Nice to see you try to understand the tactical aspects of football, and if you have any questions we are always in the comments trynna help a potential new fan. 👍

Man, you jumped into the deep end of trying to learn soccer tactics.

Yes, you described the concept of pressing exactly. In basketball you will often see double teams which may not happen as often in football but the idea of pressing is closing down the space on the ball. As for a striker they are the player who is most forward and central who's specialty is putting the ball in the net.

Yeah, you definitely should watch a video about the basics of positions in football. Watching highlights and tactics explainers after that will be much more worthwhile!

Stikers are the players whose role is to score. It's the last of the 3 digits in a team's strategy. If a team plays 4-4-2, that means that apart from the goalie, the team is playing with 4 defenders, (first number), 4 midfielders (second number), and 2 strikers (last number). Other common strategies are 4-3-3 (mentioned in the video), and 4-5-1 (extremely defensive, relying on counter-attacks).

I think you understood the concept of tikitaka pretty well. And yes, strikers are the players at the top of the forward lines who are the target guys expected to take the ball and score (or wait for a pass and be in the right position to score). Nonetheless, they are expected to be the main target for scoring goals. One thing I wanna explain is 4-3-3. So formations are numbered this way: defense-midfield-offense. So 4-3-3 means there's 4 defenders, 3 midfielders, a 3 forwards. Formations get more complicated as more lines are added to either the defense, midfield, or forward positions, but that's the gist. Happy to see you're enjoying the sport, tifo is a good channel for learning more about tactics and strategy.

Not sure how entertaining this would be for a KZfaq reaction but MitsosJR has a KZfaq channel and a playlist called football basics. I think you’d enjoy it, he explains and breaks down tactical aspects of football in a similar way that I hear coaches speak about tactics. Enjoying hearing your perspective in these videos!

I really like your approach to this. If you realize, that video was done by TIFO, a channel I recommended. Grasping the theory and then watching it happen is a good idea, do just that! One thing to understand is positions. In smaller sports (as in way smaller courts, like basketball) positions are relative to what's happening. So if you are defending someone, you are a defender, if you take the ball and attack, you are suddenly an attacker. Not necessarily the case in football, where positions are, well, positional. An striker refers to an attacking player that stays in advanced places on the pitch and who's primary role is scoring goals. The most basic positions are goalkeeper (you know that one) defenders, midfielder and attackers or strikers. There's a lot of roles but you will learn the details as you keep exploring the sport. Good luck!

Striker (or center forward, often referred to as number 9, since it's the shirt number most associated with CFs) is usually the most advanced position on the pitch, but when you use false nine instead of a classic striker, he drops deeper and isn't just the executor, but more of a facilitator

I can recommend you to watch Ted Lasso TV series. It's about to an American Football coach come to Engilish Premiere Leauge trying to lead a soccer team.

To me the biggest similarity to tiki-taka in American football tactics would be found in how receiver routes are schemed to draw defenders away from portions of the field so that one receiver is isolated, open and easier to pass to. Soccer players will move to open spaces to force defenders to make decisions that will open up one or more easy passing lanes for themselves or other players. That is really the point of the false nine striker in particular.

You understand the basics of it. Just to help, the striker aka the 9 usually plays like the tip of the spear. False 9 strategies have the striker play little back for the purpose of opening more space. A lot of strikers do this now more than any other time in football. Johan Cruyff which is the father of Total Football was considered one of the first big examples of what a false 9 could do with Netherlands. So the incorporation of the false 9 tactic into tiki taka is just a natural fit.

Watching someone genuinely try to come to grips with the tactical side of the game using elements from other invasion games is very refreshing. Please keep it up! You’ve got a new subscriber 👍🏾

dude, brazillian subscriber here, so nice to see your journey learning about the sport, after diving into barcelona's highlights you could react to historical zidane and ronaldo's real madrid 3x champions league titles in a row, the midfielders were nicknamed bermuda's triangle due to the ability to pierce through pressing systems using rapid transition over prized possesion. love the content

It's so much fun to see your passion for strategy and not just the flashy dribblings and cool goals. Much love!

I dont comment on KZfaq so often man, but I can’t resist to tell how I appreciate your effort to learn something new. That’s is so inspiring especially with your honest reaction when you don’t fully understand a concept.

I admire your humble and open minded approach toward footbal/soccer. Keep putting out your content, we're all for it!

Striker is basically the attacker position. They are mirrored by the opposing team's defenders. A false nine is a term used for a central striker who drops deeper and sits between the opponent's defender/midfielder line instead of pushing forward. This creates a space around the player to start attacking situations, albeit further from the opposing goal.

