Overview: Individual Tactics in Futsal

"I can't keep up with our team's tactical training." "I feel like my individual technique is lacking, but what exactly should I practice?"

Futsal is a team sport, but in the end every tactic comes down to individual decisions and technique. Building a solid foundation in individual tactics is the fastest way to make group tactics work.

This article organizes the full picture of individual attacking and defending tactics. You can study them systematically together with the dedicated articles on dribbling theory, contrapie, and 1st defender defence.

This article explains the overall picture and classification of individual tactics.

The overall picture of individual tactics

Individual tactics are mainly classified into the following four types based on whether they are on the ball or off the ball, and attacking or defending.

• Attack (on the ball)
• Defence (off the ball)
• Attack (off the ball)
• Defence (on the ball)

Specific examples that fall into each category include the following.

Classification of individual tactics

Let's look at them one by one.

Individual tactics in on-the-ball attack

These are the individual tactics of the player in possession of the ball.

When people talk about futsal-specific techniques or skills, in many cases they are referring to this category.

Individual tactics in on-the-ball defence

These are the individual tactics of the 1st defender facing the ball carrier.

Specific examples include the following.

• Defending against the dominant foot
• Bilateral defending
• Defending against the pivot
• Sliding tackles (shot blocking)
• Defending while numerically outnumbered (building the strong side of the defence)

Individual tactics in off-the-ball attack

These are the individual tactics of players on the attacking team who do not have the ball.

Specific examples include the following.

• Runs in behind
• Horizontal support
• Blocks and screens
• Quebra
• Line cut
• Pivot

Individual tactics in off-the-ball defence

These are the individual tactics of the defending team's players who do not have the ball, excluding the 1st defender who is directly facing the ball carrier.

Specific examples include the following.

• Containment
• Mark switches and jumps
• Feints
• Anticipation (prediction)

Summary

This article has explained the overall picture of individual tactics.

Of the four abilities above, I recommend taking another look at what you are currently lacking and what you want to improve.