Making Play Predictable
To predict is to say in advance that something will happen, e.g. generally the weather forecasters are right when they state what the weather will be like the next day - rain, wind, sun etc. If in a soccer game our team can
predict what the other team will do with the ball in a given area at a given time then we have a big advantage.
In making play predictable as a team we must follow certain guidelines.
The basics of defending all over the field are pressure, support and balance. Pressure on the man with the ball, support for the pressurizing player and cover, balance and the plugging of vital space needed by the opposition.
The roles of pressurizing player, supporting player and balancing or covering player switch as the ball is moved and kept by the opposition. Circumstances dictate that the pressurizing player will sometimes be able to prevent his opponent from turning, sometimes he will not, depending on this situation all other players adjust, e.g. supporting and balancing/covering players and other members of the team behind them.
What the pressurizing player is trying to do first and foremost is stop the ball from being played forward.
If he cannot stop the ball being played forward can he stop it by his body shape and force the opposition to play
a predictable ball, and then the rest of the team can adjust. e.g. ball played out to the right back and forcing the
play down the line.
If this happens our rear players can adjust accordingly and try and lock the ball in this area of the field. In other words we are going to commit more defenders to this area to outnumber the attackers and try to win the ball in what will now be restricted space. We also have to be aware of balls being played forward into runners so we must track the players according to their runs or until we can hand them on to our defenders.
There are other ways in which we may want the opposition to play, in other words can we predict what they will do given time and space. If we feel that the opposition are not particularly good at playing out from the back we may drop right off and let them have the ball from their goalkeeper and then pressurize and adjust accordingly and try and win the ball back in their half of the field.
Our team in making play predictable must keep very compact. We must avoid being stretched and spaces appearing, we must try to keep the ball in front of our defense. Therefore, our forward player's work hard to exert pressure the moment the ball is lost.
Back players move up quickly when the ball is played forward and we try to lock the ball in one quarter of the
field when the ball is in a wide position. Attacking teams will always quite naturally strive to make their play unpredictable. So, if we follow the above guidelines they will find it difficult to achieve the objective.
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