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Zonal or man-to-man?
- Updated: October 10, 2016
Sky Sports’ tactical expert Danny Higginbotham explains the relative merits of zonal and man-to-man marking before offering a solution to the problem…
The familiar debate about the merits of zonal marking has flared up again following a spate of defensive errors from set-pieces.
A summer directive to referees put the spotlight on shirt-pulling from corners and Stoke were twice punished with penalties for fouls committed as the ball made its way into their area.
Those infringements forced Mark Hughes to consider switching to zonal marking but Liverpool are among a number of clubs already struggling at the back using that method.
Indeed, at the current rate, the 2016/17 campaign is set to see more goals conceded from set-pieces than any of the previous five seasons. So what’s the solution?
As former Stoke defender Danny Higginbotham explains, it’s not necessarily a case of one method or the other. Both have their benefits – but getting the balance right is the tricky part.
“Managers are worried about players holding shirts, getting blocked and opponents getting into areas that are really troublesome for defenders,” says Higginbotham.
“What we’ve seen is that teams are going with zonal marking and it’s causing a lot of problems.
“The …
