Tagged
Playing styles · Analysis
Total football let any outfield player take any role while the shape held. How Ajax and the Netherlands played it in the 1970s, its roots and its legacy.
Formations and roles · Analysis
An attacking midfielder (CAM, the 10) plays between the lines and creates chances. Trequartista, enganche, why the classic 10 declined and where it plays now.
Formations and roles · Analysis
A box-to-box midfielder, the 8, tackles near his own box and arrives in the other. What the role asks for, in a two or a three, famous examples, mezzala.
Formations and roles · Analysis
A full-back defends the flank and joins the attack: overlaps, underlaps, crosses and inverting into midfield. Types, famous examples, full-back vs wing-back.
Formations and roles · Analysis
A centre-back defends the middle of the pitch in front of goal: duels, headers, covering and, more and more, passing. Pairs, back threes, types and history.
Formations and roles · Analysis
A defensive midfielder (CDM, the 6) screens the back four, wins the ball back and keeps it moving. Its three types, famous examples and how to spot one.
Formations and roles · Analysis
Football has eleven positions in four groups. What each one does with and without the ball, what shirt numbers 1 to 11 mean, and why a 6 differs by country.
Formations and roles · Analysis
What really happens when three central midfielders meet two? Move through four tactical scenes, then test the idea against Liverpool, City, Atlético and Barcelona.
Formations and roles · Analysis
A libero or sweeper is a free defender behind the back line with no opponent to mark. From catenaccio to Beckenbauer and Sammer, and why the role disappeared.
Formations and roles · Analysis
A wing-back is the wide player in a back-three system: a winger in attack, a full-back in defence. What the role demands and how it differs from a full-back.
Formations and roles · Analysis
A regista is a deep-lying playmaker who directs his team's passing from in front of the defence. How Pirlo defined the role and how opponents try to stop it.
Formations and roles · Analysis
A mezzala is a central midfielder in a three who drifts wide and forward into the half-space. Where the Italian term comes from, what he does, who plays it.
