The saddest four words in football that a player can say is “Am I allowed to?” That question comes from the fear of the reprimanding voice of generations of coaches. Their voice echoes in the heads of the players, afraid to make their own decisions. tacticsjournal.com/2025/10/19/a...

The only time during a match in which multiple players can be overtly physical with their arms and hands is during a corner kick. We focus on how rehearsed set-pieces are, but that added physicality from multiple players simultaneously makes overpowered. tacticsjournal.com/2025/10/12/c...

Imagine you are a singer, comedian, speaker, any form of entertainer. Their worst nightmare is the audience leaving mid-performance. Now think of the impact a crowd leaving in the middle of a match can have on a football team. That aspect is overlooked. tacticsjournal.com/2025/09/30/i...

I can’t unsee how effective a midfielder dropping and maintaining six or more yards of separation is to help break up a compact defense. I wish more teams rotated midfielders back like this to unlock space for easier central progression. tacticsjournal.com/2025/09/28/y...

Numbers like 4-4-2, 4-3-3, 3-4-3, and 5-2-3 describe the formation to help us quickly visualize how players are arranged on the pitch, but that is our interpretation of the tactic. What is being communicated by the coach to the players is what matters. tacticsjournal.com/2025/09/26/t...

The best ideas are ones that are not forced. They will flow out of you. You won’t even be able to give yourself a second to overthink it. tacticsjournal.com/2025/09/24/d...

It is easy to oversimplify Ruben Amorim’s attacking tactics. On the surface, Manchester United look predictable because they just get the ball and attack, direct play. That impression has fed the perception that United lack a sophisticated plan. tacticsjournal.com/2025/09/23/r...

I had to watch back Barcelona’s match against Newcastle to study what Anthony Gordon mentioned when he said, “The way in which they keep the ball was a learning experience.” We don’t play against that kind of style in England. At least not at that level.” tacticsjournal.com/2025/09/20/l...

Chelsea always defend free-kick crosses with a predictable offside trap. Bayern Munich exposed it by baiting the trap, keeping all their attackers offside, and then they crossed to an onside man free at the back post. tacticsjournal.com/2025/09/18/t...

PSG manager Luis Enrique has started watching the first half of matches from the stands, borrowing that idea from rugby coaches. In his words you either “adapt, improvise, and stop being predictable for the opponent, or you’re dead.” tacticsjournal.com/2025/09/16/l...

Aston Villa stands alone as the only club in England’s top seven divisions yet to score this season. The underlying issue is one we underestimate because it is hard to quantify—the mood within the squad. tacticsjournal.com/2025/09/14/w...

Arsenal always found solutions in the buildup as Liverpool struggled to press in the first half. In the second, they switched to a man-to-man midfield — Szoboszlai marked Calafiori and Konaté marked Martinelli — giving them the control they needed. tacticsjournal.com/2025/09/04/l...

Manchester United’s newest goalkeeper Senne Lammens is 6’4 and makes great reaction saves, but he has a skinnier build and a shorter reach due to the fact that gets his hands in the game but not his legs. That makes him look less imposing in net. tacticsjournal.com/2025/09/03/s...

The mood of the team is a thing that you cannot quantify from the outside, and the transfer market is a massive distraction. Don’t be surprised when teams who are underperforming to start the season start to turn it on when this summer window closes. tacticsjournal.com/2025/09/01/c...

You can like an aspect of a manager’s game or a set of players, even when the result goes against them. You can look forward to watching a team even if you know they’ll likely lose. That is the beauty of being a neutral. tacticsjournal.com/2025/08/28/b...

If you want to experience football fully, you need to watch teams at all levels, not only the high-level teams. You have to see the creative ways teams compromise. tacticsjournal.com/2025/08/27/b...

It is a blessing in disguise for Liverpool that Dominic Szoboszlai got to play right-back because he’s the closest thing to Trent Alexander-Arnold that they have. He is their most important player. tacticsjournal.com/2025/08/26/s...

If your team is only functional when you have the best ball-playing goalkeeper in the world, that is a problem worth solving because that type of goalkeeper is ultra rare. Embrace the long ball or be left behind by the teams that don’t concede goals. tacticsjournal.com/2025/08/25/s...

The fact that Thomas Frank did not use a back five and sit back and let Manchester City attack in their own half spoke to the confidence he has in the quality of Tottenham’s side. The thing that surprised me was that both center backs were active. tacticsjournal.com/2025/08/24/f...

When you are playing in a back five and you give up a goal on the far post, who is at fault for the goal? The answer is the entire team, and this is a perfect example from West Ham against Chelsea. tacticsjournal.com/2025/08/23/w...

I feel sorry for those who in ten to twenty years will want to go back to watch Xabi Alonso’s first match in charge of Real Madrid, only to be met with a lifeless performance of a team drained of its personality. tacticsjournal.com/2025/08/20/x...

Watching players like Tijjani Reijnders, Erling Haaland, Rayan Cherki, Hugo Ekitike, Mohammed Kudus, Antoine Semenyo, or Lamine Yamal reminds you how insignificant a manager is. The coach lays the foundation, but the players are the reason we show up. tacticsjournal.com/2025/08/17/i...

Tottenham’s use of a back four or back five should be situational based on the opposition they face. The most interesting difference between the two options was the way in which the defenders jumped out to help in the man-to-man press. tacticsjournal.com/2025/08/14/t...

In theory, Arsenal’s attacking output should improve because they signed Martin Zubimendi. If a positional team does not have a holding midfielder that can find and play the least obvious, they might as well not have a striker. tacticsjournal.com/2025/08/12/a...

