Glossary - Essential Football Concepts You Need to Know

2 years ago

If football in the past appreciated personal technique, entertainment factors as well as relying heavily on the shine of individuals to bring victory, modern football is the game of talented minds on the pitch with data analysis, statistics and specific playing philosophies to bring success.It is inevitable that the circle of society is getting bigger and bigger, the need to learn about the professional characteristics of the king sport is growing stronger. 

However, due to lifestyle conditions, not everyone can understand and grasp all the technical terms in football, as well as there are words that are difficult to explain. So, let ANZFootball live football on tv bring you an article that describes almost full of technical terms about playing space and advanced tactics!

3 areas on the ballpark

Football used to be mainly divided into three areas: Middle third, Defensive third and Attacking/Final third. The middle third can be understood as the middle of the line, the most convenient place to control the ball, build play and arrange ball deployment options. The final third and defensive third are basically the last third of the pitch.

 

When a team plays, the defensive third is calculated from their goal to immediately after the middle third, also known as the defensive area. The final third is the area of attack just above the middle third. Goals scored or dangerous chances in the match were made almost entirely in the final third area, except for long shots from the middle of the field. In a football match, the final third of one team will be the defensive third of the other team and vice versa.

18 small spaces in the yard

If in the past football divided the football field into 3 areas, modern football is more tactical. Therefore, the stadium is now divided into eighteen small spaces on the field. Each space represents a Zone, aiming to arrange positions on the field and specifically control the role of those positions.

Zone 14 is a very important place in a match because this is the space just before the 16m50 area. Any mistake of the defense in this area can cause dangerous consequences for the home team. Zone 14 in attack will correspond to Zone 5 in defense in the frame of reference.

Half-space

The only purpose of football is to score as many goals against the opponent as possible. The central area is the most likely place where you can score or pass the ball in all different directions: up, down, left, right and diagonal passes. However, this is also the most crowded place. And the defenders and the money on the opponent will not give you many chances. The two wing corridors may seem less cramped, but there are still downsides to the deployment option when you can only move the ball forward or backward or to the other side.

 

And so Half-space - the space between the wing and the middle corridor - was born. Half-space can be interpreted as a clear corridor. If a player has the ball in the inner corridor, he can make the pass in many different directions and also have more space in the middle. Thanks to its applicability and flexibility in ball deployment, half-space is regularly exploited by top strategists such as Pep Guardiola or Jurgen Klopp.

Width

Width can be understood as the formation distance. This distance can be calculated from the player standing next to the player standing next to the other side of the field width. Teams that focus on positional play and positional control often use lineup stretches to open up gaps and take advantage of those gaps.

Between the lines

Lines can be understood as lines in the formation: defensive line, midline, line of attack. Between the lines refers to the space between the lines - something that every team can take advantage of to disturb the opponent's squad as well as exploit the playing space.

Build-up

 

 

This is one of the most frequently used phrases in tactical analysis. Build-up can be understood as a series of actions to deploy the ball to the top according to the coach's posts. Similarly, build from the back means that a team deploys an attacking plan starting from a goalkeeper or a defender, who then passes the ball upwards to another midfielder, constantly in a state of ball control. The teams that often see this style of deployment are Pep Guardiola's Manchester City or before that his Barcelona.

Deep progressions, progressive passes and runs

This is a definition from the StatsBomb data analysis site. As this page explains, deep progression is passing, dribbling and dragging the ball to the opponent's final third area of play in 90 minutes. Progression can be understood as developing the ball in depth or advancing the ball.

An extended term for deep progression is progressive passes and runs. According to Opta data page, progressive passes and runs are calculated when a ball is passed or moved forward, helping to push the entire attacking block at least 10m above the opponent's court.

The difference is that Opta's ball transition definition does not refer to advancing the ball into the opponent's final third, while there is but does not say how many meters of ball transition the ball is counted as a deep progression.

Sequences

This is a term referring to the ball control sequence by which the execution of the infusion lines, starting from the first infusion lines in possession of the ball and ending with the last infusion line prior to the termination or loss of the ball. The ball control sequence can show a team playing a direct or controlled style of play.

Aggressive pressing

 

Pressing means that the players must move actively to close, forcing the opponent to pass the damaged ball or lose the ball as quickly as possible. This is a more powerful variant of high-pressing. Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool in previous seasons have played in this style. However, the fatal disadvantage is that the physical strength is quickly reduced and the frequency of injuries encountered is also increased.

Transition

Transition is the state of transition from defense to attack and vice versa. Football at the moment is very fond of the quick transition style of play - switching states quickly. Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool is the biggest influence. This allows a team to play face-to-face at more speed, instead of spending a lot of time in deploying the ball and looking to stretch the opponent's squad to reveal spaces.

Here are some of the key terms in football that every football fan should know. Also, if you come across any common terms or concepts, please share them with ANZFootball!