Salvaging something from midfield troubles

A senior football club manager asks a very topical question in light of the All-Ireland final between Kerry and Cork: "What are the options open to a manager when his midfield is being badly beaten?"

These are the responses of some prominent coaches:

1. The solution most often adopted by managers is to change one or both midfielders. This should not be done too quickly, however, as it gives out a negative message to your team, "we're in trouble here, lads", and will invigorate the opposition. If you take a player from another position, e.g centre-forward, it can have a knock-on detrimental effect, too.
2. Get your midfielders to get on the ball via secondary possession. If midfielders are not winning primary possession there is often a tendency for them to drift out of the game altogether. As they are normally key players, this is very damaging psychologically to the team overall. What they must do to show that they still remain mentally strong, and capable of having an influence on the game, is to get on the ball via secondary possession i.e. take ball off defenders, take frees around the middle of the field, take sidelines, move forward to take return passes from forwards.
3. Adopt a damage-limitation strategy on kick-out possession. Go short to defenders. Get your midfielders to concentrate fully on breaking the ball ? punching it forward forcefully on the opposition's kickout and flicking on your own kickouts.
4. Instruct your midfielders to do a man-marking job on their opposite number. Concentrate totally on keeping him out of the game. Follow him everywhere, make sure he doesn't get on the ball ? flick it away, hustle him when going for possession etc. You will find that by doing this, your men will regain their focus and will begin getting on the ball more themselves, solely by virtue of being in its vicinity.

The above should be fully discussed as options prior to a game so that they can be instigated quickly at a given signal.

It is vitally important that players in a position so crucial to your game plan as midfield should know that there is something positive that can be done in the most extreme of situations.

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