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If you have read Jonathan Wilson’s extraordinary book, “Inverting the Pyramid: The History of Soccer Tactics”, you are well aware of football’s historic march from attack-focused formations and the general progression to pragmatism. As the book portrays, football tactics started with attack-minded systems, then became more defensive in the pursuit of results.

In this tactical analysis, “Inverting the Pyramid” will serve as our guide to football’s earliest developments, then I will give an account of my research in the usage of outside-backs, a key cog in this project. In the end, this article will show how modern tacticians have resurrected and implemented the 2-3-5 pyramid formation.

Are certain tactical styles more conducive to hoisting trophies?

Put it in this perspective, Arsène Wenger won four league titles and 17 domestic cups, but he never won the Champions League. The Invincibles conquered England but bowed out of the Champions League in the quarterfinals.

Do you remember which club won the Champions League in that 2003/04 campaign? None other than a Porto side coached by a young José Mourinho. In the Arsenal ideologue’s most famed season, it was one of the game’s preeminent tacticians who claimed the highest honor.

Is there something the 2003/04 season is trying to tell us?

Thomas Grønnemark entered the spotlight as Liverpool announced they had hired a throw-in coach.

A largely overlooked phase of the game, Grønnemark revolutionized re-entries from throw-ins. His tactics are centred on the three pillars of long, fast and clever.

Throw-ins are still underutilized in the game, but there are several teams that stand out, especially in the EPL. You may have guessed, but most of the featured clubs have either worked with Grønnemark in the past or are currently working with him.

The game’s best pressing teams have an orchestral quality to them.

Each movement is heavily synchronized and rhythmic. These sides often alternate between low-tempo structural movements and high-intensity chasing. These teams collectively identify the best moments to engage the opposition and showcase hypnotic teamwork to execute the defensive phase.

This analysis identifies the tactics that makes these sides so special.

Known for their sublime technical qualities and elegance possessed by few, Andrea Pirlo, Xabi Alonso, and Kroos captivated us from their deep-lying role. We want to move beyond the surface of these mesmerizing displays to better understand how these registas asserted themselves upon the match.

This tactical analysis examines three ways in which these legends controlled the game. The first two relate to the attacking tactics of the game, whereas the third looks at the defensive aspects of the role.

As football data continues to evolve, we’re seeing that most goal-scoring actions are produced with limited time in possession and few passes. With the emerging trend of quick, direct actions towards goal, top coaches are looking for ways to force the opposition into low losses.

At this point, most are aware that Jürgen Klopp’s Liverpool averaged 7.81 seconds of possession and an average of 2.51 passes en route to a UEFA Champions League title. The Champions League average of 12.50 seconds and 3.89 passes per goal-scoring action are indicators that most goals are the result of mistakes in the defensive and middle third or quick counterattacks.

Yesterday, we looked at the Art of Overachieving. Today, let’s move to the other end of the scale…the art of underachieving.

From the same data source, we’ll identify the clubs that got it wrong, as well as the specific trends in the build-up to the catastrophe.

Just like yesterday, this post will focus on salaries and transfer spending.

Do big clubs buy titles in the transfer market?

Does the club with the highest wage bill win the league?

Is there any hope for small to mid-sized clubs?

We’ll look at the underlying data to find the game’s best overachievers and dig into their methods.

In this post, we’ll focus club salaries and transfer fees. The original article has much more, covering recruitment philosophies and game models, but we’ll follow the money here.

Our focus is on cues for progression in the final third, taking examples from the game's best.

The 1st concept is unbalancing the opposition's backline, creating numeric superiorities.

We all want more intelligent players

But are we giving them the developmental support they need?

For possession-dominant teams, creating time and space to conduct attacks is often countered by defensively compact opponents. In order to create more time and space on the ball, teams look to create superiorities across the pitch.

The keeper position has evolved.

No longer JUST a shot-stopper, they're now required to use their feet well and contribute to the build-out. How do the intelligent movements of GKs benefit their teams in the build-out?

Here's what I found.

What does intelligent movement look like at the centerbacks position?

I’ve studied some of the best the game has to offer in the hopes of helping my own players better understand the role.

Here’s what I found.