How to Defend Against the 4-1-4-1
While most tactical setups that we see deployed in modern football are variations of the classic 3-5-2 or 4-4-2 shapes, each tend to be increasingly defined and dictate relatively specific roles to individual players. Take the 4-1-4-1 shape, for example, which has...
Tactics Explained – Passing Through the Lines
Ever since Sky Sports commissioned Opta to track Premier League team and player data ahead of the 1996/97 season, fans and pundits have been more tactically aware and more likely to use relatively technical terms. These include “passing through the lines”, which...
How to Successfully Defeat Counterattacking Teams
When coaching forums and discussions reference counterattacking, most of the focus is on how to execute this tactic rather than defend against it. However, counterattacking can be a devastating style of play, and one that’s particularly effective against offensive...
Will we see the Return of Traditional Wide Players?
The tactical side of football is always evolving, although it can be argued that such trends tend to be circular in nature. For example, it wasn’t too long ago that players like Lionel Messi and even Kevin De Bruyne (briefly) were being successfully deployed as...
Coaching vs Managing – The Key Distinctions
In days gone by, football managers like Sir Kenny Dalglish Sir Alex Ferguson were omnipotent at their respective football clubs, taking responsibility for everything from the organisation of the first team and handling player contracts to liaising with the canteen...
The Inverted Fullback – Strengths and Weaknesses
It seems that virtually every football side is playing with so-called “inverted fullbacks” in the modern game, with this representing one of the most significant tactical developments in recent times. This also continues the ongoing evolution of the fullback, who were...
The Art of Counterattacking – How to do it Right
Historically, counterattacking has been one of the great equalisers in football, enabling ordinary and largely unfancied sides to achieve unlikely successes. The Greece side that won the 2004 European Championship in Portugal built their success on a solid defensive...
Tactics Explained – The Switch of Play
If there’s one tactical trend that continues to dominate football, it’s the use of an increasingly compact defensive block. This applies to both high and low defensive blocks too, as teams look to squeeze the central areas of the pitch and optimise their chances of...
How to Break Down a Deep Defensive Block
There’s no doubt that modern football teams are adopting increasingly compact blocks when in and out of possession, regardless of whether this is deep in nature or high up the pitch. This was in evidence during the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, where sides like...
How to Defend Against Pep’s 3-2-4-1 Shape
Recency bias is something that often distorts football analysis, with records achieved prior to 1992 and the advent of the Premier League often disregarded by younger fans. Similarly, currently players and managers are often afforded reverential and disproportionate...
How to Overcome and Beat a High Press – 3 Tactics
While football teams have always pressed their opponents to some degree or another, the modern game has seen the sophistication of this tactic and the evolution of more organised, collective pressing. Nowadays, the overwhelming majority of top flight teams adopt some...
Pro vs Zonal Marking – Which is the Best?
While few sides deploy man marking in open play in the modern age, this remains a common and arguably preferable tactic when defending set pieces. In fact, the debate between man and zonal marking continues to rage at all levels of football, with each offering...
Learn How to Defend Against the 3-4-3
Earlier in this series, we discussed the best defensive strategies when playing against a team in a 3-5-2 shape. However, the 3-4-3 is arguably a more contemporary and popular iteration of the 3-5-2 formation, with this having been deployed by great managers like...
Pressing Triggers Explained – What You Need to Know
Pressing is now arguably the most studied and talked about tactical concept in the sport of football, having entered the mainstream since the arrival of Mauricio Pochettino and Jurgen Klopp in the Premier League some eight or nine years ago. Nowadays, the ability to...
Can You Succeed with a Low Block in Modern Football?
Football has evolved through numerous tactical phases over the years, from the simplistic, attack-laden formations of the early 20th century to the Italian-inspired and highly organised ‘Catenaccio’ system that was incredibly defensive and helped Inter Milan win...
