Published; September 2014

Stevie Grieve/@StevieGrieve
StevieGrieve@hotmail.com

Tactical Analysis
What to look for
to become
a tactical analyst
 What do I look for when
analysing Attacking Tactics?
• Formation as a starting point
• Patterns of play
• Common movement patterns
• Lines of play
• Circulation/Penetration/Width/Rotations
• Positioning and ‘Uniqueness’
• Controlling transitions before they happen
• The attacking ‘process’
 Build Up Play – Starting Positions
• Shape in possession, normally a clear
indication of which formation is used
Roma 4-3-3 Arsenal 4-2-3-1,
Bayern 4-2-3-1, Chile 3-2-3-2
• Look for circulation patterns
• Look for something ‘Unique’ or new
 Starting Positions
Roma’s full backs stay slightly deep while the
midfield control the play. Florenzi and Gervinho
stay high on the sides while the full backs are
used as wall players who stay behind the ball in
most cases.
Pjanic controls the 4-3-3/4-2-3-1 midfield
rotations with Di Rossi and Strootman, who
rotates with Gervinho on the left side
 Starting Positions
Bayern’s Full Backs – Alaba and Rafinha are rarely
as wide as Guardiola used Abidal and Alves
Alaba and Rafinha are ‘pinched’ and play in ‘half
spaces’ between the centre and touch lines,
specifically to pass straight between wide
midfielders and lateral central midfielders and
have a wider outlet.
This position is also for quick defensive transitions
after the ball is lost – less distance (around 10m)
to recover to position than from a wider position
 Starting Positions
Chile’s wing backs are very advanced, trying to
push forward to force back the full backs,
freeing up some space for the lateral centre
back to advance with the ball in possession.
Both CF’s stay close and only split wide if the
AM can break through with a late run, keeping
the CB’s narrow with the WB’s 1v1 on the side.
The deepest midfielders control possession and
try to find the WB’s 1v1 and then support wide.
What can we tell from the formation?
• We can tell where the players will reshape to if
possession is won and the ball is passed back
to the defensive line or GK
• We can see where players movement patterns
come from
• We can see who rotates and where to
• We can see if players are in ‘orthodox
positions’ or not – Bayern; Full Backs ‘pinched’
Analysis; Patterns of Play

Patterns of Play
Barcelona 2010
 Villa & Pedro; Wide-Centre Runs

Iniesta and Messi positioned on

the inside, pull wide when Pedro
and Villa move inside to occupy 4
positions across the defensive line
between the lines and on the
defensive line
 Barcelona ‘Bowl’ front 6
Villa and Pedro out side to run diagonal inside
between full back and centre back offering
passes from all angles
Alves on right and Abidal or Alba high on left to
stretch the defensive line
Messi plays as a ‘false 9’ between the lines and
is unmarked
Iniesta drifts between midfield and attack
 Barcelona ‘Bowl Attack’
The idea was to place 3 or 4 players centrally
between the lines, to either leave the full back
free, high on the outside to stretch the defensive
line, or for the full back to be picked up and leave
one of the lateral attacking midfielders free on the
inside between the lines.
With 6 players high but no CF, they could overload
and penetrate quickly via Messi/Iniesta dribbling
& passing or Villa/Pedro running behind the
defence.
 Analysis; Movement Patterns

Common Movement
Patterns
Arsenal v Liverpool
2013/2014
 Arsenal v Liverpool
• Play in the zone directly infront of the lateral
centre backs in the back 3
• Draw pressure and exploit the space behind
• Rosicky moves inside when in possession to
play 4v3 in midfield then drift wide to press
• Giroud occupies far side CB
• Gibbs stays deep on left to play 3v2 on
counter v Sturridge and Suarez
 Adapting to opposition
tactical change
• Liverpool adapted the cover the space with a
deeper defensive midfielder to play 3-4-1-2
instead of 3-3-2-2
• Arsenal reacted with placing Ozil and Giroud
on the near side CB to bounce 1-2s and try to
overload the same zone
• Rosicky would play deeper to make late runs
or incase the 1-2s were unsuccessful
 Transition Management
• Borussia Dortmund are the best team in the world at
transition management – each attack is planned, movements
are rehearsed
• In the event of transition, players are positioned to counter-
press or get back into an organised 4-4-1-1 or 4-4-2 block
• Transition Management is shaping the team to be ready
before the event of a likely turnover of possession ie from a
direct ‘vertical’ attack
• When starting a counter attack, the players must still be
aware of the possibility of losing possession and must move in
a way that allows the attack to deal with becoming the
defensive team
• Normally, a 4-2 or 3-2 block allows for transition coverage
 Tactical Analysis; Lines of Play

