Defensive tactics to dicuss in Vancouver's 3-2 loss to Seattle
The Whitecaps versus Sounders clash from this past weekend certainly delivered to the 53,000+ fans who showed up to watch the Cascadia Cup fixture. But this rivalry also give us some interesting tactical decisions to discuss post 3-2 victory for Seattle.
Just 8 minutes into the first half and Vancouver's defenders had to deal with Lamar Neagle operating between the lines. With the ball on Neagle’s feet, Vancouver’s back four played straight, opting to move forward in the way to close the spaces around Seattle's forward and to keep the depth out to Seattle’s attackers, that in this instance, were Andy Rose and Obafemi Martins.
See also: Chelis' three-man backline seals his fate
Unfortunately for Martin Rennie’s side, his back line didn’t play like an unit. In fact, with Neagle under pressure, while centre back Andy O’Brien correctly came forward in the way to narrow the gap between the defensive line and the zone where the ball was, his teammate, right back Lee Young-Pyo, sat deep, nullifying O’Brien’s effort.
Instead, Lee Young-Pyo made a forward movement in the moment when Neagle was able to avoid pressure and was ready to play a through ball towards the back line. That made him unable to recover and help the back line when Rose streaked behind Vancouver's flat four.
It didn’t help too that both left back Jordan Harvey and midfielder Jun Marques Davidson, just as O’Brien did, were slow trying to collapse behind with the ball open and weren’t able to recover on Seattle’s attacking midfielder. Rose could has been covered in a better way also if Nigel Reo-Coker would have stuck with him but to blame the Vancouver midfielder for this move would require to know exactly what was Rennie’s tactical approach, that is to say, if Vancouver's head coach wants midfielders following opponents’ cutting inside movements, or if he asks for the back line to deal them.
On the other side, a tactical mistake happened when Russell Teibert found a well-positioned Camilo Sanvezzo open at the back post for a simple header. Seattle’s right back left his position to cover the near post despite the fact his teammate, centre back Zach Scott, was already there. That meant Seattle had two players covering the near post with no one covering the zone around the far post. This left Camilo free to beat Michael Gspurning to equalize.
At the end, Seattle’s third and decisive goal, Neagle beat Jordan Harvey giving his team the needed three points. Vancouver’s defender had a moment of indecision that proved fatal. This indecision brings back a topic highly argued in academy coaching circles: how to cover attackers in a crossing situation?
Some argue that the better way to do it is to play a man-to-man coverage when the situation arises. On the other hand, some head coaches point out that the better way is to set up zonal marking coverage. This question depends on if a defender has to take care of the ball or deal with the attacker first. This play in particular makes a case for a zonal marking supporters. In fact, Vancouver’s defender turned his head to take a look to find where Neagle was, but he lost a step doing it, with the result being Harvey coming late to the ball, leaving Neagle free to anticipate him and score the winner.
Michele Tossani is a football tactician with a Ph.D. in History. Michele resides in Florence, Italy and is a tactical analyst for Futbol-Tactico.com
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