Pressure, cover and balance
COVER & BALANCEOne player goes to the ball, a second covers the pass behind him, and a third holds the space nobody is looking at.
Defending is not eleven people trying to win the ball. At any moment one player is going to the ball, one is covering the pass behind him, and the rest are holding the spaces nobody is looking at yet. Those are three different jobs, and the trouble starts when two players choose the same one.
Pressure is a promise somebody else has to keep
Their #6 has the ball 40 m from your goal. Your midfield has stepped up to him, which is what makes the space behind your two central midfielders real: their #10 is already running into it.
Send both of your midfielders at the ball and the picture is honest about what it costs. The ball goes past them into the pocket, and their #10 turns with about a second and a half before anyone reaches him. A second and a half is a long time. It is enough to pick a head up, choose a pass and play it.
Now give them a job each. One arrives within 5 m of the ball — close enough that their #6 has to decide before he would like to — and the other is standing in the pass behind him. Same ball, same run, and their #10 either never gets it or gets it with a defender on him.
Notice what did not happen. Nobody made a tackle. Nobody won the ball. The unit simply made the next pass a bad one, which is most of what defending is.
Balance is the job nobody applauds
Pressure and cover are about the ball. Balance is about the side of the pitch where nothing is happening — the far winger nobody has mentioned, the runner arriving late. It looks like standing still, and it is the only reason a switch does not become a chance.
The instinct to chase the ball is strong because the ball is where the football is. Watch a good defensive midfielder instead: when his partner steps out, he does not step out too. He takes half a step back and fills the space, and thirty seconds later it turns out that was the whole game.
The model in one sentence: this is one ball and one authored run, judged by how long their receiver has before your nearest player can reach him — it does not model tackles, body shape or a real player's decision to pass at all.
Live lab
Lab
Only the instructions that matter for pressure, cover and balance are here. Solve the challenges, then explore.
How the lab measures Player positions, distances, and how fast your players can reach each part of the pitch. It doesn't model the ball, marking, body shape or decisions, so treat the numbers as a way to see the idea, not as a verdict on a real match.
Challenge 1 of 2
Their #6 has the ball 40 m out and their #10 is running into the space between your lines. Give your two central midfielders a job each.
Dragging is off for this challenge. Tap a player for instructions, or use the controls.
Challenge 1 / 2
Saturday checklist
Watch for it this weekend
- Find the first player who moves towards the ball, then immediately look behind him. Somebody should be filling the pass he just left.
- When two players arrive at the same ball, one of them came from somewhere. Look at where that somewhere was.
- Watch the player furthest from the ball. In a good defending unit he is not watching the ball; he is watching the runner nobody has mentioned yet.