What is Positional Play?

What is Positional Play?
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What is Positional Play? Where did it come from? What are its benefits? How can you spot it?
Think of Pep Guardiola. Think of Johan Cruyff. Think of Thomas Tuchel’s Chelsea. And even Michael Laudrup’s Swansea.
Explained by Alex Stewart, illustrated by Alice Devine.
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Produced by Tifo Studios: Taking an illustrated look into the beautiful game.
Music sourced from epidemicsound.com
Additional footage sourced from freestockfootagearchive.com
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Informative, illustrated football analysis. Home of WhiteboardFootball®.
Tifo loves football. We know there’s an appetite for thoughtful, intelligent content, for stuff that makes the complicated simple.
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#Tactics #Guardiola #MCFC

[@VictorLima-mv4ni]

4:05 that striker has been offside for about 34 years

[@zaccarpenter8578]

Scoring for fun though isn't he 😂😂👍🏼

[@thibautnarme6402]

Came here for the same thing

[@joelmutagwaba255]

😂😂😂😂

[@isihakamahawi7793]

😂😂😂

[@joshhowe7795]

Beat me to it, well noticed sir.

[@tribalcho]

Of all the basic principles the rule for the 3rd man is the most importnat one imo..Here is what Xavi Hernandez said in an interview : “The third man is impossible to defend, impossible … I’ll explain what it means. Imagine Piqué wanting to play with me, but I’m marked, I have a marker (defender) on me, a very aggressive guy. Well, it is clear that Piqué can not pass it to me, it is evident. If I move away, I’ll take the marker with me. Then, Messi goes down and becomes the second man. Piqué is the 1st, Messi the 2nd and I the 3rd. I have to be very alert, right?! Piqué, then plays with the 2nd man, Messi, who returns it, and at that moment I’m an option. I’m now free of my marker who has moved to defend closer to the ball. Now I’m totally unmarked and Piqué passes me the ball. If my marker is looking at the ball, cannot see that I’m unmarked and then I appear, I’m the third man. We have already achieved superiority. This is indefensible, it’s the Dutch school, it’s Cruyff. It is an evolution of the Dutch triangles. (…) To look for the third man is, for example, that the central players have the ball and one of them is always open because you always have one player more than opposing strikers. In that case, Puyol has the ball and goes up, up and up until a defender challenges him. If the defender who tries to stop him is my marker, then the third man happens to be me! If it is Iniesta’s marker who moves to challenge Puyol , then Andres is the third man. And so we seek superiority in any area of the field. You make a three against two, you win and you have the third man. We advance positions up the field”

[@bernardojsvamorim]

Could you please put on the link of that interview? Thanks for your comment, it truly made sense to me!

[@tribalcho]

@@bernardojsvamorim sorry, its not a quote from an interview..it's a quote from an article from this site - spielerverlagerung.

[@bernardojsvamorim]

@@tribalcho Thanks. I'll read it! Have a wonderful week 🤙🏼

[@shehanudayakumara3620]

Thanks alot man! It really made me grasp the idea

[@samuelbiswas615]

He’s explaining the importance of not only passing in possesion tactics but also dribbling. Once you take on someone successfully or somebody comes to tackle you it removes a man out of the equation so you could play the ball.

[@kyleraines6715]

The way that he said coaches in the beginning is sublime

[@edwinlam4679]

Voice of a 30 year old, voicecracks of a 12 year old

[@NIGERIANFIFASKILLER]

I swear

[@WaterCarrier07]

@@edwinlam4679 Older than you think is our Joe 😉

[@archierobinson4704]

Ahaha I didn't notice that but that's killed me

[@marceloscoelho]

Tifo is ASMR for football fans

[@AtTheBridgePod]

“Lots of rotation” all FPL managers know about that with Pep

[@nazrulsuani757]

😂

[@NarendraWicaksono]

Ah yes, the beloved Pep Roulette

[@matthewcox4139]

Yes. Never captain a City forward. I’ve made that mistake way to many times

[@gezzzkz9228]

Every single fucking time😂

[@indrayudhsarkar4679]

In this respect, rotation means rotation of players already on the pitch. Like Bernardo playing RB while Stones rushes forward. Or Cancelo playing the second holding role to allow Gundogan to drift up and left.

[@ggmu4656]

4:05 damn I thought Inzaghi retired Good to see him back

[@Nifava]

That was funny.

[@ayushprabhash]

*4:35* What a poor number 9, always caught offside. No wonder Guardiola prefers a false 9

[@jeremymuriuki5423]

😂😂😂

[@Anonassassin]

Gabriel Jesus every now and again, at least he better than Morata now

[@fLightTakesFlight]

@@Anonassassin is he really tho?

