Forza Italian Football is pleased to bring its readers a regular new feature – Il Mister. Our experts will endeavour to bring you all the methods and tactical secrets employed by Serie A’s best football coaches.
Defending is an integral part of football, no matter how adventurous a coach will have you believe he is. Over the years, strategies have evolved as tacticians try to create a system that is impenetrable but can also compliment the attacking phase of their team.
The history of defending and how it has developed over the decades is an article in itself but today we will deal with an aspect that often courts controversy – zonal marking at corners. The controversy is often misplaced because as a tactic it fulfils two important roles, good cover for the corner itself and an opportunity to quickly counter and turn the situation into the defending team’s advantage.
One fact needs to be firmly planted in a coach’s mind when it comes to deciding on how to approach this type of set piece. There is no right or wrong system, man marking or zonal defending at corners can never guarantee an opponent will not score. It is fair to say that employing a man to man system may appear a more reasonable way of stopping your opponent from scoring, but it is not fail-safe and we will outline why.
Man marking assumes the defender will primarily concern himself with the attacker and do all he can to stop him winning the ball. And therein lays one of the failings of this system as the defender must not only react to the attacker’s movements, but he must also have an eye on the trajectory of the ball and then hope that aerially, he can beat his opponent. A lot of variables when trying to effectively deal with the corner, with scope for things to go wrong. Furthermore, in this current climate where attacking football is encouraged, man marking makes no consideration for launching a counter attack. Players will be spread all over the 18 yard box, running in different directions which makes it almost impossible to have a pattern of attack when the ball is, hopefully, won by the defending team.
Example 1 – Zdenek Zeman (Roma) Zonal Defence for a corner
Zonal defending addresses all of these issues. Defenders can be placed in zones to ensure as much of the 18 yard box is covered, with the aerial experts situated in areas that the opponent likes to exploit when attacking corners. Defenders can treat the corner in a more positive manner, concerning themselves with winning the ball rather than having to second guess where the forward is going to make a run and therefore being responsible for both the ball and the player.
But more importantly, with players defending to a set pattern, quick and effective counter attacks can be launched turning a negative situation into a positive one, if the tactic has been cleverly worked on in training. The defensive pattern can also be adjusted for outswinging or inswinging corners, giving further flexibility.
Of course, zonal marking at corners does go wrong and it can be embarrassing for fans to see their team concede a goal as a striker rises to head home in a completely open space and unchallenged. It happens and it looks unprofessional but much the same can be said when man marking is employed and a goal is conceded. It’s a balancing act that a coach needs to decide upon, given the players at his disposal and how he feels his side should approach a corner.
Example 2 – Roberto Mancini (Inter) Zonal Defence for a corner
The debate will no doubt continue for seasons to come but next time you see a goal scored from a corner and an ‘expert pundit’ condemns the merits of zonal marking, just consider the times that the ball does not end up in the back of the net and your team effectively deals with it and is able to launch a lightning fast counter attack.
