Play Football
April 7, 2021Right or wrong, coach Tony Pulis is often branded as a supporter of bus parking. As leaders of Stoke City from 2008 to 2013, they were known for their defensive football and often played a point in Premier League matches.
In general, however, there is a tactic that teams adopt in individual games rather than throughout the season – especially if you prefer to attack the offensive team. An example comes from Mourinho himself, who did not play the well-known striker Chelsea against Manchester United at Old Trafford in 2013.
A long ball game
This is a tactic that is often ridiculed. Defensive teams often use a long ball strategy that is not very pleasing to the eye and requires less valuable technical skills.
Basically, the idea of a long ball game is to send the ball forward from deep places in the air towards an attacker who takes the ball down and initiates an attack.
To play this tactic successfully, attackers must be strong, able to hold the ball and good in the air. A long ball can also be used to play ball in space for a fast striker. You also need a pair of excellent offensive midfielders with the ability to participate in the attack and make sure the attacker is not isolated.
Long ball teams often defend their approach. Their goal is to get the ball as far as possible from their goal by using the physical players at the top to control the opponents in the air.
Long-distance football is often criticized for being ugly, but it can offer great moments. Dennis Bergkamp’s Dutch goal against Argentina is played again and again as one of the best at the World Cup in 1998. – But he still needed a good old-fashioned blanket to get started.
Sam Allardyce is perhaps England’s most famous fan of long ball strategy. Allardyce probably used the game’s physical striker, Kevin Davies, and a midfielder who knew the networking side of Kevin Nolan.
High pressure
Unlike many of the tactics described above, a high pressure game is based on playing the game and not playing it. In his heart, the high press works with the precedent that you win the ball on a higher field, a short distance you have to walk to get to the finish line.
The result is a team that plays on an incredibly high line, where all ten fielders harry and shoot their opponent in their possession. Teams using different tactics will let the opposition refrain from their own half with confidence, knowing that they can not do much wrong with their goals so far. What sets the high press apart is that this harassment of the opposition takes place on any ball.
This tactic can work well against teams that want to have it. Pressing the opposition puts incredible pressure on all parts of the opposition. Release and suddenly you are in an advanced position with a number of attacking players already on the field.
For this to work, you need ten outdoor players to push down as a whole. It can be one of the most exhausting tactics of the players, as players face 90 minutes into the game, but the players can be huge. The defense starts at the top of the field, so choose an attacker who is selfless, mobile and does not interfere in participating in the physical side of the game.
Instinctively, long ball teams can succeed against pressure teams. By lifting long balls over the defensive line, fast players ready to drive channels can suddenly break all the pressure caused by the game and reveal the space behind your team.