HOW TO BREAK DOWN THE "PARKED BUS"

 

Here are a few options

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- Park your own bus

Ok, so the opposition do not want to score and are only intent on leaving with a draw.

Why play into their hands then? Let's do the same.

 

Now, it becomes a question of who blinks first and abandons the approach in favor of something fresh.

If the opponent does that and gets drawn towards you, the game becomes a bit more open and the roles get reversed!

Objective achieved: "you’ve broken their bus!!".
 

- Distract you opponents!

Involve your goalkeeper in your “outfield defence”, bring him up to midfield because the opposition isn't pressing much, as they are sitting back!

Naturally, a couple of their players will get distracted and excited by this.

As they rush out pressing, do not lose possession.

String one or two quick accurate passes together and the defense splitting pass will probably be found.
 

- Pass more intelligently

Keep passing the ball among the back four, so more opposition teammates come forward to support in pressing. This leaves spaces behind and disturbs the compactness of the defense.

This way, the opposition is gradually drawn out of their box.
 

- If playing at home, make you pitch larger!!!

Yes, its "cheating"!!

One of the key attacking principles is to make the pitch wide in attack, so either make the actual pitch as wide as possible when attacking OR, as a more extreme measure get your groundsman to increase the pitch size if playing a “park the bus” type if team!!!
 

By way of example - It seems easier to defend by “parking the bus” at, say Stoke City, than at Barcelona. This is because the playing area at Stoke is small compared to the vastness of the latter’s pitch.

Basically the idea is to make a big enough area to negate the compactness of the away team’s shape.
 

- Brute force

This is the simplest, and by far, the most probable method to achieve success.

Though the attacking team may get frustrated, there is the hope that somebody in defence, at some instant, will have a lapse in concentration, or an error in judgement, having faced sustained pressure for most of the game.
 

Keep the waves of attack going and hope for ricochets, deflections, or the goalkeeper spilling it, eventually, something has to give in.

No defence is ever perfect, so keep attacking!

It worked for Watford and Wimbledon in the 80s and may not be trendy in coaching terms but still works in some instances!
 

These are just some ideas I could think of to beat what is a very difficult tactic to play against.

 

As the years have gone by, tactics have come and gone – be it ‘Total Football’, ‘Cattenacio’, or ‘tiki-taka’.

Looking unbeatable at first sight, none have truly stood the test of time.

“Parking the bus”, like certain formations, is a “fad” at the moment - a bit like the “high press”!

 

So ....................................... a bit more
 

In all honesty, you have to have players capable of running into situations that cause the opposition to leave their position, and then these players still need to be able to release the ball under pressure - so technically, hard working players are crucial!

 

You also need unselfish players who are prepared to run off the ball and create decoys!!
 

One way to achieve this tactic is by moving the ball quickly, and constantly making runs to lose markers/create space in the final third.
 

Also, “cleverly”, use counter-counter attacks, where the team “parking the bus” loses the ball while going on a counter-attack, leaving them open to a counter-attack themselves.
 

This method is not helped by the obsession that the media has for stats such as possession stats!

As stated in a previous blog, only one stat really counts - the goal count!!
 

Also, if your team is dominating possession they could sit, and start their attacks, deeper, thus drawing out the team “parking the bus”, and giving the team dominating possession space to run into
 

Score a goal!!!

Having the lead, and ball retention, means having the higher potential to control the game.

Controlling the game leads to chances and if you score those, you will almost always be fine, because now the opponent can't just sit back anymore and has to abandon their tactics all together.

 

Make the “bus parkers” vulnerable from wide positions as many defences using this tactic end up narrow most of the time!
 

“Park the bus” can be an effective strategy at every level of the game, but CAN be beaten by some brilliance, or wide play, amongst other methods.
 

Playing wide - this forces the opposition defenders to close, opening up space, if they don’t, then wide players can come inside at pace, cross the ball into danger areas, go around the back of the defense, or cross with pace.
 

Use brilliance (technical expertise) - if you have technically superb players, allow them to run at the defenders & force them to make bad tackles, and “invite” hope the foul - earning penalties and set pieces.

 

So in summary

Use the following:

* Quick switches of play/direction.

* Tire out defenders, as tiredness affects concentration (the crucial element in this tactic)

* Make deep runs from midfield.

* Constant movement from forward players to create space for others.

* Use decoys to upset defensive shape

* Drag defenders between lines.

* Overload down the wings, practice crossing accuracy and variety.

* Maintain possession in own third and move ball left to right and vice versa.

* Short goal-kicks.

* Use a “battering ram” and force the defence to take a higher line!

 

GOOD LUCK - GO WIN THE GAME