Before starting to read this article, you can check my other articles about Bayer Leverkusen’s attacking tactics and how we can stop Bayer Leverkusen’s attacking effectiveness. They can help you to understand this article better.
First of all I assumed I have a mid-level team and I thought about how any team can stop Bayer Leverkusen’s make game from behind.
I have 2 ideas for 2 different subjects. 1st subject is, if we want to press in the forward but we don’t want to take the ball, just try to not let the opponent make game easily from behind, we should press with 4-2-3-1 line up against Bayer Leverkusen’s 4-3-3 line up.
As I explained my article about Bayer Leverkusen’s attacking tactics, if Bayer Leverkusen try to make game from behind, they try to use the defensive midfielder but in Bundesliga, their opponents don’t let him take the ball easily and because of that, they have to use full backs to make game from behind. They have to use triangles which ones are made from full backs, stoppers and defensive midfielder.
If we focus on the opponent’s full backs too much, this time in centre we have to give the opponent more free space and this time Bayer Leverkusen can make game from centre comfortably. We must cover them but also we must not let the opponent make game from centre. Our wingers match with Bayer Leverkusen’s full backs. So the mission to cover full backs is their mission. But also they mustn’t take position too close to the opponent’s full backs. So our wingers must take position in half-spaces. If they take position in half-spaces, when the opponent’s full backs want to take the ball and make game, they can cover full backs quickly. If the opponent wants to use centre to make game, this time they can take position more close to centre quickly and don’t let the opponent make game easily from centre.
And of course our offensive midfielder must cover the opponent’s defensive midfielder aggressively. Because firstly they want to use their defensive midfielder to make game. And we mustn’t let him make game easily.
Triangles’ last pieces are stoppers. They can make triangles with full backs and defensive midfielder. But if we want to cover both stoppers, this time we lose control of the other spaces. And remember in this situation, we don’t want to take the ball and attack. We don’t want to let the opponent make game easily from defense. So 1 centre forward is enough to cover both stoppers. And if one of them can be free, it’s not a big problem for us. Because to make game with triangles, making by stoppers, full backs and defensive midfielder, stoppers must pass defensive midfielder or full backs. If we can cover defensive midfielder and full backs effectively, stoppers can’t pass to them and they can’t make game.
And also of course our defensive midfielder must cover Bayer Leverkusen’s centre midfielders closely. They are not dangerous for us now but if they try to help make game and close to defense, our defensive midfielders must cover them closely. Our defense line must be careful about Bayer Leverkusen’s centre forward and wingers. Especially Bayer Leverkusen’s wingers can use wide spaces effectively with their fast and dribbling abilities.
2nd subject is, if we want to take the ball with high pressing and then score goal quickly, we should use 4-2-2-2 line up. I explained 4-2-2-2 line up’s effectiveness in my article about why Bayern Munich’s high pressing is very effective. You can check before reading article’s this piece of article.
First of all, if we use 4-2-2-2 line up, it means we need great stoppers who also have great physical abilities. But we can’t find these stoppers in every club so actually it’s a risky plan. And also if we think that Bayer Leverkusen’s wingers are effective in wide spaces, it’s a really risky plan. But if our 2 centre forwards, 2 wingers and 2 centre midfielders can do their job greatly, Bayer Leverkusen can’t find time to pass to their wingers.
2 centre forwards press to the opponent’s stoppers and don’t let them make game easily. Their roles are simple and important because the opponent’s attacks begin from the stoppers. So we must cover them effectively.
2 wingers must take position in half-spaces to cover quickly centre and wings. I explained in this article half-space positioning before so I don’t want to explain again. But this time their covering centre role is more important.
We have 2 centre midfielders against the opponent’s 3 centre midfielders. So if we can’t cover all of them, the opponent can make game easily and start transition attacks. Because of that, we must get support from our wingers.
If we look at the side horizontally, we have still numerical disadvantage with 4 vs 5 in between defense and forward lines. The opponent has 3 centre midfielders and 2 full backs, we have 2 centre midfielders and 2 wingers. But this numerical disadvantage is not vertical. So with great positioning, we can cover all these players at the same time.
Our wingers take position in half-spaces and actually it gives us 1 or 2 more players in the high pressing. With examples, we can understand better. If the ball is in the right stopper, he wants to pass the ball right back or defensive midfielder. And of course if their right centre midfielder can close to him with a less distance, he can pass to the right centre midfielder too. I said “less distance” because if the distance between their right stopper and right centre midfielder is too long, right stopper can’t pass him because remember we use high pressing and the right stopper hasn’t a lot of time to pass with long balls to anybody. If he waits too much for passing, we can steal the ball from him. So first of all we must be careful about covering right back, right centre midfielder and defensive midfielder. So our left winger must close to the opponent’s right back. 1 centre midfielder must cover the defensive midfielder and the other one must cover the opponent’s right centre midfielder. Now the opponent has 2 free players: left centre midfielder and left back. And we have 1 winger who takes position in half-space. He must cover the opponent’s player who is more close to the ball. And in this situation, this player is the left centre midfielder. And he can cover quickly because he takes position in half-space. So we covered the left wing now. We can let the opponent’s left back free because he is too far away from the ball. He is not dangerous for us now.
If the ball is not in the wing, in the centre, wingers must play like a centre midfielder to cover centre. Because we must cover centre first of all. If the opponent can make game from centre, they can make a transition attack more easily. Of course wingers still must take position in half-spaces because if they close to the centre too much this time the opponent’s full backs can be completely free. They must just take position more close to the centre, not completely in centre. So if we can do it, they must pass to full backs because only they have enough space. And when it happens, we can use the positioning which is for covering wings.