[@richcymru3976]

Always happens in these videos. Defending team are statues, attacking team move as fast as Usain Bolt or attacker knocking it in 20 yards offside.

[@Anonassassin]

@@fLightTakesFlight Lol true! It's debatable for sure, my man can't even take over from Aguero after YEARS at the club.

[@debsicus]

Is it weird that football related things I searched for on KZbin suddenly ends up as content of TiFo. This has happened 3 times in now. Literally searched for Positional play a couple of days ago

[@Tifo]

Great minds... 🤜🤛

[@tptitus]

@@Tifo or may be you guys are tapping our search history!!🙊

[@Kriscur20]

@@tptitus 👀

[@azaanhm]

@@tptitus ...I like this theory much better 😂😂

[@abhisheksrivastava5633]

You searched for it and it popped up for you. I was thinking about it in my mind and this video popped up on my you tube home page.

[@avenellroad]

Apart from being one of the best players, Johan Cruijff created this in his mind when footballers where just kicking a ball around. That's insane football intelligence. Not only that, he did it in the early 70's and 50 years later managers try to adept and understand this. Absolute genius.

[@fengsports2063]

Herbert Chapman used positional play principles to implement a new formation not seen by English football at the time

[@tesla5297]

It was invented by Jack Reynolds. Then came Rinus Michells, Johan Cruyff and then Pep Guardiola

[@NeonNoodleNexus]

"Haters will call it goalhanging, I call it positional play" - The striker probably

[@arpitrohilla285]

Hahaha

[@dude99844]

Ronaldo be like

[@jainalmiraz5409]

@@dude99844 which one?

[@abdulwahidalhassani5129]

@@dude99844 Or when you dribble selfishly and lose the ball when you could've made a pass, like Messi does.

[@dude99844]

@@abdulwahidalhassani5129 bro chill im just making a joke lol, dont have to be so butthurt

[@fernandosalazar2298]

“positional play is a number of simple ideas which together are extremely difficult to coach and implement correctly…” And I thought I would only ever hear this from my wife...

[@nzomy3056]

Bruh

[@Lions4322]

Haha, great

[@mchachorichard1166]

😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@lovee1173]

Hhhh

[@SingwithPianoCollections]

Thats what she said

[@sanjaypatel-oh9gl]

Nice to hear Michael Laudrop being mentioned, very underrated player and coach

[@kohchungwei]

Last time I was this early PSV hadn't signed Ibrahim Sangare yet

[@joecaird517]

Oh shit did he finally get a transfer

[@otto_jk]

@@joecaird517 half a year ago

[@otto_jk]

@@joecaird517 the New Tifo underrated meme player is Yves Bissouma.

[@zaeidanis]

@@otto_jk hehehe

[@abdihassan7208]

@@otto_jk wdym?

[@kieranive8763]

"Football is not about moving the ball, but about moving the opposition." - Pep Guardiola. Or something to that effect, anyway 🤣

[@waleedgaming4910]

4:06 OFFSIDE!! Come onnnnn REF, thats a clear one!!! what are you doinnnnnn

[@carlx8409]

Football leagues corrupt

[@mcg9864]

I feel uncomfortable if I'm not wearing a suit and tie watching tifo vids

[@totallybored5526]

The thought of what you would be doing if you got to the F.A Cup Final on Football Manager is worrying 🥳

[@JuanVilorio]

I was planning on going to sleep at 2 am but tifo uploaded a video 🤷🏾‍♂️

[@Sebastian-pf4ih]

Mate it’s 3:30

[@prasoonjain1600]

ONE OF THE BEST FOOTBALL CHANNEL OUT THERE. CHANGE MY MIND.

[@frederikskovhusdall7933]

Agree

[@pberufy]

The best actually

[@rorey9074]

Sadly I cannot. As you are 100% correct

[@sebastianalban4654]

Just waiting for this to blow up

[@pipcollector8655]

I can't

[@theo5502]

Reference to Michael Laudrup’s Swansea 😍

[@lullabysanton2241]

Shelvey

[@JP-yt3hd]

Donald trump

[@scottmescudi9630]

only real ones know

[@DomenBremecXCVI]

The goal at 4:05 was clearly offside, even VAR could get that right

[@lullabysanton2241]

Even ENGLISH* Var could get it right

[@Smeadygonzales]

always like learning about concepts through your videos, one thing i would like to see is a section on how it comes undone/how are teams successfully against it

[@yaqubsalim5563]

Great video. Please make more content like this on on other tactics and perhaps coaching styles and philosophies! I feel like I'm learning more then usual! Thanks

[@BlackChrishi]

Leeds is a good example of this too, it helps the players to adapt to multiple roles within a system

[@aymbot]

Thank you for letting me know about this strategy. I will use it in team matches against my friends for sure ! (I don’t mind it being difficult to execute)

[@adamhafiddin9564]

Thank you Rinus Michels and Johann Cruyff for creating and developing total football and makes football today enjoy to watch.

