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How professional teams position themselves while in possession of the ball.
Hello and welcome to the latest edition of our newsletter! In this issue, we're focusing on the following topics:
⚽ Positional play
🔎 Tactical Analysis in Elite Football: In possession / Out of possession
🆕 3 new drills for you!
🎁 Test our Football Notion Template: We're looking for three volunteers!
⚽ Positional Play
The tactical setup of a team during a game describes the specific distribution of players while in possession of the ball. It's crucial that all positions on the field are occupied at all times. Every coach has individual ideas about which positions or, more precisely, which spaces on the field need to be occupied by the players.
Positional play is always dependent on the opponent.
Football tactics focus on optimizing the space on the field. Even in possession, the question of the best spatial distribution is a crucial consideration for players and coaches alike. The way a team utilizes space should aim to showcase the team's strengths as effectively as possible. In the previous newsletter, I highlighted that there's no universal formation that automatically gives a team an advantage. It's not just about occupying positions; it's about ensuring that the attacking team gains advantages over the defending team.
Principles of positional play:
Exploiting Depth: The attacking team should constantly aim for depth. A pass into the depth is particularly discomforting for the opponent, as an attacker played behind the defense can run undisturbed towards the goal, creating a significant chance to score. This opportunity to breach the opponent's defense must be consistently sought to open up such chances. Depth in one's own attack has additional effects. Imagine a team with just one attacker near the opponent's defense. The opponent's defense might push forward more as there's minimal threat from depth. This, in turn, could affect the opponent's midfield, and so on. Attackers must ensure that the depth of space is always a threat to push back the opponent's defense and create spaces in midfield and defense. Defenders have an advantage through the offside rule, but can still be threatened if attackers are well-positioned and cleverly exploit the space behind the defense. It's crucial that attackers consistently showcase depth in the attack and indicate runs behind the defense to either receive the ball behind the defense or push the opposing defense back, consequently creating spaces ahead of the defense. Depth is fundamental in one's own attack and is one of the key principles in positional play.
Occupying the center: Besides safeguarding the depth, defending the center holds significant importance for the opponent's defense. The central player possesses the capability to direct the game in any direction, posing a major challenge for the defense as they cannot precisely predict the subsequent action. To capitalize on this advantage, the attacking team must seize control of the center of the field. Players positioned centrally are crucial not only from this perspective. Many defending teams focus on pushing the attacking team towards the wings to isolate the player in possession of the ball. To counter this, it's crucial for players in the center to offer themselves as support for the players on the wings once the ball reaches those areas. Thus, an effective occupation of the center becomes crucial in stabilizing attacks and expanding the playing area.
Exploiting Width: At first glance, the next principle might seem paradoxical. Typically, defending teams aim to push opponents towards the wings. There, the opponent is far from the goal, and their options are limited by the sidelines. However, it would be unwise for the attacking team not to occupy the width. Let's imagine if Manchester City had no players in wide positions. The opponent wouldn't need to cover the width of the field. Their defense could position themselves compactly in the center, and the opponent likely wouldn't form a five-man defense line since there's no threat from the wings. Creating width has an additional effect: it aims to stretch the opponent. The goal is to lure opponents outward, thereby enlarging the spaces between defenders. But width has another effect. When the ball is played to an attacker positioned wide, the opponent must react. The team needs to adjust its defensive formation and shift towards the wing. Guardiola at City precisely employs this principle. He describes his style as, "The secret of every team game is to attract play to one side to open up the other side. And once we've done that, we have to try it on the other side." For this to work, the team needs to create width. Guardiola's team implements this in the build-up: two players are wide outlets, enabling them to switch play from one side to the other. Utilizing the width of the field is an effective way to force the opponent to shift – in the hope that they reveal a gap in doing so.
Occupying Spaces Between the Lines: Both creating width and establishing depth aim to pull the opponent apart. Ideally, the opponent should have to cover as much ground on the field as possible, rather than closing down space. It would be disadvantageous for the attacking team if the player on the ball not only had passing options but also had sufficient time and space available. However, generating width and depth would be futile if the team fails to capitalize on the advantages they offer. The resulting gaps that the opponent opens up must also be filled, especially the space between the opponent's lines. When a player receives the ball in this zone, they have the opportunity to turn and attack towards the opponent's goal. This specific space between the opponent's lines is occupied by City, for example. The gaps between the defending players should also be occupied. Only when attackers disengage from their markers can they be effectively brought into play through passes. If an attacker positions themselves at the interface between two defenders, they force the defenders into a decision: they must communicate to decide who covers the attacker. In attack, it's always about forcing decisions upon the opponent and increasing pressure. Hence, attackers should consistently aim to position themselves between two defenders to create precisely this situation.
🔎 Tactical Analysis in Elite Football: In Possession / Out of Possession
I'd like to introduce you to an insightful analysis on this subject, originating from OPTA Analyst:
What is Shape Analysis?
Tracking data from team sports is inherently unordered as players constantly move around the pitch. The Opta Vision Shape Analysis model uncovers the strategy behind this movement by considering how players are positioned relative to each other at any given moment in the game. By differentiating between when a team is playing in possession or out of possession, it allows us to distinguish between their attacking and defending shapes. In order to match these relationships to known shapes used in football, we used hierarchical clustering from over 2,000 games of tracking data to identify 17 distinct shapes when a team is in possession, and 13 distinct shapes when a team is out of possession. Using this data-first approach, we aren’t biased by the traditional formations labels and we can identify the shapes most commonly used by teams.
🆕 3 new drills for you!
We've got three new drills ready for you! Register for free as a website member to gain unrestricted access to all drills. We strive to upload new drills on a weekly basis.
Passing Drill: Chelsea
Passing Drill: Ajax (Rebounds)
Fun Games: Walking Football
🎁 Test our Football Notion Template: We're looking for three voluntary participants!
We're seeking three volunteers interested in thoroughly testing our Notion Template designed for football teams. As a token of appreciation, we'll provide the tool for free to the testers after completion. Interested? Send us an email with the subject "Notion" to team_soccercoaches@outlook.com for more information.
Please note: In case more than three testers volunteer, we'll select the first three applicants chronologically.
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