Really appreciate how much you are respectful of the game

Another great style of play is the Gegen pressing, it has revolutionised Liverpool's status in the recent years. It is the "heavy metal" style of playing football where the defence line is very high up the pitch and the ball is quickly won within 10 seconds of being lost from possession by 3 to 4 players pressing an opponent player. You can see Tikitaka vs Gegen pressing in the matches of Liverpool vs Manchester city , its one of the most high profile matches in the footballing world.

Once you watch a full game you will see how sort of slow it is and how hard it is to break through a defensive line. The highlights you are seeing are not happening to often. When you follow a team for months and they score a really important goal, makes the moment special. I just wanted to say, dont expect to see this kind of play all the time abd it might feel slow and boring before you are really into it.

As a follow up video I would definetly recommend you to: Barcelona Tiki Taka 2009-2015 Also the channel that made the video you just reacted to does a lot more football explain videos so you should check them out.

U really need to understand the rules and basic postions of players (a Striker is the player furthest in the field and he is normally responsible for making the goals)

Another thing that’s different between American and world football, is the meaning of “deep.” In American football, you go deep when you go further into your opponent’s defense. In world football, you go deep when you go closer towards your own goal.

Luke is a total voetball conniseur himself. One ofmy fave things to do is just explain soccer tactics to my steelers supporting buddy and he picks it up with no issue, vice versa; learning about the nfl and wondering how those tactics could go from gridiron football to assoc football is intriguing

i also recommend you to learn gegenpressing it's simply like antithesis of tiki taka

You can basically divide the different types of foorball players in 4 categories. The goalkeeper: He basically the last line of defence when everything else fails and also helps in the build up play. The defenders: They obviously defend but can also help in building up the play and it got more common in the last years to see defender also fill in roles you would expect from midfielders or attackers. Players you could check out are: Roberto Carlos, Sergio Ramos, Marcelo, Paulo Maldini, Harry Maguire The Midfielders: They assist the defenders in defending and the attackers in defending. They are good in passing and dribbling the ball. They can slow down or speed up the play. Good players to check out are: Iniesta, Xavi, Zinedine Zidane, Andre Pirlo The Attackers (striker): they usually stay near the enemies goal to receive passes and tries to get as much goals as possible players you could check out are: Robert Lewandowski, Luis Suarez, Zlatan Ibrahimovic Thats of course very simple and there is way more to it so feel free to ask questions. I'll try to find a video best suited for players positions lol Sry for my bad english haha

Hey man, I really like your videos, you are really interested and real in your reactions unlike most of the youtubers. You earned a subscriber, sir! You should react to videos of European vs American football fans too, to se what the passion here in europe is all about! Btw Welcome to the world of REAL football ;)

Your summation at the end was spot on.

Nice to see the progress in the channel, keep it up 🎉!

Dude, for someone new in this game, you have a pretty good understanding already. Cheers from Brazil!

Yo as a player and lover of the sport it’s refreshing to see that you’re trying to understand the game. When you do, you’ll probably be able to incorporate some play styles to your coaching style.

its great to see someone who is really interested in learning the sport.

Nice one bud! This video was a good watch, always good to watch someone new to football learn about its intricacies and ins/outs. You're essentially correct in your understanding of tiki taka. Its a possession based football tactic that emphasises forward pressing and intelligent space manipulation utilising the entire team as a cohesive controlling unit. Every player near the ball carrier should be moving and seeking to find an open space to receive a pass to help progress the attack whilst other players should be trying to pull the opposition out of position by finding dangerous zones and exploiting space. When done well, the passing is usually fast paced, short interchanging and frankly quite exciting to watch in a progressive sense. Also, a striker is the most forward player on a football pitch, they are usually the ones relied upon to score goals, poach around the box and to cause disruption for the opposing defense. A striker fits into one of the "forward" roles deployed by football teams, these players are simply called "forwards". Some examples of forwards would be, attacking wingers, inside forwards, target men, poachers and strikers. (All different types of forwards with different characteristics and job descriptions essentially). You then have your midfielders and your defenders. (Which also have a tonne of different roles within their respective categories). Well done on the great video and keep up the good work! Hopefully you can incorporate some of your newfound football knowledge into your own work! 👌

"Number Nine" - viewers should know that the original English numbering system on shirts for players was based on position. (and a 2-3-5 formation). So the goalie was "1" , the left and right full backs were "2" and "3" - the midfield trio was "4","5", and "6", the winger on the left was "7", the inside forward (L) was "8", the center forward wore a "9" shirt, the inside forward (R) was "10" and the winger on that side was "11". Nobody plays this formation anymore but the central striker has still been described by this original shirt "Number Nine". So a "false nine" is a forward who pretends to be the spearhead but actually drops back to receive passes...

Bloody beautiful to watch! Glad you're learning

Cool vid, as a Liverpool fan I’d love to see you learn about gegenpressing, the signature style of Jurgen Klopp and other German managers.

