Zonal Marking

After Szczesny's comments, and a number of set pieces against Boca Juniors, it looks like we've converted to a zonal marking system.

Thoughts? Is it working? Should we rather have just practiced man marking and tracking runs rather than changing the system?

 

We haven't won a header with it yet. First corer that came in 3 of our players got sucked into the ball and all went for the same header, none got to it. Looks a mess so far.

 

...we've won quite a few headers on corners...

 

We need a big CB who will attack the ball, no point in having small players like Kosc attacking the ball, and taller seemingly stronger player like Djourou waiting for the ball to come to him.

 

If preseason is anything to go by we still look as tragic as ever when defending set pieces.

 

lol wrong thread

 

QS? What game are you watching? Seriously speaking. We haven't much lost any headers, we look more assured and don't seem to have our defenders losing their markers at every corner.


I actually welcome the change :shock:

 

I remember Martin Keown saying it was a system he liked and thought we should still be using, so I hope it can make the difference.

Maybe with the addition of our new CB it will improve us again..

 

We didn't concede from corners but they are getting to the ball. And they're a small Argie team. Wait till thats big Premiership players who's only goal in a match is to win a set piece.

 

Doesnt matter if we use Zonal marking , man marking or whatever tactic. If your two CentreBacks are **** , no amount of tactical preparation will do.

 

We should use both IMO.

Zonal mark the first 8 or so yards from goal with Koscielny, Vermaelen, Sagna and Van Persie. Van Persie at the front with Koscielny & Vermaelen centrally and Sagna at the back. Put Cesc on the post. Then 'man mark' the runners with Song, Gibbs and Wilshere so they don't get a free run on us. They're run blockers. Keep Walcott on the halfway line with Gervinho outside the box ready for the counterattack.

We have to stop potting 11 men in our own box, because it only encourages the likes of Stoke and B'burn to flood the box with tall players. At least 2 men should be outside the box IMO.*

* - Not taking into account 90th minute, flood the box situations by other teams.

 

If we play Kos-Verm as the main centre back partnership for the Premier League season it won’t matter which defensive system we play in regards to set pieces, we’ll be destroyed just as has happened in the like the last two seasons, we’ll end up with Gallas-Verm pt.II good on the deck easily beaten in aerial duels.

 

You're right to an extent Kain - In the end it does boil down to our aggression in the air, our aerial ability and our desire to block the man/head the ball.

Bear in mind I made my above post only with our current players and not Cahill, Jagielka etc...

 

Co-signed. I've always felt a combination of the two would offer the best of both strategies.

 

I think the zonal system puts even more emphasis on aerially dominant defenders. We man mark to make up for our lack of height and it still hasn't worked.

 

They won most of the corners, though not scoring from any of them. Sometimes they didn't manage a header, but they aren't the tallest team ever either, are they?

 

IMO our issues at both defending AND attackig set pieces is more to do with our style than anything.

EVERYTHING about what we dois based around recieving the ball directly as opposed to utilising space on or off the ball. As a result we WAIT for the ball to come to us rather than looking to secure the ball by going to claim it, and we do the same in defence & set pieces.

This will be an issue in zonal marking because it will highlight our passive/reactionary tendancies, and the same applies at man marking because we watch the ball & not the man.

Too many of our defenders have no awareness of player movement around them. Clichy was guilty of this in open play, and Song & JD both have a habit of losing their man at set plays - others do as well. Two examples that spring to mind - I recall Song letting Drogba get away from him in a defensive corner at the near post, and I think Drogba scored with a free header at the far post after making his move. Similarly JD let his man get in fron of him to score for Bolton's last goal after making a run towards the ball at the near post, despite being goal side of him before he made the run.

AW's tactic of pulling everyone back was to compensate for this by congesting the area to reduce the space for the opposition to move in. Bottom line we don't attack the ball and we don't watch the man. Our lack of height hurts us when we are static, and our pace counts for little if we are not aware of movement in a small area or time.

Neither system will resolve our issues if we don't drill set pieces - primarily in defence, but it also equally applies to our inability to score from set pieces.

 

I am glad that our coaching staff are working proactively to rectify our biggest problems but I'm still not convinced this is the right system or will do anything to fix our problems with set-pieces. Only time will tell and I guess it can't be any worse than our previous system.

The problem with zonal marking is that a standing jumper will almost always be beaten by a running one. We saw that in some of the corners against Boca Juniors last night. I suppose there's an element of luck involved from the opposing team in the sense that, the attacker does not know where the ball will land and hence, they are making runs in the hope that the ball will be delivered near them. The other thing to consider is that if the zonal marking system is not executed correctly, say for example, one defender loses concentration, this will result in the higher probability that the attacking player will have a "free header". Since they're not being man-marked, they can lose defenders more easily and this brings other problems. However, generally speaking, if we get this zonal marking system right, there should not be any "free headers". That's the thing though, we're not going to get the system working flawlessly in every set piece are we?

I also agree with the idea of having a system that combines the two. Have the first four defenders use the zonal marking system and also get a few players man-marking. That being said, I am pretty sure that the zonal marking system already implements this idea. Not every defender is marking a "zone". Some may already be man-marking whilst the rest are marking their respective zones.

 

Zonal marking requires players to follow a pre-set defensive plan, with our defenders lacking great positional ability this makes sense. The weakness of zonal marking is that the opposition can 'overload' what they see as the weakest zone ... over a season zonal marking will be exposed but it would be a good way to start.

 

And further co-signed. Add some real aggression and I'd be happy. I really don't think that the height situation is as important as aggression and desire.