Zonal Marking

[dww]

Has anyone actually personally played zonal marking at corners etc. with their team?

If so did you find is hard to adapt to as we did initially and did it help or hinder your team?

[Howard_lfc]

Has anyone actually personally played zonal marking at corners etc. with their team?

If so did you find is hard to adapt to as we did initially and did it help or hinder your team?

I'm not fan - but Rafa is so that's the end of it. We're stuck with it.

[dww]

I think it has worked when we have had a settled defence and our reserves and youth sides all seemed to do batter last season having got used to it. I just wonder what it is that makes what seems logically quite simple so hard to impliment in practice - I haven't played proper tactically organised football for about 8 years so I feel a little unable to judge if it is just our players / the english mentality or the intrinsic difficulty of playing zonally.

[Shaggy]

I'd be amazed if anyone has played in a zonal marking system at amateur level. AMAZED.

[dww]

So would I really, I just thought maybe what with the UEFA coaching badges coming through that some people might have been forced to try it as an exercise.

[JRG]

Only on subbutteo. I spend all my time getting the kids in my team to look up before they pass - so zonal marking is about 10 years down the line on the training schedule.

[Bob]

Has anyone actually personally played zonal marking at corners etc. with their team?

If so did you find is hard to adapt to as we did initially and did it help or hinder your team?

Its one of few problems i have with Rafa. I don't like zonal marking, and no, at amateur level it'd truly be a mess - God forbid.

It's just sharing the blame ain't it. The orthodox way, its a case of pointing the finger and shouting at the sod that fell asleep

No one has convinced me on zonal yet. And i'd argue it hasn't worked for us. Chelsea don't do it, or many other top clubs.

[Shaggy]

Its one of few problems i have with Rafa. I don't like zonal marking, and no, at amateur level it'd truly be a mess - God forbid.

It's just sharing the blame ain't it. The orthodox way, its a case of pointing the finger and shouting at the sod that fell asleep

No one has convinced me on zonal yet. And i'd argue it hasn't worked for us. Chelsea don't do it, or many other top clubs.

Arsenal do it, Barca do it and more to the point we always defended that way in the 80s when we won everything. It’s no better or worse than man-for-man. It’s a good system when put into practice properly.

[paulcooper4]

Arsenal do it, Barca do it and more to the point we always defended that way in the 80s when we won everything. It’s no better or worse than man-for-man. It’s a good system when put into practice properly.

It worked for the likes of jocky and co. It also worked last season for carra and co

[Bob]

Arsenal do it, Barca do it and more to the point we always defended that way in the 80s when we won everything. It’s no better or worse than man-for-man. It’s a good system when put into practice properly.

Yes Hansen loved it. But he was so commanding in the air, ably supported, and Grobbelar wasn't afraid to come and get the ball. We simply don't have the players for it. Your tactics should be dictated by the players you have, not the other way around!

Continental players use it, but they are well versed in tactics, unfortunately we are not!

[paulcooper4]

Yes Hansen loved it. But he was so commanding in the air, ably supported, and Grobbelar wasn't afraid to come and get the ball. We simply don't have the players for it. Your tactics should be dictated by the players you have, not the other way around!

Continental players use it, but they are well versed in tactics, unfortunately we are not!

Jocky was no better in the air than sami and reina arguably comes out to get the ball more than brucey so im not sure i agree there bob. Also, it DID work last season, we were tighter than a nuns snatch.

I believe our defenders are very well versed in tactics and we are experiencing nothing more than too many players playing ****e at the same time

[Bob]

And i should add even in zonal marking the big guns (danger men) get picked up anyway. Zonal Marking should never be used in its entirety IMO.

Watch the continental defenders climb all over players in the box, even they don't wholly rely on it, depspite popular belief!

[Bob]

Jocky was no better in the air than sami and reina arguably comes out to get the ball more than brucey so im not sure i agree there bob. Also, it DID work last season, we were tighter than a nuns snatch.

I believe our defenders are very well versed in tactics and we are experiencing nothing more than too many players playing ****e at the same time

Its the principle i don't agree with.

Sami's excellent in the air, i agree. It's his positioning that is becoming more worrying with every passing game. You can't head the ball clear if you're not in the right starting position.

Reina is atrocious at coming off his line, worst part of his game for me.

[paulcooper4]

Its the principle i don't agree with.

Sami's excellent in the air, i agree. It's his positioning that is becoming more worrying with every passing game. You can't head the ball clear if you're not in the right starting position.

Reina is atrocious at coming off his line, worst part of his game for me.

If I agreed with your points about sami and reina I would see where youre coming from. But I dont, so **** off, i`m right youre wrong

[dww]

I would say that Sami was excellent last season as was Carra, but unfortunately Carra seems slightly short of confidence this term (I imagine not un-connected to the England penalty debacle) and Sami seems too slow to be effective in the way he was last year.

Reina is a tricky one, last season he seemed good at coming. If anything did it too frequently when the odds were against him. This season he seems to be suffering from the curse that afflicted Dudek, James and Friedel during their time with us.