Lines of Play
Roma 2013/2014
 Lines of Play
Positioning and
movements off the lines in
the build up phase
Most top teams use 4 or 5
clear lines of play for
positioning in possession
 Lines of Play
Positioning and
movements in the
Penetration Phase
 Roma
• Totti likes to drop off and play as a ‘false 9’ in
the penetration phase, as his pace isn’t as
effective as his vision or passing ability
• Roma like to play quickly through the lines
with regularly 2 runners ahead of the ball
• Always look to penetrate through the back 4
• Gervinho is regularly left 1v1 from a switch of
play due to his incredible burst of speed
Tactical Analysis; Circulation/Width/
Penetration/Rotations
Width in attack via
the wing backs
with CM Rotation
Chile 2014 v Spain
 Rotations

Example of players changing

position from the starting point to
move to new areas, allowing other
players to occupy a different
position, moving the opposition
players into new positions to
create spaces to attack into
 Barcelona Left side
Iniesta and Alba Rotation
• Iniesta starts wide and likes to drift between
the lines or dribble inside
• Alba recreates the width on the left
• Alba likes to overlap to attack on the blindside
• Iniesta likes to play 1-2s and look for diagonals
• Iniesta moving inside often overloads 5v3 in
the centre with Messi as a ‘false 9’
 Chelsea Rotations
Hazard, Oscar & Willian
• Hazard is free to move between the lines and
drag full backs with him to create wide space
• Central AM is allowed to make diagonal runs
wide to drag away marking DM or overload on
the side with the wide AM
• 3rd man passes when possible
• Luiz covers behind rotations to counter-press
 Adapting to Opposition
Tactical Instructions
• Agger is following Hazard, stopping him from
turning regularly
• Agger is now faced with Eto’o in his zone, so
needs to react fast and decide to stay with
Eto’o or follow Hazard
• Lampard plays outside of Lucas, stopping him
from covering Hazards receiving zone
• Willian makes centre-wide runs to drag Lucas
 Penetration /
Playing between the lines
Occupation of the space between
the opponents midfield and
defensive lines, allowing for
penetration to expose the back 4
through eliminating the midfield
 FC Porto
• Porto exploited the 3v2 advantage in central
midfield with the #10 between the lines
• If the direct pass wasn’t available, a wide
player would tuck in and offer an alternative
pass.
• Once between the lines, they always had
runners to offer passes behind the defence
 Tactical Analysis;
Positioning and ‘Uniqueness’

Bayern Munich;
Pep Guardiola
2013/2014
& 2014/2015
Playing in the Consolidation Phase
• Overloads in central midfield
(3v2/4v3/5v4)
• Targeted attacking
• Specific zone occupation
• Keep the ball until you can go
forward with the receiver able to
continue the attack
Overloading Central Midfield
 Bayern Munich

Half Space occupation to occupy

the full back, leaving the outside
space free, providing the
opportunity to draw the opponent
narrow to advance around the
outside and stretch the block
 Wide Zone Overloading

Ensuring that when the ball is

wide that the ball can be retained,
drawing over more defenders,
using a ‘rondo’ to exit the area
and attacking the spaces created
from drawing opponents over
 Playing in the
Penetration/Finishing Phase
• Positioning in/around the box
• Transition cover
• #10 Movements
• Patterns of play
• Targeted attacks
 #10 Movement

