Now, if you're a center back, the time has come to lock into this video because I am going to go through the fundamentals to your position. We don't want you to be good. We don't want you to be great. We want you to be elite at the level you play at so you can go from this level to this level and onwards. And that requires really understanding the game, really understanding your position, what it requires from you day in day out. And this will all be discussed in this video. So, there's only one thing left to do, and that is let's get into it. and you get ready to lock in peace back into wait why am I saying peace but anyway let's get into the video so as a center back it's very important that you transmit a sense of calm a sense of peace to the rest of your team because you are the last outfield player in your team right so you have to really settle the game down when your team have the ball and then when your team don't have the ball and the ball is let's say in the opposition's half and your team are pressing you're the one dictating the press you're the one communicating you're the one stepping aggressively winning the ball back, feeding it forward. So, let's say your team are calmly circulating the ball around the back. You're the player to play the ball out to the fullback. But then your job's not done. You're going to drop off. You're going to receive the ball again. You're going to step forward. And then you might find your number six in this position to take the ball on the half turn and play forward. But you have to communicate. You have to say, "Turn." And then the center midfielder has the piece of mind to play forward. Even if the center midfield has scanned, it makes it much better if the player receiving the ball receives that bit of clarity, that bit of peace of mind to say, "Okay, now my teammate has told me I can turn. I've scanned and I know I can turn to play forward." All of this leads to the team being calm and composed in possession. Let's say the ball goes out to the fullback here and now there's an opportunity where your team's going to push up the pitch. You're the one saying, "Step, step, let's push up the pitch." which allows your team to really dominate possession. And then in this scenario, let's say your fullback can't go forward. Fullback will turn back, play let's say this center back, and then you're here to drop off. As you receive the ball, you step into the space. Often the opposition number nine will be splitting you and your opposite center back. So the opposition number nine will be somewhere in and around here. So you have this much space with the opposition winger being ready to press the fullback. The opposition number 10, 8, and six are marking your center midfielders. So, you're the one that has the space because notice you have a 2v1 scenario here. Can you step very aggressively? And then as this number 10 eventually steps to the ball, then you have the composure because you are thinking two, three steps ahead. You know that there will be moments where somebody will step to you because you'll keep progressing the ball. and then can you find a line breaking pass into your winger who would start out wide and then suddenly drift inside. What that would do is once again, let's just make this more realistic in terms of the blue team. Let's push them up the pitch just a little bit. Okay, so the winger starts on the line, moves in, which suddenly allows them to receive the ball in this square. 10, 11, 2, and 5. There's always that pocket of space where the winger can receive the ball on the back foot on the half turn to drive forward. But you must communicate that. You must say, "Okay, once you're in, when I play the pass, turn or set." That would mean the number 10 supports underneath. Set. And then the fullback could push up and then the 10 plays the fullback. And guess what? In that scenario, hopefully your winger would be making an under overlappinging run. Your 10 would be here. You make sure that your number four and your opposite fullback are here to create a back three. You do not want a situation where your fullback has gone high, your number four is here. So then if your team lose the ball, easy pass in behind and then you've conceded a goal. So as soon as you play the pass and the ball has gone forward, you're literally doing this. You're looking around you and you're saying, "Guys, tuck around. Tuck around. Push up. Step compact." That's how you're communicating to your team. So let's say you play the bars into the seven into the 10 goes out to the fullback. Your four has to tuck round and your fullback on the other side has to tuck round to create a back three. Your center defensive midfielder should be sitting somewhere in and around here. And as the opposition retreat in this scenario, if there's nothing on to go forward, then you're the option to circulate the ball to recycle the play. And notice where we started the video. We started around here and now we've pushed up the pitch. Now, in this scenario, can you find your number six here? Hopefully, your number six's positioning is good. And if it isn't, then you can send your number six many of my videos on the number six position. And especially focusing on the number nine and the 10 and the six receiving the ball behind that line. That is very important because the opposition number eight will be marking your number eight. The six would be somewhere around here. So, instead of going to the ball, you're the center