On the thing you mentioned about "strikers" To put it very simply, there are 4 basic positions players can take up in football: Goalkeeper (obviously) Defender (the last line of defence, attempting to protect the goalkeeper from incoming shots) Midfielder (The people in the middle whose job is to transition between defense and attack) Striker (The people at the front whose job it is to score goals and create goalscoring opportunities) It's much more complicated than that, as there are tonnes of subcategories. There are even things like "wingbacks" who are wide defenders who are expecting to contribute heavily to attacking scenarios. But those are the basics. To go back to the video, the "False 9" that it is describing there, is the tactic of having a striker move back and play in positions on the pitch that would traditionally be for the midfielders. Doing midfielder's work in creating space and building attacks. With the ultimate aim of having the team attack in great numbers with midfielders and strikers together, to try and overwhelm the opposition defence. The name "False 9" come from the fact that the "centre forward" (Your front and centre striker who you would traditionally rely on to score most of the team's goals) would traditionally wear the number 9 on the back of their shirt. Although not everyone follows those traditions these days, it's not like in rugby where the shirt number is mandated, players can choose whatever shirt number they want. But the phrase still sticks around and when watching videos about tactics you might still hear people refer to a "number 10" or a "number 6" instead of their specific position which again is a reference to this traditional way of having shirt numbers. Sorry for going on so long. Hope that made sense.

Nice to see you do it. It rem me how I exchanged knowledge with my friend who know NFL. FYI, Striker is the forward position in football, In traditional formation and more common tactics, ST is the main goal scorer so the ST rarely move back and always stay in the front, the mildfielder also would try to supply the ST with the best pass because usually the ST has the best stat for scoring the goal (like good shooting, positioning or header). With False 9, there's no traditional ST, so in Total Football and as far as I know also in Tiki-Taka, any player in the zone, by the right moment and right time could be the goal scorer.

binge-watching your soccer content. keep it up!

you should do a continuation reacting a video like: Beautiful Tiki-Taka Plays That Can't Be Repeated In Football! to see tiki taka in action!

respect your openmindedness. Yes football is awesome and addictive given its simplicity. hope you enjoy watching and learning

Always nice to see people enjoying football. Something which i felt like you missed in your understanding of tiki taka (or at least how i see it) is that you use quick, short passes and movement to get past the defenders. Whereas in other playstyles you might see an attackers just trying to dribble past a defender (ronaldo is an example who did this well). Im not sure if this is also the definition of tiki taka but thats how i learned it. And keep up these videos, they are really enjoyable to watch. And good to hear some of your insights / comparisons to american football

Pressing as a concept in Soccer is particularly effective because it's so much harder to control the ball with just your feet. You see a LOT of top teams do pressing at some level (all the time, once the ball crosses halfway, or on a bad pass - too fast or slightly inaccurate - which means the player getting the ball will be under extra pressure). The downside, of course, as with pressing in basketball is that you push more players forward and if the other team can keep possession, they have more room for a quick attack.

You got it surprisignly good! Congrats! Some notes that may help: A stricker is a player that use to be the closest to the rival goal, and it once he gets the ball it usually "strikes" with a single touch (because he has no time for more touches) trying to score. Historically strickers use to use the number 9 in their uniform, so "number nine" and "stricker" are the same concept. But sometimes there are more than one stricker.. so the number reference may be confusing... The "false nine" (or false-stricker) is the idea to move the stricker(s) away from the rival's goal for two reasons: 1) to help teammates to keep possession with more players in the middle of the field (ofering more passing oportunities), and to tempt the defenders to also move away from the goal so there is more space in the final defensive line for other players (like the wings that can also stricke starting in a position close to the corner and moving to the center taking advantatge of the freed space). The false-nine idea matches perfectly with the total-football (tiki-taka) strategy. Also note that the total-football idea is kind of the opposite of the more classical football style with way less passing, with long passes similar to american football, with fast wings running to get that initial long pass, dribling to reach good positions between the goal and the corner so they can do a second and final pass to the stricker to score.

Tifo is sucha great source of info! Loving these videos. So happy you won't miss the world cup. Enjoy the beautiful game

since you liked teamwork and passing, you should react to a tikitaka in action video or a passing video

Really like these videos. I watch a lot of football but it's like a nice refresher for me

You found THE channel! Such good videos about the sport

I would recommend the football meta for more information on formations, and explanations of some concepts, tactics, movements off the ball, and what plans of attack defense are.

This is a great way to introduce yourself to the game. American sports are deeply analysed and statistised, and I think because of the often low scorelines people may wrongly assume Football isn't as tactically rich. Start with learning player position names/roles, then learn the common formations. I'm very impressed how quickly you picked up the general idea of tiki-taka without basic foundational knowledge. Welcome to the beautiful game friend!

