most important thing to understand the attacking game is to be clear about the fundamental objective of this phase of the game: to score a goal in the opponent’s goal. To do this we must get the ball to the end zone or Zone 3.
Once we are clear about the objective, we have to be able to break down the attack into its different phases and the possibilities they offer us. To do this, let’s look at the following image:
In this image we can clearly see the 3 phases of an attack and the different areas of the field. These phases are:
- Build, in which the objective is to get the ball with an advantage to the area of progression and/or completion.
- Create, in which the objective is to take the ball with an advantage to the finishing zone.
- Score, in which the objective is to finish the play with a shot on goal.
Once we are clear about the 3 phases, the first big question comes:
What is the structure that I can adopt to achieve success in the actions?
The answer to this question is complex and must be answered by looking at two main factors:
a) My team’s model of play or what guidelines does my team have when they have the ball?
b) My opponent’s pattern of play or what guidelines does the other team have to take the ball away from me?
This is where aspects such as coordinating movements through gestures, looks, recognising each other through the game itself come in… that is to say, it takes TIME (I have a post that talks a little about it, here).
After this short introduction, let’s get down to business.
BALL OUT
We can break down the ball out of play into two options: The ball is in play because it has been a goal kick and has to be put into play or the ball is in play.
Normally, the structures of the two teams differ depending on whether the ball is in play or not and this means that we and the opposition can adopt different patterns.
Goal kick
In this situation the ball has to be put into play, which gives us time to watch and to think. The first big question is to see how they defend. Normally, opposing teams tend to stretch their block to prevent or disrupt the ball from coming out. In this situation there are usually different options:
a) The opponent matches us, meaning that they match their players with ours in 1 vs 1 situations. This is the situation that makes it most difficult to play, but it is also the one in which the opponent takes the most risks.
b) The opponent positions himself in between, which means that he places his players between two of our players, so that they are not so exposed and a player is able to get to either of his two men if he receives the ball.
Normally, when the opponent doesn’t match us and is in the middle we can talk about 8 vs 6 situations, normally it will be our defensive line (4 players), our midfield (3 players) and our goalkeeper (1 player). These will be 8 players. And the remaining 3 players? They will be holding their defensive line (4 opposing players + goalkeeper).
In this image we can see the blue and white players separated. In the first half we see an 8 vs 6, counting goalkeeper, centre backs, full backs, pivot and inside players on the blue side and two strikers and a midfield line on the white side. In the second half of the pitch we see 3 Blues, wingers and striker, against the defensive line of the white players.
Here we will have to ask the big questions again:
Where are the free spaces?
What movements can my players make to create space?
Where is it easiest to get out with the ball to make progress?
Ball in play
In this situation the ball is in play and therefore we do not have so much time to think and to watch. Here it is important to ask yourself the right questions in order to solve the situation as the minutes go by.
The most important questions to ask are:
Is the ball out against one forward or against two?
Are they very aggressive in the jumps?
Who jumps on who?
Do they jump at the goalkeeper or don’t they jump at the goalkeeper?
Where do I find the spaces?
It will be important to be attentive and answer these questions quickly because, for example, if they press us with two strikers, we can start with 3 players, either with a full-back who lowers his height or with a pivot. Or maybe they are not aggressive in the jump and wait for the centre-backs to progress with the ball to jump. What movement will my pivots have to make to facilitate the progression of the centre-backs.
And who jumps to my full-backs. Do they jump with an inside player or do they jump with an outside player.
My emergency pass to the goalkeeper is safe because the opponent is not going to look for it or they are going to press the goalkeeper and therefore I have less time.
With the movements of their structure, where they leave the spaces free for me to attack them.
PROGRESSION
We can break down ball progression into two options: progression happens through inside lanes or inside; progression happens through outside lanes or outside:
a) Build inside
b) Build on the outside
BUILD on the inside
One of the first things to bear in mind when trying to make progress inside is to look at the width and depth of the opposing block. If the block is compact, i.e. there is little distance between the lines and it is narrow, with little distance between players in the same line, progressing inside will be more difficult to achieve at first. In order to achieve this, collective patterns will have to be established so that the team can connect with inside players.
What are these patterns?