back saying to this number six, move away, step away, go away. You could be saying that go away, go away because as the 10 steps, the six is here to receive the ball behind that line. Now the six can turn and switch to the far side where the number eight is there in the pocket. The number nine could be making a run in behind. The winger could be making a run in behind as well. But once again, it all comes down to communication, game understanding, organization, and that is down to you as a center back because you can see the whole play in front of you. So, can you dictate, can you organize, can you adjust accordingly? And also, we've got to talk about the diagonal switch off play. So, whenever you find yourself in these scenarios here in this half space, you really have to focus on, okay, if I've played one, two passes and we've not been able to progress the play. In the meantime, the opposition would have shuffled across. So, where's the space? The space is out on the far side. So, can I take a step out and literally play the pass in and around here? a nice diagonal switch off play in the path of my winger, not to my winger's feet because that would give the opposition time to shuffle across. What you want to do is play the pass into the space to allow your winger to run onto it, which allows your number nine, seven, fullback, number 10, number eight to hit the box aggressively and then your winger is crossing the ball into the box and hopefully that ends in a goal. And that all starts from you understanding that okay, if I'm not able to play one, two, three passes to go forward on the side that I am on, can I switch the play? Or we've just discussed it. Can I use the number six as a way to switch the play? Because the other six can turn, two touches, switch, but can you sometimes switch the play? But that goes down to you once again recognizing the situation, interpreting the game, reading the game. What is the game asking of you? What is the game saying to you? The game is always listening. Are sorry, the game is Wait, what? The game is always speaking to you. Are you listening? Are you taking in the information? Are you absorbing what it's telling you? And are you implementing it in the game in real time? So, you have to be thinking quick. You have to be thinking smart. It could be a pass out to your central center back. You drop off as you receive the ball. You step forward one touch. And then as the 10 presses you, you play that switch into this space here. and your number eight could be making an overlapping run which creates a 2v1. But that all starts once again from you recognizing that situation. And you could also play the pass in behind to your winger on the side that you're on. So it could be a situation where you play the pass out to your fullback as you receive the ball back. Your winger has dropped in to really draw the full back. There's space in behind and you're just floating. you're curling the ball into that space for your number 10 for your winger for your number nine to run onto and create chaos. So, you need to have the technical ability to be able to play a curly lofted pass into this space or a nice powerful diagonal switch of play into that space. Can you play shorts? Can you play a line breaking pass into the pockets? Can you find your number six diagonally as well? Or at times if you go all the way back to your goalkeeper, you're quickly dropping off. You must drop off very quickly to be the option to receive the ball again. And then when you receive the ball in these scenarios with the number nine having pressed the goalkeeper and the 10 somewhere around here, can you step aggressively into that space? Can you draw players towards you and then find these types of passes? Once again, are you brave? Are you confident? Are you courageous with the way you play, with the way you talk, with the way you organize, with the way you just communicate to the rest of your team? Because once again, you were the last outfield player. So everyone else needs to be calm when you have the ball. They need to be settled when you have the ball and you're looking for options and you're trying to progress the play. And now out of possession, your focus needs to be to dominate to command your area of the pitch right here. So when the opposite center back has the ball and you're in line with the ball, so the near side center back, are you ready to drop if they are going to go long? So you need to be really closely watching what the center back is doing because if the nine is pressing that center back and they have no options here. Most likely they're going to play the ball long. So once you see that the center back has put their head down and is about to play the ball long. You're dropping because you do not want to be done by that ball over the top for the striker for the winger to run onto. You need to be ready for the drop, the long ball, and then can you head the ball out wide or can you head the ball centrally where your center defensive midfielder, your number 10 are there to win the second ball and then play forward. So, you must drop accordingly and be ready to deal with that first contact. If you're dealing with a very aggressive number nine, that's down to you. It's a 1 v one battle. Are you physical enough to be able to understand that okay if the number nine is bigger than me and I cannot win the first ball in some moments as the nine let's say tries to flick it on or tries to control it I'm there to win