Why are we afraid of the other team shooting the ball? Why not get it over with quicker? “Expedite the shot to regain possession,” says the impatient center-forward waiting for his next chance to score.

This is another way of thinking about defending. Roll out the red carpet and allow the other team to enter your half, herd them to limit where they can shoot, then allow them to shoot. Get it over with.

The sooner they take the shot, the sooner you regain possession of the ball. If you are a possession-heavy team, you are not going to turn the ball over often, which will limit the amount of chances for the defending team. 

If you know how to lose the ball, you will limit the attacking team’s ability to get off a high-quality shot because you will have numbers back to block the shot.

And what are the chances that the team on the counter transitioning from defense will rush the shot? I think the chance is high that they will fall into the trap of shooting quickly because it will come as a shock to the defending team that the opponent would allow them to shoot on the counter. They won’t know what to do with themselves. It is awkward.

Maintain possession, know how to lose the ball, herd the opponent when they win the ball, allow them to take the shot, get numbers back to block the shot, regain possession, and attack again. 

Make the center-forward happy by regaining possession quickly. If you can’t reliably win back the ball by tackling, this is the next best thing.