How to beat 'park the bus'?

[Mark Pawelek]

When I read about how to beat park the bus a lot of the advice is too general. I think the best way to do it is to practice particular plays. For example:

1. True width and pace. Wingers take on full backs. Get to the bye-line. Supported by attacking full-backs.
2. Quick transition from defence through midfield to the attacking third. If the PtB team keep players back when they attack you - does counter-attack against them work?
3. Quality in set play delivery.
4. Diversions. Running off the ball.
5. Midfielders prepared to make forward runs into the box to meet crosses.
6. Attacking winger(s) who will go inside or out to score with either foot. Like Greenwood does.
7. Surprise. E.g. Tall centre back running from the back into the box as a cross is delivered. Seen Rio do that.
8. Change tempo. Slow, slow, followed by quick, quick so that moves 1, 5, 7 come as a surprise.

 

[VorZakone]

Having accurate crossers helps. See Robertson and Trent.

 

[Sky1981]

Width is overrated. You can't perform with a winger effectively against a park the bus team. When i say park the bus i dont mean a defensive team, but a proper 2 banks of 4 teams.

How to break them?
1. Lure them out and counter if you're not so good.
2. If you're good and much better than them maintain pressing, have several routines to force error, a more elaborate routine is hard to defence against.

For number 2 you need highlg technical team that can hold possession and keep pressure with off the ball movement. For number 1 you need pacy winger and attacket

 

[ROFLUTION]

Good constructive OP - Would be nice to know what we're missing. As this is where it goes wrong every year. We lose all the points against mid and lower teams, and we struggle to break teams down with solid and patient play like City/Liverpool.

I think its all about having more threat from wingers and fullbacks and shots outside the box. Martial is great, but can be a bit invisible when an opponent gives him no space. I feel Firmino and Aguero/Jesus are better off the ball in this regard.

Threats from shots and good delivery is also why it screams out loud to get Bruno Fernandes

Seems important to have wingers like Sterling/Mane/Salah who can shift and become a second striker in the box when putting pressure on

Very important not to lose the ball too. If you do, youll be vulnerable but also less prone to bring the whole pack, i.e two fullbacks high up the pitch at the same time

 

[Pexbo]

Width is overrated. You can't perform with a winger effectively against a park the bus team. When i say park the bus i dont mean a defensive team, but a proper 2 banks of 4 teams.

How to break them?
1. Lure them out and counter if you're not so good.
2. If you're good and much better than them maintain pressing, have several routines to force error, a more elaborate routine is hard to defence against.

For number 2 you need highlg technical team that can hold possession and keep pressure with off the ball movement. For number 1 you need pacy winger and attacket

Can’t perform with wingers against park the bus? It’s essential that you have good width against compact deep teams as it forces them to across the field stretch which creates space and angles in the centre of the pitch.

Or they can get beyond the fullback and get a cross in behind the back like which makes it much harder for defenders to maintain position and man mark players as it forces them to cover a much greater angle than if they can play facing forward with their back to goal all game.

 

[Dancfc]

Good suggestions so far, I'd like to add another.

Don't shoot from low percentage angles.

 

[Charles Miller]

Dribbling

 

[Sky1981]

Can’t perform with wingers against park the bus? It’s essential that you have good width against compact deep teams as it forces them to across the field stretch which creates space and angles in the centre of the pitch.

Or they can get beyond the fullback and get a cross in behind the back like which makes it much harder for defenders to maintain position and man mark players as it forces them to cover a much greater angle than if they can play facing forward with their back to goal all game.

You have no space to run to against park the bus team.

Your winger would have to be able to pass his marker relying on trickery instead of pace.

Even if you can get to the end line you'll need to cross against a packed up box.

 

[buckooo1978]

think we will need a combination of all the things listed in the OP at the weekend against a good Sheffield United side who will deny us the space which allowed us to thrive against Norwich and Brighton - think Liverpool were fortunate enough to win this with a mistake by Henderson

we need quality and creativity to win this and with a midfield of perhaps Matic, Fred and Pereira we will struggle - hopefully Fred can build on his form

could we encourage SU to attack us? thus opening up space for Rashford/Martial/James? we could maybe sit back in phases then hit them?

Is this a game for Mata though him and Matic in a midfield would be very very slow

we might rely on a moment of individual brilliance from an attacker

I hope William's will play as he's already shown the kind of attacking space that might make the difference

will be an interesting test - my prediction is 1-1

 

[André Dominguez]

Zonal overloading creating superior numbers + pass interchanging to create havoc on opponent's positioning. Space will show up.

