Space and Pace

My stated goal is to learn something new every day. This fall season has lead to bountiful learning opportunities. It is my hope that I have taken advantage of at least a modicum of these. Sometimes a lesson learned long ago resurfaces to be reinforced. One such lesson is the focus of this evening's writing. I don't consider this a lesson forgotten and relearned, but it is definitely a lesson that has returned front and center due to others not having fully learned it yet.

An old soccer adage says Space = Time. 

A new coaching phrase I will be rolling out is Space and Pace.



I recently heard Boston Celtic's head coach Brad Stevens refer to Space and Pace in describing how he wants his team to play and realized these three words sums up exactly how I wish for my teams to play soccer. We discuss pace of play constantly. More precisely we talk about how to increase our pace of play. These discussion are, of course, about attacking soccer. However, they are not discussions about simply playing directly as many seem to think. Rather, it is all about pressuring or stressing the defense.  In fact, space and pace, is a response to pressing defenses.

Pressing is a tool or tactic a team can employ to change or control the pace of play in a soccer match. The idea is to bring enough pressure against the ball carrier to speed up his decision making process to an extent it takes him from his comfort level. Stressing a players decision making ability can lead to mistakes / turnovers.  Space and pace is the attacking response to defensive pressing.

For years I have referred to attacking pressure as being manipulation of the defense. The general premise is to use off-the-ball player movement and associated ball movement to move the defense. When player and ball movement are done with this expressed intent a defense can be manipulated to open seams that can be attacked through.  Space and Pace are key ingredients in manipulating a defense. 

When playing out of a press we look to make a safe pass once the ball has been won.  This safe pass secures possession of the ball for our team.  This completion of a safe pass is when a possession begins for us. The player receiving the safe pass is then tasked with setting the initial pace for the attack. Can he play forward to a target player?  Can he make the initial (early) cross or change of fields in the attack?  Or is a secondary safe pass necessary before either of the first two option can be utilized?

When a player wins the ball teammates must immediately assess whether their teammate is under direct pressure.  If the answer is yes, teammates must move toward the ball carrier to get in his vision as the ball carriers head will be down to the ball. This is particularly true of the teammate(s) who are directly in the line of vision of the ball carrier. If the answer is no, then teammates maintain or enlarge their spacing around their teammate so he can keep his head up and evaluate where the safe pass can be made.

Also built into this process are coaching phrases like "be in his vision early" which demands off-the-ball movement be intelligent and with purpose. We want the player who will receive a pass to be in the passers vision before the passer receives the ball.  Part and parcel with this is the general rule of thumb to "play the way you face"  unless a teammate urges you to "turn!" These are all traits or characteristics players / teams who play multiple decision soccer possess.  Presses only work when they force an individual or team into playing one-decision soccer.

Against today's zonal defenses it is important to get a defense moving laterally back and forth across the field. The problem we wish to create for the opponents is how to cover defensive width.  Most teams will play with a back four that moves as a group to ball side.  Early crosses can catch the opponents with an unprotected space on the backside to be taken advantage of.  A second cross timed as the opponents arrive to deal with the primary ball threat can be used to further stress a defense and expose seams to be attacked through to goal.  Nothing new or revolutionary here - just the old tried and true adage of make a defense chase the ball.  No one likes to be continually chasing the ball. When an attacking scheme can get a defense moving, get them chasing the ball, this is the equivalent of pressing on defense. An attack utilizing space and pace can run a defense ragged by taking them from their comfort zone and forcing them to make both more decisions than customary and to make those decisions at a rate or pace they are not comfortable with.  Advantage to the attacking team!