I am two weeks late, but as an American who only really loves the sport of football (compared to other sports), I'm thrilled that you're learning more about it. Although you've really jumped in the deep end lmfao... I understand tiki-taka, but if you asked me to explain it, I absolutely could not. It's one of the more complicated, if not the most complicated play styles in football.

Striker = The player who is supposed to score most goals. Tipically people who are very good at shooting the ball with strenght and accuracy (Cristiano Ronaldo for example) Defender = They play mostly in the back of the field (near their goalkeeper) and try to steal the ball when the other team is attacking. As the name says, they are supposed to defend. Midfielder = As the name says, they play in the middle of the field, between the striker (most offensive position) an the defenders (most defensive position) They are the one who are in charge to move the ball around and create goal opportunities by passing the ball strategically, dribbling and assisting the striker. They can score goals if they have the chance to do it and they can also have a more defensive role in some situations.

Glad to see someone trying to understand the tactical side and appreciate the tactics as opposed to reacting to the same old videos as everyone else. If you want to understand tactics and have some time, I'd recommend trying Football Manager.

Maybe you already had it by now, but in case you don't, here are a few explanations about the false 9 : So a striker (usually refered as the 9) is basically the most attack oriented player in the team. Traditionally, the idea was to ask the striker the be as close as possibe to the opponents goal (as much as is allowed by the offside rule), so that in case of counter attack, it is possible to send long passes and hope for a good run of your striker. To do so, the 9s are mostly on the same line as the opponent defenders. The idea of a false 9 is to change a little bit the responsibilities od strikers : instead of having him on the same line as the opponents defense and putting constant pressure on that defense, he is between the defenders and the middfields of the opponents team, creating the problems for the defense that are mentioned in the video. This is great for posession based strategies, but there are dowside to it, like the fact that you might lack that pressure over the opponents defense.

I told you I'd support your football journey, so cheer! 🍻 You're a quick learner so this is fun!

Bro, as a coach I would love to answer all your questions! loving the videos!

it didn't seem like you were understanding it at first but then at the end you explained it perfectly.

Tap dancing was a damn good analogy.

6:15 the striker (or as we know, the 9) is the player that goes between the 2 central blockers to pivot the ball or drag marks, and because of his position in the field, he is the player that has the better position to score, the original positioning of the number 9 is between the 2 central blokers, the false 9 in the other hand dont want to get between the 2 central blockers, instead of that he want to go a little bit back of them to recive the ball and make offensive passes and move around the area to drag marks or get in position to shoot the ball, he dont want to recive the ball and try to get the chanse of scoring by the mistake of the central blockers like a traditional 9, he wants to participate in the offensive creation in that position

A striker = main attacker(s). Pressing is more like a continues attack or putting pressure on the defense continuously. No delay in build up.

When he mentioned "4-3-3", this is an easy way of describing the team's formation. In simplistic terms, it means: 4 defenders, 3 midfielders, 3 attackers, and the goalkeeper is never included as their position is always the same regardless of formation. 4-3-3 is definitely one of the most common ones, but you can see weirder formations such as 4-3-2-1, which means 4 defenders, 3 holding midfielders (midfielders that tend not to advance forward with the attack), 2 attacking midfielders (midfielders who follow and support the attack), and a striker/attacker. Basically though it's just a way of describing what the team's formation looks like from a top-down view. Positions on the field: - Goalkeeper: Person in goal - Central Defender(s): Defenders who take up position in-front of the goal - Left/Right Back: Defenders who are positioned towards the sides of the pitch - Left/Right Wing Back: Same as above, except will usually travel forward with the attack to support * Defenders can be referred to as full-backs or wing-backs to differentiate between the two examples above Central/Left/Right Midfielder(s): Take up the middle of the pitch (at their respective sides), are instrumental in feeding passes to the attack and managing the flow and pace of the game Central Defensive Midfielder: Midfielder who supports the defence, tends to stay near the half-way line and drops back to defend Central Attacking Midfielder: Midfielder who supports the attack, tends to travel into the opposition's half when attacking Wide Midfielder/Winger: Takes up position at the edges of the pitch and will try to run the ball down the wings Centre forward/Striker: Attacker who stays in-front of the goal. Will usually try to keep close to the goal and receive passes into the box. Left/Right forward: Attacker who sits to either side of the goal Left/Right Wing(ers): Attackers who utilize the full width of the pitch, and will often try to either cut inside or play a cross into the central attacker. * Striker/Forward/Attacker are terms that most people use interchangeably, through striker is usually the centre forward. When the video referred to positions such as "false 9", it's basically a centre forward who will drop back to receive passes with the aim of disrupting the oppositions formation by drawing the defending players out of position. The "9" part is due to certain positions on the pitch having their own number, where the centre forward has the number 9. It's a "false 9" because the number 9 is moving into "false" positions.

