A defender chasing back after losing the ball rarely catches the attacker, and catching the attacker is usually not the objective. The run has a different purpose.
The target is a position, not the ball
A recovery run aims at the space between the attacker and the goal, taken at whatever angle gets there soonest. The defender is trying to arrive somewhere, not to arrive at someone.
Once a defender is goal side, the attacker's fastest route is closed and the attack must slow or go around. That is achieved without any contact.
This is why the correct running line is often not directly behind the ball carrier. Cutting inside toward the goal covers less ground and arrives earlier.
Time is the resource being bought
Every second a recovering defender adds is a second in which other defenders take up positions. One player's run makes the whole block possible.
An attack that is delayed by two seconds regularly meets four defenders instead of two. The chance quality collapses without the recovering player ever making a tackle.
Coaches therefore measure recovery running by whether the attack was slowed, not by whether the ball was won. Winning the ball is a bonus outcome.
Who runs and who holds
Not everyone should recover. A team that sends all its players backward has no rest structure and concedes the second wave of the attack even if the first is stopped.
The usual rule is that players goal side of the ball recover, while players ahead of the ball hold their positions to receive if possession is regained. Sorting this out mid-transition is the hard part.
Teams that do it well have clear positional rules rather than individual instincts. The decision is made by where a player was standing when possession was lost.
The angle decides whether a foul is needed
A defender who recovers on a poor line arrives level with the attacker and slightly behind, which is the position where a tactical foul becomes the only option. The bad line produced the card.
A defender who arrives goal side can defend legally, showing the attacker wide and delaying without contact. The same physical effort produces a completely different outcome.
This is why recovery running is coached as a technical skill with specific lines, rather than as an attitude question. Effort applied on the wrong angle is wasted.
Fatigue changes the calculation
Late in a match, a defender must judge whether a recovery run is achievable, because a failed sprint costs energy and leaves the player out of position anyway. Experienced defenders decline runs they cannot win.
Instead they retreat at a controlled pace toward the position they will need, arriving with enough left to defend the box. That is a different and equally valid response.
Distinguishing the two is a mark of defensive intelligence. Sprinting at everything looks committed and is frequently the worse choice.