Reading the game

Reading team play is essential, because it shows you how a team functions as a whole and how each player fits into that whole. A video analyst has to observe the attacking and defensive dynamics of both teams at different block heights, but also individual qualities and the partnerships between players.

1. Defensive organization

Analyzing a team's defensive side lets you judge how effectively it wins the ball back and handles the opponent's attacks. Study the team's collective and individual behaviors against several criteria: block height, the opponent's shape, the starters, the game context, and so on.

Defensive positioning:

• Compactness of the defensive block: How are the players positioned on the field? Do they form a compact block, or is the block stretched? Does it change significantly with block height? …
• Cover and defensive line: How does the team coordinate the way it defends? Is there genuine cooperation in the defensive action? Are certain partnerships breaking down? …
• Defensive principles: What is the team's main strategy? Where on the field does it want to win the ball back? Does the team defend by stepping forward? Does it defend zonally or man-to-man? …

Defensive transitions:

• Pressing after losing the ball: Does the team press immediately and as a unit the moment it loses possession? Does it prefer to drop into its block? Is it effective in its rest defense? Are all the players engaged when the ball is lost? …
• Re-forming the block: If the team fails to win the ball back straight away, how long does it take to reorganise defensively?

2. Attacking organization

Analyzing a team's attacking side means understanding how it structures its attacks and how it exploits space to create chances. You will need to assess the way the team builds its attacks, who its influential players are, and which passing routes it favors.

Building play:

• Build-up phases: How does the team build its play? Does it play out from the back with short passes, or go long? What kind of long ball? Does the team distort its starting shape? If so, why? Which players are influential? Which areas does it target first? …
• Breaking the opponent down: How does the team try to unbalance the opposition? (For example: combination play in wide areas, individual dribbling, and so on.) Again, which players are influential in breaking the opponent down? How does it show up on the field? …
• Finishing phases: How does the team reach the opponent's penalty area? How many players attack the final third and the box? What individual and collective behaviors do you see? (For example: the team settles in the final third with short possession, waiting for a gap to attack the half-spaces; or the team crosses early as soon as it reaches that part of the field.) …