Movement to drag away the #6

 ‘Central Winger’ Run
• A run made by a central attacking midfielder
into a wide position, normally marked,
creating space in the centre
• If unmarked, it leaves a 2v1/3v2 on the side
• Used commonly by players who like to play in
wide areas but are marked closely by FBs
• Can be used just to drag away a DM to leave
space for the far side winger to move inside
• Often found via a 3rd man pass unmarked
 Dragging Away the DM
• When man-marked by the #6/DM, drifting
wide will open up space if marked, or leave
the #10 free if unmarked
• The run doesn’t have to be a sprint
• Different type of movement to the central
winger run who will be found on the touchline
• Used by players who are found between the
lines and are closely followed
 Creating Space
Movement to score
from a cross with 2 up
 Pizarro and Mandzukic
• Playing over a tight defence can be a way to
beat the defensive block
• Very difficult to find space as a 1, so often 2 or 3
players will need to move to create enough
space to lose a marker and be free
• Muller makes a run to the front to Koscielny
• Pizarro makes a similar run, drawing both CB’s
narrow, opening a space
• Muller rotates slowly back to where he started
before attacking the space created when the
cross can be made
 Attacking ‘Processes’
The idea of using the ideas of the opposition
against them to exploit the spaces left.
This can mean allowing the opponent to press
by holding onto the ball or passing to specific
areas to then attack a specific space which may
be left open
 Provocation
Passing the ball into an area which will trigger
the press from a specific player ie the full back,
resulting in space being left behind the
pressure allowing for a runner to attack the
space behind
Another way of doing this is to continually
place the ball into an area with runners around
a weak opponent and stress him into mistakes
 Using the opposition Game Plan
against them
When you know what the
opposition will do when the ball is
in various areas, you can use this
information to work around it,
exploiting the opponents game
plan to work to your advantage
 Valencia v Benfica
• Benfica’s CMs always press when slow in
possession
• After the press, the ‘10 would drift to the
blindside to offer from the FB
• They knew space was available between FB
and CM – wide AM’s drift inside to receive
• If both CM’s pressed, the ball was passed
down the line then inside to hit the space
 Specific Targeting
This may be where a team attacks in a way that
stresses an opponent that after several attacks,
mistakes will be made and the attack will find a
way through to have a chance to score.

Example – 6ft 4 winger v 5ft 9 full back

Target for high balls, flick ons and runners from
all angles to attack the flick on
 What do I look for when
analysing Defending Tactics?
• Formation as a starting position
• Block Height
• ‘Special’/specific player
marking/overloading
• Compactness
• Pressing triggers and traps
• Defensive flexibility
• The defending ‘process’
 Starting Defensive Formation
Teams defend in different shapes;
Narrow, wide and variable blocks
Some teams attack in a 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-
1 but defend 4-4-2 or 4-4-1-1 to
provide more organisation in midfield
to protect the back 4
 Atletico Madrid
• Very rigid 4-4-2 block, often 4-4-2-0
• Occasionally 4-1-4-1 if the far side DM arcs
round to cover between the lines while a CF
will drop or go wide as the WM tucks in
• Very, Very Compact on the side of the ball
when possible
• Minimal space between the lines available
• Each player covers a specific zone and player
 Roma
• Normally a 4-2-3-1 but sometimes a 4-1-4-1
depending on Strootman’s position
• If CB drifts to HWL with ball, he will close
down the space and block passing lane to the
player he leaves behind
• Block very narrow, leaving sides open to press
• Wide players block passing lanes from CB – FB
• Happy to deal with long balls to CF from CB
 Defending in deep areas

