When talking tactics in soccer/football it’s important to know the basics. Below I’ll teach on what both youth and professional teams do. The terms and ideas are the same, but it’s important to know the expectation for both. Technical ability plays the biggest role along with soccer IQ and experience.
Formations regarding soccer tactics
Firstly, formations depend on the age… Learn different ages here
Secondly, your personnel matters… If you have a really good forward, maybe you only go with 1 and load more mids and defenders. On the contrary, you could go with less defenders and more up top.
Thirdly, the score and how much time left in the game matters. If you are winning, you can add more defenders. On the contrary, if you’re losing, add more attacking players.
Popular formations for Ages 12+ [11v11]
- 4-4-2
- 4-3-3
- 3-5-2
Read more on formations for all age groups
Substitutions
Depending on the age and level, you can sub as much as you want.
On the other hand pros and other certain levels you can only make 5 subs… With that, once you come off you can’t come back on.
Typically with leagues that only allow 5 subs, you will only see a player come off in the 2nd half.
Coaches usually use the last 1-2 subs in the last 5 minutes. One reason you don’t want to use them all up before that is in case a player gets injured or a red card.
If your team is winning with say 10-20 minutes left, a coach will take out an attacking player and sub in a defensive player in the midfield…
In addition, you can sub a goal scoring forward for a forward who is good at holding the ball up or putting pressure on the other team.
In other situations, you may have a good technical player on the left going against a powerfully fast opponent. It might be a good idea to sub your skilled player for a more defensive one to match your opponents strength.
“Substitutes should be looked at as game changers.”
Counter attack futbol
When playing against a team that is better than you, it might be a good idea to play off the counter.
The teams main focus is stay compact and working hard.
Once you win the ball, instead of playing out and trying to keep possession, try to break the lines quicky.
Counter attack goals ⇓
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HxLAaQzS17w
A true counter attack is going to be when the other team loses the ball in your defensive half. Especially if they have numbers up, which leaves their defense exposed.
Oftentimes when you see a good counter it’s when there are 2-3 passes and then a shot on goal.
Playing out of the back
Playing out of the back is especially for a more advanced level.
The highest levels can do it regularly, but your average club team ages 10+ need to pick and choose when to play out and when to play long.
Soccer tactics that require possession should be taught to younger players [U9]. Especially when beating teams by 4 goals or more!
Development should be the main focus over winning games. Of course there are times you need to play long, but a good coach should intertwine playing out of the back.
“Player development > winning”
Long balls
Over the last decade the game has changed in regards to tactics and possession.
Back in the early 2000’s and prior, pro teams would play more direct… Yes, they could possess the ball, but you would see more long balls compared to the style today.
For youths, this is what you see most. Nothing wrong with it, but there’s a problem when you don’t see teams getting the ball wide.
Last year I watched a high school boys team that ended up getting 2nd in the State of Texas.
The regular season game I saw vs another good team was terrible. It was direct long balls the whole 90 minutes. Never did I see the defenders switching the field, nor did I see them get 5+ passes in a row.
Parking the bus [defensive tactics]
Parking the bus is a term used when almost all of your players are back in and around the 18 yard box.
It’s very difficult for the opponents to score goals, but it’s also going to make it hard for your team offensively.
Usually this happens in the last 10 or even 30 minutes of the game when a team is winning.
Croatia parked the bus against Italy in the 2024 Euros after going up 1-0 with 30 minutes left… Italy finally scored during injury time to tie and eventually win.
Oftentimes, it’s the weaker team who goes up and knows they will struggle to keep possession and score again. Therefore, they park the bus and hope they can hold on to the lead.
These are soccer tactics most teams have had to use in the last 10 minutes of certain games.
High press [defensive tactics]
In college, our main focus was to put non-stop pressure on the other team. Every zone and at all times… In this case we pressed high every minute. Your team has to be very fit to do this for 90 mins.
The benefit is 99% of teams can’t handle the pressure, therefore turn the ball over.
Typically with a high press a coach chooses certain times to do this… The reason is because if the other team is technically good, your team can become tired. If the opposing defenders can switch the field or break lines you will struggle and need to adapt.
Therefore, if your opponents are good at playing out of the back you won’t press high very often.
Times to press is when you need to win the ball back quickly and hopefully get a goal. In addition, when you know the other team can’t handle the press.
These defensive soccer tactics should be introduced at a young age (U10).
Read full article on high press
“Most goals are scored because one team couldn’t handle the pressure, therefore loses the ball.”
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