There was a time in football where being caught between going for the ball or holding your ground was something of a cardinal sin. If you were man-marking – man mark.
If you need to close the ball down, do so. Tracking, marking and tackling was the cornerstone of good defending.
But that has changed. Thanks primarily to the cover shadow. But what is the cover shadow? Here’s your tactical explainer.
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What is the cover shadow?
The cover shadow is a pressing mechanism that gives teams a guide on how to win the ball back when out of possession. Having the pressing player in the cover shadow, means they are not moving towards the ball or man-marking a potential receiver.
Instead the aim is to mark the space between the two opposition players. In essence this creates the shadow, hence the name, where the ball can’t be played across.
This allows the defending team to organise themselves strategically. If using cover shadows smartly, the team without the ball can end up forcing the side with the ball to funnel passes backwards, retaining possession but losing penetration.
The defending player will be restricting the opportunity for the open player to receive the ball and thus prevents the pass. It is a less aggressive way of defending, compared with pressing the ball carrier at maximum speed for instance. But using cover shadows often proves highly effective.
Who uses the cover shadow?
With man-to-man marking a less common practice at the top level of football, (although it does still happen occasionally) nearly every team will use the cover space. But still some use it more regularly than others.
One of the best examples from across Europe is Declan Rice. Since joining Arsenal Rice has shown the world what West Ham fans knew for a long time. He is far more than just a tough tackling defensive midfielder.
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In fact that is a slightly inaccurate description for Rice. The England and Gunners star doesn’t simply regain possession through tackles.
Instead he is a master of using the cover shadow to cut passing lanes and make interceptions. Rice is also pretty handy on the ball himself and has at times been deployed further up the pitch by his club manager Mikel Arteta since the turn of the year.
However, Rice and his fellow Arsenal midfielders were given a taste of their own medicine in a Champions League defeat at Porto in early 2024, with the former European champions using cover shadows to perfection when in their defensive shape.
Porto forwards Wenderson Galeno and Evanilson allowed Arsenal centre-backs to have the ball, but then tucked inside to mark the space between the defenders and Gunners’ playmaker Jorginho. They also made sure they always had players in front of Rice and Martin Odegaard to stop Arsenal building tempo through the middle of the pitch.
It led to a slow, jerky contest devoid of any fluency. Thankfully for Arsenal fans, the Gunners eventually put things right in the second leg after losing 1-0 in Portugal.
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What are the pros and cons of the cover shadow?
The main issue with trying to close space and prevent passes with this tactic, is that you don’t know where the opposition are behind you.
Even if utilising the cover shadow, the defending player still has to face the ball. This means a team with clever movement in the next third of the pitch will still be able to cause a team problems.
In addition, like with any defensive tactic, there is zero use in one player deploying it on their own. Your positioning is often only as good as your teammates’ positioning around you.
So constant communication is required. As defensive players, we almost need eyes in the back of our heads at times. As my grandfather (a centre-half) used to tell me growing up, “one eye on the ball, one eye on the man.”
For the majority of the time, sadly, this is literally impossible. But that is why you need helpful instructions from teammates who can see a player who has run in-behind you. The cover shadow is a smart way of cutting off passes. But it requires every player of the team without the ball to work in tandem.
More tactical explainers
We have several tactical explainers to help you understand more about football.
When it comes to midfields, we have pieces on what a box midfield is, how double-pivot midfields function and explainers on the No.10 and the No.6, as well as attacking and defensive transitions.
We also have explainers on what gegenpressing is, how inverted full-backs work and what ‘between the lines’ means, along with explainers on overlaps and overloads.
