Winning the Midfield Battle

March 25th, 2024 – SASPD 1-3 DFA

Dulwich is no unfamiliar foe to us; we’ve played them many times before. They’re a strong team, as they train all year round, whereas our season only lasts less than three months during the spring.

Today, we lined up with a 4-1-4-1 against their 4-3-3. From the get-go, it was clear that this Dulwich team is not what they used to be. They lost many of their best players, and their technical ability has downgraded. Nonetheless, we still were outplayed. In terms of player quality, both teams were pretty even. What gave Dulwich the final edge, however, was their ability to consistently progress the ball up the pitch.

This consistency came from their midfield’s reliability and their team’s overall ability to fluidly repeat the same series of passes to bypass our team’s press. They achieved this by creating numerical superiority near the ball. In football, there are three types of superiorities: quality, positional, and numerical. Since both team had players of around the same ability, it was difficult for either team to create superiority in quality. Positional superiority emerges from err placement of players during transitional phases of play, which is hard to control and is trained over time into the player’s instinct. Numerical superiority, on the other hand, can be created through careful manipulation of player movements and surrounding the ball with more players of your own than the opponent.

In build-up play, numerical superiority is especially important. Most teams achieve this subconsciously by utilizing their goalkeeper as the 11th player to add an extra passing option. This addition of a goalkeeper, along with the usual back-4, is often enough to outnumber the press consisting of three attackers, creating a 5v3 situation. Of course, the back-4 and the three attackers are usually flat, so realistically – when the ball is on the left or right side of the pitch – it becomes a 4v2 situation.

However, ball progression becomes more difficult in the middle-third of the pitch. When both teams yield three midfielders, creating a numerical superiority becomes a struggle. Even when the fullbacks overlap, if the wingers are responsible and track back, it still is a 5v5 situation.

The match against Dulwich had to be abandoned in the end due to a lightning storm, but the 1-3 defeat is still a warning sign to the tactical changes we need to create numerical advantages in the middle-third.