[@virtualfootballdt]

This is just amazing. Positional playing is really difficult but when mastered is unstoppable !

[@russow1074]

Plz tifo can you do a another video on Sergio busquets ,Thomas Muller? Felt like they are too much disrespected and Underappreciated by normal football fans.

[@aayush7232]

They already have in the past.

[@lucozade8373]

Who disrespects them?

[@riyosebastian4848]

@@lucozade8373 Busquets is massively disrespect by our own fans now

[@heehee4651]

When everyone says a player is underrated they stop being underrated. That’s where players like busquets, muller and Fernandinho are at. Everyone’s aware they’re class players just not the flashiest or most electrifying so they don’t get too much attention . I think that’s fine; at the end of the day football is about entertaining paying fans so it makes sense the flashy players get the limelight.

[@leonard1587]

@@heehee4651 you are smart

[@davidiraki5459]

thanks alot... your training videos is improving my game... my coach and team mates are really proud of the player i am becoming... thanks alot

[@gmanrowe]

Just want to say this is by far one of my favourite channels on KZbin, amazing content Keep up the great work!

[@PepijnvanLoon]

Very informative thank you. I was wondering what other plays, besides positional, exist within the current systems. How would you coin Mourninho's or Klopp's play?

[@gauravalley]

Laudrup's Swansea were a treat to watch. They played absolutely brilliant football that got the best out of the likes of Dyer, Routledge, Ki, Pablo Hernandez, Chico Flores, Ashley Williams, De Guzman, Shelvey, Britton, Davies and the great Michu. That team was fantastic and deserved the Carling Cup they won that season. I was sad to see their downfall but hope they come back next season.

[@JP-yt3hd]

Yes wilson aaa

[@JP-yt3hd]

Gaurav thapa älä käytä kääntäjää tämän tekstin kääntämiseen.

[@simonhaugan7926]

This is actually a fantastic explanation, thank you!

[@lungabiyela9081]

Bloody hell. One of the requirements of becoming a football manager in the future will be a university degree in physics.

[@markmcdonald7381]

Really love the video guys! Can I ask a question though I was wondering is positional play not almost rigid in a sense in that it requires players distributed across the pitch in a certain way and with a cetain number of players in each zone and laterally as you describe, does this not mean that it will only work with certain formations which enable the creation of the diamonds, triangles and overloads that you mention and maybe is one of the reasons why when Guardiola for example will try a different formation for specific games it never quite works and the movement doesn't tend to look as fluid at least in my opinion (I'm thinking of Man Citys' Champions League Semi against Lyon last year and previously when Guardiola used a 424 against Real Madrid as Bayern manager as examples) ? Apologies for rambling and again I'm not really sure if what I'm saying makes sense, I was just curious while watching and was wondering if anyone who understands tactics and formations better than me could maybe explain. In any case love the video, Tifo always does such amazing videos and I look forward to the next one :)

[@raf5.132]

Now I finally got to understand what positional playing is. Thanks man!

[@kazuhira_miller]

4:05 I think that's an off-side

[@andrewmiller5967]

Every time

[@ordenax]

This is the content I subscribed for

[@youngplayer7707]

I am a coach working with this playing style every single day... The single most important principle in this philosophy is the free man. You want to create superiorities by the help of several subprinciples like zonal structure and the third man to generate an unmarked player, the free man, to progress the ball fairly risk-free up the pitch The reason you see teams with this philosophy retaining the ball for excessive periods of time is cus they are not able to find the free man, thus circulating the ball and patiently looking to create a new superiority and free man

[@audrishekhardutta1854]

Loved this video 👍👍 can you describe pros and cons of counter attacking teams like this ??

[@tesla5297]

These kind of videos are the reason every football fan should subscribe to this channel 💜✌

[@cartelligunzafc1351]

Yes tifo great video again

[@avibhau3852]

Outstanding video. Very informative.

[@priyansu510]

I was just anxiously waiting for this

[@PhilWhelanNow]

Can you do an analysis of how referees are playing at their own games, interpreting football in ways that are anathema to actual football players. Examples would include, not knowing the difference between a foul and simulation. Not treating simulation as cheating. Seeing robust ball winning aerial challenges as fouls; not seeing that reversing under a jumping player is dangerous play; adding more or less ‘added time’ depending on the club that needs more time, rather than the actual amount and duration of injuries and delays, restarts etc. Please?