The first thing is to be clear about which players initiate the previous movements to be able to receive in inside positions, what we will call ‘receiving in the squares’ or to facilitate the opening up of space for other players to occupy. Generally, to stretch a block, we need coordinated movements from one or more players, generally from the last line, who threaten the depth. In this sense, the image that comes to mind is that of the striker breaking into space. At that moment we will have to see what his partner, in this case, the centre-back, is doing. There are 2 options:
a) he always chases him.
b) he chases him for the first few metres and then leaves him to look for the offside trap (situations of Flick’s Barça defensive line).
BUILD on the outside
In general, progression solely on the outside is usually very difficult, as the opponent has an immovable ally, the touchline. In this sense, the players who usually progress on the outside are the full-backs and wingers/ wingers. These progressions are usually effective when we combine the outside – inside – outside, i.e. we combine passes from the outside lanes to the inside lanes to put the ball back into the outside lane.
It is important to answer the following questions:
How many players are they defending us with? Do they match us on the outside or do we have time to set up a numerical superiority?
How do the opposing players jump? Normally, in these cases the jumps are inside-outside, although it may also be that the jump is outside-outside. In any case, the question has to be how we can connect with the player they leave behind them.
What moves are we going to make to occupy the free spaces? By observing the opponent’s structure, we have to be able to recognise the free spaces and find solutions to be able to occupy them and receive the ball in this context.
SCORE
We reach the last third of the pitch, the final third. Here the options are usually 2, either we arrive on the outside lanes (on the outside) or we arrive on the inside lanes (on the inside).
Arriving on the outside
Normally, if we arrive on the outside, the finishing options are through a cross into the box. This cross is usually a lateral cross, although it can also be a cross from 3/4 of the pitch (very typical in Mendilibar’s Eibar). Another less frequent but more effective option is the back pass, by penetrating the opposition defence along the back line.
But let’s focus on the lateral cross. The questions we must ask ourselves and what we must observe is the following:
How many opponents are in the box? It is important to count the opposing players to see where we can hurt them the most in order to be successful.
How many players do we arrive in the box with? Normally, we usually arrive with a minimum of 2 players and a maximum of 5.
What spaces does the opponent leave most unprotected? Perhaps the opponent focuses a lot on defending the goal and leaves the area in front of the box unprotected, in this case, it is usually more effective to look for a pass towards this area than not to put the ball into the box.
What is the opposition marking like? Opposing players are aggressive, maintain a good body orientation, make contact with the player to be marked…
It is also important to define the finishing zones, which player will occupy each finishing zone and to adjust the timing of the attacking players (start the movement at the right moment).
Arriving on the inside
The arrivals on the inside usually come from a progression through the squares. Normally, there are two key actions to materialise these arrivals, which are usually passing or driving. The pass usually goes beyond a line and allows us to receive in a space where a player from the last line has to jump over us. It is important to differentiate the passes that we receive to face the last line or to overcome the last line.
Usual passes when finishing
The first of these is usually a movement by a player who is usually called a ‘support player’ to get close to the ball holder looking for a free space behind the line that is harassing the player with the ball.
The second is usually a pass to the back of the last line with a movement of a player-partner called a ‘breakaway’. The latter is usually given with a deep pass, either low or over the top and the intention is to make contact with the team-mate as close as possible to the opposing goalkeeper (in this other post we talked about the clearances that Marcelo Bielsa proposed at the time).
Typical driving at the end of the day
The other option is driving. Normally, driving involves going towards the opponent in order to face and dribble past them. This driving can usually be done for two reasons:
The first motive is to get past our pair and thus win the duel/action and have free space to get to the opponent’s goal.
The second motive is to go and fix our pair or the odd one (i.e. the defending player who has another team-mate assigned to him) so that he fixes his attention on me, leaving the player-partner unattended and the latter can make a move that allows him to benefit from a possible pass. This is what we call the action of going to fix and play a 2vs1. This movement of the team-mate is usually to break away to gain time and space or to break behind the defender’s back.
This concludes the first part of the game. We will continue to analyse the game from a defensive perspective.
And you, what aspects do you think are vital to be able to analyse the game?
I read you,
Goal hug.