Footy Eye
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Defending the box

Defending the box is keeping the ball out when it's in or near your penalty area: crosses, cutbacks, rebounds and set pieces.

In the box the priorities change. Defenders protect the most dangerous zones, the near post, the six-yard box and the cutback area, and mark the runners heading there, rather than chasing the ball.

Decisions are simpler but faster: clear it when in doubt, block the shot, and know which runner is yours before the cross comes in.

What to look for

  • The cutback zone, often left open when defenders drop
  • A runner attacking the near post
  • The back post, behind the defenders watching the ball
  • Whether to clear first time or control it

The common mistakeWatching the ball instead of the runner, who arrives behind you unmarked.

Worked plays

6 plays from Footy Eye's training pool, with the best read and why.

  1. Play 1

    The situation
    90+2, 1–0 up. Their free kick, twenty-two yards out. You’re the end man in the wall, covering the keeper’s open side.
    Best read
    Hold your ground, stay on your feet
    Why
    The wall exists to make one half of the goal impossible, and the instant it moves it stops doing that. Stand tall, stay on your feet, and let the keeper cover his half. Stepping out buys nothing — a shot cannot be offside, and you have opened the gap you were put there to close.
    The other options
    • Step out on the strike, play them offside You step out, and the strike whistles through where you stood.
    • Jump as high as you can You leave the ground, and the shot skids under your feet.
    • Break off to pick up the back-post runner The end of the wall opens, and he shoots through the gap.

  2. Play 2

    The situation
    Ball in your third on the far touchline. Their winger stands wide on your side, forty yards off. You’re the far full-back.
    Best read
    Tuck in and make a back three
    Why
    Goals in your box come from the back post and the cutback, not from a fifty-yard switch you can travel with. Narrow in beside your centre-backs and you’re where the ball is going; you can still get to him while it’s airborne. Marking their winger defends a pass nobody has played.
    The other options
    • Stay with their winger, cover the switch The cross drops at the empty back post behind your centre-backs.
    • Step up and play him offside You step into nothing, and the back post is left empty.
    • Sprint across and double up You arrive late, and their winger is free at the back post.

  3. Play 3

    The situation
    Their winger breaks down your flank; a striker waits in the box for the cutback. You’re recovering. Which run?
    Best read
    Run goal-side and take away the cutback lane
    Why
    You can’t win a footrace you started behind, and your teammate is already on the ball-carrier. Run the angle that kills the cutback — the roll to the penalty spot is the pass that scores. Recover goal-side of the most dangerous man, not toward the ball.
    The other options
    • Chase the ball-carrier’s heels to the byline You arrive behind your teammate, and the cutback finds their striker unmarked.
    • Get to the near post, block the shot He rolls it past you to the striker on the penalty spot.
    • Track the far-post runner You track the far-post runner, and the cutback finds the striker.

  4. Play 4

    The situation
    Their attack breaks down and the loose ball drops to you in your own box. Their nearest man is two strides away.
    Best read
    Clear it long and wide, toward the touchline
    Why
    For once, possession is second priority. With a man on your shoulder in your box the ball has to leave, and leave wide — a clearance up the middle comes back as a header on your penalty spot. The short pass is a tap-in when read; the roll back drags the striker onto your keeper.
    The other options
    • Play the short pass to your full-back Their man steps across the pass and is in on goal.
    • Take a touch and carry it out He nicks it off your touch and shoots from close range.
    • Roll it back to your keeper Their man chases it, and your keeper has to hurry his kick.

  5. Play 5

    The situation
    You’re the near centre-back. Counter down your flank: full-back engaged, overlap arriving outside him, their striker at the near post.
    Best read
    Hold on the striker, show the ball outside
    Why
    Two defenders on one winger is a goal waiting to be crossed: the danger is the man attacking the delivery. Stay on the striker, own the near post, and the worst case is a cross into bodies. Doubling up or stepping out frees the most dangerous man; the overlap is your full-back’s job.
    The other options
    • Slide across and double up on the ball He slips in the overlap, and the cross finds their unmarked striker.
    • Go with the overlap and cover outside The winger crosses early, and their striker is free at the near post.
    • Step out and press before he crosses He crosses before you arrive, and their striker meets it unmarked.

  6. Play 6

    The situation
    Clipped over your line into the channel. You arrive first, striker on your shoulder, keeper coming to meet it.
    Best read
    Shield and let it roll to your keeper
    Why
    Your keeper can pick it up, so let him: body between striker and ball and the danger ends, with possession, facing the right way. Turning out with a man on your shoulder in your own box is how penalties are conceded, and the blind pass back ends in your own net.
    The other options
    • Turn out and play away from pressure The striker nicks it as you turn, and you bring him down.
    • Put it behind for a corner It goes behind for a corner, and they load your box.
    • Play it back first time, blind Your blind pass beats the keeper coming out and rolls into your net.

Train it

Short untimed sessions with the reasoning after every answer.

Train Defending the box

Test it

Ten plays, twenty seconds each, one Football IQ from 60 to 140.

Take the Football IQ Test

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