Interactive
THE TACTICS
BOARD.
Seven formations across five phases of play. Switch the phase and the players move, because a shape on a teamsheet and a shape on the pitch are two different things. Tap any player for their role types and the job they are actually being asked to do.
4-3-3
Tap a player
The shape as it lines up on the teamsheet, before the ball moves.
The default
4-3-3
4-3-3Three forwards holding the width with a midfield triangle behind them. The shape most sides default to because it gives natural passing angles in every direction and covers the pitch evenly.
Formation
Three forwards holding the width with a midfield triangle behind them. The shape most sides default to because it gives natural passing angles in every direction and covers the pitch evenly.
- Strength
- Width high up the pitch, and a spare midfielder to build through.
- Weakness
- The single pivot gets isolated when both eights push beyond the ball.
The key principle
Five lanes.
Modern attacking play is built on dividing the pitch into five vertical lanes and occupying all of them. It is why 3-2-5 and 2-3-5 turn up again and again at the top level, whatever the formation says on paper.
01
Left wing
The touchline. Holding it stretches the opposition back four horizontally and creates the gaps everyone else attacks.
02
Left half space
Between full back and centre back. The hardest area to defend because nobody's marking assignment naturally covers it.
03
Centre
Occupied to pin both centre backs so they cannot step out or drift wide to help.
04
Right half space
The mirror. Most cut-backs and late runs into the box start from one of the two half spaces.
05
Right wing
The other touchline. Width on both sides is what stops a defence squeezing narrow.
The phases
One team, five shapes.
A side does not hold one formation for ninety minutes. It moves between these five states, sometimes several times in a single passage of play.
Formation
The shape as it lines up on the teamsheet, before the ball moves.
Build-up
Playing out from the goalkeeper against the first line of pressure.
Attacking
Settled possession in the final third against a set defence.
Rest defence
The shape you keep behind the ball while you are attacking.
Defending
Out of possession, organised in a block.
Transition
The six seconds after the ball changes hands, both ways.
Principles
What every shape is trying to do.
Formations are the vocabulary. These are the sentences.
Create a spare man
Almost every build-up problem is solved by having one more player than the opposition is pressing with. A pivot dropping in, a full back inverting or a centre back carrying forward all do the same job: force someone to leave their position, which creates the free man somewhere else.
Occupy all five lanes
If you leave a lane empty, the defender responsible for it is free to help elsewhere. Filling all five forces the back line to stay stretched and stops them doubling up on your best player.
Attack with depth, not just width
Someone has to threaten the space behind while others hold the ball in front. Without a runner in behind, a defence simply steps up and squeezes the pitch until there is no room left to play in.
Keep a rest defence
The structure you leave behind the ball while attacking decides whether you concede on the counter. Three defenders and two midfielders is the standard, and it is why the back three steps to halfway rather than staying home.
Win it back in six seconds, or drop
The counter-press works because a team that has just won the ball is at its most disorganised. If the press does not work quickly, the shape has to reset rather than chase.
The shapes
Seven formations, honestly assessed.
4-3-3
The defaultThree forwards holding the width with a midfield triangle behind them. The shape most sides default to because it gives natural passing angles in every direction and covers the pitch evenly.
- Strength
- Width high up the pitch, and a spare midfielder to build through.
- Weakness
- The single pivot gets isolated when both eights push beyond the ball.
4-2-3-1
The control shapeTwo holding midfielders give the back four permanent cover while a ten roams between the lines. The safest way to dominate the ball without getting countered.
- Strength
- The double pivot makes counters against you very hard to execute.
- Weakness
- The striker can end up isolated if the ten does not join them.
3-5-2
The wing-back systemA back three with two wing-backs supplying all the width, and a strike partnership through the middle. Brutal in transition and physically demanding to play.
- Strength
- Overloads central midfield and gets two players on the last line.
- Weakness
- If a wing-back is caught high, the back three is exposed in the wide channel.
4-4-2
The old faithfulTwo banks of four with a front two. Written off for years, still the hardest shape to break down when both lines stay compact and disciplined.
- Strength
- Compact, simple to organise, and lethal on the counter.
- Weakness
- Gets outnumbered in central midfield against a three.
5-3-2
The low blockThe wing-backs drop in to make a back five. Concede the ball, protect the box, and hurt teams on the break. The away-day shape.
- Strength
- Almost no space between the lines for a ten to work in.
- Weakness
- Invites pressure. One mistake and you are camped in your own half.
3-4-3
The aggressive oneA back three, a flat midfield four with wing-backs, and a front three. Built to press high and attack with numbers, and it becomes a 3-2-5 the moment the wing-backs push on.
- Strength
- Presses in a front three and attacks with five without changing much.
- Weakness
- Only two central midfielders. A midfield three will outnumber them.
4-1-4-1
The blockA back four, a single holding midfielder, a flat four ahead and a lone striker. Mostly a defensive organisation: the shape a 4-3-3 takes when it does not have the ball.
- Strength
- Two banks with a screen between them. Almost no gaps to play through.
- Weakness
- The striker is isolated, and the single pivot is exposed if the four steps too high.
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