 

[mu4c_20le]

From what ive seen, the biggest difference is one touch passing. We looked terrible earlier in the season and devoid of creativity in the final third because our players kept dawdling on the ball, or took too many touches controlling it, making it easy for the opposition to shut down the options. We played better when we started passing it around faster, it creates more openings no matter how tightly they park the bus. Having technical players is important, which is probably why Ole is moving away from the Fellaini type of player especially in midfield.

 

[Bestietom]

Good close control dribbling skills. Good dribbler inside box will always get something.

 

[Freak]

High defensive line. Keep attacking from the wings. Get to the byline and hit dangerous Low crosses in so that even if it doesn’t reach your targets there’s an opportunity for an own goal.

Also have someone like Paul Scholes or Carrick in your team who can switch play to opposite flanks quickly.

 

[romufc]

Width is overrated.

How so? most successful teams score from the width. Width doesn't mean have players stand on the wing, it means keep the ball moving side to side making the opposition move side to side.

Man City - Pep loves with width
Liverpool - how many assists from the full backs?

 

[Sky1981]

How so? most successful teams score from the width. Width doesn't mean have players stand on the wing, it means keep the ball moving side to side making the opposition move side to side.

Man City - Pep loves with width
Liverpool - how many assists from the full backs?

They do so because their midfield is ace, and the whole team working as intended. Movements across the field. Our wingers are always operating alone.


Width is just the byproduct of good midfield. Put their fullbacks / wingback in our team and we'll have a different outcome.

 

[Greck]

The term 'patterns' is becoming a bit of a cliché so I'll just say purposeful passing. All suggestions are viable but less effective when there's a one second lag when everyone receives the ball before knowing what to do with it or who's going to come short or make the run

 

[VeevaVee]

Quick passing and movement. They're going to be organised and have strength in numbers so you need to move them about.

If you win the ball back don't invite them to reorganise like we always do. Attack fast.

 

[B20]

What I think we do well against parked busses:

Keep the tempo up. It's very easy to be lulled into a slower pace when the opposition is just standing there, waiting for you to do something before they react.

Not being afraid of percentage play, if it helps to keep the tempo up and gets the ball attacking their box. Having TAA as our speculative crosser does help.

Getting numbers into the box when the ball comes in.

Stretch play to try and create situations where dribbling might make a difference.

Set pieces.

What we need to improve on:

Midfielders joining attacks closer to the penalty box. Milner is alright at it, Wijnaldum and Henderson not so much. If Keita and Chamberlain can step up, they will help a lot with this. Chamberlain is his own attacking threat and Keita has done well in games with his more direct passing through the lines to feed our forwards even in congested spaces.

 

[LilyWhiteSpur]

Take more long shots, force the players out to try and block the shots.

 

[OleTheGreat]

I think Pep has the perfect answer for this. He divides his players by drawing a line through the center of the field and asks them not to cross over unless he really trusts his players on the ball. He asks his players to keep their position on the pitch and trust their teammates to make the pass. In doing so, he exploits the opposition players losing their position by asking his players to create triangles all over the pitch and keep passing the ball excessively. The range of passing in between his players is beyond amazing. They break defenses up more often than not. He only loses a game when the opposition is strong on the ball because more often than not Pep's team has players in defense who are also good on the ball but often bad in the air. Quick passing and wonderful through balls is the way to do it.

 

[KennyBurner]

Width is overrated. You can't perform with a winger effectively against a park the bus team. When i say park the bus i dont mean a defensive team, but a proper 2 banks of 4 teams.

How to break them?
1. Lure them out and counter if you're not so good.
2. If you're good and much better than them maintain pressing, have several routines to force error, a more elaborate routine is hard to defence against.

For number 2 you need highlg technical team that can hold possession and keep pressure with off the ball movement. For number 1 you need pacy winger and attacket

Incorrect! Width is the best way to break the bus. Width is what great teams use to create space in the center.

 

[Bocca9978]

Decent crosses.
You know the first defender, stop hitting him.

 

[Nickelodeon]

Tactically, there are a number of ways to beat a 'park the bus' approach including taking the chance and throwing an extra body in the box and running from the wing with overlaps from the FBs/WBs.

However I feel that sometimes, particularly in the first half (20-45 mins period) or early in the second half (45-70 min period), our approach is a bit too languid where there is no urgency and CBs keep passing the ball to each other and eventually attacks getting fizzled out when we pass to our full backs (particularly Ashley Young). A faster pace needs to be maintained from our players. You can see Maguire sometimes tries to take that initiative but its not often enough since we need to be persistent till we get that goal(s) thats needed.

 

[blue blue]

All of the above but put in parking restrictions would be a safe bet.