a nine is the player who usually plays in the middle of the two center backs, the player who plays closest to the opponent goal and is there mainly to score goals

If you want some help, I've coached a youth team here in the UK and I'd be happy to help you with understanding any tactical topics etc would be fun and plus, always good getting people to appreciate the beauty of football

Well tifo is one of the best in describing the tactical bits of football and as a Rollball tactician myself I also learn from the football tactics and basketball tactics so these are like my go-to videos

Possessional play can kind of be thought of like a Zone Offense in basketball. Recent soccer tactics has a huge focus on off-ball play (when you don't have possession). A striker is a forward player who generally plays in the middle of the pitch (the field) and is your primary goal scorer.

A striker is an attacking player who usually either scores goals or lays the ball off for others to score. They tend play around the oppositions goal, but a false number 9 is a striker who drops back towards the midfield to get the ball or draw defenders to them, which creates space for other to score.

Glad that you find Tifo Football, another recommended channel for football knowledge is Football Made Simple

Tifo and Tifo irl are probably the best channels to learn about tactics and strategy in football.

Attempt at scoring and scoring in itself are strike actions but natural strikers are those that are mainly placed in the top end zones of the opposing team to initiate and finish attack. Usually 9,7,11. 9 being the main striker with 7 and 11 being attacking wingers.

An explanation on what a Striker is: In the 4-3-3 formation like the one showcased in the video you watched, the 4 players in the back are the Defenders, the 3 in the middle are the Midfielders and the 3 at the front are the Forwards. The Center-forward is commonly known as a Striker. They play at the center of the attack and receive the ball to score. A Striker can also be called a Nine, hence the term used in the video of a "false nine" referring to a "false striker". There's also another Forward position commonly referred to as a Ten. Picture it this way, the Ten is the type of Forward player who makes the plays and sends passes to the Nine (Striker) so they can score. The names of Nine and Ten used to refer to the number a player wore in their shirt (Diego Maradona wore number 10 and he also played in the position of a Ten, meaning that he created plays as well as scored), but it is mostly used as a tactical identification of the role of a player in the field, regardless of the number of his shirt, like Messi who wears the number 10 on his shirt but he plays more as a Nine in the field. Another example is Cristiano Ronaldo who wears 7 but he plays mostly as a Ten. So, the Nine and Ten positions in Soccer are pretty much a quick way to identify a certain type of player in the field rather than a true description of the position, meaning that you can use any Forward player you want as a Ten to create plays and anyone as a Nine to score. While watching Soccer, you may hear the narrators or analysts describing how a team is using one or two Nines, or how they need to add a Ten to attack and they may not be talking about changing players in the field but moving them around, for example moving one of your Wingers (Forwards who play on the outside) closer to the goal as a second Nine and advance your Central Midfielder as a Ten. A quick way to identify them while watching a game, a Nine will always play in front of the goal, if you see 2 players in that area that means the they are attacking with 2 Nines. And the Ten is commonly a player who plays behind a Nine. You can watch some Messi highlights to see how a Nine plays, specially when he played with Barcelona FC, also Pele and Hugo Sanchez played as a Nines (strikers). If you want to see how a Ten plays, look for Cristiano Ronaldo or Maradona, both of them are good examples of a Ten. Just remember that those positions are movable, meaning that you can see Messi playing sometimes as a Ten in the back, or Cristiano Ronaldo playing forward as a Nine. It depends on the scheme the team is using in the game, for example, Messi with the National team of Argentina plays more in the position of a Ten.

