Team tactics are integral for playing association football. In theory, association football is a simple sport, as illustrated by Kevin Keegan's assertion that his tactics for winning a match were to "score more goals than the opposition." Despite this, tactical prowess within the sport is one of the manager's key responsibilities and also why many are paid well, as well-organised teams can often win with less skillful players.
Association football teams consist of ten outfield players and one goalkeeper, which makes passing an integral part of the game. In terms of complexity, lower levels of the game such as youth, amateur, and semi-professional, primarily focus on fundamentals, whereas professionals often increase detail and complexity in their strategies.
General principles
Width and depth are major principles of both offence and defence:
Width in attack: The attacking side tries to divide the defence by diversifying points of attack across a broad front, rather than attempting to force advances through narrow channels. This may involve play from the wings, or rapid shifting into open lanes/open space when approaching the goal. Often gaps are made between defenders using the width of wingers. Gaps can then be used to feed the ball to strikers. Width in defence: The defending side responds, either through increasing width or strong side tilt, in an attempt to contract and deny width. Attackers are "shepherded" or channeled into narrower or more crowded avenues of space. Depth in attack: The attacking side uses the depth of the pitch by moving men either up from the rear, or down from the top, but may use a constant "target striker" or front man to always invoke a presence deep in the defence. Depth in defence: The defending side also uses depth by marking the supporting players of the opposing team, and holding a man back as cover for elevated opposing players, sometimes in a "sweeper" or "libero" role. The attacking player with the ball will have trouble finding anyone open for a pass. Defenders may alternatively abandon depth temporarily to set an offside trap. Balance in defence: The defending side attempts a balanced coverage of space. Defenders do not simply cluster on the right side for example, just because the ball is there at that time.
Formation and tactical structure A team's formation provides the basic positional structure of its outfield players. Formations organise players into defensive, midfield and attacking lines, with variations allowing additional lines or different distributions of players across the pitch.
The formation is closely related to the tactical roles assigned to individual players. Different arrangements can alter the number of players available in particular areas of the pitch and the balance between defensive, midfield and attacking positions.
Phases of play Open play can be divided tactically into four broad phases: attacking organisation, defensive organisation, attacking transition and defensive transition. Attacking organisation describes a team's structure and behaviour when it has established possession, while defensive organisation concerns its structure when the opposition has established possession. Attacking and defensive transitions refer respectively to the periods immediately after possession is won or lost.
The phases are interconnected, as a team's positioning in one phase can affect its options in the next. For example, the structure maintained while attacking influences the team's ability to prevent or respond to a counter-attack after losing possession. Set pieces and restarts may also be considered separate tactical phases because they involve specific structures, routines and player responsibilities.
Substitutions
In FIFA 11-a-side competitive fixtures, teams are allowed to substitute up to five players during games. The rules of the competition state that all players and substitutes shall be named before kick-off and anyone not named in the starting lineup who takes to the field of play is considered a substitution. In non-competitive matches, the use of substitutes must be determined before the match begins, except in friendly international matches, where the amount of substitutes that may be brought on is only limited by the amount of a) substitution windows and b) amount of substitutes on the bench (the rules previously stated that in international friendlies only six substitutes are allowed).
The most tired players are generally substituted, but only if their substitutes are well trained to fill in the same role, or if the formation is transformed at the same time to accommodate for the substitution.
Coaches often refrain from substituting defensive players in order not to disrupt the defensive posture of the team. Instead, they often replace ineffective attackers or unimaginative midfielders in order to freshen up the attacking posture and increase their chances of scoring.
For a team that is losing a game, a fresh striker can bring more benefit in circumventing an opposed defence line composed of relatively tired players. For a team that is winning a game, a fresh midfielder or a defender can bring more benefit in strengthening the defence against the opposition's attackers (who may be fresh substitutes themselves). In this situation, for the winning team, it is usually imaginative attacking flair players who are replaced by tough-tackling defensive midfielders or defenders.
Injured players may also need to be substituted. For each injured player who must be substituted, the team loses one more opportunity to influence things later in the game to their favour.
