70: Grow Coach Newsletter
Football Coaches: Develop your Coaching Craft.
Welcome from JustCoachMD. We are happy to have you on board and look forward to providing you with helpful content.
Here is What to Expect:
Coaching Craft: Improve marking and defensive cover.
Full 60-Minute Practice: 3 x practices to enhance marking in different moments.
You have to defend with your brain. Not just your legs. The best defenders think faster than their opponents. - José Mourinho
Shut Down Attackers: 5 Steps to Mark Like a Pro
In the chaos of a high-paced match, when your team is without the ball, the ability to mark effectively becomes one of the most valuable defensive tools. It’s not glamorous. It won’t make the highlight reel. But it wins you games.
Marking—both players and space—is an essential part of becoming difficult to play against. Teams that mark well force errors, control space, and sap the rhythm from even the most fluent attacks.
As coaches, we need to shift how players see this responsibility. Marking isn’t about chasing shadows or playing catch-up—it’s about taking control in moments when the team doesn’t have possession.
It’s about reading the game, reacting early, and making sure your opponent never feels comfortable.
What Is Marking in Football?
Marking is the act of staying close to an opponent, or, in some cases, a dangerous space, to deny time, space, and opportunities. It’s about disrupting an opponent’s rhythm, forcing them into rushed decisions, and positioning yourself to intercept, tackle, or delay.
Touch tight means being close enough to feel the opponent. Not fouling, not grappling—but close enough to influence every touch, turn, or movement. And here’s the twist: sometimes, you’re not even marking a player. You’re marking space, anticipating danger, and protecting areas your opponents want to exploit.
Why Marking Makes You Tough to Play Against
Teams that mark well do three things exceptionally:
Deny Time: When players are touch-tight, attackers have no room to breathe.
Limit Options: Good marking restricts forward passes and makes build-up play predictable.
Control Transitions: By anticipating danger and closing space early, you reduce chaos in defensive transitions.
How to Be an Effective Marker (for Players)
Here’s how players can improve their marking step-by-step. Share this with your team and build it into your coaching conversations:
1.
Stay With Your Player
React quickly when possession is lost.
Get close to your opponent—touch tight if needed.
Quick changes of direction are used to track runs.
Speed up to close space, then slow down to control the moment.
2.
Get Tight to Win the Ball
Press with intent—arrive like you mean it.
Slow your steps as you close in, get your body under control.
Priority: win the ball through a tackle or interception.
If that’s not possible, block the passing lane to slow the attack or force the ball backwards.
3.
Prevent the Turn
Don’t let the attacker face forward—get close enough to block their body.
Step in front when possible and take the ball cleanly.
Or step into the attacker—use your lower body, arms, and strength to unbalance them.
If they turn, time your move to step between them and the ball.
Tip: A firm hand on the lower back as the attacker receives the ball can make turning uncomfortable without fouling, it can unbalance the attacker and force them to take a poor touch.
4.
Mark or Cover Space
When far from the ball, your job might be to protect dangerous areas.
Position yourself between two opponents to delay the next pass.
Make sure you can recover quickly if the ball is switched.
Think: Can I intercept? Can I press quickly if needed? Can I slow down the play?
5.
Force Them Wide
If you’re not close enough to win the ball, shape your body and positioning to push the attacker away from the goal or into less threatening areas.
Make them go the long way around—so your teammates can recover and regroup.
Key Coaching Points
When coaching players to mark correctly, the following cues offer some definitive ideas to help the individual master this defensive skill.
Stay Touch Tight: Within arm’s length of the opponent, without fouling.
React Quickly: Don’t ball-watch. Scan, locate your mark, and engage immediately.
Read Cues: Watch the opponent’s body shape and the ball carrier’s intentions.
Anticipate the Next Pass: Think like a playmaker—so you can shut them down.
Use Your Body Smartly: Arms, hips, and angles help block or unbalance attackers.
Understand the Threat: Not all opponents are equal. Mark the most dangerous.
Communicate: Talk, pass on players, and cover for teammates.
Know Your Strengths: Some players intercept, some tackle, some delay. Coach them accordingly.
5 Tactical Considerations when Coaching Marking
These typical scenarios can be confusing to the player. Don’t get caught out.
Man-Marking vs. Zonal Marking – Help the player decide when to stick with a player and when to protect an area.
Marking in Transition – Players must scan and locate opponents quickly as possession is lost.
Defending Outnumbered – Take a position that can influence two players. Angle your body to “split the difference.”
High Block vs. Low Block – The distance you allow can vary depending on where you are on the pitch.
Support & Cover Principles – A 1v1 becomes 1v2 when teammates shift intelligently.
Common Faults and Fixes in Player Marking
Look out for these common faults when you are coaching players how to mark correctly.
Ball watching: The defender’s eyes follow the ball, and the player is not aware of the space, their opponent. Reinforce scanning habits—use command cues like “check your shoulder.”
Not touch tight: Occurs when the defender affords the opponent too much space and time to make decisions. In these instances, the coach can emphasise closing distance quickly and adjusting pace.