[@GustavoSilva-ny8jc]

That's a phenomenal question!!! I loved all the details, it seems like we speak the same language, i also make a bunch of questions like this, but i never thought about how a game it's viewed from the referee's perspective, how they think (and i think this is specially interesting with football given all it's trickery).

[@omaremad5798]

keep-up the amazing content

[@GustavoSilva-ny8jc]

5:22 That's crazy!!! Really creative, it reminds me the "overload" concept of Cryuff's Netherlands (not surprising).

[@charlesbaijahe1773]

Thanks for your explanation, it's going to improve me tactically.

[@ljb265]

Please do a video on the Spanish 3rd division structure this season and how it is being re-organized for 2021-22, i tried to read about it today and had no idea what was going on @tifofootball

[@Nifava]

I'll try. Spanish football until very recently was structured like this: 1st Division (20 teams), 2nd Division (22 teams), 2nd Division B (4 leagues of 20 teams, semi-professional) and 3rd Division (18 leagues of 20 teams, mostly amateur). Last season all leagues under 2nd Division were not finished due to pandemic and there were no relegations so the spanish football federation used the oportunity to restructure. Starting next season the structure will be like this: 1st Division (20 teams), 2nd Division (22 teams), 1st Division RFEF (2 leagues of 20 teams, semi-pro), 2nd Division RFEF (5 leagues of 18 teams, semi-pro) and 3rd Division RFEF (18 leagues of 18 teams, amateur). The system of promotion and relegation during the current transition season is complex but it could be summarized like this: 4 of the 102 teams in Segunda B (3rd tier) will promote to Segunda División (2nd tier), 36 of the remaining 98 teams in current Segunda B (3rd tier) will play the new Primera RFEF league (3rd tier), joined by the 4 teams relegated from Segunda División 8 (2nd tier). The 62 remaining teams of Segunda B (3rd tier) wil be either relegated to Segunda RFEF (4rth tier) or Tercera RFEF (5th tier). Top teams of the current Tercera División (4th tier) will compete to "promote" to Segunda RFEF (new 4th tier) or "stay" in Tercera RFEF (new 5th tier). I hope this explanation helped.

[@kurtcampher4716]

Awesome video. Thank you!

[@sfisozonke865]

Can you make a video about Chelsea's transformation under Thomas Tuchel. What has he changed tactically? I noticed he played Kai Havertz as a false nine against Crystal Palace and it worked to perfection

[@pistolcucapse]

Excellent series 👏👏👏

[@alongkawasakizxr9140]

Absolutely brilliant

[@hcp0scratch]

Great work! TY!

[@GustavoSilva-ny8jc]

Incredible video! 👏👏👏👏

[@georgkoch6243]

I regulaly watch your videos and because you ask so nicely i just subscribed to the Channel. You do Great work, Best of luck also After reaching 1milion subscribers 🙃👍

[@h_enrix_92]

This is basically zonal and man-to-man markings being implemented at the same time. Genius.

[@adamgeigerjr6995]

more of these videos please thanks

[@henryallsebrook]

Please can you make a video on Ajax’s academy, and the principals behind it

[@wissamallam4010]

Thank you you are awesome ❤

[@RF24597]

Great video once again

[@MrChris30134]

It seems the ruled of office is not taught in positional play with the amount of offside goals in this video. Non the less very informative!

[@Skepsis0Metal]

It's crazy how you see this kind of game play out over 90 mins, and how it really exemplifies a game of "trust" in the team itself. You see, especially evident with Pep teams more than others, that players are more passing the ball to *areas* rather than other players. They trust that someone will know to be there when they pass it, and often don't need to look twice before making the pass. And almost without fail, somebody will be in that area, because that's what they have trained. As a team, they become less reactive to the opposition and more proactive about how to get the ball where they want it. It matters less *who* is being marked, and more about *where* the marking is occurring, so the ball can just be clipped into a zone and one of the free men will pick it up inevitably. It's so hard to defend against when the team is fully fluid and properly drilled. Watching Tuchel build Chelsea into this system is great because you can see it take shape, flaws and all. When teammates are not on the same wavelength or not expecting a pass or just too comfortable playing a static role then everything just breaks down and you have to start again, which is why you see the ball recycled endlessly between the CBs and wing-backs without moving forward because everyone else is still learning their movements. I made some comments earlier in the year about how this is actually making a player like Ziyech look a lot worse than they are, because they're picking out these incredible passes but nobody is running onto them so it looks like they just passed to nobody and wasted possession. Same with Gilmour - I think that's why Tuchel is hesitant to use him because his key strength (like Fabregas was) is threading the needle with his passing and vision, but if the forward players are static or haven't got their heads up to rotate into zones, then it's pointless.

