Ways to gain the advantage as a defender

You often hear a manager say to his defenders, “Don’t give your man an inch and get in his face”. This, to be fair, is an extremely tough task for the defender, especially if the forward they are marking is creative and generates a lot of movement because a forward like this can cause a lot of headaches for the guy marking them.

While I too have been guilty of instructing defenders not to give their man an inch, what I am asking them to do is to be extremely close to their man and to be as sticky as possible. A forward hates this. Being five or 10 yards off your direct opponent is simply going against the instructions as issued by the manager and the defender will often be found out if this is how he marks. Tight marking should mean tight marking.

In defence of the defender, if the quality of ball being delivered is anyway good or at least to the forwards advantage and if it is delivered early then they really are going to be up against it in terms of winning primary possession. One thing that they can make sure happens, though, is when the forward takes possession of the ball that there is instant contact made and that he is being put under a certain amount of pressure. Any forward worth his salt will run riot if he is afforded any type of space when he gains possession, especially close to goal.

One way a defender can counteract this is by being brave and confident enough to mark from the front but always having a hand on his opponent. By marking from the front, this can cut out the options of high quality ball being played in but there is always a risk of a ball over the top. However, this can be covered off if the defender is doing his job and is within touching distance of the forward.

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