Marking (association football)
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In association football, marking is an organized defensive tactic which aims to prevent a member of the opposing team (usually a striker) from taking control of the ball. Several marking strategies exist in football, and they mostly differ from each other according to the duties assigned to defenders, positioning and off-the-ball style.
Man-to-man marking
Man-to-man marking, or man marking, is a defensive strategy where defenders are assigned a specific opposition player to mark, as opposed to zonal marking, where a certain player marks an area of the pitch. Teams such as
Famous examples of man marking performances are
against Maradona in 1990.The strategy is one that has been supposedly dying out in football over the past decade or so despite
Zonal marking
Zonal marking is a defensive strategy where defenders cover an area of the pitch rather than marking a specific opponent. If an opponent moves into the area a defender is covering, the defender marks the opponent. If the opponent leaves this area, then marking the opponent becomes the responsibility of another defender.[13]
The biggest advantage of zonal marking is its flexibility. When the team regains possession of the ball, players are still in their positions and can start an attack more quickly. Communication is very important when zonal marking is used, to ensure that no gaps are left in ifficult when defending set pieces such as
The formation used by a team may dictate whether or not to use zonal marking. Teams playing 4–4–2 usually operate a zonal marking system, but teams playing a sweeper do not. Amongst professional teams zonal marking is the most common system: 15 of the 16 teams that reached the knockout stages of the 2004 UEFA Champions League used zonal marking.[15]
Training methods to develop this technique include coloured cones and a 5-metre rope. The coloured cone method is set up by having certain colours set out in sections of the pitch; each player will be put in the coloured section and will not be allowed to leave it. The 5-metre rope is a piece of equipment where the four defenders are attached by a rope which means they are used to staying and working together.
Marking today
Today, several modern defensive formations use a mixture of both man-to-man and zonal marking e.g. 3–5–2 formation (which defensively becomes a 5–3–2). This means 5 defenders: 2 stoppers marking man-to-man, 1 sweeper (sweepers always mark by zone), and 2 wingbacks playing almost like end-to-end side midfielders. Also, several other teams rely exclusively on pure zonal marking approaches.
See also
References
- ^ Catlin 1990, p. 143.
- ^ "From the Vault: Lobanovskyi's first step towards the 1999 semi-final". 28 April 2020.
- ^ "From the Vault: PSV's jigsaw to control AC Milan". 14 April 2020.
- ^ "Chelsea's Michael Essien leave his mark on Liverpool's Steven Gerrard". 9 April 2009.
- ^ "Match Report: Liverpool 1-3 Chelsea - A Great Performance".
- ^ "Bosingwa has Messi job". 25 April 2009.
- ^ "Bosingwa in line to mark Messi". The Irish Times.
- ^ http://www.zonalmarking.net/2013/03/06/manchester-united-1-2-real-madrid-red-card-allows-real-to-take-control/
- ^ "Danny Welbeck". 24 September 2023.
- ^ http://www.zonalmarking.net/2012/03/08/manchester-united-2-3-athletic-bilbao-pressing/
- ^ http://www.zonalmarking.net/2015/04/08/marseille-2-3-psg-bielsas-pressing-has-positives-and-negatives/
- ^ "How Leeds rocked Liverpool - can Chelsea boss Lampard take inspiration from Bielsa?". 15 September 2020.
- ^ Catlin 1990, p. 140.
- ^ "Set-piece marking". BBC News. February 7, 2006. Retrieved May 12, 2010.
- ^ "Football: Party like it's 1974". Belfast Telegraph article. Archived from the original on April 10, 2005. Retrieved December 4, 2005.
Bibliography
Catlin, Mark G. (1990). "Organizing the Defense". The Art of Soccer.