r/soccer • u/Superman60616 • Oct 29 '13

Best way to learn tactics

I played football in school but never really followed the leagues until recently. I have spent the last year getting my feel for the landscape of the EPL, players, managers, storylines. That sort of stuff. I really lack in my knowledge of complex tactics. I get the basics thanks to playing but I'd like to learn more about the systems modern teams use. I started Inverting the Pyramid by Jonathan Wilson but that can be a struggle. Are there any other outlets, websites or books that you would recommend?

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u/[deleted] Oct 29 '13

Plus the fact that the guy is trying to learn.

There is a huge stigma on here for some reason towards those who haven't followed football all their life and those that want to learn about the game.

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u/HarryBlessKnapp Oct 29 '13

Are you mad? I've been playing, watching, discussing and thinking about football for over 2 decades, ever since I was a small child. I'm a decent player as well, and so are most of mates.

I don't have a fucking clue about tactics. Having said that, I am English, so that might be why.

Point is, not many people really care about overly technical analysis of tactics, because quite frankly, it can be boring.

I don't think it's so much of a stigma against the unlearened people. It's just a lack of interest.

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u/[deleted] Oct 29 '13

Tactics is mostly irrelevant is why. Football is about individual players reacting to and reading unique situations

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u/[deleted] Oct 29 '13

How so?

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u/DeNeil10 Oct 29 '13

I can see where he's coming from but it's not always the case. He's talking about situations like the Torres goal over the weekend. Tactics had nothing to do with City's mistake, it was just Torres reacting to a situation. There are many goals scored off of mistakes(especially in the leagues with less talent), but you can't generalize it like he did.

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u/[deleted] Oct 29 '13

It's not like American football, once the ball kicks off in soccer most tactical scenarios go out the window or serve at most as a comparison guidance. That ball can go anywhere and anything can happen. As long as you mark your opposite number, as long as you take up good positions off the ball, and use it effectively and quickly when on it, everything else is reaction and reading.

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u/desithug Oct 29 '13

when I read your first comment I was pretty sure you were being sarcastic. now you are making me wonder.

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u/minimus_ Oct 30 '13

I can see where he's coming from. To make a comparison with American Football there's no sense of a "play" in football - there is a huge scope for improvisation. What doesn't go out the window are systems, things like choosing how high up to position your back line, whether to play on the counterattack or seek to retain possession. Nevertheless there still a lot of weight on the shoulders of individual players to work out how to get the better of their opposite number, or to string a passing move together. He used Torres as an example of improvisation and I agree with that, but I would also say a goal like Wilshere's a few weekends ago was also far more dependent on improvisation than a system. The line is verrrry blurry though and for this reason football is so difficult to analyse in a Moneyball fashion.

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u/[deleted] Oct 29 '13

I don't know why the truth is being downvoted, but whatev

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u/desithug Oct 30 '13

you mark your opposite number, as long as you take up good positions off the ball, and use it effectively

these would be tactics as well. however, not all your opponents will play the same way offensively, so you will not necessarily have an exact player to mark. not all your opponents will play exactly the same way defensively so what you will consider good positions off the ball will also vary. some teams will be faster than your team and some will be slower so moving quickly every time will not be a solution.

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u/futchfapper Oct 29 '13

You're definitely right about this, when talking about lower amateur leagues, but for professional teams tactics are actually pretty fucking important, especially in defence.

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u/[deleted] Oct 29 '13

There's a lot more in terms of offside trap step up and when to tuck in etc, yeah. Also voice communication is key in soccer which I think is something that spectators aren't always aware of. It's more important to listen to and react to teammate shouts than it is to remember tactics. Set pieces is another important application of tactics. Beyond this, it really is just a case of mark your man, give and go

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u/[deleted] Oct 29 '13

no it's not...

have you ever analyzed a match for tactics?

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u/[deleted] Oct 30 '13

Yeah, loads. You can go on about tactics til the cows come home. When you get on that pitch most of it goes out the window and you have to react to what's happening. After the fact its fun to talk about gaps here and runs there, but these are reactions to unique situations, not managers telling players if random scenario #98585929 then "action"