How to Defend Against a 4-3-3
If the iconic 4-4-2 formation is synonymous with the previous generation of English football, it’s the 4-3-3 shape that defines modern-day football. This has been deployed with distinction by managers like Pep Guardiola, Jurgen Klopp and Erik Ten Hag, for example,...
How to Coach a Low Defensive Block
While it’s fair to say that the low defensive block is no longer in vogue, it has been effectively deployed by successful coaches throughout the 21st century. Two of the tactics main supporters are Jose Mourinho and Diego Simeone, with the latter’s defence-minded and...
The Age of Coaching – Is Management a Thing of the Past?
Nowadays, the combination of a technical director and head coach is commonplace in football, with this particular model proving highly successful for clubs like Manchester City, Bayern Munich and Real Madrid. This is a far cry from the 1990s, which saw a number of...
How to Defend Against a 4-4-2
People almost talk about the iconic 4-4-2 formation with a sense of nostalgia, with this having become less commonplace in an age where midfield dominance and the deployment of fluid attacking lines take precedence. However, this shape has enjoyed something of a...
How to Counter the High Press
Pretty much all of Europe’s leading sides now adopt some form of high pressing game, from EPL giants like Liverpool and Manchester City to Bayern Munich and Xavi’s Barcelona team. Of course, this philosophy was a direct response to the threat posed by low defensive...
How to Defend Against a 3-5-2
Tactical trends in football tend to be cyclical, with the notion of playing with three at the back once again in vogue at elite level. Certainly, managers like Thomas Tuchel (primarily with Chelsea) and PSG’s Christophe Galtier have deployed a 3-5-2 formation or...
Has England’s 2012 Coaching Shakeup Delivered Rewards?
Back in 2012, the FA voted through a number of major changes to how youth football was structured in England, in order to place a greater emphasis on the development of technical skills rather than winning in the short-term. Of the 778 votes cast in total, some 87%...
Coaching the High Press – The Key Considerations
In recent times, the so-called “high press” has become synonymous with the world’s leading coaches, including pioneers in this respect such as Ralf Rangnick, Mauricio Pochettino, Jurgen Klopp, Pep Guardiola and Thomas Tuchel. While this is highly rewarding and capable...
Is 4-4-2 Back in Fashion?
While many have talked about the demise of the classic 4-4-2 formation, this is a misconception that doesn’t accurately reveal the nature of football’s tactical evolution since the 1990s. More specifically, while we’ve seen well-resourced teams with creative attacking...
Key Coaching Trends in Youth Football
The Most Important Coaching Principles in Youth Football The ‘Special One’ Jose Mourinho has achieved many things in his time as an elite level coach, but outside of his on-field accomplishments, he also arguably ushered in the age of the ‘superstar’ coach. Prior to...
Is Football Better With or Without VAR?
While some trends in football may come and go, the use of the Video Assistant Referee (or VAR) at the sport’s elite level is likely to become increasingly prevalent in the coming months and years. Of course, VAR is also a highly controversial topic for discussion,...
What are Football’s Next Big Tactical Trends? EPL
Football has always been renowned as a working-class sport, which inspires passion and fervour in both fans and players across the globe. For connoisseurs of the sport, however, the sport’s tactical evolution through the ages has been arguably as fascinating as the...
Should England Play a Back 3 at the World Cup?
England will hardly approach the 2022 FIFA World Cup in good form, having endured a catastrophic UEFA Nations League A campaign that saw them go winless in six matches and ultimately suffer relegation to the tournament’s second tier. What’s more, fans have been...
What Are the Key Attributes for a Football Coach?
There are many things that can be coached and taught in the UK, although it should come as no surprise that football is the most popular of these activities. In fact, football accounts for 18% of all coached activities on these shores, with training required at...
Tactics Explained – A Look at the 3-4-3
While it’s the iconic 4-4-2 formation that remains the single most recognisable set-up for any football team, it can be argued that the 3-4-3 system has the longest and richest history. Unlike the 4-4-2, of course, the 3-4-3 has experienced various peaks and troughs...