Tactics

A super sub is a player that performs well when being brought on as a substitute rather than starting a game, usually scoring a late winning goal. There are plenty of examples of players who have been given the tag of ‘Super Sub’ because of how good they were at reading the match when sitting on the bench, then coming on and exploiting the weaknesses they had picked up on. A good manager knows who and when to substitute on to change a match.

Formation consisting of 4 defenders, 4 midfielders and 2 strikers. One of football's most straightforward and durable formations. Everyone knows their job: two central midfielders (usually one sits, one runs), wide midfielders stretch the pitch, and a strike partnership works off each other. It was the default in English football for years and still gets used because it's easy to set up and hard to get badly wrong.

A new breed of attacking midfielder than that acts as a hybrid between an 8 (midfield engine/arriving late in the box) and a 10 (playmaker just behind the strikers). There are usually two players occupying the free 8 role, sitting just in front of a lone CDM and just behind the forwards. They often operate in the half spaces and their job is typically to create chances for the forwards. Pep Guardiola is often credited as being the person behind the free 8 role, having used it at Barcelona with Xavi and Iniesta in the role, then later at Manchester City, with Kevin De Bruyne (KDB) and David Silva in the role.

Mocking term for putting crosses in with no plan and hoping something happens. "Inshallah" means "God willing" in Arabic - you're basically praying the ball falls kindly. Used to criticize teams that just launch crosses at the box when they can't break down a defence, especially if they don't have anyone good in the air to aim at.

Putting almost everyone behind the ball and making the defence impossible to break down. José Mourinho made the phrase famous, though he was criticizing opponents at the time. It means sitting deep in two compact lines, not pressing much, and waiting to counter. Purists hate it, but it works against better teams. You need players who can concentrate and hold their positions for 90 minutes.

Running inside a teammate who has the ball wide, usually into the gap between full-back and centre-back. The opposite of an overlap - you go inside rather than around the outside. It pulls defenders, opens passing angles into the box, and can create shooting chances. Works well with inverted wingers because when they cut inside, they create space for the underlap.

Playing most of the game in the opponent's half, pinning them back regardless of possession. You can have lots of the ball but play it in your own half, which isn't territorial dominance. The best teams do both - high possession and playing it in dangerous areas. Field tilt stats track what percentage of the game is played in each third. Teams that dominate territory create more chances and concede fewer.

Each defender is assigned a specific attacker to follow wherever they go, rather than defending a zone. Old-school but still used in certain situations, especially at set pieces. The problem: if your man drags you out of position, you create gaps. Zonal marking largely replaced it, but some managers still use man-to-man systems or hybrid approaches.

The final pass before a goal. It's become a major stat for measuring creativity alongside goals. Different competitions count it slightly differently - some include rebounds off your shot, others don't. There's also pre-assists (the pass before the assist) and expected assists (xA) for the analytics crowd. De Bruyne and Messi rack up assists at the same rate some players score.

The cue that tells a team to start pressing. Common triggers: a back pass, a pass to their weakest player on the ball, the ball going into a certain zone, or a poor touch. Everyone recognizes the trigger and presses together instead of one player chasing alone. Without clear triggers, pressing falls apart and teams just pass around you.