 

[romufc]

They do so because their midfield is ace, and the whole team working as intended. Movements across the field. Our wingers are always operating alone.


Width is just the byproduct of good midfield. Put their fullbacks / wingback in our team and we'll have a different outcome.

Actually, if you look at both of them they both like width but use it differently.

City - Full backs are inverted, Sterling and Barnado are told to stay wide and they use their superior midfield to pass through teams.

Liverpool - Width via the full backs and have a workman like midfield.

Their midfield is not something you call ace in comparison to other teams.

 

[Tarrou]

The main ingredient we’re missing is good players

We’re 2/3 quality players short. You can give Lingard and Perreira all the tactics you like they still won’t be good enough to unlock PL defences on a regular basis

 

[Eckers99]

Quick passing and movement. There going to be organised and have strength in numbers so you need to move them about.

If you win the ball back don't invite them to reorganise like we always do. Attack fast.

All of the above. And you need a striker with decent movement to pull defenders out of position. Someone who can drop deep and bring the centre back with him to create pockets of space.

 

[JinnerJamie]

Take a million shots eventually one will go in, that’s what the dippers do.

 

[RedStarUnited]

Pogba

 

[Bocca9978]

Take a million shots eventually one will go in, that’s what the dippers do.

Or win a penalty. That’s what the dippers do.

 

[SER19]

Touch is one of the most underrated things in football. If you watch a montage of our goals in fergie years the amount that involve quality touches from most players is huge. Be it a one touch pass a lay off a piece of control then pass, players with that quality at high speed is very hard to stop. We don't have enough players anywhere on pitch with the gift, not that they're bad but they're off the pace of the best. Players like cantona, giggs, Scholes, keane, Beckham, Sheringham solskjaer Yorke van nistelrooy and so many more were just utter quality in this regard. Old goals are just a joy to watch and amaze yourself at the speed and accuracy simple things happened at

Having plans b c and d are crucial too. The classic Fulham crossing game was good proof of how a pro team can relax into defending the same threat

 

[He'sRaldo]

Staggered layers both vertically and horizontally, making sure no two players are occupying the same layers. Guaranteed to move defences out of shape.

 

[2mufc0]

Creativity and movement in centrally areas and wide players /full backs to stretch the opposition. We don't have either.

 

[VP89]

We need more direct play against "park the bus" oppositions. Too often we are pandering sideways because it looks so congested down the middle, but if we just play passes through the heart of the opposition defence enough times, a rebound or a bad touch will often lead to a strong chance. A lot of big teams like Liverpool can score this way and we will have a gripe about their "luck" in opening up the side, but it's not luck if you keep knocking on the door in that manner.

 

[Ish]

Width is overrated.

Against low blocks or teams getting men behind the ball, on the contrary, width is a very useful and important weapon. Amongst a couple of others you've mentioned, of course.

All of the great attacking sides (at club level anyway), play with a lot of width because they're often faced against teams defending.

 

[Gio]

Multiple threats across the 5 channels and the requisite technical quality to create in tight spaces, be it close control, 1v1 ability or 1-touch passing.

 

[Bwuk]

Moving the ball quickly.

 

[Grande]

They do so because their midfield is ace, and the whole team working as intended. Movements across the field. Our wingers are always operating alone.


Width is just the byproduct of good midfield. Put their fullbacks / wingback in our team and we'll have a different outcome.

No, it’s not just the outcome. City’s strategy is to get to have five or six players stretched across the maximum width of the pitch on the height of the oppo’s box. It’s not a byproduct of their possesion play, it’s a strategical goal. From there, they’ll have plenty of options to play towards the byline and cross/cut back, even five at the back struggles in containing the options.

Likewise, Liverpool have set up their team in order to get two fullbacks with crossing ability set up high and wide. The full backs were chosen or promoted with that goal in mind, the midfield likewise. It’s a central ploy to force the oppo into chosing wether to let in countless dangerous crosses, or to spread out and open up space on the inside for Mane, Firmino and Salah to combine in, or to play with an effective 5-3-2 and never getting out of defense.

Width is a central weapon for them in order to open up PTB-teams, and they have become good at using that weapon because they have recruited, trained, and set up team with that particular weapon in mind.

We were horrible at that under Mourinho. LVG used width, but failed to build up speed, directness and flexibility to exploit it. Solskjær is clearly targetting it with Wan Bissaka and Shaw getting into those positions, but it’s a work in progress as neither full back is consistent in how to use it, and their strengths is more in relational play with forwards than in crossing, but relations take time to develop.

 

[RedRonaldo]

Dive in the penalty box. They can't park the penalty kick.

 

[Ish]

Fellaini.