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Football (Soccer) vocabulary · Formations & Tactics

Defensive transition

Meaning in football (soccer), with examples

nounCommon term

In football (soccer), defensive transition means: The phase in which a team changes from attacking to defending after losing the ball.

In Turkish: savunmaya geçiş

How it is used

Use during the defensive transition to discuss the first reactions to losing possession.

Example sentences

  1. Our defensive transition was slow, so their winger ran into open space.

    The vulnerability appears immediately after the team loses the ball.

  2. We practised the defensive transition by reacting to unexpected turnovers.

    The exercise trains the switch of responsibility after possession changes.

Common collocations

  • slow defensive transition
  • defensive-transition phase
  • improve defensive transition
  • possessionControl of the ball by a team; also the percentage of time each team has the ball during a match.
  • counter-attackA fast attack launched straight after winning the ball back, aiming to score before the opponents can reorganise their defence.

More terms: Formations & Tactics

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