the second step aggressively and then start another attack once again read the game understand the players around you understand the opponents around you now for example if the ball is out with the winger here and let's say the number 10 is making an under overlappinging run into this pocket of space the center mid midfielders have pushed up the pitch and your team are now defending in a low block. Can you really make sure that the distances between you and your center back because you do not want to be caught out wide for this pass to go in here? You do not want that. You do not This is the worst pass a center back partnership could receive. A direct route and the striker is in on goal. You do not want that. So, your aim is to really lock off the central space. Your number 10 ideally should be following their number 10 or your winger should be really working hard to track back. But whatever the situation is, you're communicating, you're commanding, and you're making sure that this is your zone here. So, if the winger wants to dribble down the line and then is about to cross the ball into the box, you're sprinting back as they hit the box with numbers, you're ready to deal with that first cross. And you're going to try and clear the ball into that space there. Try and clear the ball. try and deal with the danger on the side that the danger has come from, which is if it's on the right hand side as you're about to head it or clear it with your foot. Can you put the ball into this area? Because that's where the counterattacking opportunity is. Notice where the fullback is. The fullback would be close to the winger trying to support for a cut back, for an overlap, for an underlap. So in that scenario, you recognize that and say, "Okay, if I could win the contact, can I play the pass into the 10 who can flick it onto the winger or can I simply put the ball into this area here for my winger to run onto?" And guess what? That is a counterattacking opportunity. That is prime Atletico Madrid in a nutshell. It's down to you to recognize that, okay, if the winger crosses the ball back post and now there's a situation where there's a bit of chaos, I'm alive, I'm alert, I'm sharp, right? as the ball drops down, can I win the first contact and just clear it? In these scenarios, can you clear it down the line, which is where you're facing? Because once again, your winger could be ready for that counteracking opportunity. Of course, you do not want to control the ball. You do not really want to connect passes in this space because there's a very high risk of a turnover. When the ball's bouncing, when you're in your own penalty box, when there's numbers around the ball, there is space in behind. Can you utilize it? Can you recognize it and make it count? And let's say when you are attacking, something goes wrong. the attack breaks down and now the opposition are in a counter tracking opportunity where the winger dribbles past your fullback. And now this is the scenario. What do you do here? Your aim is to really make sure to delay the attack. You don't have to dive in because you run the risk of getting a red card. You run the risk of getting beaten and then the striker or the winger is in on goal. You want to really slow the winger down, which means really jockey, force them out wide, try and get a bit of contact physically, right? But not too much for it to be a foul, but you want to just affect the winger. Maybe use your arm to just try and push them down the line just a little bit, like a little tug, which isn't a foul. As you do that, your other players are making straight line, vertical sprints back into position. Your opposite center back, so if this is you, this is important to you as well. You are really tucking around. So you don't want to be aggressive. You don't want to step unless you can really see an opportunity to just slide tackled or win the ball. But if the winger is very good and they've dribbled past the fullback and now it's like a 1v one or a 3v2 situation, your aim is to really slow the game down. Delay, delay, delay, force them out wide. And then when your team are back into position, you now have the peace of mind to be more aggressive. Can you win the ball? Because you've jockeyed enough, you've slowed the winger down. And for wingers, it's more difficult to dribble when they have been slowed down. That's very important. So if you can slow down an attacking player, it's more difficult for them to dribble around you. So your aim once again is to really slow them down and then find an opportunity to win the ball here. And once again, can you play it down the line to start another attacking opportunity? Once again, if you notice, there could be a little 2v1 situation on the side of the board. very important that you understand that when you win the ball back in these scenarios, if you play it down the line, there is an opportunity for a 2v1 to start another attacking opportunity to create another attacking transition for your team. Now, I really hope that you understand the fundamentals to being an elite center back. The principles are there. Confident on the board, confident off the ball, being courageous, being brave, being a dictator, organizing the team, all of that goes down to you and your game understanding. Now, send this to a center back if you found this valuable, which I really hope you did. And if you didn't, watch this video again so hopefully you can find the value that I think I've provided. Peace.