Zonal marking is an effective method of defending corners and other set pieces if there is a high level of organisation throughout the penalty area. Its usually assosiated with European football more so than the game in England, so obviously its no suprise that under both Houllier and now Benitez we have seen a return of this style of defending, but back in the day when we won league championships, we used zonal defending then too. We need to ensure that our best headers of the ball are in the key danger areas, with other players in positions to clear the second balls, such as on the edge of the penalty area in the 'D' where so many half cleared balls end up (thank you artaylor).
One issue people have with the zonal marking system is that because opposing players are obviously on the move and not just standing still, a lot of the time players will be left unmarked. Another problem that 'experts of the game' (such as Gavin Peacock MoTD2 or Paul Merson Soccer Saturday) point out is that defenders end up marking their specific areas, which wont score, but leave opposition players, who will.
Basically, if the method is taught effectively, the system works fine. Defending players need to know exactly what/where they are defending as well as knowing exactly what/where their team mates are defending as well. Personally, I'm happy with us using the zonal marking system, it worked well for Benitez in Spain and I'm prety confident that it will be effective here too.
Logged
