Euro 2020 trends: in possession

In the opening minutes, Luke Shaw’s diagonal run towards the left wing took a defender with him. This created space for Raheem Sterling to drive inside. England’s number ten did exactly that before sliding a delicious through-ball to Harry Kane, who netted to get England off to a flying start.

The trio combined for England’s third goal, too. Sterling brought two Ukraine players to a standstill when he cut inside from the left and waited for Shaw to make an overlap outside the box. A lovely flick and a precise cross later, and Kane bagged again.

But what does this mean for you?

No matter what your coaching context is, to develop players capable of this, you need to provide the opportunity to practice 2v1 scenarios out wide. This will encourage your team to communicate and make the most of the overload. It will also develop their timing and movement skills as they try to combine effectively.

You could even reward teams for playing out wide during a game in training. For example, if a goal is scored after two or more players combine on the wing, award an additional goal. This offers an incentive to use this tactic.

PLAYING WITH A NARROW FRONT THREE
This is our second trend. Teams who play with a narrow front three aim to occupy the opposition’s defence, causing an overload that keeps them central. This then opens up space out wide, allowing you to play in behind the defence or provide crossing opportunities – perfect for sides operating with wing-backs.

With that in mind, Euro 2020 saw nations such as Belgium, France and Germany adopt this tactic. For the latter of these, Serge Gnabry, Kai Havertz and Thomas Muller often fulfilled this role. This enabled the likes of Joshua Kimmich and Robin Gosens – who both ended the tournament with two assists – to push out wide.

Germany’s third goal against Portugal is a great example of this. After receiving the ball on the right, Muller turns and interchanges passes with Kimmich. When Muller receives the ball back in a more central position, this is the trigger for Gnabry and Havertz to run beyond the defence and into the box. At this time, Portugal’s defence are very narrow, as they’re concentrating on Germany playing centrally. This leaves Gosens with a lot of space on the left wing. A pass out wide, followed by a low cross, presents Havertz with a tap-in to make it 3-1.

To carry out this trend, players need to:

• be able to play under pressure in tight central areas in the opposition’s half
• be able to change direction and speed quickly
• have good movement and positioning skills to find space
• have good scanning and awareness skills to switch play into wide areas and to provide security behind the ball to prevent a counter.

To help your team to do this, think about varying pitch sizes in your sessions. Using a narrow and short area will make the game more central, with little space to operate in. This can help players get used to working in small, tight areas. On the other hand, setting up a long and wide pitch encourages your team to use the width of the area. It allows forwards to play out wide and to run in behind the defence.

You can also set relevant challenges. For example, if one of your front three passes out wide and then scores with a first-time finish when a cross comes in, award two goals. This incentive encourages your forwards to scan for wide players. It also motivates your wide players to get into useful positions. From there, they must deliver a good ball back to the forward – who is responsible for perfecting their run and their finish.

SECURITY BEHIND THE BALL
The final trend we spotted was teams having security behind the ball while in possession. This means that when you’re attacking, you still have some defensive cover.

It’s vital that the whole team understands how important it is to get this balance right. It can help you keep possession, pick up any clearances to start another attack and prevent the opposition from breaking.

Of course, security on the ball can look different depending on the scenario. For example, if you're chasing an equaliser, you may cover less cautiously than if you were already a goal in front.

Spain's Sergio Busquets and France’s N’Golo Kante are good examples of players offering security behind the ball. Italy’s centre-back pairing of Leonardo Bonucci and Giorgio Chiellini did this too – by stepping into midfield to limit the space between them and the ball.

But perhaps the best examples were Denmark’s Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Spain’s Pedri. Both players won the ball back and progressed into the penalty area with it 16 times – more than anyone else in the tournament. Not only did they provide security behind the ball, they then started an attack. Overall, Denmark had 13 shots from Hojbjerg winning the ball back in this way, while Spain had 11 from Pedri.

With this trend, concentration is key. To effectively provide security behind the ball, players need to be actively scanning the pitch, reading the game and adjusting their positioning. They can’t afford to switch off.

Quick decisions need to be made too. If the ball is cleared or the opposition break, players need to decide if they can win the ball back or if they need to delay their opponents. If they get the ball, their priority is then about keeping possession and finding a way to start another attack.

So how can you help your team develop the skills needed to do this?

This trend is a numerical problem your players need to solve, as most likely, they’ll be underloaded while in possession. Naturally, this will happen in a game, but if you want to make it the focus of your session, you can use opposition management strategies.

For example, you can encourage one side to defend deeper in their own half while leaving a player or two around the halfway line. Reward them by awarding two goals if they can win the ball in their own half and counter to score within a set timeframe, for example, ten seconds.

This creates a problem for the attacking side. They have to decide how many players to leave back to protect against a potential counter-attack, while trying to break down a team in a low block. The more players they have back, the more difficult the underload is for them at the other end of the pitch.

To help with this, use activities that work on 1v1 defending. If players are comfortable with this skill, teams can commit more players to an attack and make it easier to deal with the underload.


Article image courtesy of Shaun Botterill/UEFA via Getty Images.