[@alexalex6231]

Thank you very much and it helps to develop my coaching skills as a development coach 🙌 .

[@muhammedgamal5871]

Thoose videos are missed, really great as much as it is simple

[@T.E.S.S.]

Excellent video as always, but when are we getting a 15 minute animated player data and facts Joe triviabase?

[@billal2731]

Idk why but i love this channel

[@alvinaditya1610]

After watching many of tifos video, i feel like a football expert 😆

[@flame8388]

Can you please do a sensible transfers video for Juventus? Love the content

[@tomralph8540]

Sign big money free agents in their prime on massive wages who subsequently fail to reach the same levels before being knocked out of the Champions League early. Done.

[@otto_jk]

I think Ronaldo out is the sensible choice. He's great but he's a liability for defence because he can't get fast enough behind the ball. Also the Champions league loss was partly his fault. That wall was awful.

[@anupriyakanna]

one of the best contents i have seen... 😎

[@miguelrosado6348]

Finally, some videos teach people how having good players is not everything, and you also need to know what to do with them.

[@karumehuie1407]

Great information

[@-ingar-]

Would love to see a video on the decline of Ipswich Town and their future prospect under new ownership.

[@josephdominic9305]

Agreed!!

[@jonvauntune]

yep, subscribed

[@deepwawa8525]

This is going to bang in my fifa pro-clubs group

[@FootballNukkad]

Tifo My Sensei 🙏

[@83justinluo]

Wao fabulous video!

[@MichaelBoll]

Which applikation is used to make these wonderful animations? I love them :)

[@bunga_raya96]

This blew me away

[@kathoden135]

Moving the opposition is the end product of positional play. This is why I think Xavi would become a game changer. His idea is to utilize positional play to give individual players time to think of their next move rather than just pass or cross. Watching Man City now and watching Barcelona in the Xaviesta era it becomes obvious they were the catalysts and Messi was their executioner. Pep taught them magic, they brought us beauty.

[@quintonsibisi389]

Has the W-M Formation returned? Please do a video on Man City and Cancelo tactics, everytime Cancelo goes into midfield next to Rodri, City's attack set-up resembles the classic W-M Formation...has Pep perfected it? Has history gone full circle? Only Tifo can let us know! Good video by the way!

[@Azza.10]

pep has done that since bayern

[@ilyasibrahim3506]

Where would I be without Tifo football 💞

[@ioanvasilescu931]

Is there a book written by johan and rinus on positional play? If not, can you recommend some materials on positional play and total football? Thank you!

[@ashadams318]

Awesome vid.

[@ashleyadams3145]

Wow

[@GustavoSilva-ny8jc]

3:08 That's so coooool!!! 😍

[@mnoblesavage]

Perfect video, without music, it could be ever better . Thanks

[@shawniraguha2732]

Man is just a badass 👏🏽🐐

[@mightymcgee9199]

This channel is in love with Pep 😂

[@jordanroper5739]

Where is this book, I can’t find it anywhere. Is there any recommendations for something similar? 0:30

[@rhuthwiksuresh6900]

Pioli's AC Milan plays similarly. Coupled with a high press and good hold up by Zlatan, they have improve vastly. The only thing holding them back is the countless injuries.

[@bangfiz9292]

This is my favourite tactical..play position play and create more passes and try to score at any suprise position

[@weestyboys6829]

Zone-dine Zidane and Math-ias Sum-mer would be ideal in midfield for positional play

[@kijesus4617]

Where can i find the book Total Football that was being mentioned in this video?

[@kakrezakuuu]

Can you make video about how to build up from the back with different scenarios?

[@Spiinellii]

needs to do a vid on the euefa conference league

[@bocegim7926]

I need your help please How can I use this tactic in FIFA 22 together with custom tactics?

[@stephenkoshy3127]

Would love to see Laudrup managing at a side in one of the 5 major leagues.

[@simonhorgan4140]

Can we have a video on the positional play of Kevin Davies please? Scored by Stockhausen.

[@ujjwalsharma4784]

Can you please highlight tactics of pep guardiola at Barcelona in nxt video .........

[@ToTheNines87368]

A Laudrup call out! Awesome

[@nickzzz1177]

VAR might wanna have a check on these goals.

[@amakundi2792]

I'm studying Engineering but i so much love football mehn Tifo makes me feel i can become a Football manager one day😄