20 Jan 2020 13:51:22
I'm seeing a lot of complaints about Zonal marking being to blame for our poor defending. The British public have never been a fan of zonal marking, just as they have taken a long time to embrace playing out from the back, technical quality over physicality, or anything that seems to have started off our shores. These things have always been viewed with suspicion and are turned on and blamed every time something goes wrong.

There is nothing wrong with zonal marking, the fact that nearly every top successful side mark zonally will tell you that it can be a very effective way to defend. Every side above us in the league marks zonally, Barcelona, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Dortmund, PSG, Juventus etc.

However, just like marking man for man if you do it badly it will fail, and you will concede goals. Marking zonally is a more front foot approach to defending, where as man marking is reactive.

Ultimately regardless of which method you use it is about organisation, teamwork, communication and winning your individual battles. Do all of those things correctly and you will defend well no matter which method you use.


1.) 20 Jan 2020
20 Jan 2020 13:57:41
Nice to see you found another way of defending ole and his staff.


2.) 20 Jan 2020
20 Jan 2020 14:06:23
You’re right there is nothing wrong with zonal marking.

There is something wrong with how the players are being coached to adopt zonal marking.

We are always at risk from set pieces, and never a threat at the other end. After a year of Ole, the only reason for this is a lack of coaching expertise.


3.) 20 Jan 2020
20 Jan 2020 14:09:15
Whats next out of you box of tricks? All defenders hate zonal its common knowledge when they talk about it they are like sitting ducks if the ball isn't near them.

depth ole of out. put them words in order we all know it except you and the menopausal gds2.


4.) 20 Jan 2020
20 Jan 2020 14:24:47
The one thing you forgot to mention there, is that it needs to be coached effectively to be effective.
If you have bad coaching it won't work if its coached well it will work.
So if we keep failing, and we do, i suppose its the players fault and not the coaches this season. Other seasons it was the coaches fault and the players were being coached badly.
Poor coaches and coaching will inevitably bring about poor results.


5.) 20 Jan 2020
20 Jan 2020 15:22:53
Red whiskey, there was no defence of Ole in my OP. If anything it could be seen as me suggesting that the coaching at United is at fault, which I am by the way.

The idea or method of zonal marking isn't a problem, many top teams all around the world win many titles every year with zonal marking.

My post was about the idea how people will instantly jump on something they don't understand to find blame when something doesn't work out.

Either the coaching isn't good enough and that is why we keep conceding or the players aren't good enough.

In truth it's probably a bit of both, I don't know many people who think we have a world class defence. But the reality is that after a whole year to work on defending as a unit, in whichever system the manager wants the players are still struggling to play it effectively.


6.) 20 Jan 2020
20 Jan 2020 15:26:41
your more likely to not concede if your man marking than zonal.


how anyone before a game decided that Williams would be zonally marking the best defender on the pitch is what the problem is.


keep it basic and man mark, stupid tactics.


7.) 20 Jan 2020
20 Jan 2020 16:10:00
Shappy zonal marking is reactive. Because you react when the ball comes into your area.
Man marking is pro active as you stick with your man regardless so you have it arse about face.

We line up with 4 on the 6 yard line they Atack whatever comes into their area the 3 on the penalty spot are there to block and stay with runners. Asking light weights like fred brandon or the likes to block runs is futile and awful management.


8.) 20 Jan 2020
20 Jan 2020 15:52:32
Not entirely true I think, Shappy. As in most things in life, it's not one or the other. A lot of top teams use a mix of man marking and zonal marking, which is probably the best system. Full on zonal marking seems a bit foolish to me, and full man to man isn't ideal either.


9.) 20 Jan 2020
20 Jan 2020 15:55:33
Bolger, in zonal marking does the defender, in your example Williams zonally marking VVD. Is it not the case the defender has a zone to defend full stop but the attacker can very much choose which zone and therefore which defender he attacks against? Thus basically VVD sets himself against who he fancies as the easiest choice?
I'm struggling to understand from your post if you're in favour of man marking or zonal marking to be honest.


10.) 20 Jan 2020
20 Jan 2020 16:29:45
I think Barcelona, Madrid, Juve etc may play in leagues that have more smaller and technical players. You tend to see a lot more short corners from them than you would here in England.

You tend to get a lot of players who are tall and built well in our league whether they play up front or in defence and I think a bit of common sense needs to apply if we do want to stick with zonal marking.

Yesterday was an absolute joke. If the coaching staff suggested to mark VVD in that way then surely the players should step forward and give their input? Can you imagine if we had Rio and Vidic in the box and Fergie turns round and tells Evra your job is to block VVD or mark the zone he starts in? 😂😂😂😂

If we as fans can see it and pundits can see it then why can’t the coaches or players? It’s actual common sense. You let Maguire man mark VVD. We lose Williams or Fred in any defensive capacity if VVD practically runs through them like a bulldozer.

Joint with Villa and Norwich with most goals conceded from set plays. They’re two teams who have a real possibility of being relegated. Whatever we think we’re doing or working on needs to change. I think we should man mark if there is a specific danger in the box like a VVD. If there is no real threat then stick to zonal marking.


11.) 20 Jan 2020
20 Jan 2020 18:15:29
With zonal marking the primary goal is to attack the ball when it is crossed in. Only VVD attacked the ball, Maguire and Lindelof failed to react and by the time they did, VVD was already 2ft above them heading the ball.


12.) 20 Jan 2020
20 Jan 2020 18:16:01
Basically good players it works fine. Limited players should stick to man marking.