Attacking tactics One consideration that teams have to make when in possession of the ball, is what degree of risk-taking to impose on attack. Playing with lower margins may constitute higher reward, but is also associated with higher risks, as defensive sides can exploit transitions to their favour with a counter-attacking style of play. Higher margins means more security in ball control, but may also lead to longer periods of play without creating scoring chances. Association football offense requires high levels of anticipation skills in all its participating players, as many decisions have to be made before the actual attacking play is made.
Attacking Pass and move: Having the ball in their possession, the player needs to choose quickly whether to pass it or not. If they do not pass it immediately, they need to move with it; if they do pass it, they again need to move along, following the general ball movement. This can also be used to mean that once a player has passed the ball he does not remain stationary but moves into a position where he can receive the ball again and give more options to the player in possession. The aim is to create a forward motion by moving the ball across areas where the defence are not (easily) able to create any momentum for themselves. Give and go: Essentially a type of "pass and move", and an essential part of the "target man" style of play (see below). The player in possession of the ball plays a pass to a teammate and then immediately seeks to move into free space. If the passer can "lose" their defensive marker (either through pace, movement, superior fitness or a lack of awareness on the part of the defender) they are then free to receive a return pass and advance towards the goal and possibly create (or finish) a scoring chance. When the ball is immediately returned to the first player this is known as a "one-two" (in British parlance). A version of this play involving a through ball into space as a return to the initial passer (known as a wall pass ) is sometimes used to get past the first level of defence (for example).
Switching sides: The use of a square or cross pass across the width of the pitch to a player on the far side is an effective option for relieving pressure and opening up spaces for the attack. The defending team will have to adjust their positions and this normally opens up space that may be exploited. In this example, the player numbered 1 has moved out of position, allowing more space for the opposing player. By playing the ball to the other side (the curved line represents an aerial pass), the recipient of the pass finds themselves in open space. (See Ex. 1) Through ball (slide-rule pass): Starts with space identified behind the opponent's defensive line. Passes into this area have a number of upsides: If an attacking player manages to receive the pass while onside, the player may end up with a 1-on-1 opportunity with the goalkeeper, or otherwise be in an advanced position for a wide attack. If a defender intercepts the pass, the outcome could still be good for the attacking team, as they are in a situation near the goal line, which could lead to a corner, a throw in or a turnover. Typically, teams with fast attacking players will try challenging this space. If the opposing team has a slower defence, this may prompt them to keep a rather low back line.
Long through ball: A deep and oftentimes aerial pass from a team's own half or the start of the opposing side's half, intended to go over the heads of the other team's defence. It is meant for the attacking players to chase and therefore they must remain in an onside position until the ball is kicked. The tactic works well with strong and fast forwards who have a good ability to control the ball and create a scoring chance. (See Ex. 2) Passing at the back: This tactic is commonly used at the own half (if opponent pressure is imminent and the side which is in control of the ball seeks to calm down the play) so as to gain momentum for a new attempt to attack or just to retain ball possession in the course of a favourable score in the game. With the aim of keeping the ball in control, this tactic involves three, four or five defenders where the full backs normally are positioned slightly higher than the centre halves. This strategy is at times referred to as time-wasting if the ball controlling side isn't actively looking to initiate an attack. Recent tactical analysis confirms that structured play building and team positioning significantly improve the dynamics of collective ball control indicators during match play.
Triangular play: A subtype of the give-and-go tactic; allows for a safe and quick movement of various areas in play whilst maintaining control of the ball. In a triangular play the ball is passed between three players to form a triangle. The triangle is then shifted to a different position when a new player is added. Many triangles can be created with various combinations of players with the intent to incrementally move the ball forward without compromising possession. This tactic is common when trying to gain control of the midfield. However it may also be used for (final 3rd) attacking purposes. Swapping wings: Having two available and positionally flexible wide men at their disposal, a coach might let them interchange positions in the course of a game. The intent is to disarrange opponents assigned to them, possibly leading to opportunities as the opponents try to find their players to cover. Also, if the wingers have different playing styles (one favouring crossing from deep positions whilst the other is prone to trying to dribble past their marker for example), it is a way to take advantage of a weakness in the opponent's coverage. If the wingers have a different foot preference (meaning one is left-footed and the other is right-footed), swapping sides may make for some interesting attacking movement.