The Art of Defending

The emergence of more cautious (and thus, arguably, more negative) tactics in the English game has given the art of defending more exposure, to the extent that it is almost fashionable. The BBC's most prized pundits, Alan Hansen and Mark Lawrenson, were accomplished defenders in the successful Liverpool teams of the 1980s, Italy defender Fabio Cannavaro is the reigning European Player of the Year and FIFA World Player of the Year, and Rio Ferdinand remains the most expensive British player of all time.

As the increased concentration of coverage on the art of defending has left the football supporter in no doubt as to what constitutes good (and indeed bad) defending, the following should be all too familiar:

Danger
One thing that defenders can do routinely, which excites the watching pundits immeasurably, is to "see the danger and deal with it." "Dealing with it" is allowed to consist of merely hoofing it into Row Z, as this is manfully regarded as no-nonsense.

Switching off
A cardinal sin, especially at the top level, switching off is never a good idea. Many a goal has been caused by a defender's lack of concentration, and many defenders risk being associated permanently with being "prone to lapses of concentration".

Reading the Game
A useful tool for defenders who are not the quickest, being able to read the game is invariably traced back to Bobby Moore, often purely on the basis of that tackle on Jairzinho.

Desperate Defending
Be it a last-ditch tackle, or a backs-against-the-wall performance, everyone appreciates heroic defending. If the magnitude of the game is sufficient, hyperbole over the victorious team's defending can include hailing the "immense" centre-backs or the "tenacious" full-backs. The presence of an attacking player in his own penalty box will be greeted with near-disbelief, causing the commentator to have to almost confer with the viewing audience:

Commentator: And who's that back defending in his own area?! Didier Drogba.

Notably, no-one will be heard to bemoan the negative tactics involved in such a performance.

Comfortable on the Ball
For years, English supporters longed for a libero-style defender who was comfortable on the ball. The mid-to-late-1990s then saw the emergence of the ball-playing centre-back, epitomised by Rio Ferdinand, whose international debut in 1997 was observed with absurd wonder. Likened (inevitably) to Bobby Moore, Ferdinand's comfort on the ball had pundits salivating. Nowadays, pundits have gathered their senses and now bother to analyse that insignificant aspect of his game - his ability to actually defend. Ten years after Ferdinand's England bow, no self-respecting centre-half lacks the ability to bring the ball out of defence. Big deal.

Mix-Ups
All defenders live in fear of (yet also know the inevitability of) the defensive mix-up. Often co-starring the goalkeeper, defensive mix-ups can, at worst, leave the opposing striker with the simple task of rolling the ball into the empty net. The post-mortem of a defensive mix-up will often conclude that the defender "needed a shout there".

Bad Defending
Alan Hansen's weekly critique of defensive performances on MotD makes careful use of appropriate adjectives. Not one to overreact, Hansen can be trusted to provide a faithful account of a team's defending. The consistency of his analysis has enabled The Angle... to develop the Alan Hansen Bad Defending Continuum (AHBDC):

Fig 1.0.

Not Good

Poor

Bad

Schoolboy

Terrible

Unbelievable

Comical

Shocking

Suicidal

The AHBDC is a straightforward scale, but one on which no backline wants to register. The more culturally-aware pundit may refer to "Keystone Cops" defending, despite most of the watching audience being far, far below the age at which it would be acceptable to know who or what the Keystone Cops were.

Pace

Defenders "don't like playing against pace". In fact, "if there's one thing defenders hate, it's pace". It "terrifies" them. Pace can be used to give them a torrid time, roast them, turn them inside out, expose them, or destroy them.

Tackling

Modern day defenders are unlikely to be able to get away with the bone-crunching tackles of yesteryear. In fact, any challenge that falls into the agricultural category is likely to be met with a booking. In such strict times, defenders must learn to stay on their feet, and not commit themselves by going to ground. Flying wingers can be frustrated simply by shepherding the ball over the touchline, to houls of "Obstruction!" from the opposing fans. Of course, anywhere else on the pitch, it would be a foul.

Dealing with an aerial threat can be tricky. If, as Andy Gray loves to point out, a team successfully manages to isolate the opponent's diminutive full-back using their beanpole striker ("It's a complete mismatch - it's no contest") the full-back is put to the test. Fortunately, it is sufficient for him to do "just enough" to put the striker off in that situation.

Fouling

Fouls are a standard occupational hazard for a defender, and there are several types. Cynical fouls are met with disapproval from the co-commentator and a booking from the referee, while clumsy fouls are always conspicuous by their lack of malice. Fouls that bring an opposing team's counter-attack to a halt, and the resultant punishment, are often rationalised by the understanding co-commentator - "he'll take that". Fouls that generate the most anger from the co-commentator tend to be shirt-pulling (something which has, of course, crept into the English game thanks to the foreign influx) or fouls against players that are "going nowhere".

As fouling becomes more and more part of the defender's repertoire, so too must the art of appealing. Different type of foul carry with them a different appeal method:

• Cynical - Hands-up acceptance of one's fate, similar to a guilty plea in court. There's no mercy, however - booking.
• Foul from behind - frantic gestures and hand signals. Language barriers are overcome by the universal symbol for "I got the ball, ref" - palms inward, peform a concave crescent with both hands, meeting at the top and bottom. Realistic attempts to approximate the size of the ball are not necessary. In fact, the more frenzied the appeal, the bigger the virtual ball.
• Clumsy foul - the guilty party here will often attempt to appeal not just after the foul, but during and even before. The accepted method is to raise both arms above one's head while bundling the opponent over. The wisdom behind this appears to be that if you don't use your hands to bring an opponent to the ground, then it cannot be a foul. An admirable attitude, but one in direct contradiction to the actual Laws of the Game.
• Professional foul - the red card isn't even out of the ref's pocket, but the defender knows his fate. Off he goes. Possibly by means of an unrepentant trudge.
  
• Second yellow - a personal favourite. Realising the significance of his misdemeanour, the player sees the referee striding toward him reaching for his pocket. Apparently, the arm-shaking and finger-wagging, combined with a face usually only pulled by a 3-year-old boy not allowed some sweets, is supposed to tug on the heartstrings of the official. It fails.

The demands on a modern defender are huge. Simultaneously, he must have his opponent in his pocket whilst maintaining his concentration and reading the danger, whilst showing another opponent onto his weaker foot and playing him offside, whilst leaping prodigiously and doing "just enough", whilst being comfortable on the ball and making a last-ditch tackle.

But it's alright - "he's just one of those players that loves defending".

Adam.