This is what the future of football will look like, at least in the teams I coach. A mix of positional players- who give the team depth & support under the ball and functional players who are free to migrate to the ball zone. Moving actions arenāt exclusive to functional players x.com
The functional players are a means of help us make connections up the pitch, not just contacting with a specific player or space. Double width & asymmetry is also hugely important, whether to open angles inside the block diagonally, impose a tilt or attacking through paralelas
The functional/positional players arenāt fixed, these delegations can change with the moment, the emotions and intuitions of the players - how much they want to make a connection with the ball vs how likely it is for the ball to reach his space. These delegations are player led
The superiority that is generated is more associative and connective than numerical or geometric. Shared affordances, perception- action coupling, creating collaborative actions that frees them from rigid zone occupation, giving the attack more variation/unpredictability. x.com
Weāve seen teams like Bayer Leverkusen play with a horse shoe structure, with the midfield 4 in between moving to the ball side and tilting. Also Thiago Mottaās sides who prioritize a lot of moving actions, especially from deeper players. I share this but with more diagonal entry x.com
Whatās important is that the players read the pitch diagonally, the problem with teams using the tilt is that you have to funnel the attack back inside the pitch towards zone 14 or for a good position to generate a cross. With a lot of teams the ball gets stuck on the touchline
A tilt brings everyone together and opportunities to collaborate but the aim is ultimately to bring the ball back inside. Thatās why moving actions are so important, when teams just apply positional principles or fixed triangulation into these areas it does more harm than good.
Again, I want to share this- @JordiLieF articulates where football should go- without tactical schemes and shaped intention. Itās not that the coach doesnāt have an influence but players are more free to explore emergent possibilities opposed to desired ācorrect decisionsā
This is the only way relationism can compliment modern coaching culture/academies, if I was to undertake another UEFA Licence they would be asking me where my pictures are & the length, width & depth etc. I need to support position logic without completely abandoning my football
Animation: @Effmatch
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