While Tiki-Taka has its origins in the Dutch team of the 70s, it was Pep Guardiola's Barcelona team of 2008 – 2012 that made this style of play famous around the world. In addition, it also improves the players' tactical knowledge and understanding of the game.Ĭheck out the link below for an in-depth guide on the most common formations: While many teams stick to just one over the course of the season, it’s well worth working on a couple so that you can vary things up depending on your opposition. Once you have had a think about the players at your disposal and how you want the team to play, you can then start coaching the formation in your training sessions. Similarly, it’s very hard to make a single striker system work if you don't have the right player up front to slot the ball in the back of the net. Understanding each formation allows you to select the one that best suits your squad.įor example, it’s no good forcing your players to play a 3-5-2 if you don't have the right type of players to fill in on the flanks. While some formations allow you to dominate possession or overwhelm the opposition on the wings, others are more defensive and counter attacking in nature.

Knowing the strengths and weaknesses of each formation will go a long way to deciding what you and your players do as a team and what tactics you use. Before looking at various advanced soccer tactics you can implement as a coach, one of the most important tactical decisions you need to decide on is which formation you’ll use.

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