How do teams change shape or

prioritize defending specific
areas when the ball is in the
final 3rd?
 Roma; Defending the centre
in the final 3rd
• Wingers or Strootman in wide position cover
the outside of the LB
• Di Rossi often drops between CBs to make a 5
• Back 4 within the width of the penalty box
• 3 CM’s make a triangle infront of the CB’s
• Minimal space between players, 10m max
 Defending from wide positions
Will the defence stay as 4 or become a 5 or 6?
Does anyone drop into the defensive line?
Zone coverage
Man coverage
Who closes down if the FB is beaten?
Which zone is the GK responsible for?
Who deals with a cutback, and which player?
 Mourinho’s Porto 2004
• Defending in the final 3rd centrally
• They ensure there are 3 players across the 6
yard line
• 1 player covering zone 14
• An equality or overload on the side
• A transition player for when possession is won
 Dealing with a cutback
• Players retreat to defensive position but
communicate to show which player is
responsible for a player who can receive
• Is the attacker left or right footed?
• Which angles can be passed to
• Covering zone 14
• Defensive midfielders positioning
• Blocking passing angles
 Moving out as a group
The full defensive line must be aware that
when they push out, the attack may try to beat
the offside line with a blindside run and a quick
pass over the top of the defence.
All defenders must be aware of movement
around them, especially 3rd man on the
blindside, diagonal wide-centre runs and when
passing on markers who drift across the line.
Ajax’s wingers are very deep, making a back 6
 Playing Offside
What triggers could exist for playing offside?

Pressure on the ball

Only 1 pass available
Attacker unable to see the defensive line
 Centre Back Leaving The Unit

Should only be used with

tight cover around the
pressing CB
 Narrow Midfield and Wide Defence

Madrid v Barcelona used a wide

defence to deal with the common
switch to the winger, while the
midfield 4 became narrow to play 4v3
in central midfield, enticing the full
backs forward to the 2 strikers and
wingers could exploit the space on
the counter attack
 Midfield Defending;
Central Areas
• Play equal or +1 in the centre when possible
• Wide players track wingers/full backs
• Full backs tuck in to make narrow back 4
• Defensive line can look like a back 6
• Compact spaces between the lines
• Directing play one way or back when possible
via positioning and body shape
 Midfield Defending;
Wide Areas
• No more than +1 on the side
• Use touchline as extra defender
• Don’t allow penetration in 1v1
• Direct play away from centre diagonally
• Double up when a turnover is possible via an
agreed ‘pressing trigger’
 Man-Man in central midfield 3v3
• A lot of teams now play 3v3 in central
midfield and will mark man-man to stop
teams playing through the centre,
forcing play wide to where they can
press the opposition with the touchline
as an extra defender
• I feel that the next ‘evolution’ will see
more teams using a pentagonal midfield
to counter teams using a diamond
 Defending Throw Ins
A lot of teams compact the area
around the ball and attempt to man
mark, while some teams like Atletico
Madrid and Dortmund, offer a pass to
a specific player and ‘trap’ the player
to be pressed from all angles in an
attempt to win the ball back from the
throw in
 Block Height & Width
• High of 1st player pressure
• Compactness between lines
• Distance between deepest &
highest defender
• Distance between players
 Marking the #6
Zonal Marking
responsibility
Directing play away from
the ‘Axis’
Cutting the field in half
 Compactness

• Horizontal (from the side)

• Vertical (between lines)
• Triangulation
• Man-Marking Responsibilities
• Covering spaces behind pressure
 Horizontal Compactness
• Players play very close to each other when the
ball is in the wide area
• Intensity in pressing to regain in wide areas
• Directing play back to where it came from or
backwards
• Leaves team weak against a switch of play
 Vertical Compactness
• Minimal space between the 1st defender
and last defender (less than 32m)
• Ready to press any forward passes
• Ready to cover behind the pressing
players
• Normally combined with directing play
inside
Pressing Triggers/Pressing Traps
• Directing Play
• Offering space for passes/dribbles
• Co-ordinated movement to press
• Flooding zones to overload & regain
• Making play predictable via ‘directing
play’ and covering the space behind
 High Pressing Man-Man

• Equality in pressing
numbers
• Responsibility for 1 man
• Discourage short passes
• ‘Unique Pressing’
 Deliberate ‘Mis-Placed Pass

A pass made to an
opponent who can be
double pressed to eliminate
and re-attack the space
 Zonal Flooding
• Offering wide passes by starting
narrow then sprint wide in groups
• ‘Triggering’ the overloaded press
• Using the touchline as a defender
• Often regaining possession via
predictability via Man-Marking and
mass overloading (+2,+3)
• Players ready to cover the ‘exit’ spaces
ANY QUESTIONS?