I saw a video of Pep Guardiola and Jeremy Doku today from Manchester City training that frustrated me. It is the worst thing Guardiola has brought into football. tacticsjournal.com/2025/08/10/p...

Tottenham manager Thomas Frank is anti-chaos but not risk-averse. They take necessary risks but only in the right conditions. The football is super simple. It is similar to Nuno Espirito Santo’s defend-to-counter blueprint at Nottingham Forest. tacticsjournal.com/2025/08/08/w...

Liverpool are going to miss Trent Alexander-Arnold more than they imagine because Mohamed Salah thrives from direct passes into space or into his feet. He might become lost in the game without them in the short-term. tacticsjournal.com/2025/08/04/l...

I have never understood the emphasis on a nutmeg, as it is immediately seen as a negative for the defender. You have to put that “mistake” into context if they are showing the dribbling attacker to one side. tacticsjournal.com/2025/07/10/d...

The football world mourns the loss of Diogo Jota, 28, and André Silva, 25. It puts one major issue with football into perspective: the lack of time players are given away from football. I am deeply saddened for their family and friends. tacticsjournal.com/2025/07/05/l...

Quicker passing is the focus for next season, and that will force teams to overload the center more because you need numbers in close proximity to make those quick passes work. tacticsjournal.com/2025/07/04/q...

Sergio Busquets led with his chest and upper torso to create separation and mislead his intended direction. Despite the fact that he was slow, he was the king of misdirection with the ball at his feet. It didn’t matter because he avoided the obvious move. tacticsjournal.com/2025/06/29/b...

I get more ideas in the offseason when football is given time to breathe. When there is a break. There is no break anymore, and that is not healthy for anyone. tacticsjournal.com/2025/06/14/f...

The captain’s armband is a powerful symbol, but it should be a shared accessory. Filling a team with leaders who aren’t afraid to share that responsibility should be the goal because a competitive team has many captains. tacticsjournal.com/2025/06/13/t...

South American teams never settle for one way to attack, and the primary tool they use is the careful alignment of three players on the diagonal from out to in: the man with the ball, a middle option, and a third option. tacticsjournal.com/2025/06/12/t...

I miss connecting with those on X, formerly Twitter, but I don’t miss participating on the platform. tacticsjournal.com/2025/06/02/i...

I went out of my way to watch Ronaldinho because you expected him to always do something unexpected and pull it off. It was guaranteed he would not perform the most obvious action. Predictably unpredictable and spectacular. tacticsjournal.com/2025/05/29/r...

To say that, now, fast-attacking fullbacks are important is a lie. They never stopped being important, but they became too rare a commodity. No one could find them. They have started to turn up again. If you don’t have two, you must get them, or else. tacticsjournal.com/2025/05/25/f...

I am of the belief that many of the greats are average, but the thing that makes them a great is their mentality. Winners can do it better than you because they have the confidence to declare they will win. tacticsjournal.com/2025/05/22/w...

The way a player looks plays a major part in how you rate them. Their name, their haircut, their tattoos, their face are massive factors. If Ederson looked like Jason Steele, you would rate him differently. Don’t lie to yourself, you factor it in. tacticsjournal.com/2025/05/20/p...

This is the most satisfying one-two passing sequence. Line-breaking pass through the middle, one-touch pass to the close second center-forward, peel away from the pass, one-touch through ball back to the center-forward, and you are in on goal. tacticsjournal.com/2025/05/15/m...

When a set piece works consistently, it feels like cheating. It is a tempting proposition to become the world’s best team at set pieces because almost no team is built to defend against them, but nothing beats a lethal attack. tacticsjournal.com/2025/05/08/1...

There are people out there that enjoy watching their team not have the ball. They exist. How do you wake up in the morning and look forward to chasing the ball? I can’t understand the mindset of a person who enjoys chasing the ball. tacticsjournal.com/2025/04/30/e...

Entering on the strong side of a defense, overloading the strong side, makes more sense to me than attempting to play through the opposition’s weak side because you want the final action to take place on the weak side. tacticsjournal.com/2025/04/09/a...

The most powerful addition to an attack has to be a marauding center-back. A player who shows up in places that the opposition would not suspect. You will be able take the penalty box by force. tacticsjournal.com/2025/03/28/t...

One of the biggest compliments you could give a defender or holding midfielder is that you never notice them. If I notice them, that usually means they made a mistake because they play a critical position. They are the last line of defense. tacticsjournal.com/2025/03/05/i...

When two teams hate each other, it adds a whole new different dimension to a game. An average game or play can become exciting because of the rivalry. There are fewer true rivalries nowadays. You tune in because the two teams want to kill each other. tacticsjournal.com/2025/02/26/m...

When I’m playing chess, the fun comes from finding the solution. Doing the work to study and find what works. Part of that fun is removed when the computer tells me what combination works. Assigning a percentage to an action. The same applies to football. tacticsjournal.com/2025/02/20/o...

Attacking midfielders who have to wait for the right pass need to find new ways to get open. You know that if they receive the pass, they will perform, but the fact that they have to rely on the passer limits their effectiveness and wastes time. tacticsjournal.com/2025/02/19/d...

The thing that makes Pep Guardiola’s teams exciting now is not control, it’s the unpredictability. You should never know how they are going to lineup or what shapes they’ll transform into, but when there are injuries, they loose that surprise factor. tacticsjournal.com/2025/02/12/p...

Are the players tactically flexible or is the manager tactically flexible? It is the assumption that the manager is always in control that makes assigning blame or congratulations challenging. The manager is assumed to always be in control. tacticsjournal.com/2025/02/08/a...