Diving in / reckless tackling: Makes the defender easy to beat and does the attacker’s job for them. Teach players to control their momentum (footwork) and read the attacker’s body.
Confused roles or poor comms: Usually occurs when the covering defender gets dragged out of position by following their mark everywhere and not taking their position off the player who is pressing the ball. Use visual aids, walkthroughs, and consistent terminology in training to help them understand.
Treating all players the same: Each player has unique qualities. The coach needs to be aware of what these are and not expect too much from them. Help players understand their strengths (e.g., blockers, anticipators, pressors, markers).
Thought-Provoking Questions
Use these questions to get your players to think about their defensive responsibilities when marking.
Are you close enough to influence the opponent?
Can they turn easily, or are you preventing that?
Is your job to mark a player or a space right now?
What would you do if the pass came now?
Where’s the danger? What does your body shape say to the attacker?
Final Thoughts:
Teaching marking isn’t about cloning defenders—it’s about helping every player find the version of marking that suits them best. Some win with anticipation. Some win with strength. Others use clever positioning. All of them can learn to be effective.
Use consistent language. Use realistic scenarios. And make sure your players understand why they’re doing what they’re doing.
Marking is a skill. It’s physical, mental, and tactical. And when done right, it gives your team a defensive edge that’s incredibly hard to break down.
Defending is about decisions—where to be, when to go, when to wait. It’s never only about strength. - Carlo Ancelotti
Effective Marking | Practices
1v1 | Reacting to Your Mark
⚽️ Created On: @SSPlanner
Aim:
React quickly to the 1v1 moment and identify the player to mark.
Set-Up:
On a 20 by 20 space sectioned up into quarters. Position 4 attacking players on the outside of the circle and two defenders on the inside.
👕 Teams: ⚫️s Defending, 🔴s Attacking
How to Play:
2 x defender (black) start in the middle of the circle. Attackers (Red) are numbered and on the outside of the circle.
Coach calls out 2 numbers, 1 to 4, then those attackers must dribble from the quarter they are in to the diagonally opposite quarter.
The defender must react to stop them, regain the ball and dribble out of the quarter of the circle where the attack started.
🚧 Constraints:
🏆Reward: If the defender wins the ball and passes out to their spare teammate on the outside or dribbles out of the circle, they knock a goal off the attacker’s score ⚽️.
👨🏫 Review: The defender’s ability to react to the attackers and close the space effectively.
🚫 Restriction: The attacker has a time limit to get off the pitch, or they lose the chance to score.
1v1 | Directional Duels | Staying Close to Your Marker
⚽️ Created On: @SSPlanner
Aim:
Stay close to the opponent and look for opportunities to steal the ball.
Set-Up:
On a 20 by 20 space sectioned up into quarters. Position 2 pairs of players centrally and 2 pairs of players on the outside of the playing space. The outside players must be diagonally opposite. The central players are free to roam.
👕 Teams: ⚫️s Defending, 🔴s Attacking
How to Play:
1v1 marking practice directional - Both sets of players work the ball from their target to the opposite target.
Players score each time they work the ball from 1 target to the other. The middle zone attacking player IN possession of the ball must receive the ball in the same quarter as the target who is passing to them.
The receiver of the ball must escape that quarter before being allowed to pass into the opposite target player. If the defender wins the ball, the roles of the players are flipped.
🚧 Constraints:
🏆Reward: a goal for each interception of the ball by the defenders.
👨🏫 Review: The defender’s ability to stay touch tight and deny space/time.
🚫 Restriction: a 3-touch limit within a quarter to escape it.
2v2| Directional Possession | Pressure Cover and Balance
⚽️ Created On: @SSPlanner
Aim:
Work on defensive cover, support and balance when you're the defender next to the pressing player.
Set-Up:
On a 20 by 20 space sectioned up into quarters. Position 2 pairs of players centrally and 2 pairs of players on the outside of the playing space. The outside players must be diagonally opposite. The central players are free to roam.
👕 Teams: ⚫️s Attacking & Defending, 🔴s Attacking & Defending.
How to Play:
Teams play 2 vs. 2 centrally. To score a goal, they must work the ball from their target to the opposite target.
Attackers in the centre of the pitch cannot be in the same zone (unless possession is turned over). Defenders are free to roam as they see fit, but once possession is regained, they follow the same rules as the attacking team.
The middle zone attacking player, IN possession of the ball, the attacker must receive the ball in the same quarter as the target who is passing to them. The receiver of the ball must escape that quarter using a dribble or pass before being allowed to pass to the opposite target player.
Flip the roles of the outside and inside players after a set period of time.
🚧 Constraints:
🏆Reward: The first pair of players to get 5 transfers of the ball (target to target) wins the round.
👨🏫 Review: The cover players’ positioning to support the press whilst blocking passes and space.
🚫 Restriction: Once the outside target has passed the ball into the practice, the receiver cannot pass back to that target until the opposite one has touched the ball.
Defending is not about one player stopping another—it’s about the whole team reacting. It’s about timing. - Jürgen Klopp
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