Some basics that will help you digest these videos more easily: Football (Soccer), from a tactical point of view, is a sport that can be broken up into multiple levels of complexity (1) Basic formation (2) Roles within a formation (3) traditional "numbers" for players, and (4) phases of a single play. 1. Basic formation is usually described in number form such as "4-4-2", "4-2-3-1", or "5-3-2". Each football team has 11 players, with 1 goalie guaranteed. The other 10 players, however, could be organised in any number of ways. The way we tend to describe these formations tends to be from the perspective of the team's goalkeeper. This number description is a rough estimate/outline of how the team is being organised. The first number describes the number of "defenders" (i.e., players that will tend to stay in their own half, to try and stop the opposing teams from getting clear chances on goal). This is the first number because these are the players closest to the goalkeeper. As we are describing the formation from the perspective of the goalkeeper, they are the first number. The final number (the players furthest away from your own team's goalkeeper) describes the number of "strikers" or "attackers" the team is tactically trying to play (i.e., players whose main aim is to get the ball and attack the other team's goal to try and score). The middle number(s) describe the number of "midfielders" (i.e., players whose main aims are to aid in the transition between attack and defence, or provide extra assistance to the attack or the defence depending on the phase of play). Oftentimes, these formations only provide three numbers (e.g., "4-3-3" like in the video you watched here on Tika-Taka), as most people mainly care about the number of defenders-midfielders-strikers, respectively. However, more recently, some people have dissected formations a little more to allow for four numbers (e.g., "4-2-3-1"), to differentiate between the defensive-minded midfielders and the attacking-minded ones. In the 4-2-3-1 example, you have 4 defenders, 2 defensive midfielders, 3 attacking midfielders and 1 out-and-out striker who will likely be the team's main goal-scorer. 2. The roles within a formation is more of a descriptor of the exact role someone is likely to play throughout the game. For example, just saying someone is a one of the 4 "defenders" in a 4-4-2 fomration isn't that informative beyond surface level information. However, knowing someone is a Centre-Back (CB), you know that they will be playing not just as a defender (at the back), but also in the centre of the pitch. Whereas a Left-Back (LB) will play on the left side of the pitch, and is often left-footed. Whereas a right-back (RB) will play at on the right of the pitch. You might hear the term "Wing-back", which suggests that the is not just purely defensive, but will also make runs down the wings (the edges of the pitch) to assist in attacking phases of play. Antonio Conte, for example, is a mangager who LOVES using Wing-Backs instead of dedicated Right- or Left-Backs. These might be described as RWB or LWB depending on which side of the pitch they are on. In midfield, you can get the same distinction. You can have Right- or Left-Wingers (RW/LW), Central Defensive Midfielders (CDM - whose main focus is to control the centre of the pitch and aid the defense), Central Attacking Midfielders (CAM - whose main focus is to carry the ball toward the strikers to assist in the attack), Central Midfielders (CM - who tend to be a good mix of skills). And up front you might have Centre-Forwards (CF). So, in a 4-4-2, you might be able to further describe the formation as the specigic positions: LB, CB,CB,RB - LW,CDM,CAM,RW - CF-CF 3. Now that you understand these positions, you can understand what the "numbers" are for players. Once again, we can return to concept of being from the perspective of the goalkeeper. The tradtional description of the numbers came about in the UK many decades ago back when 2-3-5 was played. As most goalkeepers are right-footed/right-handed they looked from right to left to count the numbers, and went based on who was closest to them. From a goalkeeper's perspective, no one is more important than themselves, so they are number 1. Then the right-sided defender was number 2, and the left-sided defender was number 3. The person next closest to the goal keeper was the central midfielder (we know the diagonal is further away than the straight line), so they were number 4, and then the right-sided midfielder was number 5 and the left-sided midfielder was number 6. Then the 5 attackers were given numbers 7-11 from right to left, with number 9 being the most central attacking player. Awkwardly, these numbers kind of just stuck, even though formations have evolved over time. So, you now have weird numbers dotted around the pitch. However, importantly, This is where the concept of a "number 9" as the main attacking player comes from. SO, when you see, in this video, they talk about a "false 9", they are saying that the player who is playing in what would traditionally be the most attacking role (number 9) may actually not be the most attacking player. They may, instead, drop deeper toward their defence to create space for the other attacking players around them. Messi is a great example of this, as is, strangely, Harry Kane on occasion. Both of them score increidble numbers of goals (making them definitely attacking players)... yet you still might see them dropping deep to find space between the other team's defence and midfield to pick the ball up and make great passes to lead to other players scoring instead of themselves (called an "Assist"). Some people might talk about tactics using these traditional numbers - as you saw in this video. 4. Phases of play is the level of tactical planning that you might be more familiar with as someone with an American Football background. This is having formations shift depending on if you are attacking or defending, or having specific plans/plays on how to run a set-piece (e.g., where a defender might still be attacking the other team's goal for a corner or free kick). This is the kind of tactics that managers will vary the most on, and will also often have assistant coaches help with specific types of play (e.g., having a free kick coach). For example, some managers might like for their players to keep to their specific formation throughout the game. Whereas others might like their team to be 5-3-2 when defending, but swap to a 3-5-2 when attacking (where two defenders, usually the wing-backs, switch to being attacking wingers)

Really enjoyed watching this video, it's great to see you learn about the tactics and nuance of the game. If you're interested about learning about one of the other specific tactical systems used by one of the most highly - rated managers in the game, TIFO also made a video about "Gegenpressing", which was/is the tactical system used by Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool (Liverpool's tactics have adapted a little since then but the video still holds up).

would love to see you watch more tifo videos…as an american who has gotten way too into soccer over the last decade much of what i’ve learned about the tactics and politics of the sport i’ve learned from their videos

2:58 i find it so interesting that what you said here is an exact parallel to one of mourinho’s (a famous coach in football) coaching philosophys. He says that when you have the ball you are more likely to make mistakes, so having the ball less is more effective. As with any strategy, there is no true answer in a skill based sport, but it shows the wide variety in approach.

