This site, as much as any other, puts forward the view that successful football results can be attributed to thoughtful, well-crafted, intelligent tactics. Sometimes, though, it comes down to just putting your head in where it hurts. Manchester United went to both Hull and Birmingham recently, conceding a goal in each. But whereas they put three past Hull, Birmingham limited them to one goal. Read more »

Let’s make one thing clear – Birmingham are a very good side this year, and a point at St Andrews is not a disastrous result. Nevertheless, United will have been disappointed to come away with just a draw, because Birmingham didn’t play well on the night, and if you have 62% of possession, you should end up with more than the three shots on target that United managed. Read more »

David Beckham returns for his second loan spell in Serie A hoping for regular first-team football, to prove to Fabio Capello he has the ability and fitness to justify a place in England’s 23-man squad this summer. The problem for Beckham, however, is that he’s joining a side who are both bang in form, and appear to have found upon an unusual formation that suits their top players well. How will Beckham fit in? Read more »

It’s hard to believe you’ll see two such similar goals in such quick succession all this season. First, an Ashley Cole cross from the left was turned into the opposite corner by Didier Drogba. Three minutes later, an Ashley Cole cross from the left was turned into the opposite top corner by Thomas Vermaelen, who unfortunately got there ahead of Drogba. If such basic goals are conceded twice in one game – never mind four minutes apart – it’s fair to say there’s something quite obviously wrong with how the conceding side set out defensively.

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Benfica made the strange decision of switching Pablo Aimar and Ramires from their usual starting positions, meaning Aimar was stranded out on the right, and Ramires’ surging runs from midfield were restricted against a Sporting side clearly looking to pack the midfield to stifle creativity. Read more »

A later, more detailed piece on Brazil is here

The outstanding football article of this year was written by Jonathan Wilson of the Guardian, on Brazil’s formation in the Confederations Cup. Trying to expand on Mr Wilson’s excellent prose would be suicidal, but since the piece came without diagrams – sacrilege – here is a brief summary with visual aids. Read more »

Football is not chess. Formations and tactics don’t always win games. Today was one of those days – the only goal of the game came from a refereeing decision that was, frankly, incorrect. However, since this is a blog focussing upon tactics, we shall try to ignore that error of judgement, and instead look at the game as a whole.

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Strange one this. Cracking first half, very mediocre second – the exact opposite of the game at the Bernabeu 13 days ago. Few lessons for tactical battles as a whole, but certainly some interesting things to note from both sides. Read more »

Manchester City won their first four Premiership games of the season, playing a 4-3-3 system. Now, they have now failed to win any of their last four games, playing a 4-4-2 system. No-one is mentioning the shift in shape – one that appears to have weakened the side, and doesn’t bring the best out of any of their players. Why? Read more »