Counter Attack In 9-A-Side Football: Complete Guide

Today we have a very specific and tactical topic to discuss which is counterattack in 9-A-Side football. There are always different approaches to football, and every coach or player has their own beliefs about the tactics of the game. But there are some universal things, which are being practiced for a very long team. They’ve become rules of the game and counter-attacking football is certainly one of them.

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It’s a proper way of exploiting the weaknesses of your opponent to score. It requires a very expert tactical awareness, both from the players and form the coach himself. Because counter-attacking football is a risky job to pull-off. But those who take risks, eventually prevail. Without further delay, let’s get right to it.

WHY COUNTER-ATTACK IN 9-A-SIDE IS NEEDED?

That’s a great question and it’s something which should be talked about. When and why a team should opt for the counter-attacking and what are the pros and cons behind it. To win the game, every team needs to make offensive threats and there are many ways to do that. Counter-attacking is also one credible way of doing that.  There can be different scenarios in a game when you might need to go for counter-attack strategies. Here are a few cases:

DIVING IN PRACTICAL SITUATIONS:

• For example, if the opposition team is pressing high and controlling the ball circulation and dictating the tempo of the game, you can use all of these aspects to your favour. But how? Through counter-attacking. In fact, in the counter-attacking plan, you let your opponent control the possession and let them get closer to your goal so your fast and aware strikers can find spaces and gapes behind their high pressing defence.
• There can be another scenario. If you have a solid defence with good depth, and lack o attacking options, you can use counter-attack in 9-A-Side here too. You will let the opposition’s player accumulate in your half to find spaces and at the right time, with the right teamwork, you can initiate an excellent counter-attack with your attackers being placed at the higher region of the pitch.
• Now, everything comes with its disadvantages too, counter-attacking in 9-A-Side have also some of the cons. It places a very huge responsibility for the shoulders of your defenders, even if there’s a slight misunderstanding or mistake from your team, the chances of you conceding a goal are very high. And that’s something risky.

That being said, now you have a slight idea about the counter-attack in 9-A-Side football. Because it’s very closely related to the 11-A-Side, many aspects of the game are similar between these two versions. We’re going to discuss some of the formations which are good for the counter-attacking purposes.

We always say that your team should have a solid game plan, no matter what the approach is, your game plan is really important. And formations are the fundamental part of any game plan. Let’s discuss few formations which complement the counter-attack in 9-A-Side football.

FORMATIONS FOR COUNTER-ATTACK IN 9-A-SIDE:

We will not dig very deep into the formations, as they are the topic for someday else. Don’t worry, we will do a brief discussion of the pros and cons of 9-A-Side formations too. But right now, here are two formations which are good for a counter-attack in 9-A-Side and we will tell you why.

THE 4-3-1

As it’s visible from the name of the formation, there is perfect depth in the defence, which is needed to establish a counter-attacking approach in football. The four players at the defence will make it difficult for the opponents to score the goals. Remember, during the gameplay, the lone striker should be placed high on the pitch along with the central midfielder.

When the team initiates the counter-attack, the offensive and high positioning of strikers will increase the chances of scoring a goal tremendously. It’s not that difficult to understand, you just need to exploit the length and gaps on the pitch. Most importantly, you need the right coordination and fast player in your teams. Horses are what you need.

THE 2-3-2-1

Again, we can see a very solid defensive line in this formation too, as we said before, the compact and deep defence is what you need for the counter-attack in 9-A-Side. There’s a slight difference in this formation than the one we have discussed above. If you take a look, there are two forwards in this one.

You may want to keep one of the forwards a little deep to compensate for the lack of midfielders, more acting like a shadow or second striker, but he will swiftly change the roles when the team finds chances to counter-attack. Repeat with us; coordination and pace. You got this!

TACTICAL ANALYSIS OF COUNTER-ATTACK IN 9-A-SIDE

Things are going to get a little brief, so ladies and gentlemen, fasten your seatbelts. We will start with the defensive requirements of these tactics and then, we will go all the way to the attackers on your team and what responsibilities they have to fulfil.

DEFENSIVE POV

There are few simple things which you should keep in mind for your defence. First things first, your defence should be calm, because there will be massive pressure from your opposition in your half and only a calm mind can handle the intense environments.

Second, it’s very necessary to execute at the right time, remember, you’re the one who is letting the opposition control the possession and your defence should be smart enough to recognise the right timing of getting the ball defence and initiating the counter-attack. Third, although you’re deploying a lot of players in defensive lines, still your defence needs to be compact and there shouldn’t be many gaps in your lines.

COUNTER-ATTACK BUILD UP

Here you will need the depth of your team, the supporting players play a huge role in the counter-attack. Your half of the pitch will be over-crowded and there won’t be much space to pass the ball towards the attacker of your team, here the depth of your team will be essential, the supporting players will provide you passing options in the crowdy and intense circumstances so the counter-attack can proceed. That’s why organizational behaviour is necessary.

GETTING IT DONE

Now that your team has initiated the counter-attack. It’s time to be smart. Many factors will play a key role here. Number one is immediate action, as counter-attacking is a very fast game plan, so your players should act immediately and make quick decisions.

Once you get the ball to your attacker in the space, the off-ball movements of your teammates are going to be essential so the counter-attack can prevail. If you will follow these simple steps, you will find your team on the scoresheet. It’s like a recipe, you need to get all the ingredients right.

CONCLUSION

Before we conclude the blog today, we would like to know if you understood the concepts of counter-attack in 9-A-Side football, because we care for you. Let us know if there’s anything we have missed or any concept which you didn’t understand. We’re here to help. Football unites us!

We will have to say goodbye, don’t worry we have many blogs incoming. Stay tuned.