Great video man!

I’m really enjoying seeing you learn about the beautiful game.

4-3-3 is a pretty popular formation. 4 defenders (2 central, 2 on the flanks), 3 midfielders (1 defensive, 2 further up), 3 attackers (2 wide players called wingers, 1 central called the striker). Usually, you want your striker to be as close as possible to the opponent's goal so he can get the ball in scoring positions: they are usually posted up on top of the opponent's last line of defence. That's where the false nine idea is unique. The striker drops a bit deeper and kind of acts like an extra midfielder centrally. If a defender follows him, there is a gap in the opponent's line and space to exploit for the wingers. If no one follows him, you end up outnumbering the opponent in midfield, making it easier to string together passes centrally and work dangerous areas.

A striker is the player whose job is primarily striking the goal. Traditionally, it's a position like a wide receiver in American football, strikers are the one players in possession of the ball (could be anyone, but since they have the ball they function like a quarter back) will always be looking for and delivering the ball to. Nowadays, the strikers will also function as a pivot point for the team. Other than striking the goal, they will also fight the defenders for the ball, knock it back to his teammates, usually the attacking midfielder or sometimes the forward pressing defensive midfielder (Could be the influence from tiki-taka). The strikers traditionally wears the jersey with the number 9 on, therefore, they will also be referred to as Number 9. A fouls-9 is therefore a player who positioned in the striker's place, but instead of striking the goal, they drop back to the mid-field and help the development there.

Tifo (the channel that made the first video) is by far the best tactics channel lm youtube. Their channels and podcast are a never ending source of great analysis, pumping out hours of material every week.

a traditional striker is usually a player that waits in the oppositions box to receive the ball and they have a excellent sense for scoring goals, they can be quite tall and physical to compete against the defenders a false nine is usually smaller and better at passing and movements with the ball

The difference of pressing in football vs basketball is the pitch size and it create a whole different setup. But the principal yes it is the same

Nice video. Here are some basic positions for you. Bear in mind, a position in soccer is the role your coach gives you.The rules do not limit you to it, so a defender is allowed to score goals from any position, while a striker can tackle while his team is defending. So positions are simply roles. Defensive positions: Central Back, stands in frontbof his goal, usually the last line of defence. A team usually has 2 such players , sometimes even 3. Prerequisites are strenght ,speed, height. Right/Left back. A defender that defends his wide side of the pitch,near the sideline. Helps the central back on defence, helps the midfield on the offence by making forward runs without the ball to draw off the opposition. Prerequisites: Speed, stamina,dribbling skill, pasding the ball. Winged back. A more offensive version of the above Defensive midfielder. Either a bulldog type of a player, that tackles,jumps and fights for the ball, or a creative player (a quarterback of sorts) that helps his team build up the attack right after the ball is won. Prerequisites: Stamina,strenght and jumping plus tackling for the bulldog type, or stamina, technical ability,dribbling, passing ,vision and creativity for the "quarterback" type. Central midfielder: a jack of all trades. Helps the team by performing any task needed from passing ,dribbling , long range shots to pressing,tackling etc. A team that can dominate via midfield often breaks the opposition. Prerequisites: Staming,strenght,tackling,passing,shooting, dribbling . Attacking Midfielder The offensive version of the above. Often less physical, more on the creative side. Prerequisites same as above and dribbling as well. Right/Left midfielder. A midfielder with the skills of a Back. Striker/ Central forward. A player how's primary job is to score. Traditionally would move without the ball amongst the defenders while waiting for a pass or a cross from a wing. Less used nowadays. Either tall and strong or small and fast. Winger An aggressive,fast version of a right/left midfielder. Excellent dribbling, shooting and passing skills are a must here . Second striker= false ni ne.instead of eating for a pass or a cross in the middle of the opposing defence, this attacker drops back to help out create plays and to lure any player who's job is to guard him away from the guards natural position. Thus the trick creates space , as the video shows. Prerequisites: superior ball control, dribbling, passing,shooting. Often times this position is filled by the best players on the team.

Striker is usually the most forward attacking players. A number 9 (sometimes a centre forward CF) is the old term used to depict a striker who plays forward and the aim was to get the ball to the 9 to score (crosses, headers etc usually a bigger player and the 10 or 11 can either play odd and set up usually a smaller quicker agile player, alternative you can have a 9 and 2 advanced wide players to feed crosses in). Goalkeepers are self explanatory mainly the only player able to use hands to defend. Defenders play between the goal keeper and midfield. Midfield play between the attackers and the defence. Midfield has a lot of variety (cda/cam central defensive/attacking midfielders, wingers, wide players). The historic style a lot of teams used to play (which is somewhat returning) is the 4-4-2. It is most common for teams as is somewhat easy to learn and balanced. 4 defenders 4 midfielder and 2 attackers (maybe a bigger player to big the target 9 and a player to assist or play off of them). Circling back.... a false 9 is someone who sets up in that 9 striker (centre forward) but does not stay up front and drops out of that position to either make space, draw a defender away to create a whole in defence and help link up play between the midfield and the forward. Usually a more technical player than the traditional 9 who sole focus was to score the goals. Hope this helps. It's as simple as I can explain without a board.

