THE PIVOTAL SPACE

Jun 4

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FOOTBALL IS CONSEQUENTIAL, not sequential

Matt Stone and Trey Parker are the creators of South Park.

And although you may not know it yet, they have some valuable insight that will help you view football entirely differently.

When Stone and Parker write an episode for South Park they make sure to avoid the words “and then” between scene ideas. This linear view of the story writing creates for very boring sequential plots without any tension.

Instead they use the words “therefore” and “but”. Incorporating these words into their process forces them to think about the reasons that things may happen in a story, helping them to create plots which are full of tension and complexity.

Many coaches make this same mistake when viewing the game. They feel the game to be linear and sequential - Team A has the ball and then Team A loses the ball and Team B recovers the ball and starts attacking towards the goal and then Team A struggles to pressure the ball and then Team B scores

One event leading to the next event to the next event. There isn’t a connection between actions.

Stone and Parker’s language is helpful because it forces you to think about how each event affects another next event. This is most evident when the ball changes possession between teams.

Team A has the ball with an incredibly expansive structure and a big gap between lines therefore when Team A loses the ball and Team B recovers the ball, Team A struggles to pressure the ball therefore Team B scores.

How you attack sets the conditions for how you are able to defend and how you defend sets up the conditions for how you are able to attack. Attacking with certain spaces in mind allows you to defend more effectively, and vice-versa.

Football is consequential, not sequential.

WHAT I LEARNED FROM Real MADRID & Manchester CITY?

In May 2024, I embarked on studying connection between game moments (AKA Transitions) through a very unique case study; Real Madrid vs. Manchester City. Over the years, these two teams have given us some of the best matches to date and the centerpiece around their encounters: TRANSITIONS.

I re-watched all the matches between these two teams since 2019 until 2024. The focus was clear; how does each team approach the moment when the ball changes possession? The follow up question, how does each team attack to effectively manage the change in possession?

I’m not going to delve into the specifics of each team’s approach over the years but if you want to learn about City and Madrid’s rest-defense, Madrid’s counter attacking principles, and City’s counter pressing principles explained thoroughly over 90 minutes using over 50 video examples, you can get that seminar by clicking the button below.

WATCH THE SEMINAR NOW

This article is about a specific space that both teams handled with care which demonstrates how important it is. Earlier I said, attacking with certain spaces in mind allows you to defend more effectively. I was referring to the space I have named The Pivotal Space.

WHAT IS THE PIVOTAL Space?

The Pivotal Space is the space between a team’s back line and midfield line, typically in the center channel of the field. It’s like a shift shaping rectangle adjusting to the positioning of the center backs and central midfield players.

It doesn’t matter what style a team plays, this space will be present in some shape or another, but nonetheless, this space is vitally important no matter what.

Understanding the importance of this space starts by understanding the theory of the game.

The goal is centrally located therefore possession in the center channel(s) of the pitch is more dangerous.
Because exploiting the space behind the back line is the last ‘step’ before scoring, having possession with at least two players dribbling towards the back line is incredibly effective in a team’s pursuit to score.

MANAGING THE PIVOTAL SPACE TO BETTER MANAGE TRANSITIONS

When looking at this in terms of transitions, when a team loses the ball in The Pivotal Space, they are basically giving the opposition a high quality opportunity.

In the Studying Transitions Coaching Seminar, I showed two examples of both Real Madrid and Manchester City losing possession in The Pivotal Space and the consequence of that.

Going back to Stone and Parker’s useful story writing tip, both teams lost possession in The Pivotal Space therefore were counter-attacked without being able to defend themselves effectively.

This Pivotal Space is important to manage when attacking because in doing so the team is setting themselves up to defend. Managing this space is entirely dependent on the team and players (playing style).

For example, Real Madrid and Manchester City manage this space entirely differently. I won’t go into tons of detail because you will be able to see it in the webinar, but basically Real Madrid build-up by avoiding The Pivotal Space and playing in wide areas and Manchester City minimize all risk in this area through group build-up (not to mention they have the best counter-attack killing pivot player player in Rodri).

WHAT ABOUT REST-DEFENCE STRUCTURES?

Over the last decade, we have heard alot about rest-defense structures. It became most mainstream when we saw Philip Lahm ‘inverting’ during the Guardiola years at Bayern Munich. In the years to follow you couldn’t get away from the term ‘inverted fullback’.

This was the beginning of tactics talk around rest-defence structures and specifically the 2-3 build up structure, which meant a back line of four became a back line of two with the fullbacks inverting creating a line of 3 with pivot player.

This 2-3 build up structure was everywhere for many years but over time the 3-2 became the preferred rest defense structure (3 back line players and 2 midfield players). This 3-2 structure provided different angles and support positions within the attacking phase but more importantly, more players along the back line in case of a loss of possession.

These rest-defense structures are a result of managers attempting to manage The Pivotal Space in attack more effectively therefore they would be able to defend better in the case of losing possession.

To understand transitions and rest-defences at a first principle level, you have to go beyond the build up structures and begin to understand the space they’re looking to manage. You must start observing transitions through the lens of The Pivotal Space to fully understand this vital moment of the game.

Images courtesy of The Coaches Voice (great resource)