The false nine is the equivalent of a mobile center/ big man in basketball. A typical striker (highest attacker up and typically a target person) will stay high to keep defenses stretched as much as possible. Similar to how a center stays in the post. However a false nine is when the striker have a lot more movement (big just towards opposing goal) and creates questions for the defenders of what to do. If they stay tight to the striker then spaces open up behind them. If they let the striker go into the space they have time to receive and pass to others. Similar to if a center comes up to the top of the key on a pick and roll while another guard cuts to the basket.

Check out the Argentina goal in 2006 against Serbia Montenegro by Esteban Cambiasso. It took like 26 consecutive passes to complete the goal.

I've only started watching this but your open mind and willingness to learn is very admiral. Hope you continue to enjoy our sport :) Ps from someon in the UK. Chips mean chunky/fat potato that you'd have with fish, steak pies, steak etc. Fries are long thin fried potatoes that you'd get in mcdonalds etc, crisps are your potato chips like lays. We are a confusing nation :) Keep up the great work buddy

Basically a striker is the player positioned in the opposing area and is expected to be a goalscorer, meanwhile this false nine is a recent variation of that position where he's supposed to remain a little behind of the most common position to participate in the playmaking process before scoring

love to see someone else aprecciate and learn about the greatest sport

Sounds very similar to a princeton offense in basketball. Off the ball movement is the key in that offense as it is designed to create free shots and driving lanes with backdoor cuts and baseline passes.

Striker/center forward is someone whose default position is closest to opponent goal, or the player at the tip of the attacking end. There are usually one or two strikers on the pitch depending on the formation. The primary objective of the striker is receive the ball and shoot for goal or strike the ball. In 4-3-3 ,A striker's de facto jersey number is 9 ( starts with goal keeper being number 1 and so on, but player can choose what number they want), so when the number 9 drops to mid filed he/she becomes a false 9.

You need to do a reaction to some highlights or hype video of the USA national team before our first match this Monday!

Watch Spain’s recent game with Costa rica for absolute peak tiki taka football. It can make it a little boring if the opponents are not very good but man it’s absolute art when it’s played well.

Basically think of the prime spurs from a decade ago , Kerr shows videos of barca doing this too. You should definitely look at a overall team passing video to see how the evolution of the concept is done with other countries philosophies. French and Italian coaches have made contributions with different formations

i suggest that you learn about the different positions in football and also the formations that are usually played as this can help you put the strategies into perspective. There are plenty youtube videos out there that do a fantastic job explaining it and also being able to discern between the defenders, midfielders and attackers will also help to learn the positions better and before checking out other players, maybe also do some research on their positions to understand why they play the way they do play

You are a fast learner! These are next level football topics

Ironically one of the early innovators of tiki taka was Burnley, a club now mostly known for playing pretty much the exact opposite sort of football

A high press in football is equivalent to a full court press in basketball ie forcing the other team to make difficult decisions while trying to bring the ball out of their half. Most teams that press nowadays do so "in transition" as well (the transition phase is again similar to basketball - being where the ball has just turned over and the defending team is transitioning to attack and vice versa) Pressing teams will look to exploit the other teams efforts to move into attack by winning the ball back as quickly as possible after they lose it so that they can take advantage of the gaps created by the defending team trying to make a quick attack. Negatives to pressing - similar to basketball it has to be organised and commited or the pressing team leaves gaps to exploit. You need to have defenders relatively "high" up the pitch (close to the half way line or beyond) to limit the space that your opponent can use to keep possession, which means that your opponents can play long balls over the top of your defenders into the space behind them for attackers to run onto if your defenders aren't quick/smart enough. False 9 - It's difficult to understand this concept without first undestanding what a traditional 9 does. It's definitely worth looking at traditional positions as I'm sure it will give your more context on that section on the video. That Barcalona team's Fullbacks/Wingabacks also bucked the trend in how attacking they were compared to traditional fullbacks/wingbacks (Similar to the false 9 position I'm pretty sure they weren't the first to do it) although it's almost universal across the top teams nowadays.

The Tifo videos are really good for explaining tactical systems but you do need the basics for a lot of them.

the false 9 part, its basically dropping deeper to pull a defender out of position which creates space behind them, like a decoy in basketball, the decoy brings a defensive player with him then another player exploits the space made from moving the defender.. also like screening but more positional than physical